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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Opinion When Orthodoxy Goes Too Far
Jewish reaction to President Obama’s declaration of support for same-sex marriage was swift. Liberal Jewish groups, including Hadassah and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, praised the president’s statement, and the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center declared, “History will regard the president’s affirmation of this core right for the LGBT community as a key moment…
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Life Q&A: Dvora Meyers, Unorthodox Gymnast
Journalist, blogger (and Sisterhood contributor) Dvora Meyers is out with her first book, a self-published collection of six essays titled, “Heresy on the High Beam: Confessions of an Unbalanced Jewess.” In the essays, Meyers, who was brought up Orthodox, examines her childhood and young adult years through the lens of her obsession with gymnastics —…
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News Charles Hynes Fires Back at Critics and Brooklyn Orthodox Leaders
Brooklyn’s embattled district attorney Charles Hynes sharply criticized an ultra-Orthodox umbrella group and launched a fierce defense of his record in prosecuting child sex abuse during a landmark interview with the Forward. Sitting in the 14th floor corner office of his downtown Brooklyn headquarters, Hynes said he was in “sharp disagreement” with Agudath Israel of…
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News Hynes Is Late To Push for Mandate Law
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes says he is pushing for passage of a new state law to force rabbis to report child sex allegations to authorities. But lawmakers say Hynes has joined the legislative fray late in the state capital of Albany, and time is running out for any measure to pass this year. “If…
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News Police Won’t Run Brooklyn Watch Program
A $1 million state-funded program that will place 150 security cameras in Orthodox Jewish Brooklyn neighborhoods will be run by community volunteers and not by the police. The Leiby Kletzky Security Initiative, named after the 8-year-old Brooklyn boy who was kidnapped and murdered last year, will position high-tech security cameras near schools, synagogues and street…
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Fast Forward Prosecutor Quits Over Jewish ‘Hooker’ Case
A top Brooklyn prosecutor has reportedly resigned amid questions over her handling of a racially charged Crown Heights prostitution case. Lauren Hersh, the head of the district attorney’s sex trafficking unit, handled the probe that led to two black men being charged with raping an Orthodox Jewish girl and pimping her out starting when she…
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Life Ultra-Orthodoxy as Feminism? Not So Fast
Yesterday on XOJane, my favorite site for a good ol’ fashioned hate-read, there’s a first person post from Chaya Kurtz, a Chassidishe married woman, who writes in the response to the waves of negative press the Orthodox community has received in the wake of the gathering of 40,000 ultra-Orthodox men at Citi Field this past…
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News Agudath Israel: Abuse Claims Go to Rabbis
An Orthodox parent whose child tells him he’s been sexually abused may not take that child’s claim to the police without first getting religious sanction from a specially trained rabbi, the head of America’s leading ultra-Orthodox umbrella group has told the Forward. But one year after acknowledging that no such registry of trained rabbis exists,…
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