Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Modern Orthodox Judaism, a movement in Orthodox Judaism that emphasizes secular education and involvement with the modern world alongside adherence to Jewish law.
Modern Orthodoxy
The Latest
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News Mysterious Death of Transgender Orthodox Jew Stuns Chicago
Twenty-seven-year-old Jonah Berele died in Lake Michigan recently under unclear circumstances, abruptly ending the life of a local Orthodox Jew who began life as Sarah Berele — and who, from there, as his family and friends put it, went on to exemplify a generosity and compassion that he did not always find in his own…
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News Rabbi Haskel Lookstein’s Long Hot Summer in the Spotlight
For Rabbi Haskel Lookstein it’s been a challenging summer. A widely admired New York rabbi, Lookstein has faced down this over-heated season at the tail end of a long career as a beloved and respected spiritual leader among Manhattan’s elite. He has, among other things, long presided over Manhattan’s East Side synagogue Kehilath Jeshurun and…
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News EXCLUSIVE: Brooklyn Eruv Vandal Caught on Video Surveillance Photo
Surveillance video captured footage that apparently depicts a vandal pulling down a controversial Brooklyn eruv, the Forward has learned. Printed stills from the video are circulating in Crown Heights as police seek those responsible for the repeated vandalization of a controversial ritual boundary used by Orthodox Jews on the Sabbath. The new revelation came as…
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News Brooklyn Eruv Feud Spreads to Park Slope — Second Ritual Boundary Vandalized
A feud between Hasidic and Modern Orthodox Jews over eruvs, the ritual boundaries that allow more mobility on the Sabbath, has apparently spread from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights to nearby Park Slope. The Greater Crown Heights eruv has been cut down twice in the two last weeks. Now the adjacent Park Slope Eruv…
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News Controversial Brooklyn Eruv for Modern Orthodox Vandalized Amid Dispute With Chabad
The ritual barrier was not approved by rabbinic authorities
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Fast Forward Crash Kills Three Workers at Jewish Camp in Pennsylvania
Three staff members of a Jewish camp in eastern Pennsylvania were killed when the van they were traveling in lost control and drove into a drainage pond near the camp just before 1 a.m. Thursday. The two men and a woman, including the driver, were all seasonal workers at Camp Shoshanim, a summer camp for…
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The Schmooze Dating While (Modern) Orthodox Takes YouTube by Storm With ‘Soon by You’
(JTA) — “There’s no such thing as a bad date — there’s just a funny story,” says Jessica Schechter, a 28-year-old modern Orthodox woman who teaches acting in New York City and lives on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. There’s the guy who took her to the action figure section of a Toys “R” Us after dinner…
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News Is Modern Orthodoxy Reaching Its Breaking Point?
A white rabbi and black minister (this isn’t the start of a joke) link arms and are swept up in the sound of a gospel song. Not only the two clergymen. As the song soars, an entire congregation is on its feet in this Orthodox house of prayer and the congregants are trying to overcome…
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