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 ‘My mother lived for six years on a ventilator’
A few days ago, I texted a much beloved colleague to hear how her father was faring; he had been stricken by Covid-19 a few weeks before and had been intubated and placed into a medically-induced coma. An ebullient, vivacious whirlwind, she had recently become engaged to her soulmate and had left our store to…
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Opinion Israel quietly helped Gaza fight corona. Israelis approved.
In late March, the first two people in Gaza Strip were diagnosed with COVID-19. The ongoing humanitarian disaster of Gaza was poised to reach a crescendo. Surprisingly, positive things happened instead. The overcrowded strip of land holds nearly two million people hemmed in by a 13-year old closure imposed by Israel and frequent restrictions on…
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Fast Forward How the ultra-Orthodox plan to reopen safely: No women, no children
The health guidelines issued by one of the country’s biggest Orthodox Jewish organizations proclaim that the first stage of opening synagogues safely will prevent women from attending. Agudath Israel of America, which represents Haredi Jews (sometimes called ultra-Orthodox Jews), released their plan on Friday advising member synagogues on how to safely reopen their synagogues once…
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News NYC mayor’s office promised Orthodox leaders report would be ‘gentle’ on yeshivas, emails show
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio personally called Orthodox leaders asking them to support his effort to retain control over the city’s schools in exchange for soft-balling a probe into the state of secular education at yeshivas, according to internal emails obtained by the New York Post. The emails from late June support a report,…
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Fast Forward ‘My wife saved my life’: New York’s Jewish ‘patient zero’ talks recovery after 3 weeks in a coma
After three weeks in a coma and more than a month of recovering, Lawrence Garbuz — the New Rochelle, N.Y., lawyer who was New York’s ‘patient zero’ for coronavirus — is talking about his ordeal and recuperating at home with his wife and children. “I feel glad I’m alive to be honest with you,” Garbuz…
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News A Jewish food festival draws big names online
Lining up participants for The Great Big Jewish Food Fest has been the easiest experience with event planning Jeffrey Yoskowitz has ever had. “Not a single person we’ve asked has said a flat out ‘no,’”Yoskowitz said, “everyone has said ‘I’m in, I want to be part of it.’” Yoskowitz is the coauthor of the “The…
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Community ‘My mother and I went grocery shopping holding hands.’
This year the question of ‘Why is this night different than all other nights?’ left me in silence. We all knew the answer to that question. I feel dumb founded and at loose ends! I am living housebound because of this deadly virus. I have been ordered to wash my hands, to keep six feet…
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Life Faith, family and funerals: The pandemic through a rebbetzin’s lens
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. I write this from a makeshift war-room: lists of synagogue-members’ phone numbers and holy books spread out over the desk, a bottle of Purell in the…
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Opinion Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point
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News They texted about Torah and mitzvahs. Feds say they were insider trading
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Culture At Eurovision, Israel’s near triumph shows the limits of tolerance
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Opinion I run The Jewish Theological Seminary. Here’s the real story about President Isaac Herzog speaking at our commencement
In Case You Missed It
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News Mamdani’s first Jewish Heritage event reveals a narrowed circle
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Culture The Israeli song that almost won Eurovision was about far more than the breakup of a love affair
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Yiddish אַ ייִדישער כאָר אין סאַאָ־פּאַולאָ, בראַזיל געפֿינט זײַן קול פֿון דאָס נײַA Yiddish chorus in Sao Paulo, Brazil finds its voice again
דער נײַער אַלבאָם „שמשׂ“ פֿאַרבינדט די ייִדישע מוזיק מיט אַנדערע דיאַספּאָרישע טראַדיציעס.
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News Israeli flag attack ad prompts antisemitism charge in PA state race — yet boosts the Jewish candidate