The Jewish community’s strong support for immigration reform is fueled largely by memories of the Jewish exodus from Europe at the turn of the 20th century and by a desire to nurture ties with newcomer immigrant communities. But there is another group that has a stake in seeing a comprehensive immigration overhaul adopted, a group…
Though it’s the temporary administrative capital of the Palestinian Authority, the small, bustling city of Ramallah is not usually a place associated with art or romance. Yet the arrival, in late June, of Picasso’s 1943 painting “Buste de Femme” has lent the place a romantic luster. The two-year-long struggle to bring the Picasso, the first…
From bialys and pickles to dumplings and queso blanco cheese, the foods of dozens of immigrant groups can be found — and eaten — on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The Lower East Side Tenement Museum’s new walking tour, which launched in June, tells the story of America’s ever-changing cuisine with a tasting stroll through the…
When right-wing Jews burned tires in the streets of Jerusalem and tried to break into the compound of the Israeli Supreme Court in late June, they were marking a new stage in the development of a growing movement in Israel. The declared target of their angry protest was the arrest for a two-hour interrogation —…
For two weeks in June, my synagogue, the Germantown Jewish Centre, which is located in Northwest Philadelphia, housed 14 homeless people as part of a national interfaith effort to provide temporary housing for the homeless. GJC is among more than 65 synagogues around the country doing something to remedy at least a small portion of…
Once again, a New York school district controlled by Orthodox Jews is trying to sell a shuttered public elementary school to deal with its budget woes. And once again, critics have asked state officials to stop the sale. Activists challenging the East Ramapo Central School District’s handling of the latest sale say that it favors…
Former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman is reportedly interested in taking ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner’s spot. Holtzman, who served four terms in Congress from 1973 to ‘81, told the New York Times that she “could hit the ground running” if picked to replace Weiner, who resigned in disgraced amid a scandal over explicit text m A special election…
New research shows that both ultra-Orthodox and Israeli Muslim women are having fewer babies than they were five years ago, shattering popular wisdom that fertility in these two communities is always on the rise. According to data released June 19 by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, by 2010, Haredi women were averaging one fewer baby…
As the former dining editor of Time Out New York, Gabriella Gershenson was once a gatekeeper to one of the country’s most food-obsessed cities. In her current role, as senior editor of Saveur magazine, she is responsible for introducing readers to food cultures from around the world, editing stories on such far-flung topics as the…
The efforts by activists to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, and the implications of New York’s recent passage of same-sex marriage legislation on Conservative movement clergy are the subjects of this week’s podcast. Host Josh Nathan-Kazis speaks with Forward opinion editor Gal Beckerman and with Joseph Dana, who is reporting from Athens on the “Freedom…
The Forward swept the 30th Simon Rockower awards Wednesday night, winning a record 13 awards, including nine first-place honors that recognized journalistic excellence in every section of the weekly newspaper and the overall quality of its website, forward.com. The awards, honoring the best Jewish journalism published in 2010, were presented by the American Jewish Press…
