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
The Latest
-
News No ‘Super Jewish’ district, but increased Orthodox influence in New York’s capital
Orthodox leaders are welcoming newly drawn lines that could for the first time give a member of the upstate New York community a shot at a seat in the state legislature. A new Rockland County district is the good news for Orthodox Jews looking for more representation in Washington and Albany, where the Democratically controlled…
-
Fast Forward Stereotypes say Orthodox Jews avoid mental health treatment. The science says otherwise.
A new study counters the assumption that Orthodox Jews are reluctant to seek treatment for mental illness. It also concludes that when experiencing lower grade anxiety and depression, they pursue professional help more so than the general population. Writing in this month’s issue of the journal Transcultural Psychiatry, the study’s authors note stereotypes of Orthodox…
-
Opinion I’m an Orthodox med student. My community needs real sex education
“You know, halacha (Jewish law) almost never allows contraception use,” an acquaintance boldly asserted to me recently. More than factually erroneous, the statement belied a misguided attempt to fill a void. In the absence of proper education, he had formed a lopsided picture of Judaism that would inform his personal moral code. This is not…
-
Yiddish World Orthodox songwriter Yossi Desser debuts album of Yiddish Hanukkah carols
It’s that time of year again: no matter which supermarket you enter or storefront you pass by, it’s the same old Christmas carols on the PA system. But what if you heard them in Yiddish, celebrating Hanukkah instead? It may sound gimmicky but in his debut album, “Yiddish Hanukkah Carols”, Orthodox singer-songwriter Yossi Desser has…
-
Culture With #MyOrthodoxLife, religious women say Netflix doesn’t speak for them
It looked like a pretty ordinary Instagram post: a smiling woman in a trendy periwinkle dress, posed against a background of roses. But Alex Fleksher, the woman in the picture, was on a mission. She wanted people to know that plenty of women “are leading happy, healthy, and fulfilled Orthodox lives,” she wrote. “I’m a…
-
Yiddish World The Yiddish professor and female Orthodox rabbi sharing Yiddish children’s literature with the world
Read this article in Yiddish A jack of many trades is sometimes a master of them all Speaking with Miriam Udel, the Yiddish professor at Emory University in Atlanta who is reacquainting the world with Yiddish children’s literature, you quickly notice something remarkable. In one moment she sounds like a literary scholar and in the…
-
News The Democratic primary for NYC mayor is over. Meet the Republican challenger.
The votes are still being counted to determine the winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, with Eric Adams enjoying a lead in the first round of the ranked-choice race. But the Republican primary is decided. Meet Curtis Sliwa, the brash founder of the Guardian Angels, a citizen group that has…
-
Fast Forward For Orthodox voters choosing the next mayor, it’s Adams or Yang — or both
A slow stream of voters were headed to the polls in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn on Tuesday in what many say is a test of the Orthodox community’s historic influence in New York City. Posters hung up on poles across the neighborhood overnight urged people to participate in the primary. “We have to…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 2
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 3
Politics Meet America’s potential first Jewish second family: Josh Shapiro, Lori, and their 4 kids
- 4
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Jewish students, alumni decry ‘weaponization of antisemitism’ across country
-
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history
-
Opinion Why can Harvard stand up to Trump? Because it didn’t give in to pro-Palestinian student protests
-
Culture How an Israeli dance company shaped a Catholic school boy’s life
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
