Yeshiva University finds itself immersed this spring in a tale of two honorees. One, a former president of the United States, is accused of anti-Israel bias. The other, a leading Y.U. rabbi, is accused of racism and a disregard for victims of child sex abuse. Hershel Schachter, the Y.U. rabbi in question, has also been…
Leading Modern Orthodox legal expert Rabbi Michael Broyde has apologized for infiltrating a rival Modern Orthodox rabbinic organization under a fake name, just an hour after The Jewish Channel posted an exposé revealing Broyde’s extensive use of the false identity. Broyde is a judge on the Beth Din of America, the leading Modern Orthodox rabbinical…
In this week’s Reporters Roundtable podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis is joined by Forward editor Jane Eisner to discuss a compromise — wrangled by former Soviet dissident Natan Scharansky — to allow egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall. Then, digital features editor Abigail Jones phones in to tell the story of how Akiva Herzfeld, a Maine…
Harry Belafonte and Tony Bennett a Gutsy Duo at Amy Winehouse Foundation Gala “Thank you, Mayor Bloomberg. It would have been better if you’d sent $10 million or something… but a plaque is much appreciated,” joked Mitch Winehouse, father of the late British global music star Amy Winehouse, at the March 21 Amy Winehouse Foundation…
Harlem moviegoers at the opening of “42” will see the story of Jackie Robinson’s legendary courage, class and talent in the face of immense pressure and racial hatred as he broke down baseball’s color barrier. Less well known is Robinson’s role in a controversy that erupted just a few blocks away, at Harlem’s most famous…
Federal prosecutors are trying to prevent a jury from hearing evidence that a multimillion-dollar fraud at a non-profit which processes Holocaust claims is even more widespread than the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office have so far revealed. The prosecutors, from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office, are also trying to prevent defense lawyers from arguing…
American Jews and others pushing for religious pluralism at Judaism’s most accessible sacred space may have won a major advance for their cause with the new compromise proposal put forth by Natan Sharansky. But it is only now, in Israel, that the real debate begins. The Western Wall, or the Kotel, as it is known…
Natan Sharansky has presented what could be a historic proposal to add a space for egalitarian prayer to the Western Wall. Israeli religious pluralism activists, however, fear that the proposal will take years to implement and could face roadblocks that prevent it from coming to fruition. The proposal, first reported by the Forward, would expand…
Former U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner, who resigned after tweeting lewd pictures of himself, is considering a run for New York City mayor, in what many see as wide open race for one of the highest-profile offices in the United States. In a lengthy interview with The New York Times magazine, posted online on Wednesday, Weiner…
A dramatic offer to set up a new egalitarian prayer section at the Western Wall in Jerusalem was met with a no less dramatic willingness to compromise on behalf of all the major religious leaders in the American Jewish community. In a rare show of consensus, activists on the liberal side of the Reform movement…
UPDATED TUESDAY APRIL 9, 2013 AT 2:10PM Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, will present a plan today to expand the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem to include a new section for egalitarian prayer to American Jewish religious leaders, the Forward has learned. If implemented, the proposal, a product of months of…
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