An Orthodox umbrella organization has rejected the ordination of three female clergy by a groundbreaking Bronx Orthodox rabbinical school as “contradicting the norms of our community.” The Rabbinical Council of America, a prominent group that serves more than 1,000 Orthodox rabbis, reacted strongly to the recent graduation of three women from Riverdale’s Yeshivat Maharat, which…
For Secretary of State John Kerry, it was a “very big step forward” when Qatar’s prime minister offered new flexibility in the Arab League’s long-standing plan for Arab states to recognize Israel in exchange for a settlement of the Palestinian issue. But Kerry, who is still relatively new in his position, got an early tutorial…
In this week’s Reporters Roundtable podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis is joined by reporter Paul Berger to discuss how employees of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany falsely claimed $57 million meant for Holocaust victims. Then, Forward fellow Anne Cohen describes the challenges and opportunities facing America’s new rabbis. Finally, deputy arts editor Ezra…
Two of the prime players who have been locked in struggle over how Jews should be allowed to pray at the Western Wall have a complicated relationship with the recent grand compromise that Jewish Agency leader Natan Sharansky has offered to solve their dispute. Both Anat Hoffman, whose group, Women of the Wall, seeks to…
More than half those killed killed during Israel’s operation in the Gaza Strip last November were innocent civilians and a third were children, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said in a report released this week. The B’Tselem based its findings on Operation Pillar of Defense on statements issued by the Israel Defense Forces, the…
The federal courtroom in Manhattan was notably empty considering the eye-catching size and target of the fraud: a 15-year campaign to falsely claim $57 million meant for some of the world’s neediest Holocaust survivors. Only a smattering of friends and relatives of the three accused were in the 26th-floor courtroom for the climactic closing statements…
With Mother’s Day around the corner, we asked you to share your take on the wonderful, complex, loving and occasionally crazy-making entity called the Jewish mom — in exactly six words. Why so few? Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway was once challenged in a bar bet to write an entire novel in just six…
The voice of the 911 caller is frantic, pleading for help. In the background, the victim is heard moaning, her words unclear. “There’s blood everywhere,” the caller says. “I’ve never seen so much blood.” Paramedics arrive on the scene in downtown Cleveland moments later and rush the victim to the MetroHealth Medical Center some five…
I went to a high school that had high standards. Students at Horace Mann School, were primed and expected to excel in all areas: There were regular Intel International Science and Engineering Fair winners, students who performed with major symphony orchestras and award-winning writers. As fellow alum Robert Boynton, who graduated in 1981 and who…
The bris: It’s a ceremony that inspires emotions ranging from rejoicing to repugnance — and dissonant combinations of everything in between. We would like you, our readers, to share your experiences as parents of a Jewish newborn facing this ancient, primal rite, or as an adult who chose to enter the covenant. Were you conflicted…
The practice of metzitzah b’peh, a controversial part of some Jewish circumcisions, is reigniting concern about religious circumcision in Germany, where the government only recently fended off an effort to outlaw the ritual altogether. The chief representative of Chabad in Berlin, Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, has been accused of making MBP, as metzitzah b’peh is often…
