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 Why is this Orthodox group playing nice with Cuomo, even after he shut down their wedding?
On Sunday morning, State Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, an Orthodox Jew who represents the Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park, accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of “shamelessly stoking the embers of antisemitism.” Around that time, Cuomo was getting a much friendlier reception from a different set of Orthodox leaders — those from the Satmar Hasidic community,…
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Letters The virus is the enemy — not us
Dear Editor: In an Op-Ed published in The Forward, Avi Shafran of Agudath Israel denigrated the Judaism practiced by the overwhelming majority of Jews in New York. He seemed to be arguing that only Haredi Jewish leaders can speak for our city’s Jewish community. This could not be further from the truth. With COVID-19 once…
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Fast Forward Orthodox Jews overwhelmingly support Trump, survey finds
(JTA) — A new poll shows overwhelming support for President Donald Trump among Orthodox Jews. The poll, published Wednesday by Ami Magazine, a major Orthodox monthly, found that 83% of Orthodox respondents plan to vote for Trump in the upcoming election, while just 13% plan to vote for Joe Biden. Those numbers represent a dramatic…
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News Breaking up services didn’t work. Fines didn’t work. Will cutting funding keep yeshivas closed?
Police officers have failed to break up large gatherings of mask-less people. Synagogues and schools have stayed open despite being fined $15,000. Now New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is trying a new way of getting Orthodox Jewish schools in areas with high coronavirus infection rates to shut down: hit them in the wallet. An executive…
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Fast Forward Report: organizers of five Brooklyn High Holiday gatherings hit with $15,000 fines
The organizers of five Jewish religious gatherings in the Hasidic hub of Borough Park, Brooklyn, received maximum-allowable $15,000 fines for violating state rules limiting such gatherings to 10 people in areas where coronavirus infection rates are highest, sources told the New York Post. The city said that it handed out $150,000 total in fines in…
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Fast Forward After Borough Park protest leader arrested for inciting a riot, his followers mob home of Hasidic journalist
(JTA) — A dispute that has roiled Borough Park, an Orthodox neighborhood in Brooklyn, took a dark new turn Sunday night after Heshy Tischler, the man who led protests against COVID-19 restrictions there last week was arrested and charged with inciting a riot. The New York Police Department announced Sunday night that it had taken…
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News Orthodox Jews quietly defy coronavirus restrictions to celebrate last of the High Holidays
Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn proceeded with some indoor and outdoor holiday celebrations in their synagogues over the weekend, in defiance of restrictions limiting all religious gatherings to 10 or fewer people in neighborhoods where the rates of coronavirus infection have gone sharply up in recent weeks. On Saturday evening in Borough Park — a neighborhood…
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News Ahead of Simchat Torah street parties, mayor says NYPD not sure how to enforce new health rules
The New York City Police Department does not know how it will enforce new state restrictions on religious gatherings just days before Simchat Torah, a holiday typically celebrated in Orthodox communities with massive dance parties that spill onto the street. “The lawyers all have to get on the same page, and the NYPD has to…
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Fast Forward Why some Satmar Hasidic leaders endorsed Zohran Mamdani as mayor, stunning many Jewish voters
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Culture Mamdani’s first statement on antisemitism as mayor-elect got some weird pushback
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News How Mamdani became New York’s next mayor, with Jews divided between fierce opposition and fiery support
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Culture Mamdani quoted Eugene Debs in his victory speech — there’s a long Jewish history there
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