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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Opinion The invisible plague: grief
BG IMG LINK Previous Article Next Article If you’ve never sat in an eerily empty subway car amid a global pandemic, while reading a novel about a strain of influenza wiping out 99% of the world population — well, I don’t recommend it. But that was a few morning commutes for me as the novel…
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Opinion The man-made plagues of Gaza
BG IMG LINK Previous Article Next Article The story of Passover and the ten plagues always filled me with awe: Egyptians punished with hunger and thirst, bloody water, blinding darkness and loved ones lost overnight. When I was a young person, those horrifying plagues were unimaginable. Then, I experienced similar, man-made plagues, plagues that continue…
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Opinion The plague’s reminder: We only think we’re in charge
BG IMG LINK Previous Article Next Article As COVID-19 is not the fearsome Yersinia pestis bacterium — the rod-shaped, anaerobic organism that ravages human bodies by way of rat fleas — it is not, strictly speaking, a plague. No matter. If civilization can be said to be plagued by froyo shops or LED light displays,…
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Opinion My great-grandmother survived Stalin and Hitler. I’m thinking of her this Passover.
BG IMG LINK Previous Article Next Article We’re going to be alone for the seders. It was the first thought in my mind that really hit home the severity of the COVID-19 crisis as New York authorities began telling people to stay home. The next one was: Are we even going to be able to…
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Opinion Coronavirus is exposing the plagues of American society
BG IMG LINK Previous Article Next Article If God sent coronavirus to our shores, it isn’t because he’s punishing us. He’s simply forcing us to look into a mirror so we can finally take a good hard look at who we really are rather than what we’ve long pretended. Or maybe it’s because he was…
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Opinion I used to love the plagues – until I lived through one
BG IMG LINK Previous Article Next Article I used to love the plagues. Not anymore. I used to love the plagues until I lived through them. As a child, my most favorite moment of Passover, the otherwise endless family dinner which featured a gelatinous fish dish and an overcooked meat dish, was the plagues. After…
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Opinion Being alone, choosing life: Jewish practice in a plague
BG IMG LINK Previous Article Next Article For Jews who practice even a modicum of tradition, social distancing is an unnatural act. Our tradition is predicated on the notion that no Jew should live alone on a desert island. Consider the institution of a “minyan,” a quorum of ten adult Jews. One needs a minyan…
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Opinion In times of senseless tragedy, God manifests through us
BG IMG LINK Previous Article Next Article The situation is devastating. An entire country, the most powerful one of its time, brought to its knees, its vast military and economic might no match for the plague that envelops it. It must have been utterly crushing to be an Egyptian back then. And yet, horrible as…
Most Popular
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Culture Hitler is trending on TikTok again — and they’re trying to make him seem like a nice guy
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Culture You can buy Sukkot gift boxes that say ‘tuchus’ on Amazon
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Fast Forward Sitcom star encourages non-Jews like her to hang mezuzahs on their homes
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Opinion A maelstrom around Rashida Tlaib shows how broken discourse about the war has become
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion With killing of Hezbollah’s chief, Israel occupies the inarguable moral high ground
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Looking Forward An Israeli hip-hop artist remembers a day of hope in Gaza
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Sports The Jewish Sport Report: How the Chicago White Sox made a bad year even worse for Jewish fans
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Oct. 7: One Year Later A different closet: Queer Zionists navigate the post-Oct. 7 dating scene
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