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.orghttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3mfmeooqrgc2uA 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. https://forward.com/news/807145/scottsdale-paradise-cemetery-jewish-funeral/24 Feb 2026 14:25 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfmeooqrgc2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3me2dqjsegs2z“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. https://forward.com/culture/802660/muppet-show-special-sabrina-carpenter/04 Feb 2026 16:55 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3me2dqjsegs2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3mdvorrydlk2z“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.” https://forward.com/news/800466/haredi-fast-day-ai-orthodox-judaism/02 Feb 2026 20:29 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdvorrydlk2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3mduzsodwu22zOur intrepid political reporter @jacobkornbluh.bsky.social, profiled this weekend by @nytimes.com. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/nyregion/jacob-kornbluh-mamdani-hasidic-jewish-reporter.html?unlocked_article_code=1.JFA.wxwr.aXTN8g1uRvth&smid=url-share02 Feb 2026 14:14 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3mduzsodwu22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3mdobrwdiyk2z@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." https://forward.com/forward-newsletters/looking-forward/801949/alyssa-katz-new-eic-looking-forward/30 Jan 2026 21:48 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdobrwdiyk2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3mdnmweqrd22z“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.” https://forward.com/culture/theater/799974/oliver-jewish-musical-fagin-ron-moody-simon-lipkin/30 Jan 2026 15:35 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdnmweqrd22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3mdll3442322zRabbi 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. https://forward.com/fast-forward/801589/chabad-headquarters-attack-suspect-history/29 Jan 2026 19:56 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdll3442322zhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3mczbcuigl22z“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.” https://forward.com/news/antisemitism-decoded/799227/stephen-spencer-pittman-beth-israel-arson/22 Jan 2026 13:14 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3mczbcuigl22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3mccooxhl332mThree 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. https://forward.com/news/796632/stephen-spencer-pittman-mississippi-synagogue-fire-suspect/13 Jan 2026 13:42 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3mccooxhl332mhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3mbtnqmvha22mAs 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. 🧵07 Jan 2026 14:15 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3mbtnqmvha22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3mb7ten7i4s2mFor 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. https://forward.com/culture/film-tv/793975/marty-supreme-honey-scene-alojzy-elhric-auschwitz-explained/30 Dec 2025 17:03 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3mb7ten7i4s2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3madvilzm5c2mThere'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! [contains quote post or other embedded content]19 Dec 2025 14:26 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3madvilzm5c2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3mac5eaawck2mAs 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. https://forward.com/fast-forward/792025/chris-chadwick-hanukkah-carteret-county-north-carolina-christmas/18 Dec 2025 21:41 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3mac5eaawck2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3ma6uaht7i22m"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." https://forward.com/culture/791347/charlie-kirk-shabbat-christianity-judaism/17 Dec 2025 14:20 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3ma6uaht7i22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/forward.com/post/3ma244uvddk2mPlease welcome @forward.com's incoming editor-in-chief, @alykatzz.bsky.social! https://forward.com/communications/789964/alyssa-katz-named-next-editor-in-chief-of-the-forward/15 Dec 2025 16:58 +0000at://did:plc:vyohb5e6a3oojdtxqoeywcin/app.bsky.feed.post/3ma244uvddk2m