Haredi
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Fast Forward Ultra-Orthodox Lawmaker Compares Reform Jews to Mentally Ill
A haredi Orthodox lawmaker in Israel reportedly compared the Reform movement to a mentally ill person. Israel Eichler of the United Torah Judaism party made his remarks Tuesday in the lead-up to a Knesset debate the next day on the Supreme Court’s decision that non-Orthodox converts can immerse in a public mikvah, according to the…
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Fast Forward Sephardic Leader Calls Western Wall Deal ‘Horrible’ — Compares Reform Jews to Dogs
JERUSALEM — A former head of the Shas Sephardic Orthodox party slammed the Israeli Cabinet’s approval to expand the egalitarian section of the Western Wall, joining several politicians who have ridiculed the deal and liberal movements of Judaism. “This is a horrible disaster and an attack on the Holy of Holies,” Eli Yishai said in…
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News Rescuer in George Washington Bridge Plunge Was 2009 ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ Hero
Rescuers saved a woman who leapt from New York’s famed George Washington Bridge — and for one of them it wasn’t the first time playing hero on the Hudson. Ironically, Heshy Gottdiener, Scott Koen and others were on the Hudson River already helping a family from his home in upstate New York look for a…
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News FailedMessiah Blogger Quits Muckracking Anti-Hasidic Site
The muckraking Jewish blog FailedMessiah is losing its publisher and sole writer, according to a statement posted February 2. Shmarya Rosenberg, a disillusioned former member of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic sect, has run the site from his home in Minnesota since 2004. The site combined news aggregation with some original reporting, and a was a central…
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Opinion Turning the Kotel Into a Haredi Synagogue Is Bad for Men, Too
Reading the substance of the new Western Wall deal, described in a news report posted by the Forward as a is heartbreaking. As Shulamit Magnus rightly argues in the Jerusalem Post, the Kotel is not now, nor has it ever been, a synagogue. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz is not the Wall’s mara de’atra (“master of the…
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Life Inside the World of Ultra-Orthodox Dating
It happens every (weekday) evening across the entire land of Israel. Dates involving religiously observant Jews who have been brought together by a matchmaker take place in hotel lobbies, in certain approved cafes and pubs, and also in family homes. And if you’re a so-called hilltop youth in the West Bank, it could also happen…
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Fast Forward 22 Percent Poverty — and 5 Other Revealing Facts About Israel’s Economy
TEL AVIV (JTA) — It has the highest poverty rate among affluent democracies, the fourth-worst income inequality and the seventh-lowest government spending on social services. Those are among the dismal conclusions of the State of the Nation report, an annual set of papers on Israel’s economy and society released last week by the Taub Center…
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Fast Forward Ultra-Orthodox Knesset Members Skip Swearing-In of Gay Lawmaker
JERUSALEM — Haredi Orthodox lawmakers skipped the Knesset swearing-in of Amir Ohana, the first openly gay lawmaker from the Likud party. Ohana took the oath on Monday afternoon to replace Silvan Shalom, who resigned earlier this month amid accusations of sexual assault. Ohana is the fourth gay lawmaker to serve in the Knesset. Sources from…
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