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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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…
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Community Mourning, healing, and proximity in a COVID world
There is a story told in the Talmud (Tractate Berakhot, 5b) about Rabbi Yohanan. He possessed a great healing ability, the unique ability to listen and hold the pain of the other, and he had also experienced unimaginable loss as 10 of his children died in his lifetime. In one famous story he goes to…
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Community American Jews were not only all at Sinai, but also all in Newport
Few celebrations occurred to mark this year’s Jewish American Heritage Month, which ends on Monday. Trapped in our houses and apartments while a plague ravages our country, somberness and anxiety are our constant companions. Our synagogues have been shuttered, our schools closed, and our community centers emptied. The mood and circumstances have not been conducive…
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Community ‘We both knew camp was a privilege’
Let me begin by telling you that I know this is frivolous. We are in the middle of a horrific pandemic that has upended our lives; more importantly, it has ended tens of thousands of lives But there is another situation that threatens our expectations: Summer is over before it has started—some day and overnight…
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Life Help – my naturopath sister doesn’t believe in corona!
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]. Growing up is hard to do Dear Abbys, I was raised in a…
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Fast Forward Maryland county’s corona guidelines put the kibosh on communion — and kiddush
A Maryland county issued an executive order that permits synagogues to reopen but effectively prohibits kiddush receptions. As of May 29, houses of worship in Howard County may hold services with up to 10 people inside and 250 people outside. However, most forms of physical contact, from shaking hands to sharing food, are prohibited. “No…
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Opinion Letter | We must attend shul whether or not women are present
Dear Editor, As an Orthodox rabbi and someone who takes the role of women in prayer extremely seriously, I was dismayed by Rabbi Dov Linzer’s recent article To my fellow Orthodox Jews: Don’t open shuls until you can open them to women, in which Rabbi Linzer contends that Orthodox shuls in New York State should…
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Community You already know how to celebrate Shavuot at home: Make a Seder
For most communities, the coronavirus has cancelled Shavuot. That’s because the standard Shavuot celebration revolves around public, shared space events like all-night Jewish learning at a synagogue or JCC. But there is a way to bring this experience home and, in doing so, make it far better. The all-night Shavuot program is a flawed product….
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Opinion The group behind Project 2025 has a plan to protect Jews. It will do the opposite.
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News Texas schools want to add Queen Esther to the curriculum. Here’s why Jews (and many Christians) are opposed.
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Film & TV Bonhoeffer biopic tells of a pastor turned would-be Hitler assassin — but is the story true?
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News What Mike Huckabee’s ‘Kids Guide to Israel’ says about his views
In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish World The day I, a Jewish kid from the Bronx, left a Vermont salesperson flabbergasted
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News Adam Schiff, California’s Jewish senator-elect and Trump’s nemesis, says the US is ‘very much weakened as a democracy’
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Culture How the biggest antisemitic riot in America transformed Jewish history
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Music Promising ‘no stupid Hanukkah songs,’ The Leevees strive for a ‘two-song solution’
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