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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Fast Forward 5 Shomrim Charged in Beating of Black Gay Man
Five haredi Orthodox Jewish men were indicted for attacking a gay black man in Brooklyn. The five were charged Wednesday in New York state Supreme Court in Brooklyn with gang assault and other counts for the December attack, but not for hate crimes, WABC-TV reported. They were associated with a civilian neighborhood watch group, the…
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Fast Forward London Orthodox Synagogue Stops Allowing Women To Carry Torah Scroll
Under pressure from the local rabbinical court, a London Orthodox rabbi ended the practice of women carrying a Torah scroll during prayers at his synagogue. Rabbi Harvey Belovski told congregants last week that the rabbinical court had ordered him to stop a practice that he had initiated last year, in which women carried the Torah…
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Fast Forward Israeli Haredim Protest Against Arrest of Yeshiva Draft-Dodger
About 500 haredi Orthodox men demonstrated in Jerusalem against the arrest of a yeshiva student who ignored a call-up notice for army service. The protesters, who also took to the streets in the predominately haredi city of Bnei Brak, blocked intersections, set fire to trash bins, and threw rocks and bottles at police on Thursday…
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Life Rabbis Gone Wild — About Modesty and (Gasp!) Zumba
Thinkstock // One Orthodox Rabbi has strongly condemned Zumba classes. In recent years, a slew of savvy Orthodox rabbis have taken to condemning women for everything they do. Their brilliant speeches can be found on YouTube and other websites, and have made their rounds on social media. The topics of their impassioned speeches run the…
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News Observant Women Make Tzitzit — and Stir Controversy
Since biblical times, male authorities have been debating the issue of whether women should sport tzitzit. Now, thanks to a freshman from Princeton University, a group of young women are — quite literally — taking this fiddly law into their own hands. Maya Rosen, 19, has been wearing tzitzit for three years, making her own…
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News Telling Story of Holocaust’s Horrors Through Ultra-Orthodox Eyes
Is it permissible to show images of Jewish women with their heads shaved but without a head covering as they walk towards Nazi gas chambers? This is the type of question faced by organizers of the first Holocaust museum to be aimed specifically at Orthodox Jews. Elly Kleinman, the Orthodox businessman behind the project, sought…
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Culture Hadar Offers Orthodox Women a Glossy Magazine of Their Own
(Haaretz) — Think Vogue, circa 1929 – a drawn silhouette of a fashionably, but conservatively, dressed woman, holding a weekend bag. A women’s fashion magazine without a celebrity on the cover is a real rarity today, what with Kanye and Kim peering from newsstands this month – but Hadar Magazine, a new publication for Orthodox…
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Fast Forward Uri L’Tzedek Backs Oversight for Orthodox School District
The Orthodox social justice group Uri L’Tzedek will participate in a rally to request greater state oversight of a New York school district with a majority of board members who are haredi Orthodox Jews. The rally on Tuesday is protesting the situation in the East Ramapo district, whose board has been accused of selling school…
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