Welcome to 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 The extremely problematic and incredibly harsh impact of Coronavirus on art
Most art is unfinished — quietly, unglamorously, pointlessly. Two and a half chapters of a novel yellowing in a bottom drawer; sets for a play nobody bothers to produce; a pilot never aired; a melody never resolved; a canvas never covered. That’s just the physical evidence — for every half-finished work, there are thousands that…
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News Ultra-Orthodox children hold ‘Kid lives matter’ protest over summer camp closures
Hundreds of Haredi children in Brooklyn gathered in the early evening on Thursday to ask New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and to open sleepaway camps and parks. Videos and photos showed a crowd of children, mostly boys with sidecurls and kippot, walking and biking along Bedford Avenue,…
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Culture For centuries, Jews have been battling epidemics like coronavirus
Decades after the Jews were expelled from Spain, a Jewish traveler worked his way through the medieval Jewish cemetery of Toledo, copying epitaphs from the gravestones there. One of them belonged to Joseph ben Meir Abulafia, a newlywed who, along with his wife, was among tens of millions of people — in Europe, as much…
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News N.C. rabbis: The ‘moral pandemic’ of racism is a Jewish problem
“I experience racism in the Jewish community on a regular basis,” said Rabbi Sandra Lawson, one of four North Carolina rabbis behind an urgent call for American Jews to take action against police violence. “As a black queer woman, I don’t see a lot of people who look like me.” Long before Lawson was ordained,…
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News Orthodox reporter challenges De Blasio on NYPD ejecting Hasidic families from playgrounds
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed why city police have kicked dozens of Hasidic families out of Brooklyn parks over the past several weeks, even as protesters taking to the streets over the police killing of George Floyd have been allowed to gather in public, decisions that drew fierce criticism from the Orthodox…
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Community Camp is a safe haven, and right now, we really need one
The first Jewish summer camps were founded at the turn of the 19th century as a youthful escape from squalid urban living. Out in the country, children could grow in little pockets of bliss separated from worldly ill. There was dancing, playing, swimming and very little worry. As time passed, camps of all sorts emerged,…
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Life Is showering even worth it these days? Plus advice on kicking expensive habits
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]. Help! I’ve become a slob Dear Abbys, The other day in the shower…
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Fast Forward New York Is allowing day camps to open. Some Jewish camps are still staying closed.
(JTA) — When Jewish camp directors explained their reasons for canceling camp this summer, state and local prohibitions were typically at the top of the list. We can’t even think about opening camp, they would say, because the government won’t let us. Now that’s changing. States across the country have told day camps, overnight camps…
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Fast Forward ‘Modern-day Mein Kampf’: NYC Mayor Adams under fire for Hitler reference as calls for his resignation mount
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News Elon Musk’s Jewish problem
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Books Despite her multimillion dollar fortune and celebrity pals, Ina Garten is a true balabusta
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News ‘Devastating’: What Germany’s election results mean for Jews
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Why are Jewish influencers suddenly talking about Meir Kahane?
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Yiddish World Chaim Grade’s last Yiddish novel ‘Sons and Daughters’ finally available in English
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Opinion Steve Bannon has given an old antisemitic trope a fresh ‘pro-Israel’ spin
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Sports A Jewish college basketball star is turning NBA heads at Michigan
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