New York State officials have interceded in the case of a defunct Jewish burial society that was selling graves on the open market, effectively forcing the society to give up its remaining plots. At least eight people who purchased graves at Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, N.Y., from the Przedborzer Friends Society received letters in…
In this week’s Reporters Roundtable podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis is joined by Forward fellow Seth Berkman to discuss his story about a tent city in Lakewood, New Jersey a town with a large, dominant Orthodox community. Then, Naomi Zeveloff drops by to discuss her story about a professor whose professional relationship with a student devolved…
A black market in Jewish graves is hiding in plain sight on the classified pages. Defunct Jewish burial societies have been selling cemetery plots at bargain basement prices through classified ads on Craigslist and in the print edition of the Forward — even though New York and New Jersey state laws bar these sales. Each…
In an online age, Jewish mothers worried about their children’s romantic prospects have found a new way to intervene. Rather than simply gifting a JDate membership or forwarding tips to find a match online, more than 5,000 Jewish mothers are using TheJMom.com to network directly in search of their child’s beshert. The site takes old-fashioned…
If you ask me (and, if I had to guess, many of my peers), there is nothing worse than Hebrew school. In the world of fun Jewish activities, with Yom Kippur fasting being a one and hooking up with Israeli soldiers on Birthright a 10, attending Hebrew school is a lowly three. On Sundays, when…
The Forward’s new Yiddish site has certainly taken off with a bang. In the days since the launch of the yiddish.forward.com site was announced, several major media outlets have run stories on it, and what it means for the future of the Yiddish language. We hoped the new site might get a lot of attention…
What mazel! Last week, Yiddishists round the world woke up to find an article by Joseph Berger about the Forverts — in the New York Times, no less — entitled: “For Yiddish A Fresh Presence Online”. The next day, a Hebrew translation of the article appeared in the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, with a slightly different…
Angry Birds, Instagram and Facebook continued to be among the most downloaded apps of the year but rising stars also earned coveted spots on smartphones and tablets. Uber and Hailo, which allow users to book limos and taxis and were both created by Jewish entrepreneurs, started to catch on in 2012. This year consumers spent…
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