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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Life Rabbis Nix Frank Language in Sex-Ed Book
Sex educator Sara Diament has written a book, “Talking to Your Children About Intimacy: A Guide for Orthodox Jewish Parents,” meant to encourage parents to speak frankly with their children about sex, starting with helping preschoolers describe their body parts accurately up through the more complex task of talking with teenagers. Diament, based in New…
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Life Women Leaving Orthodoxy
The recent Rabbinical Council of America decision to exclude women from the rabbinate brought to mind the 2004 film “Mekudeshet: Sentenced to Marriage,” a documentary about women stuck in the divorce process in Israel. There is one particularly heart-wrenching scene that has been playing over in my mind recently. “Rachel,” a 30-something Orthodox mother of…
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Life RCA’s Resolution on Women’s Leadership May Prove Chilling
Women cannot be Orthodox rabbis. That much is clear in the resolution passed unanimously at the annual conference of the Rabbinical Council of America, held at the Young Israel of Scarsdale April 25-27. But that is all that’s clear in the resolution, which can be read in its entirety here. On the one hand, the…
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Life RCA: No Women Rabbis, No Matter What They’re Called
The Rabbinical Council of America, the main umbrella group for centrist Orthodox rabbis, just released its position statements, which were adopted this week at its annual conference. Here’s what the RCA had to say about women’s spiritual and executive leadership within Orthodoxy: The flowering of Torah study and teaching by God-fearing Orthodox women in recent…
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The Schmooze Making Cheerleading Unsexy, One Team at a Time
There is more than one game being played on the basketball court of Hapoel Jerusalem. Of course, the floor sees its share of basketball, but the secondary game is a battle of wits between the religious and secular elements of society — and the pawns in the game are the cheerleaders. Ah, cheerleaders, known less…
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The Schmooze Jeff Goldblum Performs a Bris, On a Cigarette
First it was lox, now it’s … cigarettes? Tobacco sticks are the latest unassuming product to face kashrut questions, after a Dutch study found that pig hemoglobin was being used in some cigarette filters. The issue hasn’t captured the attention of the rabbinic authorities just yet, and it might not now that actor and rabbi-in-disguise…
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The Schmooze Arab Bakers Anticipate a Happy Passover, Thanks to Shas
Here in Israel, they say that Passover brings Jews together. Religious and non-religious, Ashkenazim and Sephardim, Tel Avivians and Jerusalemites, the vast majority of Israel’s Jews will sit down to a Seder this evening. Yet few people realize that Passover also spurs a certain unity between some of Israel’s Jewish and non-Jewish citizens. The holiday…
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Life How Pesach Divides the Community Along Class Lines
If you want to be a religious Jew today, you have to have money — a lot of it. There’s no way around it, and it’s especially obvious at this time of year. Perhaps it was different way back when, but in Orthodoxy Version 2010, you need two of everything in the kitchen, including two…
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