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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Israel News Israel Chips Away at Orthodox Monopoly on Marriage
The Israeli government has taken a major step in its effort to weaken Haredi control over marriages within the country’s mainstream population. Under a landmark reform, announced by the Ministry of Religious Services on May 19, local marriage registrars affiliated with the government-sponsored Chief Rabbinate will no longer have an exclusive monopoly over registering the…
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News Talmudic ‘Development’; Orthodox Cinema; Chabad Power Struggle?; Top Kosher Dogs
In this week’s Reporters Roundtable podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis is joined by deputy arts editor Ezra Glinter to discuss the new season of Arrested Development and its ‘talmudic’ qualities. Then, Ezra fills us in on the emergent ultra-orthodox cinema in Israel. Next, assistant news editor Larry Cohler-Esses drops by to discuss a possible reshuffling of…
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Opinion Balkanization of Western Wall Prayer ls Threat to Jewish Unity
I really must avoid spicy foods — even my wife’s scrumptious jalapeno pepper-laced cornbread — before retiring at night. The recipe’s great, but for someone approaching 60, it’s also a recipe for indigestion-fueled nightmares. The scene of my latest bad dream: the Kotel, or Western Wall, in Jerusalem. The time: some future point, may it…
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News The Mirror in the Mikveh
Ellie Goldenberg and Emily Blum are getting ready to immerse for the first time in the mikveh, or Jewish ritual bath. One might assume that Ellie and Emily are soon-to-be brides; in traditional communities, women immerse in the mikveh for the first time before they are wed. But they’re not — Ellie is an 11-year-old…
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Opinion End Orthodox Monopoly on Jewish Marriage in Israel
After 65 years, the State of Israel is a thriving democracy of which we can all be very proud in many areas. But it is a democracy that continues to face many obstacles to preserving its Jewish and democratic character. One obstacle that is of particular concern to non-Orthodox Jews is the absence of any…
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The Schmooze Is There an Orthodox Film Industry?
Orthodox filmmaker Rama Burshtein is a special case. Not only does she come from a community that frowns on film-watching — never mind film-making — but she has managed to create “Fill the Void,” a movie that has won awards and acclaim around the world. (You can read my recent profile of Burshtein here.) Burshtein…
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Fast Forward Australia Abuse Victim’s Brother Tussles With Chabad Rabbi in Synagogue
A senior Australian Orthodox rabbi had his glasses ripped from his face during a synagogue altercation with a relative of a prominent advocate for sex abuse victims. Rabbi Zvi Telsner, the spiritual leader of the Yeshivah Center, which houses the city’s Chabad headquarters, offered festive greetings to Chaim Waks at the end of the Shavuot…
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Life Q&A with Maharat Ruth Balinsky Friedman
On June 16, three young Orthodox women will receive a title that no woman (or man) before them has ever held: maharat (short for Manhiga Hilchatit Ruchanit Toranit, which means leader in Jewish law, spirituality and Torah). The graduation of the first class from Riverdale’s Yeshivat Maharat, which trains Orthodox women to be spiritual leaders,…
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