For 125 years, the Forward has delivered accurate, timely and nuanced news to American Jews. From breaking news to in-depth investigations, our reporting team covers the people, institutions and issues that define the many ways to be Jewish in the…
News
-
Rabbis 2015
Valerie Lieber
Rabbi Valerie Lieber is a constant source of new ideas and fun. She takes Hebrew school students all over to bring Jewish history and values alive. My kids have volunteered at soup kitchens and collected tzedakah outside Trader Joe’s. Rabbi Val was instrumental in combining three junior services with the main congregational service. Now old…
-
Rabbis 2015 Morris Allen
Rabbi Morris Allen has been our rabbi for nearly 30 years. He has overseen the growth of our synagogue from about 50 families to nearly 400 families. Our members are very committed, with about 250 people regularly attending Shabbat morning services. But Rabbi Allen’s real impact has been on our lives. He has shown us…
-
Rabbis 2015 Michael Knopf
Rabbi Knopf has been our religious leader at Temple Beth El for just six months and Judaism is COOL! Inspiring sermons about Moses and Bruce Springsteen; reading the Megillah at a Purim party that featured dancing to 1980s music; the band Mensch performing live music at Friday night services; dress-down Shabbat services; toys in the…
The Latest
-
Rabbis 2015 Elyssa Auster
Although Rabbi Elyssa Auster’s official position is that of director of Jewish life at the JCC, I know her as a visiting rabbi at B’er Chayim Temple in Cumberland, Maryland, where I serve as president. Rabbi Auster has brought such enthusiasm, vitality and knowledge to our small rural congregation (of less than 60 families). She…
-
Rabbis 2015 Amy Wallk Katz
Asking how a rabbi is inspirational is like the story of the blind men in India describing the elephant. Each described the part that they felt. I believe that Rabbi Amy Wallk Katz is inspirational in the way she leads her congregation. She encourages her congregation to confront challenges such as the shrinking of Jewish…
-
Rabbis 2015 Josh Broide
As an 80-year-old volunteer at Florida Atlantic University, I wandered into the Hillel lounge in search of a Passover Seder. There, I met the Energizer Bunny of rabbis, Josh Broide. He found me a Seder and invited me to attend “Friday Night Live,” an inclusive service he holds at a traditional Orthodox Boca Raton shul….
-
Rabbis 2015 Barry Dov Katz
Some rabbis inspire with charisma. Rabbi Barry Dov Katz inspires in a different way: through one-on-one relationships, active listening, and genuinely caring about his congregants. When Rabbi Katz came to the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale 17 years ago, the congregation was mostly older. Today it is a dynamic community of Jews of all…
-
Rabbis 2015 Ayelet S. Cohen
Rabbi Ayelet Cohen was the first non-LGBT rabbi I remember who chose to work at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, New York City’s LGBT synagogue, which added dignity and a certain normalcy to LGBT life at a time when neither were present. Now, she elevates the stature of the JCC with the speakers and issues she…
-
The Limits One Woman Confronted When Dating While Disabled — and Jewish
Growing up, many girls have a Prince Charming in mind. So did I. I knew exactly that I wanted to marry a handsome, Jewish boy one day. I was determined that he should not only be clever and well-educated, but also funny — and look like Paul Newman in Exodus, where he plays the Jewish…
-
No Circumcision, Please — We’re Hindu
The Seesaw is a new kind of advice column in which a broad range of columnists will address the real life issues faced by interfaith couples and families. Read the discussion and vote below for what you think is the best response to this particular quandary. You can email your own questions, which will remain…
-
What’s a Nice Jewish Boy Doing Leading a Fraternity Like This?
The national leader of Sigma Alpha Epsilon was preparing a celebratory message for the fraternity’s 159th anniversary when news broke about the now notorious video showing chapter members from the University of Oklahoma loudly chanting a racist mantra calling for blacks to be lynched. In his message, Bradley Cohen had planned to hail the achievement…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Sports First Puka Nacua, now Mookie Betts: Why do sports stars keep getting antisemitic around a Jewish streamer?
- 2
Fast Forward After MIT professor’s killing, Jewish influencers spread unverified antisemitism claim
- 3
Fast Forward Father and son suspects in Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack identified as Sajid and Naveed Akram by law enforcement
- 4
News Christians are displaying menorahs in their windows post-Bondi Beach attack. Why some Jews object
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Pennsylvania principal to be fired over antisemitic voicemail: ‘They control the banks’
-
News Jews mobilized for Darfur 20 years ago. As violence surges again, where are they now?
-
Culture Righteous gentiles in the Holocaust were no ‘ordinary thing’
-
Letters My childhood echoes in newly released Shoah recordings
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
