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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News The Sun Is a Star
On a Tuesday in July 2007, I learned that the sun is a star. A friend of mine, formerly Hasidic, told me the secret. She informed me that the heavens look nothing like we think. I said, “Huh?” “Look,” she said reasonably, “I swear. It explains it here, in this incredible astronomy book. The sun…
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Fast Forward Orthodox Flap Rages Over Tefillin Straps
Several recent rabbinic rulings that have invalidated certain kinds of tefillin straps as unfit for use are causing an uproar in the Orthodox community. A number of rabbis in Jerusalem, Chicago, Brooklyn and Lakewood, N.J., have issued rulings prohibiting the use of tefillin straps (retzuot in Hebrew) that peel, and so-called leatherboard straps, according to…
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Fast Forward 4-Year-Old Boy Dies After Being Left in Car
A 4-year-old boy was found on Thursday afternoon dead in a ‘burning hot’ car in the ultra-Orthodox settlement Modi’in Illit after was apparently forgotten in the locked vehicle for several hours. Initial investigation indicates that the boy was collected Thursday morning from his home by his Talmud teacher, who usually drives neighboring children attending his…
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Fast Forward Leiby Kletzky Killer Gets 40 Years
The murderer of 8-year-old Orthodox Brooklyn boy Leiby Kletzky has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison, the AP reported today. The sentencing comes weeks after Levi Aron, 36, pleaded guilty to the July 2011 killing. “G-d willing, the sentencing of Levi Aron today will finally remove the spotlight from this tragedy and…
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Opinion Do No Harm
On September 13, the New York City Board of Health is scheduled to vote on a controversial proposal that would officially define an ancient Jewish ritual practice as dangerous to an infant’s life. It would require parents to agree in writing that the ritual about to be performed on their son could lead to brain…
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News A Woman’s Spirituality, Measured by Hosiery
I was certainly wearing pantyhose. It was just that they were wet, and this is what caused the confusion. To the young Hasid passing the yard where I sat, the damp Lycra, transparent in the glinting sun, looked like my nude legs sprawled over the edge of the pop-up pool, bare as a careless whore….
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Fast Forward Asher Lopatin Takes Over at YCT
Rabbi Asher Lopatin of Chicago is set to succeed Rabbi Avi Weiss next year at the helm of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the liberal Orthodox rabbinical school founded by Weiss. Lopatin is the spiritual leader of Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation, a high-profile Modern Orthodox synagogue in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago that counts Mayor Rahm…
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News Bill Aims To Punish Bolivia Over Ostreicher
Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) has sponsored a bill designed to ban entry into the country by officials of any foreign government complicit in violating the rights of imprisoned Americans. Nicknamed Jacob’s Law, the bill was written in honor of Jacob Ostreicher, a haredi Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn who has been in prison in Bolivia since…
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