This is the Forward’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on Jewish communities around the world.
COVID-19
The Latest
-
Community Changing course in the middle of a pandemic
The sun rises in spite of everything and the far cities are beautiful and bright. I lie here in a riot of sunlight watching the day break and the clouds flying. Everything is going to be all right. — Derek Mahon Our world is drowning under the weight of pandemic as we fight toward the…
-
Community With COVID, ‘it’s Groundhog day. Every day.’
My child wears the same shirt every day. Admit it. Yours does too. If it wasn’t during the COVID pandemic, I might admit to being lazy, to having ignored the fact that he took the shirt out of the hamper and wore it again. But that’s not the case. The shirt he wears every day…
-
Culture From Basra to the Chelsea Hotel — My father’s journey
My father, George Chemeche, is 87 years old. I live with him here in the Chelsea Hotel. Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, I haven’t really seen him. For his safety, I occupy the bedroom of our apartment and he occupies the living room, TV room and kitchen. I order groceries for my father,…
-
Community The only unnatural way to be is alone
Lo tov heyot ha-adam levado, it is not good for the earthling to be alone (Gen. 2:18). As the product of a traditional Jewish education, I have always heard this verse cited as an aphoristic observation about human nature and the need for companionship. No one wants to be alone their whole life. Life is…
-
Life As shul reopens, can we make it more welcoming to Orthodox women?
The wigs in my wardrobe stand poised, like ballerinas backstage, curled on their mannequin heads. Since New York’s shutdown began in mid-March, I have not needed that armor, and the multiple roles they represent: the straight dark one is “serious journalist;” the wavy long one, “Upper East Side rebbetzin.” In normal times, these varied shades…
-
Community Even Zoombombing can’t take away from the importance of civil rights education
Jewish schools must prioritize Jews of color. By recognizing there is a rainbow of diversity within the Jewish community, schools can be places where students become advocates and allies working closely with Jews of color to ensure they feel welcomed and supported. Yet unfortunately, the reality is that many Jews of color feel marginalized and…
-
Life What do we eat now? And other questions for our advice columnists
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]. Three squares? Sweetie, put down that spatula Dear Abbys, I am cooked out….
-
Community Protection in a pandemic: “Nothing bad can happen to you when you are wearing a hamsa”
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times!” Oddly enough it was a man that coined that phrase, but it is the women bearing children that bid it true. After all, what is more of a contradiction than the careful nurturing of a tiny being inside you for 9 months, with…
Most Popular
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Who’s responsible for deadly antisemitism? Everyone will hate the answer
-
Looking Forward Stumbling across Jewish history in a vintage store
-
Film & TV Remembering Siskel and Ebert’s great debate: Mel Brooks or Woody Allen?
-
News A Jewish gun club teams up with the NRA, in pursuit of self-defense
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism