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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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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Fast Forward Sephardic Leader Says No to Women in College
The new spiritual leader of the Sephardic Orthodox Shas movement said women should not pursue academic studies. Rabbi Shalom Cohen said in an official letter published Monday on the haredi Orthodox website Kikar HaShabbat that women’s participation in academic pursuits, including in haredi colleges, is a violation of Jewish law. It was Cohen’s first official…
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Fast Forward Orthodox ‘Chained Wife’ Launches Social Media Battle for ‘Get’ Religious Divorce
An Orthodox Jewish woman in New York has launched a campaign on social media to force her husband to give her a religious divorce. Friends of Rivky Stein, 24, of Brooklyn, launched a Facebook page earlier this month calling on her common-law husband, Yoel Weiss, 31, to grant her the get. Stein married Weiss in…
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Life Debating My Boyfriend Over Israel’s Orthodox Rule
Noga and her boyfriend When I imagined my wedding day as an Israeli Jew, I envisioned choosing one of the alternatives to the Orthodox process. It would be a non-religious or a Reform ceremony, in which my partner and I would be treated as equal, a ceremony in I could express my love, and not…
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Fast Forward Pluralism Advocates Seek State Funding for Non-Orthodox in Israel
(JTA) — At 3:30 Shavuot morning, more than 100 people are seated on folding chairs singing in Yiddish as men walk around with shots of vodka and cups of coffee. Up front, a man in a black frock coat and black hat is belting out the notes, his eyes closed. Except for the live instruments…
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