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
-
Capitalist ‘Hurry Up,’ and the Titanic
This editorial was published in the Yiddish-language Forward on April 18, 1912. First impressions of the horrendous accident cause a heightened awareness of one’s humanity. The victims died suffering hideous death throes. People weep and keen and rend their clothes ritually over the loss of their loved ones. At a time such as this, who…
-
Mystery Shrouds Macy’s Titanic Plaque
It was a simple yet generous gesture. About 5,000 employees of Macy’s department store contributed what little they could afford to create a memorial plaque for their boss, Isidor Straus, and his wife, Ida, who died in the Titanic disaster. “Their lives were beautiful and their deaths glorious,” read the inscription on the bronze bas-relief…
-
Chicago Hillel Feuds With Federation
Jewish federation officials in Chicago have fired the head of the University of Chicago’s Hillel and the Hillel’s entire board in a bitter governance dispute that could result in two umbrella Jewish student groups dueling it out on campus. The dismissed Hillel leadership wanted independence from the Chicago federation, which controls all Hillels in Illinois…
The Latest
-
Making Matzo in a Chametz-Free Zone
From the Kalish archives: In a story that originally aired on WNYC, Jon Kalish takes us inside a Shmura matzo bakery in Boro Park, Brooklyn. <strong>Subscribe to Forward podcasts on iTunes</strong>
-
Israeli Soldiers Get Un-Kosher Food on Passover
sraeli soldiers in the Kfir Brigade ate salami and matzah for their seder meal after a base chef heated up the real seder food inappropriately, rendering it unkosher. The infantry brigade returned to base from a mission at the start of Passover expecting a festive holiday meal, but the base chef had begun to heat…
-
Titan of the Sea Meets Its Match
Nearly a century after the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the stories about how those aboard fared during the ship’s final hours remain as fresh today as they were on the fateful night of April 14, 1912. The luxury ocean liner, helmed by Capt. Edward Smith, was carrying the fabulously wealthy and the steerage poor…
-
Details of the Frightful Tragedy
This article was published in the Yiddish-language Forward on April 16, 1912. Sunday at 10:40 p.m., a large iceberg tore through the starboard hull of the Titanic. For half an hour the crew and engineers of the ship labored intensively to “heal the wound,” and plug the hole, but it wasn’t possible. And at around…
-
Chabad ‘Likes’ Facebook, But Not for Girls
An Orthodox girls school’s recent decision to fine students $100 for using Facebook made national headlines. But there was nary a mention of the story on the popular Chabad website. And the news was nowhere to be found on the Facebook page or Twitter feed of Chabad-Lubavitch, the Hasidic sect with which the school, Beth…
-
An Anthem for LGBT Youth
A New Jersey jury recently convicted 20-year-old Dharun Ravi of hate crimes for using a webcam to watch as his college roommate kissed another man. Days after the incident, the subject of the video stream, Tyler Clementi, jumped off the George Washington Bridge. Clementi’s tragic death was one of a recent spate of lesbian, gay,…
-
Jews Stream Back to Germany
For decades after the Holocaust, many Jews harbored an almost instinctive aversion to things German. But today, tens of thousands of Israelis, Jews from the former Soviet Union and even many American Jews are actively choosing German citizenship. Sound unreal? It’s today’s reality. According to a study by Dr. Sima Salzberg of Bar-Ilan University, 100,000…
-
Solving a Titanic Mystery, Surviving Passover Food
In this week’s podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis talks with Forward contributor Michael Hirsch and Forward managing editor Lil Swason about the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic and the Forverts’ coverage of the event. Then, Devra Ferst, editor of the Forward’s food blog, stops by to give some helpful hints on how to…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture How one Jewish woman fought the Nazis — and helped found a new Italian republic
-
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
-
Fast Forward Betar ‘almost exclusively triggered’ former student’s detention, judge says
-
Fast Forward ‘Honey, he’s had enough of you’: Trump’s Middle East moves increasingly appear to sideline Israel
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
