Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Hasidic Judaism, a sub-group of Haredi Judaism that adheres to the historical traditions of Eastern European Jews, including communicating in Yiddish.
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Life Why Hasidic Jews Avoid The Torah On Christmas Eve
It is a common practice among Hasidic Jews to abstain from studying the Torah on Christmas Eve. This tradition is remarkable, since for one thing, religious Jews do not usually have customs associated with Christian holidays. For another, studying of Torah is considered one of the most important things Jews must do, and they otherwise…
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Fast Forward Man Charged With Hate Crime For Punching Hasidic Jew In Brooklyn
(JTA) — New York police have arrested a man alleged to have punched a Hasidic Jewish man in the head, and charged him with a hate crime. In addition to the hate crime charge, Eric Gerena, 32, who was arrested on Tuesday, was charged with assault in the third degree. The attack on Friday night…
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Community NYC Is Cracking Down On Yeshivas — And The Satmar Rebbe Has Declared War
For years now, the Hasidic community has feigned compliance with New York State Education laws. While Hasidic yeshivot don’t typically provide much secular education at all, they have at least claimed that they were complying with the law. However, a recent speech by the Satmar Rebbe Aron Teitelbaum disabuses once and for all the notion…
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Fast Forward WATCH: Hasidic Man Punched In Brooklyn, Perpetrator Yells ‘Blah!’
A Hasidic man was punched in the head from behind on Saturday in Brooklyn, NBC New York reported. Video shows a Hispanic man racing up to a small group of people standing on the sidewalk in the Williamsburg neighborhood. He punched the 32-year-old victim and reportedly yelled “Blah!” before running away. The victim was wearing…
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Fast Forward 2 Jewish Boys Attacked In Brooklyn In Separate Incidents
NEW YORK (JTA) — Two Orthodox Jewish boys were attacked in Brooklyn in one day. A passerby repeatedly punched a 9-year-old in the face on Sunday evening in the Williamsburg neighborhood, police told the New York Post. The boy was walking with his mother when the attack occurred in the heavily Hasidic area. Half an…
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News Black Jew Swarmed By Hasidic Mob — For Carrying A Torah While Not White
Yehuda Webster has a routine when it comes to Torahs. Just about every month, he picks up a rented Torah in a plastic sleeve from J. Levine Books and Judaica in Manhattan. He uses the Torahs for the bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies he arranges through an organization he founded, for families that don’t belong…
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Community Brooklyn Hasidim Lost A Vote — Which Might Save Their Children From A Life Of Poverty
In a last-minute backroom deal in April of 2018, a New York State Senator managed to dramatically reduce the ability of the government to enforce educational standards at Jewish day schools. Senator Simcha Felder, an Orthodox Jew who ran as a Democrat but caucuses with the Republicans, represents large swaths of the Hasidic community in…
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Life Anonymous Hasidic Writer Speaks Out On Failing Schools
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. People close to me know that I’ve always felt a kinship with the Hasidic community. Part of the appeal for me is their success at maintaining Yiddish as the lingua franca of their community. Where else but in Williamsburg or Mea Shearim do you hear Yiddish wherever…
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