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
The Latest
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Fast Forward Knesset Passes Marriage Registration Reform Law Despite Haredi Opposition
The Knesset approved the so-called Tzohar Law, which would allow couples to choose the city in which to register their marriage. The law passed its second and third readings Monday evening, over the objections of the country’s two chief rabbis, by a vote of 57 to 14, with one abstention. All of the no votes…
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Fast Forward Russian Orthodox Priest Chided for ‘Yid’ Jibe at Girl With Jewish Mother
Russian Church officials suspended a priest for using an anti-Semitic pejorative while baptizing a girl. The two-month ban on Andrey Evstigneeva was announced earlier this month on the website of the Diocese of Saratov, a city situated 450 miles southeast of Moscow. It followed complaints by the family and by the Russian Jewish Congress, the…
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News Women of Wall Deeply Split Over Anat Hoffman’s Acceptance of Prayer Deal
A dark cloud hangs over Women of the Wall’s 25th anniversary celebrations slated for November 4, as the movement stands on the verge of a major split. More than 100 supporters from North America, who are taking part in a special anniversary trip, will join WOW’s Israeli members at a monthly prayer meeting at the…
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Fast Forward Avi Weiss Letter Vouching for American Couple Dismissed By Chief Rabbinate
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel rejected a letter vouching for the Jewishness of an American couple marrying in Israel written by well-known Orthodox Rabbi Avi Weiss, as well as at least 10 rabbis in other cases, The New York Jewish Week reported. Weiss, the longtime spiritual leader of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in New…
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News Conservatives Use 100-Year Marker To Push ‘Restart’ Button
At the recent centennial celebration of American Judaism’s Conservative movement, the top issue on everyone’s mind was nowhere on the formal agenda. But then, when leaders of the movement began planning the schedule for their conference months ago, the landmark survey of American Jews, released on October 1 by the Pew Research Center was still…
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News Conservatives Mark Centennial With Push To Stem Drastic Decline
Convening for its centennial conference under the cloud of a recent survey indicating a steep drop in affiliation, the Conservative synagogue movement is trying to use the landmark gathering to mark a fresh beginning. A hundred years after the group’s founding with an ideal of combining Jewish tradition with modern life, Conservative leaders are hoping…
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Fast Forward Orthodox Women’s Advocate Says ‘Desperation’ Spurs Divorce Extort Scheme
Blu Greenberg, founder of the national Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, blamed a scheme in which rabbis forced recalicitrant husbands to give religious divorces on wives’ ‘desperation.’ She said such schemes were a response to a problem known as “get abuse,” in which husbands demand a larger share of the couple’s communal property to approve of…
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Fast Forward Orthodox Rabbis Busted in Plot To Force Husbands To Give Religious ‘Get’ Divorces
Two Orthodox rabbis and two others were arrested for allegedly kidnapping and beating men in order to force them to grant their wives religious Jewish divorces. The men were arrested Wednesday night in a monthlong sting operation in which a female FBI agent posed as an Orthodox woman trying to get a religious divorce, or…
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