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 Israeli Education Group Reaches 1,000 French Students
(JTA) – An Israel-based Jewish educational group, Dirshu, has enrolled its 1,000th student in France into classes devoted to studying the Talmud, a central text of Orthodox Jewish tradition. The current level of enrollment was reached two years after Dirshu, which was founded in 1997, began its current cycle of study in France, Rabbi Naftali…
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Fast Forward Orthodox Union Pushes Women Clergy To Change Their Titles — But To What?
NEW YORK (JTA) — Following its rabbinic ruling prohibiting synagogues from hiring female clergy, the Orthodox Union is pressuring synagogues that have hired the women to change their titles. In February, the Orthodox Union, an umbrella Orthodox Jewish group, issued a Jewish legal ruling by seven rabbis that bars women from serving as clergy or in…
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Fast Forward Israel Conversion Bill Draws Fire From Diaspora Jews
(JTA) — Jewish groups criticized a proposed Knesset bill that would require the state to recognize only conversions completed under the auspices of the haredi Orthodox-dominated Chief Rabbinate. Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, urged the Israeli government to reject the proposed legislation, calling it “another step down a path of…
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Fast Forward Menstruation App Comes Under Fire For ‘Jeopardizing Purity Of Jewish Nation’
A new debate is playing out in New York City’s Orthodox community over the halachic status of an online app designed for women who wish to better observe the religious prohibition on intimacy during menstruation. The application, Tahor, allows for women to anonymously send photos of their bedikah cloths, used to check the vagina for…
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Community I’m Secular Now. Are My Religious Zionist Rebbes My New Villains?
My rebbes are Rabbis Yehuda Amitaland Aharon Lichtenstein, of blessed memory, the roshei yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, located in Gush Etzion, a cluster of Jewish settlements located in the Judaean Mountains of the West Bank. I studied Talmud from them over 40 years ago, but have since left the derech (path); I no longer…
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Fast Forward Justin Bieber Gig Sends Orthodox Woman Into Labor
(JTA) — You’d better Beliebe it: A haredi Orthodox woman went into labor after just one song at a Justin Bieber concert in Tel Aviv. Then again, Reut Ziskind, 23, from the predominantly ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, told Ynet she was three weeks overdue by the time she attended the concert on Wednesday. “I…
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Fast Forward WATCH: The Maccabeats Dropped A Hot New Single…About Prenups?
A popular Jewish pop music group has written a short cheery PSA about a weighty problem in the Orthodox Jewish community: women whose husbands have left them but refuse to give them a proper divorce. In Jewish law, the husband is given absolute authority in the matter of annulling a divorce. If he refuses to…
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News In 100 Days, A New Jewish Elite Rises Under Trump
Among many moves aimed at reversing his predecessor’s policies, President Trump recently decided not to make public the White House visitors logs. Had they been open, the lists would reveal the profound change 100 days of a Trump administration had brought about to the Jewish community’s power structure. “The atmosphere has changed, at least for…
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