This is the Forward’s coverage of Jewish women and women’s issues.
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Opinion Game Over for Religious Balance in Beit Shemesh?
Getty Images In a rerun of a scandal-ridden poll in the fall, Beit Shemesh has reelected its ultra-Orthodox mayor. Rarely has a political campaign pitted Haredim and others against each other to the extent seen in this Israeli city. The original election in October was fought as a battle between two rival visions for the…
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Life Throwback Thursday: Queen Esther in New York City
Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly photo feature in which we sift 116 years of Forward history to find snapshots of women’s lives. Sonia Kanciper, a 22-year-old member of the Farband, the Labor Zionist organization and a post-graduate student at Hunter College, was chosen New York’s Queen Esther of 1952 in a beauty contest of…
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Life Too Sexy for Purim?
(Haaretz) — It seems terribly appropriate that International Women’s Day was happening this year as Israelis were caught up with preparations for the holiday of Purim — and not just because it is the only Jewish holiday with a woman, the heroic Queen Esther, who saved her people by charming a king, at its center….
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Fast Forward Women of the Wall Bring Tefillin to the Streets of Tel Aviv
They were standing in a public square in a major Israeli city, laying tefillin on women amidst shouts of protest and quizzical looks from nearby men in black hats. It’s become an occasional morning routine for Women of the Wall. Except this time, they weren’t at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. They were at the…
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Opinion Letty Cottin Pogrebin Looks Back at ‘Free To Be’
Letty Cottin Pogrebin / Wiki Commons When I think back to my childhood record collection containing Burl Ives stories, the Broadway cast recording of Fiddler on the Roof, and Top Disco Hits of the 1970s, one LP stands out: the generation-defining, gender-equality kids album Free to Be You and Me. Released in 1972, the platinum…
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News ‘Partnership Minyan’ Spreads Among Orthodox — and Rabbis Fire Back
(JTA) — If it wasn’t clear before, it should be abundantly clear now: The Orthodox establishment will not sanction so-called partnership minyans, and it’s willing to go to the mat to fight them. In recent weeks, a flurry of articles by leading Orthodox rabbis and scholars have taken aim at the growing phenomenon of partnership…
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The Schmooze Lena Dunham Plans ‘Archie’ Comic Books
Fantasies do come true — if you’re Lena Dunham. The “Girls” creator will reportedly be writing a story four-issue for “Archie,” the iconic comic featuring everyone’s favorite carrot-top. Dunham has previously spoken of her love for the comic and her desire to be involved in its production. From the New York Times: Sometimes, opportunities will…
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Opinion Will Israel’s Haredi Draft Bill Empower Women?
Getty Images As the Israeli government prepares to present the Knesset with its bill to draft yeshiva students into the army, the Haredi community is seething. But even as it kicks into reactionary mode, you’ve got to wonder whether, paradoxically, this could present an opportunity for some limited advancement among Haredi women. The Haredi media…
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Opinion Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point
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News They texted about Torah and mitzvahs. Feds say they were insider trading
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Opinion I run The Jewish Theological Seminary. Here’s the real story about President Isaac Herzog speaking at our commencement
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Fast Forward Talarico won’t campaign with Democratic House candidate who wants to open ‘a prison for American Zionists’
In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish אַ שוועבנדיקע הילצערנע שיל אויפֿן ווענעציער ביענאַליי פֿון 2026 A floating wooden synagogue at the 2026 Venice Biennale
אין פֿאַרגלײַך מיט די פֿיזישע פּאַוויליאָנען געשאַפֿן פֿון אָפֿיציעלע לענדער איז דער ייִדישלאַנד־פּאַוויליאָן געבויט אויף אידעען
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News Mamdani Nakba Day video prompts pushback from Jewish leaders amid rising tensions
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Yiddish World Molly Crabapple’s book is well researched but ideologically biased
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News At Trump’s Christian revival on the National Mall, one rabbi made a Jewish case for America