Welcome to 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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Opinion COVID exposed America as a failed state. How can I honor the military oath I swore?
“I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same…_” I spoke these words for the first time in the summer of 1997 when I entered basic training at the United States…
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Fast Forward Jewish head of Ohio health department targeted with protest at her home, anti-Semitic slurs
Protesters gathered in front of the home of Dr. Amy Acton, the head of Ohio’s health department, on Saturday afternoon to push back against state rules that are keeping businesses closed in order to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. Protesters and politicians who oppose the state rules have targeted Acton, who is Jewish,…
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Culture Pandemics have always incited anti-Semitism. Here’s the history you need to know.
Every pandemic begins with a terrifying moment in which it seems impossible to explain what is happening. Often, whoever is considered the “other” in society is blamed, a scapegoating we see happening here and now. President Trump’s administration has drawn criticism for periodically insisting on calling the coronavirus “the Chinese virus,” a move many see…
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Fast Forward Natan Sharansky is using his ‘Jewish Nobel’ winnings to help people affected by COVID-19
JERUSALEM (JTA) — When Natan Sharansky learned in December that he would become the eighth Genesis Prize honoree, he decided he would use his $1 million prize money to promote issues to which he has devoted his life: human rights and Zionism. That was before the coronavirus crisis. Now, Sharansky, the former Soviet dissident who…
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Opinion Eulogy | ‘He was always chopping vegetables:’ Remembering Fred Pressman
Fred Pressman was a giant in the Jewish world. A giant you probably never heard of. He didn’t hold power positions in major organizations, didn’t donate millions of dollars to causes. He was a giant wisp of a man, an aging hippie in saggy jeans with a stringy gray ponytail under a Bukharan kippah, a…
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Community ‘Could it be that I happened to have found an underutilized type of ventilator?’
Normally, my usual duties as a congregational rabbi have absolutely nothing to do with the provisioning of medical equipment. But these are extraordinary times. Our highest principle in Judaism is pikuach nefesh, “saving a life.” And what has kept me up at night throughout this crisis are these ventilators. Last week, a widely reported New…
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Community My mother was a Holocaust survivor, but she was always more worried about my happiness.
My 93-year-old mom, who survived the Holocaust, died of COVID-19 in an assisted living facility in New Jersey on April 5. I found out she was dead from a text with the words Baruch Dayan Haemet, the Jewish blessing at the time of death. Only days earlier, my nephew called to tell me she had…
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Life Am I even Jewish without camp? Dear Abbys dish on this and other questions.
From its start in 1906, A Bintel Brief was a pillar of the Forward, helping generations of Jewish immigrants learn how to be American. In 2020, we are reviving the signature advice column, helping people navigate the complexities of being Jewish in this digital age. Send your questions to [email protected]. Am I even Jewish without…
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Film & TV Bonhoeffer biopic tells of a pastor turned would-be Hitler assassin — but is the story true?
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News What Mike Huckabee’s ‘Kids Guide to Israel’ says about his views
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Culture At 95, Shaindel Schreiber is still dispensing babka and advice on the Lower East Side
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Fast Forward Trump attorney general pick Pam Bondi: 5 things Jews should know
In Case You Missed It
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News Israel reached a ceasefire in Lebanon. Why does Gaza seem so hard?
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Culture Barbra Streisand recorded here — and so did Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, John Lennon and, uh, The Village People
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Fast Forward Lee Zeldin, Trump’s pick to helm EPA, says he received bomb threat with ‘pro-Palestinian themed message’
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Opinion We can be thankful this year — and Jewish wisdom can help
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