Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on Jewish communities around the world.
COVID-19
The Latest
-
Community Yearning to breathe free
At first, the world seems little changed—the virus is still present, the future still unclear. In fact, the coronavirus is a consistent reminder of how much we do not know. When will there be a second wave? Do antibodies provide immunity? When will there be a vaccine? Feeling equal measures of fear and constriction, we…
-
Opinion Every Jew must decide which side they’re on
On the first day, a white woman made a panicked call to 911, because a black man bird-watching nearby in Central Park politely asked her to leash her dog. On the second day, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was arrested and lynched by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, who pressed his knee into…
-
News Coronavirus aid for Jewish day schools caught up in DeVos debate
Millions of dollars that could help Jewish private schools pay for transportation and tutoring are in limbo because of a political fight between Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives over whether the money should support all students or just those who are poor. The dispute concerns $13.5 billion in federal dollars…
-
Fast Forward AIPAC cancels next year’s policy conference due to COVID
(JTA) — AIPAC has canceled its 2021 policy conference, citing the “continued uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic.” Betsy Korn, the president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, made the announcement in a letter sent to the organization’s membership on Sunday. The annual conference had been scheduled for March 7-9 in Washington, D.C. One…
-
Culture Escape from New York — a third-generation migration tale
On March 7, I took a picture of a “child pile” in my Brooklyn apartment. Ten of my daughter’s friends had spent the night, celebrating the closing of a school play they’d worked on. The floor was a mess of sleeping bags, pillows, backpacks, soda bottles and empty bags of Doritos. A Happy Birthday banner…
-
Community ‘Zoom shiva is shiva distilled to its essence’
I am one of those people with one of those stories. My mom, 83, went into the hospital in early April with something relatively routine. A few weeks and complications later, she went to a rehab to regain her strength. My dad delivered her reading glasses and an everything bagel to the door, knowing, of…
-
Life We asked the experts: can teens see friends in a summer without camp?
Teenage summers are transformative times. Between the end of one school year and the beginning of the next, adolescents take on new roles at camp, become temporary members of the workforce, and enjoy evening cruises down back roads. They cement friendships, escape parents’ watchful eyes, and break the rules — just a little. “This is…
-
Community ‘What religion was my cousin? What rituals could we all share?’
My cousin was born a Jew, accepted Christ, and died an atheist in a COVID ward in a Florida hospital. He was secretly laid to rest a week later, his Christian wife spreading his ashes on the grave of our observant Jewish grandmother in a private, unauthorized graveside funeral. Before the funeral, there were discussions…
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Trump says Jews would deserve much of the blame if he loses
- 2
Opinion This GOP candidate has always been antisemitic — so why are Republicans only panicking about him now?
- 3
Culture Hitler is trending on TikTok again — and they’re trying to make him seem like a nice guy
- 4
Opinion A daring attack on Hezbollah may reveal Israel’s strengths — and its most terrifying weakness
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Republican senator refuses to condemn Trump’s remark that election loss would be Jews’ fault
-
Opinion Israel’s next war front: Why Lebanon is different than Gaza
-
Fast Forward Civilian effort to equip Israeli soldiers for war with Hezbollah ratchets up alongside hostilities
-
Oct. 7: One Year Later How 10/7 — like 9/11 before it — irrevocably changed the meaning of a pair of numbers
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism