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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News What it’s like to start a job as a rabbi mid-pandemic
(JTA) — This is how Jason Nevarez thought starting his new job as senior rabbi of San Diego’s Congregation Beth Israel would go: He and his wife would fly out this spring from their home in suburban New York to house hunt. He’d spend the summer holding face-to-face meetings with colleagues and congregants. Then he’d…
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Fast Forward Netanyahu admits Israel reopened ‘too soon’ after surge of COVID diagnoses
(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that the reopening of the economy amid the coronavirus occurred “too soon” Facing a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, Netanyahu took responsibility for the decision to reopen the country a month ago after severe early restrictions were put in place to halt its spread. “We…
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Community Is this Shabbat prayer non-binary?
The liturgical poem (piyyut) Yedid Nefesh, sung as part of the Friday night kabbalat shabbat (welcoming the sabbath) service, is incredibly powerful. The melodies are beautiful. The memories of so many Friday nights – at camp; in ad-hoc minyanim (prayer quorums) in people’s houses; in synagogues around the world — are resonant. The cue to…
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Life What if my son just forgets to apply to college?
From its start in 1906, A Bintel Brief was a pillar of the Forward, helping generations of Jewish immigrants learn how to be American. Now our columnists are helping people navigate the complexities of being Jewish in 2020. Send questions to [email protected]. Turbulence ahead Dear Bintel, I am a mother of two. My daughter is…
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Community How a legacy of intergenerational trauma connects Black and Jewish communities
As a non-Jewish, Black multi-ethnic therapist, writing this piece was an eye-opening experience in understanding the parallels between the diasporas of the Black and Jewish communities. I’ve had more conversations with friends and colleagues about anti-Semitism and racism, which has built stronger empathy and a sense of action toward uniting in our work towards a…
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Fast Forward Brooklyn’s Hasidic Jews are acting like they have herd immunity. Could they be right?
(JTA) – The front page of the June 26 issue of Der Yid, one of the most widely circulated Yiddish newspapers among New York’s Hasidic Orthodox communities, made the point loud and clear. “And so it was after the plague.” Those words, lifted from a verse in the Torah and printed alongside photos of large…
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News Which Jewish groups got the biggest coronavirus loans from the government — and why?
The Orthodox Union, the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, the Union of Reform Judaism, the Anti-Defamation League and Yeshivah of Flatbush are the Jewish groups that received the largest loans from the Small Business Administration’s Payroll Protection program, according to data released this week by the SBA, the federal body responsible for distributing loans…
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Israel News Israel employs controversial tracking tool to fight surging COVID
A 27-year-old Pilates instructor was walking home from the beach in Jaffa on Saturday afternoon when she got an alarming text message. According to “an epidemiological investigation,” it said, she had been in contact with a Covid-positive person on the previous Saturday between 4 and 5 p,m., and now was “obligated to go into isolation…
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News An Israeli restaurant chain said it closed due to boycotts. Protesters are celebrating.
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Opinion It’s time for the pro-Palestinian movement to make a radical change
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News Should synagogues remove the Israeli flag from bimahs now? How a New York shul made the decision
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Film & TV What the new season of ‘Nobody Wants This’ gets right — and very wrong — about Judaism
In Case You Missed It
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Culture Leonard Bernstein wrote a love song to the White House; now it’s an elegy
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Fast Forward As 1000+ rabbis sign anti-Mamdani letter, others decry mounting ‘red lines’ in Jewish communities
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News Mamdani has created ‘great fear,’ and Jewish voters are ‘more motivated than I have ever seen,’ Cuomo says
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Fast Forward The World War II origins of the White House East Wing, now demolished
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