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
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Opinion Orthodox Push Back on Kotel
The rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinowitz isn’t opposed to the plan for an egalitarian prayer section there, he announced in a statement emailed to reporters yesterday. But it’s already clear that he doesn’t speak for the Haredi mainstream. Rabinowitz is Haredi, but softer on religious issues than most Haredi leaders. This is partly…
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Fast Forward Five Women Detained at Monthly Kotel Protest
Israeli police detained five women activists on Thursday at the Western Wall, one of Judaism’s most sacred sites, for wearing prayer shawls, which Orthodox tradition sees as solely for men, a spokesman said. The incident occurred during a monthly prayer session by the Women of the Wall, a group opposed to police-enforced Orthodox controls at…
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News Natan Sharansky’s Historic Western Wall Compromise Still Faces Plenty of Obstacles
Natan Sharansky has presented what could be a historic proposal to add a space for egalitarian prayer to the Western Wall. Israeli religious pluralism activists, however, fear that the proposal will take years to implement and could face roadblocks that prevent it from coming to fruition. The proposal, first reported by the Forward, would expand…
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News Kotel Egalitarian Prayer Plan Set in Motion by Dramatic Western Wall Compromise
A dramatic offer to set up a new egalitarian prayer section at the Western Wall in Jerusalem was met with a no less dramatic willingness to compromise on behalf of all the major religious leaders in the American Jewish community. In a rare show of consensus, activists on the liberal side of the Reform movement…
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Fast Forward U.S. Army Cut Presentation Linking Orthodox Jews, KKK and Al-Qaida
A slide on extremist threats lumping haredi Orthodox Jews, among others, with groups like the Ku Klux Klan and al-Qaida was used once and removed, the U.S. Army said. The slide, revealed Tuesday in a report by the London Daily Mail, lists under the rubric of “Religious Extremism” terms such as “evangelical Christianity (U.S./Christian),” “Ultra-Orthodox…
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Life No, I’m Not Pregnant Yet
I’m not entirely surprised that I’ve been getting pregnancy jokes — and less jokey queries — ever since it’s been halachically possible for me to be pregnant. After all, I used to be one of those girls who would stare down a newly married woman’s belly, itching with curiosity to know when it would swell….
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News Orthodox Developer Moses Stern Played Key Role in Blockbuster N.Y. Sting
The real estate developer who helped prosecutors crack a wide-ranging corruption case involving six prominent New York politicians is reportedly a key Orthodox power broker in an upstate Jewish community. Moses Stern, a member of the Satmar Hasidic community in upstate Monsey, was the central figure in the FBI sting that led to the April…
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Life The Difference Between Being Right and Being Respectful
A few weeks ago, one of my engaged friends was asking me for marriage advice and I told her that she should allow her husband to have his own opinions and respect him for them. Also, she should be able to give in every now and then. This advice isn’t something I came up with…
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Opinion The two things I fear most after the horrifying attack on Jews in Boulder
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Culture Aaron Lansky built a home for 1.5 million Yiddish books. Now he’s handing over the keys.
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Fast Forward Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla could reach Israeli waters over the weekend: What you need to know
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Fast Forward French police detain Palestinian man who allegedly struck rabbi with a chair
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