2017 Was our first complete year as an official organization. We got a lot done. Barbecues in the park, a fun music filled party, holiday get togethers, a pizza party, a visioning and more. We’ve organized a screening and roundtable of “One of Us” for our members , a guided visit to Chagall at MBAM, […]
We hosted a private screening of One of Us a couple of nights ago for Forward members. It was followed by a very lively discussion, with both negative and positive feedback. These ideas are my perspective and takeaways. For many of us who’ve lived through the struggles of leaving the ultra-Orthodox world, One of […]
On a Sunday morning in February a group of about 25 of us, members and advisors, got together at Linda’s for a visioning session over brunch. We were looking to gain insight into members needs on 3 areas: Events, Workshops and others. It was a great opportunity to get feedback on direction directly from our […]
It’s hard to believe but the first meeting of our board and advisors happened just over a year ago. Since then so much has happened, including registering as an NPO, getting our first events, workshops and meetups in the bag, and most importantly, having a demonstrable impact on our members. We don’t rest on our […]
On October 4th, Tele-Quebec aired a very special segment on their social issues weekly, called Banc Public. It follows our organization, Forward, and our members who have left the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Montreal. Over the course of 20 minutes, Forward was given the opportunity to highlight the importance of what we are doing as […]
Last week, at the generous invitation of Ometz, we got to attend “My Name is Asher Lev”, a play depicting the struggles of a young hasidic man, who wants to be a painter. Based on the book by Chaim Potok, it is about balancing his own desires with the expectations of his parents and community.
We thought it would be interesting to get feedback from some of our members who had seen the play.
We are incredibly excited to present a screening of Leaving the Fold, a documentary about young people who leave ultra-Orthodoxy. It will be followed by a panel discussion, where we will explain who we are, why we exist, what we are doing now – and share our personal journeys on leaving the ultra-Orthodox world. This will […]
In an effort to develop a deeper understanding of our community, Forward is currently collecting survey data to learn about the population of adults in Montreal who have left or are in the process of leaving their Ultra-Orthodox and Hasidic communities. If you identify with this population, you can contribute to Forward’s initiative by taking […]
It’s been a busy couple of months. March was especially busy, with several events, brunches, and great connections made between our members and generous patrons. This is the first of a series of regular updates we plan on sending out to keep our community up to date.
You may have recently had the opportunity to hear from Abby Stein, a former New York Hasid who has emerged as a woman, when she recently came to Montreal to help us raise awareness about our cause.
Her visit, combined with an exceptional effort from the Forward team, volunteers, members and generous patrons, resulted in the exposure of Forward to hundreds if not thousands of people in person, and many many thousands more via the multitude of coverage we received.