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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Community ‘How will our routines change when all of this is over?’
Routine is a construction, and so many of us are trying to construct some kind of routine amid days that blend together. In my house the routine used to be clear, crystallized by years of careful shaping and re-shaping. We learned to leave for the bus stop two minutes earlier. We pushed bedtime up or back…
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Life ‘Somehow in the morning there’s something there:’ How one pastor is feeding the hungry
Pastor Joel Hubbard calls it the Manna Food Depot. “I get here and the room is empty,” he explained one recent morning as we sat in the so-called multipurpose room of his Park United Methodist Church in Bloomfield, N.J. “And then by 10:30, there’s food in it. And then by 1 o’clock there’s not.” Hubbard,…
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Fast Forward A rabbi said shutdown rules violate his religious freedom. Police arrested him for hosting a bonfire.
Police in Lakewood, N.J. arrested an Orthodox rabbi for violating state shutdown and distancing rules, as well as obstruction of justice and resisting arrest, after he hosted a bonfire for the Jewish holiday Lag B’Omer on Monday night. The rabbi, Yisrael Knopfler, is suing the state over the shutdown rules, which he claim violate his…
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News A Jewish holiday triggers more social distancing violations in Brooklyn
Police broke up a gathering of about 100 Orthodox Jews in Borough Park celebrating a minor Jewish festival Monday night, according to an eyewitness and the New York Police Department. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of alienating his neighbors, said he heard loud music outside and walked down the…
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Community ‘All the lights were off, except for one…the ner tamid’
For many religious people across the world, the loss of not being able to go into “the office” is coupled with the loss of another important source of connection, belonging and purpose – one’s house of prayer. For me, they happen to be the same place. I’m one of the rabbis at Sixth & I…
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Community I’m a professional comic. Here’s why you need to laugh about this pandemic.
The pandemic has brought serious challenges: people losing their health, their jobs, not to mention the COVID-19 pound weight gain. In short, there is nothing funny about the coronavirus. Or is there? COVID-19 takes away our sense of taste and smell. But there’s something it can’t – and shouldn’t– take away– our sense of humor….
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Community ‘Breathe, my brothers,’ a prayer for my beloved kin with coronavirus
My day begins each morning with a walk to the ocean. I start early, in the still shy light of day. There are usually a number of people out when I walk, but in these days of sheltering in place of the coronavirus, the sidewalks and streets are eerily empty. A lone car. When I…
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Opinion ‘He asked if his Rebbi didn’t like him anymore.’ Special needs families are struggling with the pandemic
Sarah W. has six children. The youngest are three-month-old twins. But they aren’t the most challenging. Three of Sarah’s children were born with hydrocephalus, a condition in which spinal fluid accumulates in the brain, hindering development. It took years for Sarah’s children to learn how to dress themselves and feed themselves. When they are taught…
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Fast Forward Trump says Jews would deserve much of the blame if he loses
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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 This GOP candidate has always been antisemitic — so why are Republicans only panicking about him now?
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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 A maelstrom around Rashida Tlaib shows how broken discourse about the war has become
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Fast Forward Sitcom star encourages non-Jews like her to hang mezuzahs on their homes
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Antisemitism Notebook Why antisemitic politicians pose a quandary for Jewish leaders
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Fast Forward Trump said he wants to deport immigrants by ‘serial numbers’
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