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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The Schmooze Scandal-prone influencer Arielle Charnas is battling over her florist bill on Instagram
Just over a month after tearfully apologizing for her last coronavirus-era transgressions, beleaguered influencer Arielle Charnas is making headlines again — this time for stiffing her florist. Owner of the clothing line Something Navy, Charnas has racked up over a million Instagram followers by sharing daily outfit selfies, lukewarm TikTok dance routines, and snapshots of…
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News Alone in her school lab, a teacher prints face shields
Like schools most everywhere these days, the Milken Community School in west Los Angeles is largely free of people. The coronavirus shut down the private Jewish school’s middle and high school campuses until further notice, leaving classwork to continue online through the end of the academic year this week. There’s at least one exception to…
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Fast Forward Kosher cream cheese shortage may cramp Shavuot celebrations
A cream cheese shortage that struck at the worst possible time has been resolved, said a prominent kosher dairy company — but not all customers are reassured. Kosher cream cheese is the latest in a list of consumer goods, from toilet paper to meat, made scarce by coronavirus. The dairy spread has become an increasingly…
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Life The Book of Ruth: A story about famine offers a powerful lesson for a pandemic
As a public service during this pandemic, the Forward is providing free, unlimited access to all coronavirus articles. If you’d like to support our independent Jewish journalism, click here. The story of Ruth at the heart of Shavuot has a striking relevance to our global pandemic: it begins with a natural disaster. Human drama is…
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Community ‘When mashgiach is applied to the Zoom experience, it becomes a symbolic metaphor of guidance and support’
Mashgiach literally means supervisor in Hebrew. The word is usually used to describe an individual who supervises the standards of kashrut or Jewish dietary observance in a kitchen where kosher food is prepared and served. But today, it has another meaning: the Zoom supervisor. All institutions should consider creating a Zoom Mashgiach to sustain and…
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Fast Forward Rabbi, couple among 8 arrested at Jewish wedding in Buenos Aires
(JTA) — BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — A rabbi along with the bride and groom were among eight people arrested by Buenos Aires police for gathering at a wedding and violating the public coronavirus lockdown that bans public and religious events. It was the third Jewish wedding held in recent weeks in the Balvanera area…
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Opinion To my fellow Orthodox Jews: Don’t open shuls until you can open them to women
After two months of heavy restrictions on New Yorkers’ comings and goings, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that religious gatherings of up to ten people will now be permitted. My ears, like those of many religious Jews, perked up at the number ten. In Judaism, ten is the minimum number of people required to…
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Life The rush to return to our sanctuaries is misplaced
Last week, President Donald Trump called for churches, synagogues and mosques to reopen. In a press conference, the president said, “In America we need more prayer, not less.” As a congregational rabbi, I can affirm that so many in my community are missing the ability to sing together, catch up in our hallways, hug people…
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Fast Forward Trump says Jews would deserve much of the blame if he loses
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Opinion This GOP candidate has always been antisemitic — so why are Republicans only panicking about him now?
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Culture Hitler is trending on TikTok again — and they’re trying to make him seem like a nice guy
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Opinion A daring attack on Hezbollah may reveal Israel’s strengths — and its most terrifying weakness
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion Not just Trump: Antisemitism is pervasive in the Republican Party
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Fast Forward Springfield, Ohio, rabbi will meet with local Haitian leaders after disparaging community
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Fast Forward Michigan attorney general: Rashida Tlaib’s criticism is ‘antisemitic’
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Opinion Memo to Bill Ackman and Donald Trump: Spreading conspiracy theories isn’t good for the Jews
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