Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Orthodox Judaism, which aims for a stricter observance of halachic law than Conservative or Reform Judaism. It includes Modern Orthodox Judaism, as well as Haredi (sometimes called ultra-Orthodox) Judaism,…
Orthodox Judaism
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News Taxonomy of the Sheitel
When I was 17, a matchmaker introduced me to my future husband. My family and I knew it was an auspicious match from the get-go: The boy and I were both Satmar Hasidism; we came from the same town, Kiryas Joel; we were socialized in similar circles, and we observed the same religious rules. But…
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Fast Forward Jewish Groups Get 94% of Homeland Security Grants
The Department of Homeland Security allocated to Jewish institutions $12 million, or 94 percent, of $13 million in funds for securing nonprofits. The Jewish Federations of North America’s Washington office director, William Daroff, said Tuesday that the allocation made sense particularly in light of an intensification of threats on Jewish community targets in the United…
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Opinion The Gaza War Through Ultra-Orthodox Eyes
An ultra-Orthodox Jew watches the bombardment of Gaza from southern Israel / Getty Images (JTA) — Most Israelis blame the war in Gaza squarely on Hamas, though there are plenty who fault the Israeli government for not pursuing peace more aggressively. In the haredi Orthodox community, however, where practically everything is ascribed to the omnipresent hand…
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News How Orthodox Agudah and Wal-Mart Money United To Back School Vouchers
The largest donor to the ultra-Orthodox umbrella organization Agudath Israel of America is a Christian family from Arkansas. The Agudah, as the organization is known, represents some of the most stringent, black-hat-wearing Orthodox Jews in the United States. Its backers include wealthy Jewish developers and health care magnates. The organization, however, has received more money…
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Opinion Black Hats and Wigs Do Not an Orthodox Jew Make
Several years ago, when I was penning a weekly column for a Haredi magazine, the periodical declined to publish one of my submissions. It was about “Cultural Orthodox Jews,” a phrase I coined for people who eat only rabbinically supervised foods, wear black hats (or wigs), pray in synagogue daily and send their kids to…
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Fast Forward Atheists Want Eruv Pulled From Miami Beach Streets
A national atheist group is demanding that an eruv be taken down in Miami Beach. The eruv around the Pinetree Park area was erected two months ago, despite the fact that the entire island of Miami Beach is surrounded by an eruv, after the city installed a kayak ramp rendering part of the main eruv…
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Culture An Atheist’s Case for Talmud
When I recently wrote my memoir of leaving ultra-Orthodoxy, I spent days ravaged by sobbing fits, debilitating chest pain, and migraines as I reencountered the trauma my 17-year-old self had experienced after I was pushed out of my yeshivish family for my rebellion. Shaken, I was fearful that when I went even further back to…
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Life You Can Do it In a Skirt
Cross-country skiing in a skirt / Courtesy of youcandoitinaskirt.wordpress.com As someone who identifies as an Orthodox feminist but still (mostly) follows the dictates of tznius, or modesty, I often find myself feeling marginalized. Among the women who dress the way I do, I am judged for my progressive views; among those with views more like…
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