
Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.
Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.
The public outcry over measles in New York City is reaching a fever peach after Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in heavily ultra-Orthodox zip codes in Brooklyn on Tuesday, making vaccination mandatory for unimmunized people. De Blasio said that people who refuse to get vaccinated could face fines. “This is the…
The number of measles cases nationally may soon set a 21st century record, the Washington Post reported. As of Tuesday morning, the number of measles cases across the country had reached 465, spurred in large part by the ongoing outbreak in the Hasidic communities in Brooklyn and New York’s Rockland County, as well as an…
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in select parts of Brooklyn where a measles outbreak has festered in the borough’s ultra-Orthodox community. The declaration will require unvaccinated people in the area to receive the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine that protects against measles infections. De Blasio said that people who refuse…
Update, 3:38 p.m.: The newest version of this story adds context on the process by which witnesses are asked to testify. Candace Owens, a conservative commentator and spokesperson for the right-wing campus group Turning Points USA, will testify before Congress about hate crimes and white nationalism, The Hill reported. Owens will be one of several…
A flight attendant for El Al, Israel’s national carrier, was hospitalized with measles Wednesday after contracting the disease on a flight from New York to Tel Aviv last week, the Times of Israel reported. The woman, who news reports said had been vaccinated, is unconscious and on a respirator. Israel’s Health Ministry has warned people…
Yeshiva University’s high school hosted a gay conversion therapist at a recent Parent Education Night, the Forward has learned. Dr. Gavriel Fagin, who runs a Brooklyn-based counseling service, spoke to parents of students at the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy, stylized as MTA, at a mandatory event Monday. The website for Fagin’s practice, Tikun Counseling, advertises…
Esperanza, a domestic worker in a suburb of New York City, cleans the homes of four ultra-Orthodox families every week for $12 an hour. About a month ago, the mother of one of the families called Esperanza and told her not to come: All seven of her children, including her seven-month-old baby girl, had measles….
The leading liberal Orthodox rabbinical school told a gay student it will not ordain him, only months before his graduation, the Jewish Week reported. The decision is being widely interpreted as a sign of just how far Modern Orthodoxy, which blends strict observance with progressive social values, is willing to go in adopting pro-LGBTQ stances….
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