Haredi
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Life ‘Kimmy Schmidt’ Is My Ex-Orthodox Life
Netflix After all the New York Times articles, PBS segments, NPR interviews and memoirs (including my own) about the Off The Derech (OTD) narrative, the long rumored OTD TV show has finally arrived. Well, the show isn’t exactly about a person trying to build a self-determined life after leaving ultra-Orthodoxy — but it still feels…
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Fast Forward Hasidim in Bloomingburg, New York Sue for Right to Vote
NEW YORK (JTA) – Hasidic residents of an upstate New York village are suing the county’s board of elections to have their voting rights restored. More than two dozen residents of Bloomingburg filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against the Sullivan County Board of Elections alleging that the board was attempting to disenfranchise them. The…
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Fast Forward New York Delays Deal on Circumcision Rite
A proposal to cancel a requirement for signed parental consent for a controversial circumcision rite set to be presented to the New York Board of Health was postponed. City officials said Monday that the metzitzah b’peh plan would be presented to the Board of Health in June and voted on at the next meeting, The…
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Fast Forward New York Delays Deal on Circumcision RIte
A proposal to cancel a requirement for signed parental consent for a controversial circumcision rite set to be presented to the New York Board of Health was postponed. City officials said Monday that the metzitzah b’peh plan would be presented to the Board of Health in June and voted on at the next meeting, The…
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Opinion Is WhatsApp Now ‘Hasidic Friendly’?
Ultra-Orthodox rabbis gather to condemn the internet in 2012 / Josh Nathan-Kazis A Forward tipster texted us this morning to report an odd spam message he’d received on his phone. Sent from a Spanish phone number, the spam read: “Check out WhatsApp Messenger for your smartphone. Hasidic friendly! Download it today…” Last year, I reported…
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Opinion How Ancient Circumcision Rite Sparked Modern Schism
Galen and Hippocrates depicted in a 12th century mural/ Wikimedia Commons. The tradition of metzitzah b’peh goes back to biblical times but has created a modern-day dilemma for religiously observant Jews. New York City officials linked the practice to 17 cases of infant herpes since 2000, of whom two died. In the latest development, the…
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News New York City Changes Policy on Controversial Circumcision Rite
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio scored a political victory February 24 when administration officials announced the city’s intention to scrap current regulation of a controversial circumcision rite. Ultra-Orthodox leaders, who represent a powerful voting bloc in the city, welcomed the announcement, hailing it as a victory for religious freedom. But it remains to…
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Opinion Let’s Get Over Our Non-Orthodox Inferiority Complex
When I was in high school, I stopped wearing my kippah. I felt myself drifting away from the ultra-Orthodox community of my childhood and the Modern Orthodoxy my parents tried to model for me at home. I stopped wearing my kippah because I wanted to disaffiliate from the Orthodox Jews that filled New York City…
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News That whites-only, no Jews allowed Arkansas community is legal, says state’s attorney general. How?
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Film & TV How Jon Stewart evolved on Israel — at least on ‘The Daily Show’
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Opinion I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel
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