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After Y.U. Drama, What About Other Jewish Groups Where Akiva Roth Worked?
The revelation that Yeshiva University hired a convicted sex offender even while facing charges that it covered up decades of sexual abuse has raised questions about the policies of other Jewish institutions at which he previously worked. The Jewish Theological Seminary, which employed the man a decade ago, says it did not know then about…
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Yeshiva U. Cuts Loose Hebrew Teacher Akiva Roth Over Criminal Record With Boys
Yeshiva University has let go a recently hired Hebrew teacher following a Forward report that the teacher, Akiva Roth, had previous convictions for sexually inappropriate behavior with boys. Y.U. said it had “erred” in hiring of Roth by “permitting the new hire to begin teaching before the screening process had been completed.” Y.U. would not…
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Polyamorous Jews Seek Acceptance of Multi-Partner Lifestyle — Even in Shul
(JTA) — Bud Izen wasn’t prepared for the reaction he received the first time he brought his two girlfriends with him to synagogue in Eugene, Ore. The rabbi stopped the trio in the parking lot outside the synagogue and grilled Izen’s partners about whether or not they were really Jewish. Izen hasn’t been back since,…
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Yeshiva U.’s Credit Rating Downgraded by Moody’s as $380M Sex Abuse Suit Looms
For the third time in two years, Moody’s, the credit ratings service, has downgraded Yeshiva University’s debt, citing the school’s deep operating deficits, weak cash flow and uncertainty about a pending $380 million lawsuit filed against it. Just a few years ago, Moody’s gave Y.U. a healthy Aa3 credit rating. Moody’s latest report, released October…
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Bar Mitzvah Boy Sammy Cohen-Eckstein Mourned by Hundreds at Brooklyn Funeral
Hundreds gathered at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope on Thursday for the funeral of a 12-year-old boy killed Brooklyn boy who was struck by a van and killed on Tuesday evening outside his home near Prospect Park. Amidst audible sobs in the packed synagogue, friends and family of Samuel Cohen-Eckstein stood to bid him…
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Trailblazing Reconstructionist Deborah Waxman Relishes Challenges of Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism has a new leader. For the first time, she is a woman — and a lesbian. In fact, Rabbi Deborah Waxman, who will take the reins of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, the newly merged seminary and congregational apparatus of the Reconstructionist movement, is the first woman to ever head a Jewish congregational organization….
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Denmark’s Rescue of Jews From Nazis Driven by Cash — Not Just Heroism
In the coming weeks, the 70th anniversary of the rescue of the Danish Jews during World War II will be marked with speeches and toasts, gala performances and torchlight processions. The story of how the Danes helped their Jewish compatriots to safety on the coast of Sweden is always heart-warming. The fishermen who ran the…
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Debora Spar Says You Can’t Have It All
In her new book, “Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection,” Debora Spar, president of Barnard College, offers a somewhat controversial new lesson for women: Don’t even bother trying to do it all. After feminism spent decades trying to convince women that, yes, they can have a corner office, a fulfilling family life,…
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Yeshiva U. Hires Lecturer With Criminal Record of Sexual Misconduct With Boys
UPDATED: October 10 Yeshiva University, still reeling from allegations that for decades its leaders dealt improperly with the specter of sexual abuse, has hired a new faculty member convicted of inappropriate sexual behavior with boys, the Forward has learned. Akiva Roth, who started this new school year as a Hebrew teacher at Yeshiva College, pleaded…
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Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Sephardic Kingmaker of Israeli Politics, Dies at 93
Ovadia Yosef, the rabbi responsible for turning religiously observant Sephardic Jews from a marginalized minority into one of Israel’s most politically powerful groups, has died at age 93. Yosef was widely revered as a kind of living saint during his lifetime. He inspired adoring love songs extolling his virtues, and his death is expected to…
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Ovadia Yosef, Sephardic Kingmaker, Dies at 93
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, an Iraqi-born sage who turned an Israeli underclass of Sephardic Jews of Middle Eastern heritage into a powerful political force, died on Monday at the age of 93, a hospital spokesman said. Dubbed Israel’s Ayatollah by critics who condemned many of his pronouncements as racist – he likened Palestinians to snakes and…
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