The Forward

The Forward (Yiddish: פֿאָרווערטס, romanized: Forṿerṭs), formerly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is an American news outlet that focuses on issues of interest to Jewish American readers. It was founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper. The New York Times reported that Seth Lipsky "started an English-language offshoot of the Yiddish-language newspaper" as a weekly newspaper in 1990. In the 21st century, The Forward became a digital-only publication. In 2016, the publication of the Yiddish version changed its print format from a biweekly newspaper to a monthly magazine; the English weekly paper followed suit in 2017. Those magazines were published until 2019. The Yiddish Forward (Forverts) is a clearinghouse for the latest developments in the Yiddish world with almost daily news reports related to Yiddish language and culture as well as videos of cooking demonstrations, Yiddish humor and new songs. A Yiddish rendition of the Leonard Cohen song "Hallelujah", translated and performed by klezmer musician Daniel Kahn, garnered over a million views. On January 17, 2019, the publication announced it would discontinue its print edition and only publish its English and Yiddish editions online. Layoffs of its editor-in-chief and 20% of its editorial staff were also announced. Jodi Rudoren was named editor in July 2019, and took charge in September 2019 and resigned in April 2025. Alyssa Katz took over as editor in January 2026 but lasted only nine months before she "mutually agreed" to leave. Katz was replaced by Julie Moos, who previously served as interim Editor in Chief and Vice President for Audience & Strategy.