This is the Forward’s coverage of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest.
Shabbat
The Latest
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Culture Bring on the Portable Shabbat
Jewish funding organizations have long been investing in Israel trips, day school, summer camp, and, more recently, children’s books. And now, thanks to grants from the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life and the Paul E. Singer Foundation, young adults can secure funds to execute an age-old weekly Jewish ritual: hosting Shabbat dinners. Called OneTable, the…
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Fast Forward Jewish Valedictorian Delivers Shabbat Commencement Speech on Video
A graduating senior at Binghamton University in New York will deliver the commencement speech via a pre-recorded video since it falls on Shabbat. Don Greenberg, of Teaneck, New Jersey, will stand at the podium on stage during the Binghamton University’s Watson School of Engineering commencement on May 16, but will not speak live. Orthodox Jews…
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News Does Switch Really Make It Kosher To Switch Lights on Shabbat?
(JTA) — It promises a revolutionary innovation that could transform Jewish Sabbath observance. By changing the way a light switch works, the patented Kosher Switch offers a novel — and, its backers say, kosher — way to turn light switches (and, perhaps, other electrical appliances) on and off during Shabbat, circumventing one of the Sabbath’s…
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News After Brooklyn Fire, Assessing the Risks of Shabbat Technology
Every Friday before sundown, in countless observant Jewish homes across the United States, someone turns on a hot plate or a gas stovetop, and then doesn’t turn it off again for twenty-five hours. The practice is so common that it blends into the background of traditionally observant Jewish life. But since a malfunctioning Sabbath hot…
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Fast Forward Netanyahu, Rivlin Send Condolence Letters to Brooklyn Family After Fire
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a condolence letter to the father who lost seven of his children in a house fire in Brooklyn. The children, ages 5 to 16, were buried in Jerusalem on Monday. “Each one of your children was a world unto him or herself, unique and special. There is no greater…
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Opinion Of Sabbath Fires, Safety, Hate and Love: A Reply
It seems some readers saw my Saturday night post about the deadly Brooklyn fire that killed seven children and decided it was a bigoted attack on Orthodox Judaism. In case you missed it, I wrote that this is not the first time Sabbath fires — hotplates, candlesticks — have gotten out of control and killed…
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Opinion Stop Using Brooklyn Fire To Stoke Anti-Orthodox Hatred
An Orthodox man looks at the scene of the fire in Midwood, Brooklyn / Getty Images You never want Shabbat to end on a tragic note. Yet among the the rush of messages that blipped across my phone when I turned it on Saturday night was news of the death of seven children in Brooklyn’s…
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Opinion Slouching Towards Shabbat
I’m failing at Shabbat, the most important holiday of them all. It’s not that I’m skipping it; for the past eight years, I’ve gone to services most Friday nights and many Saturday mornings. I buy a challah every week. Light candles. Recite Kiddush. I do feel some Shabbat separation — the literal translation of the…
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