Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on Jewish communities around the world.
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Life ‘Extra screen time is totally fine’: and more tips for doing summer without camp
On Thursday afternoon, a long-dreaded email arrived in inboxes throughout the Reform Jewish community. Amid concerns about operating safely during the coronavirus pandemic, it announced, the Union of Reform Judaism had decided to cancel all sessions in its large network of summer camps. 10,000 campers ages four to 18 are affected by the shutdown, and…
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News ‘Camp is my home’: What cancelled summers mean to kids, parents and camps
The 10,000 children who attend the Reform Movement’s sleepaway camps learned on Thursday that coronavirus had cancelled their summer. The news left some devastated, but the impact on children, their families and the camps themselves has just started to unfold. “Camp is always the best part of my summer!” wrote a girl named Hanna Pearce…
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Forverts in English Yiddish-speaking Harlem pastor, William Richard Harrel Jr, has died
Read this article in Yiddish. William Richard Harrel Jr, the African-American Harlem pastor, who was well-known in Brooklyn’s Hasidic community for his appearances in videos and skits that demonstrated his knowledge of Yiddish, died last week at the age 63 of coronavirus. Besides his longtime service as a pastor in Harlem, Harrel had another vocation,…
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Community ‘We were in uncharted territory,’ burying my friend in the time of social distancing
Two weeks ago, my friend — a pillar of our community, a father, a husband, and a true mensch — who was successfully fighting cancer, fell sick with coronavirus, and died just 24 hours later. Mourning his loss and comforting his family proved to be some of the most difficult moments of my 28-year career…
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Fast Forward Hasidic doctor touting controversial drug has emails examined by Justice Dept. prosecutors
Federal prosecutors are examining emails between Dr. Vladimir “Zev” Zelenko — a Hasidic doctor touting the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19 — and a right-wing political commentator, the Washington Post reported. Zelenko is currently collaborating with Jerome Corsi, a commentator best known for propagating the falsehood that President Barack Obama was born…
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Culture Coronavirus makes May Day a moment for radical action — and hope
On May 1, employees at several major companies, including Amazon, Whole Foods, Target and Instacart, will stage a one-day walkout. At the same time, tenants in cities across the United States will begin a rent strike, predicted to be one of the largest the country has ever seen. The workers’ concerns: Lack of adequate paid…
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Fast Forward NYPD disperses Hasidic crowd in chaotic scene at Borough Park funeral
A chaotic scene formed in Borough Park Thursday afternoon as police officers tried to disperse a crowd of onlookers who gathered to watch a funeral procession for a Hasidic man. The incident, which occurred at the corner of 13th Avenue and 43rd Street, came as police officers in both Borough Park and Williamsburg issued dozens…
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News He made the call to cancel summer camp for 10,000 kids. Here’s what he has to say.
Ruben Arquilevich is a Jewish summer camp guy. He says his life was shaped by Jewish summer camp. Over the past three decades, he’s been a camper, a counselor, a professional staffer and the director of a Jewish summer camp. He met his wife at Jewish summer camp. He sent his kids to Jewish summer…
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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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Fast Forward Potential Trump visit to iconic Gottlieb’s deli has Hasidic world aflutter
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