This is 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 ‘This Shabbat, like the several before it, Jews in New York City will not gather to sing Lecha Dodi together’
Every Friday night at dusk, Jews welcome the Shabbat to the words of Lecha Dodi. Lecha Dodi is one of the most beloved pieces in Jewish liturgy, and a barometer of sorts for our communal mood: When Hanukkah approaches, it’s paired with chipper holiday melodies; on the Shabbat before Tisha B’av, it’s accompanied by the…
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Community Covid has a gender disparity — and so does all medical care
Like many diseases, COVID-19 impacts men and women differently. It causes significantly fewer fatalities in women than men, a distinction that is visible across countries and cultures. Even when women have higher rates of diagnosis, men still have higher rates of death. Scientists are working to identify why this is, investigating men’s rates of smoking…
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Life A South Carolina couple dies as they lived — together
They were married for 64 years. Then they died of coronavirus, within hours of each other. When Gerald and Arline Polinsky, 89 and 86 respectively, died on the night of April 13, it was the conclusion to a quiet but enduring love story. They met in 1951, when Boston-born Arline Furman traveled to St. Louis…
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Opinion We are opening our summer camp
Every morning, as I begin my day, I scan my phone for the list. I’m not looking at my shopping list or my to-do list. I’m checking the updated list of summer camps that have decided to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Not me. I’m the director of Oregon NCSY. And as of this…
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Community Read ‘My Mask,’ a picture book to help kids understand coronavirus
Like many grandmothers, I’ve been trying to find a way to connect with my grandkids in this pandemic. I penned a poem for my granddaughter Livia who lives in Hollywood, Florida — the other side of the globe from me in Israel; we now visit on Facetime. My daughter, Miriam, a self-taught painter, took it…
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Life My husband is too productive in quarantine — how do I keep from killing him?
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]. Stuck in the stages of grief Dear Abbys, My father passed away last…
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News Camp Ramah in Wisconsin: need to raise $2M to ‘stay solvent’
One of the most prominent Jewish summer camps in North America is warning area rabbis that the camp faces an “existential threat” and might not stay solvent if they don’t receive a massive influx of donations. Without donations of hard cash, said Jacob Cytryn, executive director of Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, the camp would have…
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News NY Attorney General opens probe into NYPD COVID enforcement
New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced on Wednesday that she is looking into reports of unequal enforcement by the New York Police Department of social-distancing requirements due to coronavirus. In a May 8 letter to the police commissioner, James requested department policies and directives for enforcing the social-distancing rules, as well as the…
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Fast Forward Expelled Oberlin Chabad rabbi says he ‘made a mistake’ with explicit social media chats
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Culture Louis Theroux’s Netflix documentary on the manosphere takes a detour into antisemitism
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Fast Forward Illinois primary pits Jewish candidate with deep Israel ties against AIPAC spending
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Opinion Trump has forced an impossible choice on American synagogues amid antisemitic attacks
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Joe Kent, now under investigation, insinuates to Tucker Carlson that Israel might have killed Charlie Kirk to stoke Iran war
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Fast Forward ‘I’m alive!’: Netanyahu speaks in-person amid ongoing online rumors claiming he’s dead
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Fast Forward Can James Talarico’s faith-forward politics invigorate the Jewish religious left?
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Fast Forward JB Pritzker once donated to AIPAC. Now he says he wants nothing to do with it.
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