Welcome to 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 Think All Orthodox Jews Are Zionists? Think Again.
Many non-Orthodox Jews assume that all Orthodox Jews must be fervent Zionists. Given the centrality of Israel in Jewish movements — at least until recently — the natural assumption is that the more religious you are, the more Zionist you must be. Surely if today’s Evangelical Christians are Zionists, the Orthodox must be as well….
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Opinion The Real Reason Orthodox Jews Love Nikki Haley
There’s a joke people are telling in Israel about Nikki Haley, President Trump’s Ambassador to the United Nations who just announced she would be stepping down in January. The joke’s setting is Mea Shearim, one of Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods. Nine men are seeking a tenth to complete the quorum necessary for prayers. Just as they…
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News Is SAR Reckoning With A Sex Abuse Scandal — Or Looking For A Scapegoat?
Robert Eckmann finally decided ten months ago to email his middle school about the principal who molested him in the 1970s. He couldn’t have known the consequences. His private message has led to revelations about Stanley Rosenfeld, who the Forward found had admitted to molesting hundreds of boys over a decades-long career in Jewish education….
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Fast Forward Chicago Kosher Supervisor Shot Dead On Simchat Torah
CHICAGO (JTA) — Eliyahu Moscowitz, a kosher supervisor at a supermarket, was shot dead in Chicago on Simchat Torah in what local residents fear might be a killing spree. Moscowitz, 24, was shot once in the head and left for dead on a rainy Monday night in the West Rogers Park neighborhood, just a mile…
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Life The Orthodox Jewish Mother, Arrested Ten Times, Who’s Protesting Kavanaugh
The day after the election, Sara Atkins’ then-ten year old daughter Freida came to her mother and said, “Mommy, [they’re] going to try to kill me. Please save me.” All five of Atkins’ children have health issues that impair them in everyday life. Freida has a dangerous rare autoimmune disorder that manifests itself in idiopathic…
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The Schmooze 5 Times Zac Braff’s Movie Got Judaism Just So, So Wrong
In spite of his name, Aidan Bloom, Zach Braff’s Jewish character in “Wish I Was Here”, hardly seems Jewish. Braff’s 2014 comedy film is a recent addition to Netflix’s streaming service, and it centers on Aidan as an out-of-work actor struggling to pay his children’s Yeshivah tuition. As Aidan goes from one doomed audition to…
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The Schmooze No, Kathy Griffin Did NOT Call Orthodoxy A Cult
Don’t feed the trolls…even if they claim to like Jews. In a textbook example of how fake news authors prey on readers’ fears, Pizzagate conspiracy-supporter Jack Posobiec birthed the untruth that comic Kathy Griffin targeted an Orthodox Jew with “anti-Semitic hate speech” by calling him a “cult member.” In a Twitter interaction on Thursday, Griffin…
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Fast Forward Orthodox Leaders Crack Down On ‘Slutty’ Long Wigs
Orthodox leaders are increasingly policing the length of women’s wigs, the New York Post reported Sunday, citing numerous women who say they have encountered criticism and even discrimination because of their artificial locks. “People always say the longer it is, the sluttier it is,” Esther Adina Sash, 30, told the Post. Orthodox women traditionally wear…
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News Exclusive: ADL chief compares student protesters to ISIS and al-Qaeda in address to Republican officials
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News A Jewish farmer drove 600 miles to rescue a century-old synagogue. Now he’s building a new one in a cornfield.
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Opinion Pete Hegseth is targeting a Jewish American hero — who’s next?
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Opinion The two things I fear most after the horrifying attack on Jews in Boulder
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Fast Forward A week after Boulder attack, attendance at Run for Their Lives spikes from dozens to hundreds
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Fast Forward How many American Jews are there? A global study of world religions offers a new estimate
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Film & TV In unheard recordings, Andy Kaufman emerges — a kinder, gentler soul than you may expect, or hope to see
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Opinion As fires burn in L.A., has Trump found his Reichstag fire moment?
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