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
By Ari Feldman
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News Conservative Rabbis Can Get Kicked Out For Breaking These Four Rules
Once you’re a rabbi, you’re good for life — unlike a law or medical license, no central professional body can take the title away. And while you can get the title from a Jewish seminary, such as Hebrew Union College (Reform), Yeshiva University (Orthodox) or the Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative), there are thousands of rabbis…
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News With Intermarriage Endorsement, Rabbi Hopes To Start ‘Grass Roots’ Movement
A synagogue in Virginia has issued a statement in favor of Conservative clergy presiding at interfaith weddings even though the movement still officially bans the practice. In a Facebook post, the synagogue’s rabbi said that its board had voted to allow its clergy to marry a Jewish person to a non-Jewish person, but only when…
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News When A Retired Rabbi Is The Elephant In The Synagogue
Some retired rabbis just can’t let go. There’s the rabbi who wants to marry the kid he bat mitzvah-ed, or the rabbi who thinks he could give a better Yom Kippur sermon than the next guy. Some may simply feel that the buck should still stop with them, even when they’re no longer officially in…
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Fast Forward Ocasio-Cortez Has ‘No Plans’ To Travel To Israel — Or Anywhere Else — Right Now
Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will not join other new members of congress on an AIPAC-affiliated trip to Israel later this year, and does not have plans to go on any other trips to the region. “She wants to make sure that she’s getting a full picture of what daily life is like in the region,” Corbin…
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News Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Sephardic Claim Unleashes Fierce Debate About Jewish Identity
Crypto-Jews. Secret Jews. Conversos. Marranos. B’nai Anusim. These are the terms used for Jews, mainly of Spanish descent, who were forced to convert to Catholicism or die during the period of Spain’s Inquisition. While many Sephardic Jews did convert, some continued to practice their Judaism in secret. Now, this 500-year history of hidden Jewish lineage…
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Fast Forward Democrats Take Revenge On Simcha Felder, Shut Him Out Of Leadership
They say revenge is a dish best served cold, but sometimes, the best revenge is what you don’t serve at all. The New York state Democratic party has shut Simcha Felder out of any leadership position on the various committees in the Albany statehouse, the New York Post reported. The move is widely seen as…
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Fast Forward Ocasio-Cortez Tweets About Jewish Roots ‘Before Everyone Jumps On Me’
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fired off a few tweets Monday morning about her statements at a Hanukkah party that her family has Jewish heritage. She noted that many in Puerto Rico are descended from a mix of different ethnicities, including Spanish colonizers, African slaves and indigenous peoples. “We are all of these things and something else…
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News Romemu’s New Yeshiva Adds Meditation To All Talmud All The Time
Wake up. For morning prayers, sit in silent contemplation. Have breakfast. Study Hasidic meditation. Study Kabbalah. Have lunch. Meditate. Study the Talmud. Do yoga. Have dinner. Chant the evening prayers. This is how students at a new summer program from Romemu, the congregation on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, will spend their days. The six-week program…
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