This is 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 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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Fast Forward Gender-Segregating Signs in Kiryas Joel Cause Controversy
Signs that appear to call for gender segregation on streets in the Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel have raised some hackles. The color-coded signs posted along Forest Road — blue for men and red for women — designate separate sides of the street for men and women. The signs were made by a private individual…
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News Orthodox Day School Upset at Raunchy 12-Year-Old Comic Josh Orlian
(JTA) — Josh Orlian cracked up the judges on “America’s Got Talent,” but his Orthodox day school wasn’t laughing. The 12-year-old kippah-wearing comic made his national television debut with a raunchy routine packed with sexual innuendo. The show’s celebrity judges and studio audience seemed both stunned and entertained by the pre-bar-mitzvah-age cut-up’s dirty jokes. While…
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Fast Forward Montreal Pickup Truck Pervert Targets Orthodox Girls
A Montreal man accused of exposing himself to Jewish girls was arrested by police and members of Chaverim, an Orthodox emergency responders organization. The arrest followed months of complaints received by Chaverim about a man who would allegedly call Orthodox Jewish girls over to his pick-up truck, sometimes under the pretense of needing directions, and…
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