The Forward

The Forward

@forward.com

Since 1897, the Forward has been a leading source of news, opinion and culture through a Jewish lens. Sign up for our newsletters: forward.com/newsletters Become a member today: forward.fundjournalism.org

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@emilyctamkin.bsky.social

For @forward.com, I wrote about Joe Kent and why just going shh isn’t working forward.com/opinion/8140...

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Berman Archive at Stanford

@bermanarchive.bsky.social

"Not only is the Antisemitism Industrial Complex failing to focus on the most dangerous forms of antisemitism, many of its efforts are making matters worse." —Rabbi @jaymichaelson.bsky.social in the @forward.com forward.com/opinion/8123...

forward.comAntisemitism is exploding on the right but the Jewish establishment is focused on the leftObsessed with Israel, the anti-antisemitism industry is failing to confront the threat of right-wing nationalism — and, in some cases, making it worse

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@alykatzz.bsky.social

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, 115 years ago tomorrow, galvanized a century's worth of workplace safety laws that are now getting shredded.

forward.comWe're forgetting the lessons of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fireStates have been gradually rolling back the protections that activists like Pauline Newman and Clara Lemlich bravely fought for

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@alykatzz.bsky.social

Come work with me at @forward.com! We're looking for a managing editor to work with our phenomenal team.

forward.comEmploymentThe Forward is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, citizenship status, color, race, national origin, disability, disability status, gender, pregnancy status or...

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Just pubbed @forward.com – an exclusive interview with AJ Edelman, the Israeli Olympic bobsled captain, who pulled no punches defending the ill-fated switch that got his team disqualified. Read here: forward.com/news/sports/...

A new safety policy at an Arizona cemetery requires families to leave before a casket is lowered into the ground. Jewish clergy say the policy interferes with a core religious ritual, and one local rabbi is preparing a lawsuit.

forward.comAn Arizona cemetery now requires mourners to leave before burial. A rabbi plans to sue.Jewish families say a Scottsdale cemetery’s new policy requiring loved ones to leave before a casket is lowered disrupts a core burial ritual

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@emilyctamkin.bsky.social

Unlike some people whose names are Bret, I don’t think the answer is to give up on the fight against antisemitism and only invest in Jews, but instead to think more about how antisemitism interacts with the rest of society. For @forward.com forward.com/opinion/8072...

forward.comWe're losing the fight against antisemitism. Here's how to turn the tideThe old ways aren't working. That doesn't mean that hope is lost

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Just pubbed @forward.com: I spoke with Nithya Raman about her run for mayor of Los Angeles, her engagement with the Jewish community in her district and how voters should read her breaking with DSA on Israel. Gift link! forward.com/news/806134/...

forward.comShe's a democratic socialist who affirmed Israel's right to exist. Can she be LA's next mayor?Nithya Raman thinks she can win over the city's Jewish voters. Step one: Convince them she’s not Zohran Mamdani.

“The Muppets’ philosophy of meeting the outrageous with the outrageous, the unhinged with the unhinged, and the grouchy with the grouchy has its lessons for us humans, too,” writes Talya Zax.

forward.comThe Muppets are my rabbi, and they should be yoursA one-off "Muppet Show" special, guest-starring Sabrina Carpenter, contains deep spiritual lessons. A full reboot should follow.

“I want you to open [the Torah] and read it and come up with a question and come up with an answer,” explained one rabbi concerned with using AI as a shortcut to religious enlightenment. “It’s not just end result. It’s the process.”

forward.comThese rabbis are making an Orthodox case against AI. Will anyone listen?The leadership of the Orthodox Jewish community is addressing the challenges of AI use and its perceived spiritual risks.

Our intrepid political reporter @jacobkornbluh.bsky.social, profiled this weekend by @nytimes.com.

nytimes.comThis Hasidic Reporter Has a Few Questions for Mayor Mamdani

@alykatzz.bsky.social's first essay as @forward.com EIC: "It’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was and will be — that I arrive as your new editor-in-chief, at a moment like so many before when the Jewish world (and the world, period) urgently needs unflinching journalism."

forward.comAs editor-in-chief, I'm finding my way Forward (and back)As a longtime muckracker turning my lens to Jewish affairs at a time of political tumult, I’m mindful of the legacy set by Abraham Cahan.

“Oliver! may be the most Jewish musical ever written that refuses to admit as much, and watching Simon Lipkin’s sly, buoyant portrayal of Fagin on London’s West End recently, I felt a jolt of something I hadn’t expected: Home.”

forward.comCould this be the most Jewish musical that never admits its own Jewishness?A new West End production of 'Oliver!' featuring Simon Lipkin as Fagin brings back the sounds and rhythms of a Friday night dinner table.

Rabbi Levi Azimov, who leads Chabad of South Brunswick in New Jersey, said the suspect, who has not yet been identified by police, attended a Purim service at Chabad in March of last year. He visited there twice more, seeking spiritual guidance, Azimov told @forward.com.

forward.comChabad attack suspect had previously sought ‘spiritual guidance’ from rabbiThe Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway was attacked by a 36-year-old who had previously visited Chabad in New Jersey.

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@emilyctamkin.bsky.social

For @forward.com, I wrote about Anne Frank, ICE, and what we risk in making - and in refusing to ever make - comparisons forward.com/opinion/8009...

forward.comWhat we talk about when we talk about Anne Frank hiding from ICEIs it ok to invoke Anne Frank in discussing kids hiding from ICE? Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum disagree.

“Anybody who’s in this area will tell you that if he belonged to a Klan branch and did all that, then you got it, right? But if he played baseball? Went to St. Joe’s? I mean for all intents and purposes that’s an all-American boy.”

forward.comHow an ‘all-American boy’ became a Mississippi synagogue arson suspectThere was little warning that Stephen Spencer Pittman, who police arrested for arson, was poised to strike Jackson’s lone synagogue.

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@emilyctamkin.bsky.social

For @forward.com, I wrote about Soros (surprise) and Orbán, Trump, antisemitism, xenophobia, Hungary, and us forward.com/opinion/7986...

forward.comThere's a vicious antisemitic precedent for Trump's demonization of Renée Nicole GoodTrying to link Renée Good, who was killed by an ICE agent, to George Soros serves Trump's conspiratorial anti-immigrant rhetoric.

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My latest for @forward.com is a bit of a change of pace, looking back at the history of A Bintel Brief, one of the oldest advice columns in the US, which is celebrating its 120th birthday today, and how the advice it dispensed to Eastern European Jewish immigrants in 1906 still resonates today.

forward.comHow 'a bundle of letters' became a cornerstone of life advice for American JewsStarted by legendary editor Ab Cahan, The Forward's advice column, A Bintel Brief, celebrates its 120 anniversary.

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@rickhellman.bsky.social

Thx to @forward.com PJ Grisar for citing @universityofkansas.bsky.social Jewish Studies chair Samantha Cooper, whose expertise is involvement of NY Jews in opera. forward.com/forward-news...

forward.comEmma Goldman, superstar? The Jewish anarchist has a surprising role to play in American musical theaterWhile she was a radical and critic of capitalism, Emma Goldman was in fact a devotee of the opera. Maybe that's why she fits into musicals.

Three days ago he reposted an animated video of a woman seeing a Jewish caricature holding moneybags and exclaiming, “A Jew in our backyard!” It was unclear whether he posted the video before or after the arson attack, which occurred Jan. 10 at around 3 a.m. local time.

forward.comSynagogue arson suspect posted antisemitic cartoon on day of the attackStephen Spencer Pittman has been charged with the arson attack on Jackson, Mississippi synagogue Beth Israel.

As smoke filled the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center one year ago, Cantor Ruth Berman Harris searched for her husband through the darkness, calling out to make sure the Torahs were being carried out. By night’s end, the building was destroyed, but all 13 Torahs were safe. 🧵

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The Eaton Fire that razed Pasadena was different. “What surprised me,” she said, “was how loving and caring and strong and vibrant a community can be in the midst of tragedy. There was no doubt that we were going to be OK.”

Over the past year, she has watched people return to Jewish life who had once drifted away from it — not out of fear, but out of need. “It surprised me how relevant a Jewish community can be in times of crisis,” she said. “I knew it from books. I had never experienced it.”

forward.comShe helped rescue the Torahs from their burning synagogue. A year later, Pasadena's mishkan is thriving.A year after wildfire destroyed Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, its congregation is still gathering, growing and planning a new synagogue.

As smoke filled the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center one year ago, Cantor Ruth Berman Harris searched for her husband through the darkness, calling out to make sure the Torahs were being carried out. By night’s end, the building was destroyed, but all 13 Torahs were safe. 🧵

Cantor Harris Berman recalls the experience with @forward.com's @benyamincohen.bsky.social.

forward.comShe helped rescue the Torahs from their burning synagogue. A year later, Pasadena's mishkan is thriving.A year after wildfire destroyed Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, its congregation is still gathering, growing and planning a new synagogue.

She grew up in Buenos Aires and lived through two acts of mass violence that targeted the Jewish community there — the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy and the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center, which killed 85 people, including friends of hers.

For those of you who've seen Marty Supreme, how did audiences react during the honey scene? @forward.com editorial fellow Olivia Heynie explores the disconnect between Josh Safdie's intent and how many viewers have responded to it.

forward.comSo, what’s the deal with the honey scene in ‘Marty Supreme?’A harrowing story of survival in Auschwitz has been misinterpreted by some viewers, sparking online discourse.

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@emilyctamkin.bsky.social

For my last piece of 2025, I wrote about reading Arnošt Lustig and hoping against hope for @forward.com forward.com/opinion/7938...

forward.comThe Holocaust survivor writer who can help us through this ominous eraArnošt Lustig, a Czech Jewish writer, survived the Holocaust and incorporated its horrors in his writing — but came out hopeful all the same.

There's nothing like archival ads from early 20th-century editions of Forverts to bring out the Yiddishe research nerd in all of us. But now we want to know what this musical pin looked like!

Dan Carkner@alte.klezmor.im

from @forward.com, June 1908--found while looking for info about other Musical stuff. what's a musical pin? 🤔

As Commissioner Chadwick was wrapping up the commission meeting, he wished the group a Merry Christmas, and Commissioner Waldrop whispered, “We haven’t said ‘Happy Hanukkah.'” “No, we don’t say that,” Chadwick replied, as Waldrop’s mouth fell agape.

forward.comThis politician refused to say ‘Happy Hanukkah,’ then blamed ‘political correctness’ for the backlashChris Chadwick, chairman of the Carteret County Board of Commissioners, said he will defend his right to say "Merry Christmas."

"Despite his clear love of the Jewish Shabbat, he cannot help but reject it because it’s not Christian. And this is key to his argument: At its roots, Kirk’s praise of Shabbat is more concerned with convincing his readers to embrace Christianity than it is with learning from Judaism."

forward.comIn making a Christian case for Shabbat, Charlie Kirk stripped off its Judaism'Stop, in the Name of God,' Charlie Kirk's final book, is careful to make sure that Shabbat doesn't sound too Jewish.

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“I understand that the gentiles who are lighting their own menorahs as a show of solidarity mean well but that’s not for y’all to be doing. Judaism is a closed practice,” one user posted. “Get the circumcision first, then we’ll talk.”

forward.comChristians are displaying menorahs in their windows post-Bondi Beach attack. Why some Jews objectNon-Jews are placing menorahs in their windows as a show of support for their Jewish neighbors. But is it solidarity or appropriation?

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I wrote a thing for @forward.com about reconnecting with family that I had presumed did not exist because of the Holocaust, and how a Bondi Beach veteran's pub became a place of reunion for us.

forward.comAustralia welcomed my family’s Holocaust survivors — and Bondi Beach soon became a symbol of renewal for meThe Australian Jewish population nearly tripled in size from 1938 to 1961, with Holocaust survivors like my family moving there.

Please welcome @forward.com's incoming editor-in-chief, @alykatzz.bsky.social!

forward.comAlyssa Katz Named Next Editor-in-Chief of the ForwardAlyssa Katz has been named Editor-in-Chief of the Forward, the nation’s most influential and widely-read Jewish publication. The appointment was announced today by Forward Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishm...

“When Jews are attacked for being Jews, and the response is muted, conditional, or delayed, the message is unmistakable. Jews may still live here, but only quietly.... We cannot and will not retreat into hiding our light. The call of this moment is simple and urgent: Light candles everywhere.”

forward.comThe call of this Hanukkah moment remains simple and urgent: Light candles everywhere. Even when we're under attack.Even after the attack at Bondi Beach that left 15 people dead in Sydney, Australia, we light Hanukkah candles to publicize the miracle.

“We have repeatedly reached out to our government, telling them that we do not feel safe. And yet, it has often felt as though these concerns are met with procedural gestures... Australian Jews do not feel that the government is taking its approach to antisemitism as seriously as it should.”

forward.comI grew up believing Australia was the best place to be Jewish. This Hanukkah shooting forces a reckoning I do not want.I grew up believing that Australia was one of the best places on earth to be Jewish. This country always felt like a gift: Extraordinary beaches, glorious wildlife, and a cultural temperament that val...

“The left often prioritizes spotlighting the urgent needs of Palestinians—rightly, and with good reason…But the de-escalation that has accompanied the current ceasefire has opened an opportunity for the Jewish left to reflect and redefine its strategy. What future, exactly, are they fighting for?"

forward.comThe Jewish left is misplaying its hand — by not focusing enough on JewsJews who support Palestinians are often treated as less Jewish in Israel. It's time for the Jewish left to take that issue seriously.

"Too often, Jewish leftist spaces shy away from these questions. What does the egalitarian, diverse and thriving Jewish future the left seeks to build look like in Israel and beyond? How does this future address the many legitimate questions Jews have about their safety and identity there?"

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Replying to @acarv.in

@forward.com spoke with Marty Supreme's production designer on why they decided to feature the delivery truck in the film.

forward.comHow the Forward got a cameo in ‘Marty Supreme’Production designer Jack Fisk speaks about the joys, and challenges, of recreating 1950s New York — and beyond.

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Marty Supreme goes all-in on embracing NYC Jewishness with a nice touch of nerdy historical accuracy: Left: Isaac Bashevis Singer in front of a @forward.com delivery truck outside the historic Forward Building in 1968 Right: a Forward truck designed for the movie, parked outside the same building

"As the political right navigates Tucker Carlson’s recent decision to host the white supremacist Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes on his podcast, one thing has become clear: There are some people in this country who are eager to pretend that antisemitism on the political right is a new issue."

Emily Tamkin@emilyctamkin.bsky.social

For @forward.com, I wrote about the right’s bad bet on antisemitism and why acting as though mainstream right wing antisemitism started last week is deeply misguided forward.com/opinion/7820...

forward.comThe fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP's antisemitism crisisTucker Carlson hosted Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist and Holocaust denier, on his show; now Republicans are in chaos over antisemitism.

"This is untrue. And understanding the contours of that warped perception are essential to accurately identifying and pushing back on antisemitism in the United States today."

“The sun may have set over our city this evening. But as Eugene Debs once said, ‘I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.’” Learn more about Eugene Debs and how @forward.com's earliest years were closely intertwined with him.

forward.comMamdani quoted Eugene Debs in his victory speech — there's a long Jewish history thereMamdani quoted Eugene Debs in his victory speech — a 1900s socialist leader with a long history of Jewish support in the Forward.

Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose campaign was powered by youthful energy, a surge of new voters, and a promise of unconventional change, completed his yearlong journey with a decisive victory — to be elected the 111th mayor of NYC and the first Muslim to hold the office.

forward.comHow Mamdani became New York’s next mayor, with Jews divided between fierce opposition and fiery supportZohran Mamdani’s victory will make him the first Muslim mayor of New York City, which has the highest concentration of Jews outside Israel.

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@jacobhwasserman.bsky.social

I went to Germany to speak with both Jews and non-Jewish Germans who are doing the work of bringing memory culture to life — and to learn how Germany's commitment to remember the Holocaust is being strained by the post-Oct. 7 and far-right politics. Thanks to @boellus.bsky.social for their support.

forward.comHow Germany's Holocaust remembrance culture kicked off a democratic crisisGermany’s Holocaust remembrance culture has been strained by Oct. 7 and the rise of the far-right. What happens if Germany loses its memory?

It's never too early to learn some Yiddish words for witchcraft.

Happy Challahween, everyone!

New from @forward.com contributing columnist @emilyctamkin.bsky.social: "There is a meaningful risk that the election of a mayor with a record like Cuomo’s would make women feel less secure reporting harassment to those in power."

forward.comIn the Mamdani-Cuomo race, why should I choose safety as a Jew over safety as a woman?Rabbis are denouncing Zohran Mamdani in the race for New York City mayor — without acknowledging the threat to women posed by Andrew Cuomo.

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@emilyctamkin.bsky.social

For @forward.com, I wrote about how political violence is only an issue of both sides (or the left) if you completely leave power out of your analysis forward.com/opinion/7765...

forward.comThink the left is politically violent? Young Republicans have a wake-up call for youA Young Republican chat rife with antisemitism and racism is a reminder of how we misjudge the seriousness of political violence.