In a first, Orthodox rabbinical school ordains an out gay rabbi
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, flagship of progressive Orthodox Judaism, plotted a new course after controversial 2019 decision
Avi Weiss
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Fast Forward Longtime Israel Advocates Warn Netanyahu That Expelling Africans Is Bad PR
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Five prominent Israel advocates, including Abraham Foxman and Alan Dershowitz, warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “incalculable damage” to Israel’s reputation should he press ahead with a plan to deport nearly 40,000 African migrants. “We, a group of ardent Zionists, who have devoted our lives to defending the good name of the…
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News Are The Orthodox Facing A Schism Over Female Rabbis?
Seven months after one of Orthodox Judaism’s oldest and biggest institutions barred women clergy from its synagogues, the decision is threatening to create yet another split in a community already riven by the issue of female rabbis. Founded more than 100 years ago, the Orthodox Union is a coalition of synagogues and other organizations, most…
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News Avi Weiss Defends ‘Open Orthodoxy’ as Agudah Rabbis Declare War
A group of leading ultra-Orthodox rabbis issued a proclamation November 2 asserting that the so-called Open Orthodox movement is not legitimately Orthodox and that rabbis ordained in its seminaries are not rabbis. The proclamation by the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of America, the ultra-Orthodox rabbis who guide the Agudath Israel of America, is the latest salvo…
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Opinion Why I Said Kaddish for Churchgoers in Charleston
(JTA) — My father died a few weeks ago. The hardest part of the shiva was when it ended. Friends and family were, by and large, no longer visiting. I was alone in pain and agony. I thought of this reality during my visit to the Emanuel AME Church in this city merely two weeks…
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Fast Forward Avi Weiss Quits Rabbinic Group in Flap Over School
Rabbi Avi Weiss is quitting the Rabbinical Council of America to protest its failure to admit as members rabbis whose sole ordination is from the rabbinical school he founded. The RCA, the main association of modern Orthodox rabbis in America, has yet to grant membership to rabbis who have been ordained only from Yeshivat Chovevei…
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Opinion Paris, You Aren’t Alone
Jewish children wave French flags as the interior minister vowed to step up security after the kosher grocery terror attack./Getty Images Je suis Charlie, je suis Juif. That’s why I fly to Paris – to let my fellow and sister Jews know they are not alone, that Jews around the world care deeply about the…
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Opinion The Rabbinate as Taught to Me by Avi Weiss
Rabbi Avi Weiss “Retire is a word I’d like to retire,” said my rabbi, Rav Avi Weiss, from the pulpit he has held for over 40 years. Over the holiday of Shemini Atzeret, Rav Avi announced that he would step back from his position as senior rabbi at the synagogue he helped found, The Hebrew…
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News In a first, Orthodox rabbinical school ordains an out gay rabbi
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