Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on Jewish communities around the world.
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The Latest
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News Ultra-Orthodox Jews already shy away from the census. Is the pandemic making it worse?
One Haredi man in Borough Park heard a rumor that the census will be used to round up Jews if there’s another world war. A Yiddish web forum participant said Jews who fill out the census will cause plagues like swine flu and coronavirus. Another pointed out that the paper census form only has spaces…
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Fast Forward One of the only Jewish camps open this summer has 100% negative COVID rate
(JTA) — Camp Modin, a Jewish overnight camp in New England that opened even as scores of others closed this year, got some good news last week: All of its campers have tested negative for COVID-19. “We informed the campers and staff this evening that our collective efforts have delivered the successful results we have…
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Community Joe Biden names his sh’liach to the Yidden – my partner
I lost my business partner last week, but for a good cause. Aaron Keyak is now Jewish Engagement Director for Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. His sh’liach to the Yidden, if you will. The campaign could not have picked a better person. Aaron and Bluelight Strategies, the Washington public-affairs firm we co-founded in 2014,…
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Community Will we be excited to return to shul?
This may be one of the oldest Jewish jokes out there. A Jewish man is shipwrecked on a desert island. Working with available supplies he makes a whole community, including a shul. Eventually he is rescued by a passing ship. Before they leave, one of the sailors says, “Hey! Why’d you build two synagogues?” The…
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Community Spiritual hunger persists even in the face of physical hunger
Amos dedicated the bulk of his prophecy to railing against the well-heeled, calling them “cows of Bashan”: “They drink [straight] from the wine bowls, And anoint themselves with the choicest oils— But they are not concerned about the food/ruin (shever) of Joseph” (Amos 6:6). And yet, in Amos’s climactic prophecy, he shifts his focus to…
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Community Not all the statues need to come down
Three monuments—the statue of Saint Louis in Missouri, the Judah P. Benjamin monument in North Carolina, and buildings named for Woodrow Wilson at Princeton—allow us to understand how Jews should think about their place within the American racial order and how antiracists should think about Jews within the struggle to disrupt the legacies of racism….
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Fast Forward Texas Jewish day camp closes following COVID-19 outbreak
(JTA) — A Jewish day camp in suburban Dallas has closed after at least two campers and two counselors tested positive for COVID-19. The closing of Gan Israel of Plano, Texas, on Tuesday night serves as a cautionary tale as schools look to reopen this fall. The camp, which according to its website serves kids…
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News Jewish day schools still don’t know if they’ll reopen in the fall. Why is it taking so long?
Doron Wesly, 45, has two children, six and two, who are supposed to be taking the summer off from their Jewish day school in New York City. But on a muggy Monday in July, he was taking time out of the older child’s vacation to practice reading. After months of distance learning necessitated by the…
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Fast Forward Trump says Jews would deserve much of the blame if he loses
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Opinion This GOP candidate has always been antisemitic — so why are Republicans only panicking about him now?
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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
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Republican senator refuses to condemn Trump’s remark that election loss would be Jews’ fault
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Opinion Israel’s next war front: Why Lebanon is different than Gaza
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Fast Forward Civilian effort to equip Israeli soldiers for war with Hezbollah ratchets up alongside hostilities
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Oct. 7: One Year Later How 10/7 — like 9/11 before it — irrevocably changed the meaning of a pair of numbers
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