This is the Forward’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on Jewish communities around the world.
COVID-19
The Latest
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Culture Socially distancing? Join the Forward’s book club, and connect.
Dear reader: I hope you’ll join me in a new project we’re launching: The Forward Book Club. For me, it’s a way to combine something I love (reading) with something I crave (connection in a time of crisis). We’re going to start with a book that’s perfect for this moment: “The Bread Givers,” by Anzia…
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News To preserve life, most Orthodox Jews submit, and sacrifice religious life
Hana Cohen’s apartment in Borough Park has a view onto the heavily Orthodox neighborhood’s 12th Avenue thoroughfare. There is a yeshiva, a daycare, a small synagogue, a restaurant. Tuesday, it was business as usual, with class in session and people shopping. Wednesday was different. “Usually there’s kids playing by the street, there’s mothers on the…
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News Watch: White House calls Hasidic leaders, asking them to take virus more seriously
An assistant to the president called on rabbis and leaders of the Orthodox community to help reduce gatherings of more than ten people to prevent the spread of coronavirus, according to video and audio recordings sent to the Forward. Religious leaders asked questions on Tuesday about how to safely hold minyanim, including having them outside,…
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Yiddish World All YIVO online classes are now free of charge
Read this article in Yiddish As COVID-19 continues to affect individuals and societies around the world, the YIVO Institute for Jewish research has decided to offer all its online courses free of charge. “YIVO wants to help keep our spirits lifted and provide content to sustain our minds and souls,” said Jonathan Brent, YIVO’s Executive…
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Life How to fulfill the Torah’s commandment for optimism in the darkest times
There is a lot of confusion and doubt in these “coronavirus days.” That’s especially the case within the Jewish community, where optimism has always played a large role in how we live — even in the face of some of the harshest realities. Synagogues, mikvehs, schools and yeshivas have suspended all activities, going against our…
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Yiddish זיך וואַשן די הענט — אַ גאָר אַלטע ייִדישע מסורהHandwashing – a venerable Jewish ritual
דאָס װאָס די כּהנים האָבן זיך געװאַשן די הענט פֿאַרן טאָן די עבֿודה איז דער ערשטער משל פֿון זיך ריטועל װאַשן די הענט בײַ ייִדן.
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Fast Forward How one synagogue is staying open: Staggered prayer times
Synagogues around the country have shut their doors to daily because of the coronavirus pandemic, but some, particularly among Hasidic and other Orthodox strains of Judaism, are taking extraordinary measures to find ways to stay open. One Orthodox synagogue in Lakewood, New Jersey — which has one of the highest concentrations of Jews in the…
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Opinion Panic is gripping my Orthodox community as we navigate the plague
It’s hard to overstate how serious it was for Rabbi David Cohen, senior halachic authority in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn and nationwide, to cancel all shul-related activities due to the coronavirus outbreak. And yet, that’s what happened. On Tuesday, he sent out a letter stating that all remaining schools which had not yet closed…
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