Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on Jewish communities around the world.
COVID-19
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Fast Forward Massachusetts rabbis say synagogues should not rush to reopen
(JTA) — Rabbis in Massachusetts say they are not rushing to open their synagogues even though the state’s governor has said houses of worship may resume services. Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, included houses of worship in the first phase of Massachusetts’ plan to resume operations after bringing coronavirus infections under control. He announced Monday…
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Life We asked an expert: conflict management for a summer without camp
Your kids are fighting over a toy. You know, the toy they’ve fought over every single day since shelter-in-place began. You’re worried that someone is going to end up with a bloody nose, and you’re also desperate for a few quiet moments to get some work done. You yell at them. They yell back. Soon…
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News In Los Angeles, Jay Sanderson mourns his brother, and mobilizes Federation against COVID-19
For Jay Sanderson, it got personal. Last month, the COVID-19 virus claimed his mentally disabled twin brother, Jeffrey, who was living in a group home outside Boston. When it was clear Jeffrey wouldn’t survive the infection, doctors told Jay that his brother had about 24 hours to live. He lasted another four days and died…
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News Ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods not among hardest-hit by coronavirus: city data
New York City’s Ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods are not among those hardest hit by coronavirus despite the widespread perception that they have higher rates of infection, according to data released Monday by the city’s Department of Health. The data track cases and deaths across New York City’s roughly 70 ZIP codes from Feb. 29 to May 19….
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Fast Forward Hundreds of Jewish layoffs with more to come
(JTA) – The Jewish Telegraphic Agency is recording layoffs and furloughs at Jewish organizations as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This story is updated regularly and serves as a running log of layoffs and furloughs imposed at Jewish nonprofits. If you have information about layoffs or furloughs imposed at a Jewish nonprofit organization, please…
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News Are some Jewish nonprofits using Payroll Protection loans to lay people off?
For Jewish nonprofit employees, finding out that their organization has obtained a loan from the Small Business Administration’s Payroll Protection Program is a piece of long-sought good news. Even the name of the program signals that it’s a harbinger of job security in a turbulent time. And while it’s technically a loan, the government will…
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News Trump taking controversial drug after Hasidic doctor recommended it
President Donald Trump said Monday that he is taking hydroxychloroquine, the controversial antimalarial drug whose use to combat COVID-19 has been touted heavily by a Hasidic doctor in upstate New York. The doctor, Vladimir Zelenko, who has expressed support for Trump on social media, sent a letter to the White House in March about his…
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News Reform Judaism is a wounded giant. A historian explains why it got so big.
Amid a seeming avalanche of Jewish organizational cutbacks, closings and furloughs, the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) announced last Wednesday, that it would be cutting its staff by 20% due to coronavirus-related stresses. As with so many basic institutions of American life, the economic disruption caused by the pandemic is highlighting existential questions about the…
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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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Fast Forward House approves bill to study making US Jewish history museum part of the Smithsonian
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News For Jewish White Sox fans, this season has made a bad year even worse
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Fast Forward Fania Brantsovsky, Vilna ghetto survivor and partisan resistance fighter, dies at 102
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Fast Forward Mayor of Muslim-majority Michigan city endorses Trump, in new sign of Gaza war’s influence on presidential race
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