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
-
Circumcision Controversy Endangers Fight To Keep Rite Legal in Germany
The practice of metzitzah b’peh, a controversial part of some Jewish circumcisions, is reigniting concern about religious circumcision in Germany, where the government only recently fended off an effort to outlaw the ritual altogether. The chief representative of Chabad in Berlin, Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, has been accused of making MBP, as metzitzah b’peh is often…
-
Israeli Lesbians Become Face of Struggle for Gay Immigrants
A same-sex Israeli couple struggling against U.S. immigration laws are set to become the faces of the fight to extend one of the foundations of immigration policy to gays and lesbians. Adi Lavy and Tzila Levy have been caught in the bureaucratic red tape of the American immigration system since Lavy, who suffers from a…
-
Could Run-of-Mill French Suburb Be Global Model of Religious Tolerance?
A knot of about 100 people stood under a steely winter sky January 26 to plant a tree for Tu B’Shvat in the Paris suburb of Bussy-Saint-Georges. The town’s 120-family strong Jewish community was out in force for the celebration, which mirrored similar rites held around the world. Here, however, a few things stood out…
The Latest
-
Few Synagogues Damaged by Sandy Have Received FEMA Help
Six months after Hurricane Sandy damaged at least 72 synagogues in New York and New Jersey, only two report having been approved for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a Forward spot survey indicates. The need for such aid does not appear to have abated. Though many congregations have cleaned the debris and are…
-
N.Y. Mayoral Candidates Mostly Support Consent Forms for Circumcision Rite
All the top Democratic candidates vying to become the next mayor of New York City are calling for greater dialogue between Orthodox groups and city officials concerning the controversial Jewish circumcision practice known as metzitzah b’peh. But among these leading Democrats, only City Comptroller John Liu says he would outright abolish the city’s regulation of…
-
ADL Hits 100; Are Jews a Race?; Is Gwyneth Paltrow the Most Beautiful Woman?
In this week’s Reporters Roundtable podcast, host Paul Berger is joined by Forward Washington correspondent Nathan Guttman to discuss the past, present and future of the Anti-Defamation League on its 100th anniversary. Then, science writer Rite Rubin calls in to discuss a rogue scientists study that suggests that Jews aren’t a race. Finally, Forward staffers…
-
Why It Took Penny Pritzker 4 Years To Win Commerce Secretary Nomination
Penny Pritzker’s nomination as commerce secretary has been more than four years in the making. The 53-year-old Jewish hotel chain heiress from Chicago was rumored to be named to the post ever since Obama first took office, in 2009. While some see the pick as a slam-dunk — not only is Pritzker close to Obama,…
-
Yeshiva U. Sex Abuse Probe Stalls Amid Fear and Mistrust
It has been more than four months since Yeshiva University hired an international law firm to investigate allegations of emotional, physical and sexual abuse at a Y.U.-run high school. Yet investigators working for the firm of Sullivan & Cromwell still have not contacted several former Y.U. school staff and students who described the abuse in…
-
Anti-Defamation League Adapts to Challenges as It Turns 100
As it enters its second century, the organization identified more than any other with fighting anti-Semitism finds levels of anti-Jewish bigotry in America lower than ever. By the admission of the Anti-Defamation League’s own national director, doors once closed to Jews are now almost uniformly open, up to and including the nation’s elite corporate suites,…
-
Jews Flock to Hip Portland Seeking Culture and Laid-Back Lifestyle
Jessica Bettleheim, a business ethics lecturer at Portland State University and a young Jewish mother, has little time to spare on weekends. Like other professionals her age, she’s busy bonding with her husband and 4-year-old daughter, meeting friends at one of Portland’s many fine restaurants or gardening, a favorite pastime in this verdant metropolis known…
-
Gay Marchers Spark Celebrate Israel Parade Boycott Threat
An Orthodox activist has launched an effort to boycott New York’s Celebrate Israel parade for allowing gay and lesbian groups to participate, despite a reported agreement among Orthodox yeshivas not to object to the gay groups. Avi Goldstein, a Orthodox Jew from Long Island, called for the boycott of the June 2 parade in a…
Explore
Most Popular
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Israelis want out of the Gaza war. But all the exit routes feel like traps
-
Fast Forward Antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein are proliferating — and entering the mainstream
-
Fast Forward Israelis lament their divides, and cling to them, as they mark a holiday commemorating the toll of disunity
-
Opinion On Monday my son was sworn into the IDF. I spent that afternoon protesting the Israeli government.
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
