The Orthodox Union has a branding problem. This week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke at their Advocacy Center’s annual Leadership Mission, amid protests over the policy, which Sessions created and presides over, of separating masses of children from their parents at the United States border. At the OU conference, Sessions enthusiastically endorsed the Supreme Court’s…
In As An Orthodox Rabbi, The SCOTUS Masterpiece Cakeshop Decision Gives Me Pause, Rabbi Gabriel Greenberg objects to the Orthodox Union’s favorable stance toward the Supreme Court’s recent decision, in which the Court ruled that a bakery was not in violation of law for refusing to sell a wedding cake to a same-sex couple. Greenberg,…
(JTA – More than 2,000 people came to Citi Field in New York on Sunday — not to root on the Mets, but to revel in Jewish learning. Some 38 internationally renowned scholars led classes on traditional and contemporary Jewish topics at the Orthodox Union’s second annual Torah New York. The event, which the O.U. says…
A tragic mass shooting that hit close to home for the Jewish community elicited a call from Jewish groups for gun control legislation. The Orthodox Union put its emphasis on expanding the program providing security grants to nonprofits, a program that has provided throughout the years funds for Jewish institutions to better address threats of…
Since our inception in 2009, Yeshivat Maharat has been no stranger to questions and concerns that have been raised by some in the Orthodox community. Despite the excellent work being done by our students and graduates across North America, every few years there have been attempts to halt the flourishing of female leadership. We have…
(JTA) — President Donald Trump signed into law a bill to extend disaster assistance by Federal Emergency Management Agency to houses of worship. On Friday morning, Trump signed a two-year budget measure that included the provisions extending assistance. The government had shut down overnight, as lawmakers were unable to agree on the larger budget bill….
After nearly a year of deliberation, the leading Modern Orthodox umbrella group decided Tuesday night that it won’t expel its member synagogues that employ female clergy. Instead, the organization, called the Orthodox Union, said it will continue to “urge” the four synagogues to “modify their practices” and will revisit the question in early 2021. The…
The Barrier-Breaking Female Orthodox Rabbi Alissa Thomas-Newborn grew up watching a woman lead services in synagogue: Her own mother, Didi Thomas, is the spiritual leader at Temple Emet, a Reform congregation in Torrance, California. Over the years, Thomas-Newborn became Orthodox — but found herself searching for a way to serve as a female religious leader…
