JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The original Bintel Brief column was founded at the Forward in 1906 and ran through the 1980s. Written in Yiddish, letter writers sought advice on heartbreak, poverty, religious quarrels, family disputes, love triangles and more. Legacy Bintel revisits these original Bintel Brief letters. Many appear here in English for the first time. They have been…
The president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, one of New York City’s largest police unions, appeared twice last week on Fox News with a “QAnon” coffee mug in the background. The mug, which appeared behind Ed Mullins during his television appearances, was stamped with a red, white and blue “Q,” the word “QAnon” and an…
In 1905, Pennsylvania did something unprecedented: It founded America’s first state police force. The new institution, which was more highly militarized than previous law enforcement systems, was created for one reason: The state government wanted a more organized and efficient way to break strikes. The new force approached that mission with zeal — and violence….
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…
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago reached a tentative agreement last week that obtained significant gains in salary and benefits for the union, which had languished for about a decade. After 12 years of raises that averaged 2.2%, a revitalized leadership pushed for salaries more in line with their peers…
July 12, 2019, marks the 37th anniversary of Clara Lemlich’s death. While Lemlich may not be a household name, her and her team of “farbrente Yidishe meydlekh,” or “fiery Jewish girls,” had a profound impact on the early 20th-century social movements of New York’s Lower East Side. Lemlich, a labor activist, suffragette and affordable housing…
The Academy Awards have long served as a platform for activists to voice their discontent to an audience of millions — even if the Academy’s board hasn’t always felt positively about such stunts. Ironically, however, according to a March 1 Hyperallergic article by Rooney Elmi, the awards have nefarious origins: They were apparently created by…
Harvard University dining workers are celebrating a victory after a strike that gained them a $35,000 minimum yearly salary and stable health-care costs in their new contract. And Jewish students on campus are, by and large, celebrating with them after taking a prominent role at the forefront of the push to support their demands. The…
