Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of social media platforms and their role in Jewish life.
Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of social media platforms and their role in Jewish life.
Social Media
The Latest
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Culture Why the new matzah emoji is not kosher for Passover
When you’re typing on an iPhone, the autofill interface tries to guess the next word you mean to type, or finish the word you’re currently typing. This is also how it suggest emojis — type in “fire,” and the flame emoji will pop up, which is very helpful given that there are 3,521 emojis to…
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Culture Why Hamantashen are the most divisive cookies in the world
Hamantashen are divisive cookies. Named after the Purim story’s villain, Haman, the triangle confections are supposed to resemble either his hat or his ears, depending who you ask — and many consider the often dry and crumbly cookie about as appetizing. Defending their honor is even part of the famed Latke-Hamantash Debate. (The Forward staff…
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Culture Facing corruption charges, Bibi turns to TikTok
Bibi Netanyahu is on TikTok. There are videos of him throwing a snowball into the camera to celebrate Jerusalem’s snowy conditions, or urging Israelis to get vaccinated, though they don’t seem to have caught on too well — while, as an international leader, he has managed to get verified, he only has 217.4K followers, far…
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Culture This 25-year-old Ashkenazi-British-Sudanese comedian is blowing up on TikTok
Lukas Arnold talks about his life all the time; it’s central to the comedy that has earned him 1.1 million followers on TikTok. And yet, the more he talks about himself, the more of an enigma he becomes. The 25-year-old comedian and voice actor’s dad is Ashkenazi, with ancestry in Poland. His mom is half…
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News On Ultra-Orthodox social media, the messiah is almost here.
After an armed insurrection at the Capitol, rampant conspiracy theories about a stolen election and social media blackouts for President Donald Trump, some WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook users in Ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, communities see the present moment as the darkness before the dawn — that is, the golus before the coming of moshiach, the messiah….
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News Is Gab’s leadership as antisemitic as its users?
After the Anti-Defamation League published an open letter asking the federal government to investigate the self-described “free speech” social media platform Gab — which hosted the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter — for its possible role in the Jan. 6 Capitol siege, Gab’s response letter included an unusual sign-off. “We will never bend to their demands and…
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Culture Sea shanties have gone viral on TikTok — are niggunim next?
I have been singing a sea shanty all day. All week, really. This one is called the “The Wellerman” and it’s having a moment on TikTok. Yes, the whaling boat’s work songs from 200 years ago have gone viral with the teens. TikTok users are sharing the original audio, sung by a TikToker named Nathan…
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Opinion A TikTok Hanukkah miracle — and your weekend reads
This is an adaptation of our weekly Shabbat newsletter, sent by our editor-in-chief on Friday afternoons. Sign up here to get the Forward’s free newsletters delivered to your inbox. And click here to download and print a PDF of Your Weekend Reads. This is a story about everything and nothing, and it happened right here…
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Fast Forward ‘Rabbi rebellion’: 33 Orthodox rabbis endorse Harris
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Opinion I was a Bernie supporter. This year, I’m voting Trump. Here’s why liberal Jews like me made the switch
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Opinion Here’s why Orthodox Jews are loyal to Trump — even if they don’t love him
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FIRST PERSON As a rabbi, he helped others mourn. So why wouldn’t his daughter say kaddish for him?
In Case You Missed It
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News Who will shape policy toward Israel in a second Trump administration — and what Jews might serve in it?
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Fast Forward Donald Trump thanked a ‘historic coalition’ for his election. He didn’t include Jews.
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News ‘If Kamala had chosen Josh Shapiro’: Some Democrats wonder if it would have made a difference to have the Jewish governor of PA on the ticket
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News Analysis Gaza didn’t cost Harris the election. But her approach pointed to a broader problem
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