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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News Efry Levy Azizoff, 66, didn’t want to worry his friends as he grew ill with coronavirus
(JTA) — Hours before he was rushed to hospital in Milan because of the coronavirus, Efry Levy Azizoff was chatting on the phone with his friend Amichai Lazarov. Azizoff was already feeling unwell, yet he didn’t even mention it, Lazarov recalled. “I felt that something was off, but you conveyed nothing about your discomfort,” Lazarov…
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Life One rabbi reports: here’s how our e-minyan found its groove
In the beginning of March, before the full impact of COVID-19 began to descend upon our country, and our consciousness, when it was still possible to speak about it seriously-but-also-lightly, I gave a sermon on Shabbat morning entitled “Intimacy without Touch.” In it, I valorized the Jewish instinct, honed over centuries and played out through…
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Opinion Thank you, Sheldon Adelson
If you had told me two weeks ago that Sheldon Adelson would emerge from the coronavirus crisis a hero, I would not have believed you. A casino mogul worth close to $40 billion, Adelson is most famous for funding Republican and right-wing political campaigns and movements; he was the largest single donor in both the…
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News Rabbi Neil Kraft, 69, was beloved by Londoners from all walks of life
(JTA) — Neil Kraft’s smile was one of his most effective tools as a rabbi, people who knew him said. Kraft’s warmth was also the reason that many people from very different faiths and backgrounds were pained by his death at the age of 69 from the coronavirus in London, where he had for 17…
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News Judith Lowin, 76, was a retired nurse and proud Hadassah member
(JTA) — Judith Lowin, 76, a retired nurse from Riverdale, New York, died on Saturday, March 21, 2020, of coronavirus. A longtime resident of Monsey, New York, Lowin was married to Joseph Lowin and had three grown children, Shari, David and Benjamin, and several grandchildren. The funeral took place March 23 and was broadcast live…
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News Steve Steiner, 75, was public relations director for the Orthodox Union
(JTA) — For many New York-area Jewish journalists, Steve Steiner was the name attached to press releases for the Orthodox Union for over a decade. But to his colleagues, he was the kind and friendly man who arrived at the office each day wearing his trademark New York Yankees cap and toting a doorstop of…
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Opinion ‘Is Hashem upset at you? Is that why you’re davening at home?’ The challenges of teaching Jewish values during a pandemic
My kids have been wondering why I’m around this much. They have always watched me going to yeshiva to study and teach. They’ve seen me go to synagogue three times a day for their entire young lives. My wife and I have tried to explain this unique situation to them, but they’re still a little…
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Archive From the archives, influenza 1918: “Eat healthy—and change your underwear!”
October 28th, 1918 the Forverts published a curious ad on their 6th page—in an issue featuring, above the masthead, a one thousand dollar reward for any information leading to the arrest of the attempted murder of butcher workers’ leader Isidore Korn. He had been stabbed only that last Wednesday, while addressing a socialist gathering on…
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Fast Forward DNC finding: Biden’s Israel backing cost Harris votes for president
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Antisemitism Decoded After Minneapolis, a YouTuber comes for Jewish ‘welfare queens’
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News What We Know About Jeffrey Epstein’s Childhood
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News Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s exiled crown prince, has a plan for his people’s future — if they’ll have him
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Fast Forward What happened during the 2025 Israel-Iran war? A timeline.
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Fast Forward Sirens, shelters and an empty Old City: Jerusalem rattled on the first day of war with Iran
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Fast Forward Israel says Iranian supreme leader Khamenei killed during strikes on Tehran
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News Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s exiled crown prince, has a plan for his people’s future — if they’ll have him
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