http://zeek.forward.com The Forward, an independent, high-profile weekly newspaper, is a fearless and indispensable source of news and opinion on Jewish affairs. Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:14:00 EST Newspapers en-us Symphony 2.0 http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117793/the-jewish-heart/ Choreographer and dancer Jody Oberfelder reflects on home, heart, Judaism, and her newest creation, 4Chambers, a new experiential performance installation premiering this summer on Governors Island in New York. With onsite photos of the upcoming performance by Julie Lemberger. Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:14:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117793/the-jewish-heart/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117804/blow-by-blow-beyond-religious-liberty-vs-civil-rights/ The world’s changing fast, and it’s not making the Christian Right happy. With Loving Day around the corner, strategist Mik Moore takes Jay Michaelson’s recent report on “Redefining Religious Liberty” as his point of departure. And while laws expand (or retract) civil rights, Moore argues that we should pay as much attention to changing society norms. Especially when it comes to LGBT issues. Wed, 05 Jun 2013 15:13:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117804/blow-by-blow-beyond-religious-liberty-vs-civil-rights/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117799/feminists-take-on-facebook/ For years, Facebook has had an aggressive policy about hate speech, nudity and other kinds of content deemed offensive. One exception to this rule? Rampant rape humor, including threats, was treated as “free speech” by the social media behemoth. Until this week. Fri, 31 May 2013 15:09:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117799/feminists-take-on-facebook/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117788/five-new-poems-jake-marmer/ New poetry from poet and performer Jake Marmer. Fri, 31 May 2013 14:10:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117788/five-new-poems-jake-marmer/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117790/one-womans-quest-for-holy-chutzpah-dude/ “I’m standing on the shoulders of hilarious giants full of chutzpah,” self-described comedienne, director, and writer Jessie Kahnweiler tells Zeek about her new web-based miniseries, “Dude, Where’s My Chutzpah?” The Six Points fellow took time out of her launch celebrations yesterday to answer some questions for Zeek. Fri, 24 May 2013 11:35:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117790/one-womans-quest-for-holy-chutzpah-dude/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117787/the-leftist-ethicist-may-edition/ For her May column, the Leftist Ethicist offers sensible solutions for dilemmas dealing with anti-Semitism, race and class and being an ethical employer at home. Thu, 16 May 2013 12:36:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117787/the-leftist-ethicist-may-edition/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117784/counting-the-omer-by-drawing/ This year’s project began with a scratch of an idea. In preparation for Sinai, the receiving of the Torah, I wanted to explore what it means to hold on to something. Mon, 13 May 2013 20:46:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117784/counting-the-omer-by-drawing/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117772/five-years-after-postville-standing-up-for-immigration-reform/ Five years ago one of the worst workplace raids in American history took place in Postville, Iowa — with 389 individuals detained, many deported and a town devastated. If ever there was an event that proved why comprehensive immigration reform and worker protections are needed, it was this raid. However, for the two of us, the story in Postville started almost two years earlier, when we met with the owners of Agriprocessors, workers from the plant, and community and religious leaders. Thu, 09 May 2013 15:05:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117772/five-years-after-postville-standing-up-for-immigration-reform/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117779/the-bitter-and-amp-the-sweet-reflections-on-motherhood/ Finding words for postpartum depression, Rabbi Rachel Barenblat bravely reflects on her difficult adjustment to motherhood, sharing a deeply personal journey and the poetry that helped her navigate this new terrain, ultimately savoring both the bitter and the sweet. This Mother’s Day, she tells struggling new moms: It gets better. Thu, 09 May 2013 14:39:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117779/the-bitter-and-amp-the-sweet-reflections-on-motherhood/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117754/the-sacrifice-of-abraham-three-poems/ Three poems from “The Sacrifice of Abraham,” a series of re-tellings of the biblical story of Isaac and Abraham. In each section, a group of rabbis gathers to re-tell and offer commentary on the story, and with each re-telling transforms it into a broader and broader vision encompassing Greek gods, revolutionaries, insurgents, love affairs, and photographic details from current events. Tue, 07 May 2013 15:56:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117754/the-sacrifice-of-abraham-three-poems/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117750/damage-by-watching-domestic-drones-and-amp-privacy/ As domestic drones become increasingly common (cheap, too) and more states build them into public safety strategies for law enforcement, we need to think not just about public safety, but about protecting privacy and creating safeguards against abuse. Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:05:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117750/damage-by-watching-domestic-drones-and-amp-privacy/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117749/being-meir/ Can spiritual growth be found in the “tension between one’s own cherished beliefs and someone else’s contradictory beliefs”? Absolutely. Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:41:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117749/being-meir/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117746/chicagos-young-jews-align-against-public-school-shutdowns/ “We are graduate students and organizers. We are Jewish folks and others who believe education is a Jewish value and a human right. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the CPS school board have proposed massive school closings throughout Chicago’s most struggling neighborhoods.” Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:12:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117746/chicagos-young-jews-align-against-public-school-shutdowns/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117742/zeek-and-lt-3-boston/ As we mourn for Boston, we share this small roundup of early Jewish responses. Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:49:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117742/zeek-and-lt-3-boston/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117723/madness-mindfulness-and-amp-judaism-meet-sascha-altman-dubrul/ The Icarus Project founder talks to an old punk pal, journalist Jennifer Bleyer, “about madness, social justice and his recently sparked Jewish identity on the eve of his cross-country book tour for Maps to the Other Side.” Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:46:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117723/madness-mindfulness-and-amp-judaism-meet-sascha-altman-dubrul/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117720/the-jewish-push-for-immigration-reform-a-q-and-amp-a-with-abby-levine/ The American conversation around immigration has taken its rightful place, center stage. Today, Abby Levine – 33 — is once again bringing Jews and social justice together to support comprehensive immigration reform, this time at the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable. Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:00:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117720/the-jewish-push-for-immigration-reform-a-q-and-amp-a-with-abby-levine/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117716/the-leftist-ethicist/ The Leftist Ethicist is an advice column for Zeek readers who envision a more just world and act to create it. With a commitment to justice and progressive Jewish teaching (and a loving nod to the Bintel Brief), the Leftist Ethicist provides a space to raise questions, without judgment, and receive sensible solutions. Zeek presents the first installment here. As a wedding present, a distant family member bought my wife and I stock in a company whose treatment of workers I strongly disagree with. I thanked the family member politely, but now I don’t know what to do. Should I keep the stock? Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:08:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117716/the-leftist-ethicist/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117712/two-tributes-to-a-social-justice-hero-elissa-froman-1983-2013/ “She was more than a colleague and friend — she was our conscience.” Zeek presents two celebrations of Elissa Froman, from best friend Emily Pearl Goodstein and NCJW colleague and friend Sammie Moshenberg. Both are adapted from March 24 eulogies for Elissa, who passed away on Friday, March 22, at 29. Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:14:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117712/two-tributes-to-a-social-justice-hero-elissa-froman-1983-2013/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117702/from-farm-to-seder-plate-supporting-a-new-crop-of-modern-day-isaiahs/ Six months ago, my relationship with tomatoes changed forever. Once, they were simply the most delectable part of a salad. Now, I can’t bear to look at one without thinking about the hands that picked it. That’s why there will be a tomato on my family’s Seder plate this Passover. And I won’t be alone. Thousands of Jews across North America will be putting a tomato on their Seder plates, a symbol of the worker who picked it and the campaign to end slavery in the Florida tomato industry. This is our collective way of fulfilling the famous promise found in the Hagaddah, “It is because of what God did for me when I went free from Egypt.” What happened six months ago? One morning just before daybreak, I found myself huddled with a group of five rabbis in a dimly lit parking lot in Immokalee, FL. Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:02:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117702/from-farm-to-seder-plate-supporting-a-new-crop-of-modern-day-isaiahs/ http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117691/as-a-landmark-civil-rights-trial-unfolds-a-passover-call-to-action/ Marjorie Dove Kent Hopes to Pack the Courts before a Seder in the Streets This Week “East Flatbush is calling for calm,” said Marjorie Dove Kent, executive director of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), on Sunday. The killing of Kimani Gray coincides with Floyd v. City of New York, a federal class-action lawsuit filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights against the NYPD, challenging its practice of “suspicionless and race-based stops” against “hundreds of thousands if not millions of people.” Opening arguments for the trial were heard on Monday. This Wednesday, March 20th, Kent hopes the Jewish community will pack the courtroom in downtown Manhattan, then celebrate with Seder in the Streets, the latest installment of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice’s trademark boldness. Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:24:00 EST http://zeek.forward.com/articles/117691/as-a-landmark-civil-rights-trial-unfolds-a-passover-call-to-action/