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
The Latest
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Fast Forward Israel Moves To Reject Conversions Except By Orthodox Rabbinate
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Knesset committee has approved the advance of a bill that would require the state to recognize only conversions completed under the auspices of the haredi Orthodox-dominated Chief Rabbinate. The measure would circumvent a March 2016 Supreme Court ruling that allowed those undergoing private Orthodox conversions in Israel to become citizens under…
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Fast Forward Hasidic School That Banned Leggings For Moms Orders Internet Filters, Too
Weeks after establishing more stringent rules about modest dressing, a private girls school in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights is now requiring families to install internet filters on their home devices, including phones, if they want their children to enroll this coming fall. Bnos Menachems sent out a letter to parents ahead of the upcoming school year,…
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Community What It’s Like To Be A Modern Lonely Man Of Faith
“And a man found him, when he was wandering in the field, and the man asked him, ‘What are you seeking?’ And he said, ‘I am seeking my brothers’” (Genesis 37:15). I peer out from the siddur (prayer book): are these my brothers? I look around at a rally for justice and peace: are these…
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Community What It’s Like To Be A Queer Female Cantor
When you hear the word ‘Cantor’ or the Hebrew word chazzan, the image in your mind might be a man in a miter or top hat, wearing a tallit (prayer shawl), with a beard, or perhaps the iconic Yossele Rosenblatt, the famous tenor from the Golden Age of Cantors, or a clean-shaven Israeli man in…
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Community Is Keeping Shabbat A Choice?
A version of this article originally appeared in the Texas Jewish Post. I find Shabbat dinner to be the perfect setting for those deep philosophical conversations that happen so rarely these days. We’re all so busy with work, family, technology and never-ending errands that finding the time or space to have meaningful conversations is becoming…
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Fast Forward Crown Heights School Warns Moms To Ditch Leggings And ‘Loud’ Nail Polish
A Hasidic girls school in Brooklyn is demanding mothers of students appear more “modest” next school year. Some of the things the administration is forbidding? Leggings, denim and “loud” nail polish. In a letter to parents from Crown Heights Girls’ School Bnos Menachem, director Motty Gurary explained the rationale for the changes: to “create a…
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Life Orthodox Princeton Student Plans To Get Married — And The World Gasps
In a country with actual child marriage, it might seem as if a 23-year-old wearing an engagement ring would not cause any sort of controversy. And yet I can’t say I was all that surprised by Penina Krieger’s account of the negative, judgmental response she’s received, from people who think she’s basically a child bride….
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Fast Forward Jared And Ivanka Fly On Shabbat – But That Doesn’t Mean You Should
Could Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s traveling on the Sabbath cause trouble for Orthodox Jews in America? One group of Orthodox rabbis says so. TORA, which describes itself as an “umbrella group of Traditional Orthodox Rabbis of America” issued a statement arguing that the flight “could lead to an erosion of the historic responsibility of…
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