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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Opinion Should the Government ‘Get’ Involved?
On a cold Saturday night in March 2007, the Jewish community of Silver Spring, Md., listened to a Jewish member of the Maryland legislature, Senator Jamie Raskin, explain why he had cast a deciding vote against a proposed “get law.” The bill, based on the precedent of an earlier New York law, would demand that…
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News Not Just Jews Eat Kosher Food in Prison
The tiny population of religious Jews in prison has plenty of company when it comes to keeping kosher behind bars. A number of secular Jews, messianic Jews, Black Hebrew Israelites and, in many cases, people with no Jewish background at all eat a traditional Jewish diet. Jews, according to one estimate, make up just one-sixth…
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Opinion No Secrets
There was a time when Megan Kanka’s name was well-known for all the reasons that a parent most fears: The 7-year-old New Jersey girl was raped and murdered by a neighbor who, it turns out, had two previous convictions for sexually assaulting young girls. He lured little Megan into his house to see a puppy,…
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News Lebovits Abuse Conviction Is Overturned
An appeals court has reversed the child sex abuse conviction of Brooklyn travel agent Baruch Lebovits, who was sentenced in 2010 to up to 32 years in prison. Alan Dershowitz, chief counsel for Lebovits on appeal, called the unanimous reversal by a four-judge appellate panel a “total victory.” Lebovits was not acquitted outright but instead…
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Opinion Orthodox Opposition to No-Names Policy
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes can usually count on the firm support of the ultra-Orthodox umbrella group Agudath Israel of America. While Hynes has been lambasted over the years by child abuse survivors and their advocates for his handling of sex abuse cases, Agudath has generally backed what it sees as his sensitive handling of…
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News Orthodox Abuse Suspects Get Exemption
This is an updated version of a story that first appeared on forward.com earlier this week. Orthodox Jews convicted of or charged with child sex abuse in Brooklyn should have their identities protected because of the community’s “tight-knit and insular” nature, prosecutors claim in a response to The Forward’s request for information about the cases….
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Life When Orthodox Men Get Personal
The strangest part of Monday night’s panel discussion of my new book, “The Men’s Section,” about partnership synagogues, or Orthodox congregations in which women play key roles in leading communal prayer, wasn’t that the four-person panel was made up of all men. All-male panels are so common — to wit, I passed by a poster…
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Opinion The Lessons of Jewish Pluralism
The assertiveness of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox religious authorities over the country’s social life — and particularly over the role of women in the public square — has generated headlines and condemnation on the part of friends of Israel and, gleefully, from the country’s antagonists and enemies. These developments, and the potentially disastrous ever increasing growth in…
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