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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Community Ex-Haredim Cannot Save Liberal Judaism
The recent Netflix documentary One of Us — which depicts the lives and tribulations of three Jews who are attempting to or have already left Hasidic Judaism — has led several commentators to reflect on the subject of those who leave the ultra-Orthodox community. One commentator, Anshel Pfeffer, who believes that there is currently a…
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Opinion My Fellow Pro-Israel Jews: You Got What You Wanted, But You Paid Too Much.
Dear Pro- Trump, Pro-Israel supporters, Congratulations. You got what you wanted. Yesterday, the president declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel. He didn’t use the word “undivided”, but he did promise to one day move the embassy to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was my home for three years. Israel was my parent’s home until they moved to the…
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Community For Israeli Orthodox Leadership, Zionism Has Replaced The Torah
Israeli behavior is the moral analog of Murphy’s Law. Just when you think the Jewish supremacists can’t get any more vulgar or more cynical, they somehow manage to find a new low. Take Avi Gabbay — the “liberal” opposition’s Netanyahu Lite. Gabbay celebrated his recent elevation to the leadership of Israel’s Labor Party with insults…
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Life Why I Stopped Waiting For My Bashert And Started Looking For A Life Partner Instead
“When we meet him, how will we know he’s our bashert?” This was one of the questions I asked my teachers during my early teenage years. As an adolescent in a yeshiva high school, there was no topic more fascinating than bashert – the Jewish concept of soulmate. Though we students were from modern Orthodox…
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Opinion Are Orthodox Jews Assimilating To The Christian Right?
Orthodox Jews and evangelicals have a lot in common. Large majorities of both communities say that religion is very important to their lives — 83% of Orthodox Jews and 86% of white evangelicals. Both groups report attending religious services at much higher margins than their less fundamentalist brethren. And roughly the same number of Orthodox…
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News 3 Weddings In New York Synagogue. One Shared Act Of Defiance Against Israel’s Orthodox Rabbinate
Jewish weddings are typically joyous events during which a couple’s family and friends gather to celebrate and shower them with love as they create a new life together. But on Sunday, three Israeli Jewish couples will turn their party into a protest, and their intimate moment into a public, political act. Temple Emanu-El, the iconic…
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Fast Forward Jewish Leaders Blast De Blasio School Lunch Plan For Excluding Kosher Options
Jewish and Muslim religious leaders are criticizing Mayor Bill de Blasio and his new free school lunch plan for not offering any kosher or halal options. “Thousands of children in our community and the Muslim community are left out of this initiative due to religious dietary restrictions,” the letter dated November 22 and signed by…
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News What Is An Eruv?
It’s a fence, but it doesn’t exist six days out of the week. It’s a symbolic extension of the home, but not an extension of private property. It’s an ingenious legal loophole, but it’s been Jewish law for 1,500 years. It’s not a riddle, it’s an eruv: a boundary used by Orthodox Jews to expand…
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