 JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NON PROFIT.  Your weekend reads: Brooklyn bagels; Hunter Biden's Jewish wife; Shtisel and abortion To read this newsletter in a browser (and share it on social media) click here. Shortly after I took this job, I started purposely capitalizing the "F" in "looking Forward" when signing off emails. Pun intended, I'd say. Never gets old!
I love the movement and optimism inherent in the name of our venerable publication (note the exclamation point on the first front page, below). I imagine its founding editors and early readers, immigrants from Eastern Europe looking Forward to their news lives as Jewish-Americans at the dawn of the 20th century. And I am both energized and humbled by our present opportunity and responsibility, looking Forward as we reinvent a 21st century digital platform to inform, entertain, inspire, engage, challenge and connect our diverse and divided American Jewish communities.  Hence the new name of this newsletter, part of a redesign aimed at better serving you, our loyal readers. What started nearly two years ago as a vehicle to share a printable PDF of the week's best stories has become, essentially, a weekly column of my musings off the news and life. Today, we make that official with a new look, new format, and new name.
I started writing this newsletter almost exactly a year ago, with a short note on April 3, 2020, about my husband's experimental challah baking and our pre-Passover essay collection and Zoomversation on "The 11th Plague." Since then, I have reflected on my kids' Zoom-Mitzvah; what the late Saeb Erekat taught me about the peace process; Ella Emhoff's non-Jewishness; my reluctance to return to a pre-pandemic normal; Bruce Springsteen and David Schoen; virtual snow days; the 25th amendment; the orange on the Seder plate; TikTok; Peloton; smoked fish; the sin of typos; Flight 93; and, most recently, matzo brei (more on that below). It's become a valuable outlet for me -- and, if my inbox is to be believed, a meaningful part of many of your Friday afternoons. So we decided to make it more of a thing.
What you'll get Each week you'll continue to see a letter from me, hopefully more readable in this bigger type and better design. The free PDF to download and print stories to savor over Shabbat and Sunday is still here, but now you can actually see the beautiful cover of said PDF -- and have simple one-click options to either get the PDF or read them online.
I'll still be highlighting our live-journalism events, and updating you about news from our newsroom. I'm also planning to share more of your voices and feedback, and to regularly ask for your questions and input. And we're debuting a new feature, quote of the week, selected by our staff. (Feel free to send nominations to [email protected] as you read throughout the week.)
Todah rabah Thanks to Angelie Zaslavsky, our designer, for creating this new look, and for her tireless and careful work making each week's PDF beautiful and readable. Thanks also to Mira Fox, who helps me put the thing together each week. And to Deena Kuperman and Jay Ehrlich, our marketing director and digital-operations chief, who have made the transition to our new, better email platform possible.
Looking Forward It's an auspicious time for this new brand. It is spring, and the bulbs I planted in September are starting to peek through the mulch, a promise of what is to come. The world is reopening, with a quarter of Americans fully vaccinated -- and I myself am headed to get my first shot as soon as I hit the "publish" button on this newsletter.
We're all Looking Forward in so many ways that did not seem possible yesterday. I'd love to hear what you're most looking forward to in this next phase of the pandemic: [email protected]. Shabbat Shalom! Jodi Rudoren is Editor-in-Chief of the Forward. Follow her on Twitter @rudoren or email [email protected]. Click here to share this newsletter on social media.
A FREE, PRINTABLE DOWNLOAD OF STORIES FOR SHABBAT AND SUNDAY  For your post-Passover fix, a bagel tour of Brooklyn. Plus, a look at the surprising ways season 3 of "Shtisel" handles fertility issues; how anti-vax and pro-Israel sentiments may clash for evangelical tourists; what Hunter Biden's memoir says about his Jewish wife; a fight among the real (Jewish and not) housewives of Boca Raton; Paul Simon; and the rabbi bringing Judaism to Saudi Arabia.
Join the Conversation
EVENT | SUNDAY @ 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT I'm interviewing Mohammed Darawshe, a Palestinian citizen of Israel whose family has lived near Nazareth dating back 27 generations. He describes himself as a "child of two identities," and has long worked at their intersection, now at Givat HaViva, a group trying since 1949 to bridge gaps between Arab and Jewish Israelis. In this event hosted by my synagogue, Temple Ner Tamid, we'll talk about his failed campaign in Israel's recent elections and what will happen next. Register here.
EVENT | THURSDAY @ 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT
Our "Meet the Forward 50" series returns, with a lineup of three fabulous women. I'll be chatting with Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of Central Synagogue in Manhattan; Rabbi Benay Lappe, founder of SVARA, the queer yeshiva in Chicago; and Marina Yudborovsky, CEO of Genesis Philanthropy Group. Register here.
From My Inbox: Matzo Brei It came as absolutely no surprise that, in response to last week's newsletter pondering why people don't eat matzo brei year-round, many of you wrote to say you do, in fact, eat matzo brei year-round. Here are a few highlights:  I have a recipe from McCall’s Magazine, 1964, when I was a young mother and I love it. I do make sure the matzah is thoroughly soaked and drain it in a colander. I’ve had to change the proportion of eggs to matzah as matzah has gotten thinner and instead of about 10 sheets to a box it’s 15 or more depending on your brand. (Suzon R. Gordon, Altoona, Wisconsin)
We eat Matzah Brei so much all year that we hardly make it during Passover. (Paul Hollinger) Best to buy it this time of year; after Pesach, price per box is five times higher. Since it’s dry it has a long shelf life. (Edward Potter)
For my husband and me it started after Passover 2020 when we bought our usual 5 lb package of matzo but were unable to share it with our children and grandchildren because of the start of the pandemic. We were left with a lot of matzo and eating three meals a day at home so matzo brei became lunch once a week. (Marion Cohen, Haverford, Pennsylvania) The thing that MADE this dish in my house as a child was...NYAFAT. Preferably Onion-flavored NYAFAT. Butter, olive oil, just not the same thing. Nyafat has disappeared from the world...probably best for coronary health but much missed in this dish. (Susan Stock)
Why not potato latkes all year, too? (Barbara Kaplowitz)
I've NEVER eaten Matzo Brei, but I grew up eating Gefrishta Matzoh (I've never been sure of the spelling!) It differs significantly from your recipe. For one, the matzoh is not sprinkled, it is SOAKED in salt water. The egg/milk/onion mix will be added to that bowl once the water is drained. No sweet substances. (Alan Polinsky) 
Inside the Forward UPDATES FROM THE NEWSROOM  NYC's Deadline Club named two Forward articles as finalists in its prestigious journalism contest: Talya Zax's masterful "Philip Roth doesn't live here anymore," and Amanda Chemeche's lyrical essay about her father's journey "From Basra to the Chelsea Hotel." Adam Langer, our senior editor for culture/features, nurtured both. Good luck! Quote of the Week 
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