Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on Jewish communities around the world.
Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on Jewish communities around the world.
Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on Jewish communities around the world.
Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on Jewish communities around the world.
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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….
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…
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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