Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on Jewish communities around the world.
COVID-19
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Community What makes this night different? The story of a hospital room Seder
That the doctor and I washed our hands shortly after arriving in the room wouldn’t seem unusual to the casual observer. Scrupulous hand-washing is common in hospitals. What might have piqued an outsider’s interest was the patient washing his hands. I held a basin over the bed as he carefully poured water from a cup…
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News For evangelical tourists, pro-Israel and anti-vaccine sentiments might collide
Pastor Tim Thompson, who leads a 1000-member evangelical church in southern California, is already planning a trip to Israel with members of his church in November 2021. But he and other churchgoers are not convinced they’ll actually make the trip, even if Israel opens up to tourists by that time. They are awaiting word on…
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News In this Florida synagogue, 5 people committed suicide in 4 months. Here’s how the rabbi is coping.
Rabbi David Steinhardt of Boca Raton, Fla., confessed that he had never dealt with anything remotely comparable: in the last four months, five congregants or their close relatives have died by suicide. All were single men aged 20 to 60. In contrast, during his nearly 38 years in the rabbinate, Steinhardt – spiritual leader of…
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News ‘Historically ludicrous’: Jewish leaders speak out against comparing vaccine passports to Holocaust
Conservative politicians, including former Trump cabinet member Richard Grenell and the freshman congressman from North Carolina, Madison Cawthorn, drew fire on Tuesday from prominent Jewish leaders for comparing a potential vaccine passport system to the Holocaust. In Israel, a country that has implemented a system of “vaccine passports,” documentation allows vaccinated individuals entrance to public…
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Opinion Entering Passover under the plague of vaccine guilt
As I unpack my Passover dishes and prepare to host a Seder that includes my aging parents — an enormous luxury compared to last year’s Zoom-only reality at the start of the pandemic — I find myself facing waves of an unfamiliar feeling. Vaccine guilt: That’s the guilt you get when you’re vaccinated and other…
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News For many synagogues, live-streamed services are here to stay after the pandemic
When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered synagogues across the nation a year ago, many congregations that previously avoided technology use on Shabbat embraced live-stream and video conferencing as the only viable and safe solution to maintaining community. Now, for many, the needle has moved, and post-pandemic, synagogues intend to keep those options available indefinitely. “I have…
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Community What I hope we learn from two Passovers in social distancing exile
Last year, as we prepared for our first physically distanced Seder, I wrote a poem, my first ever, about the ritualistic importance of U’rchatz: handwashing, in times of a pandemic. It ends with: To remember all those who have lost or have been lost. Tonight, we wash our hands for ourselves, and for others, We…
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Opinion Biden’s COVID relief plan is a balm for Orthodox Jews
It’s highly unlikely that members of Congress had Jewish education, advanced Torah study or even Orthodox Jews in their minds when forging the ambitious American Rescue Plan that, after being signed into law by President Biden last week, will infuse nearly $2 trillion into the economy to counter the effects of the past year’s COVID…
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Opinion A daring attack on Hezbollah may reveal Israel’s strengths — and its most terrifying weakness
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Fast Forward Steve Witkoff, Trump’s golf buddy when would-be assassin took aim, said they became friends over a ham sandwich
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Fast Forward Who is Laura Loomer? Trump wing woman uses her Jewishness to attack
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Fast Forward Potential Trump visit to iconic Gottlieb’s deli has Hasidic world aflutter
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Fast Forward Trump says Jews would deserve much of the blame if he loses
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Sports As Shohei Ohtani comes for his home run record, a Jewish Dodger legend is in awe with the rest of us
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Fast Forward California passes law to help Holocaust survivors and heirs recover Nazi-looted art
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Fast Forward Keir Starmer pledges to build Holocaust memorial and expand Holocaust education across UK schools
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