This is the Forward’s coverage of synagogues, Jewish houses of worship.
Synagogues
The Latest
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News ‘Training and sweating and bleeding’: American Jews learn how to shoot back at synagogue terrorists
Colonel Sharon Gat wants to put a gun-wielding terrorist response team in every synagogue in America. How? By training volunteers from the synagogue itself. His firm is launching the first organized effort to teach Jews across the country how to use guns to defend their congregations against shooters like the ones who perpetrated the attacks…
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News Will Rosh Hashanah 5781 come with a paywall?
The High Holidays are designated for spiritual stock-taking, but this year synagogues are wrestling with a decidedly non-spiritual issue: money. The Days of Awe also happen to be the season in which many synagogues garner enough income — in the form of ticket sales, membership renewals and Yom Kippur appeals — to sustain themselves for…
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News The Jewish world’s top security official says it’s time to address bias in synagogue protection
Securing Jewish institutions has rarely been this complicated: There’s the question of reopening, a spike in anti-Semitic activity online — which security experts worry could translate to physical attacks — and the pressing national conversation about racism in policing, and the Jewish community’s relationship to police. The Secure Community Network is the Jewish organization at…
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News Two marquee Reform synagogues are in merger talks – and they won’t be the last
Two historic Reform synagogues in New York announced Thursday that they are entering merger talks. One is embroiled in a financial crisis made more pressing by the pandemic; the other is growing, but faces a $2 million shortfall due to the economic impact of the coronavirus. In email messages sent to their congregations Thursday afternoon,…
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Fast Forward Maryland county’s corona guidelines put the kibosh on communion — and kiddush
A Maryland county issued an executive order that permits synagogues to reopen but effectively prohibits kiddush receptions. As of May 29, houses of worship in Howard County may hold services with up to 10 people inside and 250 people outside. However, most forms of physical contact, from shaking hands to sharing food, are prohibited. “No…
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Community Safe-guarding your post-pandemic synagogue requires fundraising — respectfully
Even while the world is experiencing chaos and confusion, it is inspiring to see organizations, particularly community based and religious institutions such as synagogues, engage with and draw in their communities in meaningful ways. The unknown is most definitely challenging, and over the past two months, people have turned to their local communities for support,…
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News Rabbis: Synagogues should be among last places to reopen. What does that mean for High Holidays?
The United States is starting to reopen, but a broad range of Jewish leaders are citing religious values to say that synagogues should be among the last places to do so. And compounds the uncertainty around the High Holidays, which happen in the fall and are the peak season of the Jewish year. Will American…
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News The pandemic is forcing synagogues to reinvent themselves
The Forward is taking an ongoing look at the future of synagogues in America in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you have information or insights, please contact [email protected] The start of May means different things to different people, but for most synagogues, it means it’s time to start planning for the high holidays. And…
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