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
-
Community Rethinking Orthodoxy in Trump’s America
David Weiss Halivni, a renowned Talmudic scholar, once quipped that he could not pray with the people with whom he talked, and could not talk with the people with whom he prayed. In other words, those with whom he could talk – who could discuss religious ideas beyond accepted norms – insisted on living the…
-
Community The Child Sexual-Abuse Survivor Who Fought Back
A version of this piece originally appeared in Plus61J. How does a twelve-year-old survive when he has been the victim of child sexual abuse and compounding abuses perpetrated by leaders of the community entrusted with his care? How does he grow up to become a Jewish community leader and one of Australia’s best known advocates…
-
Opinion What a Swastika Means to Reform Jews in Today’s America
One morning in early January, the students and faculty of Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion’s Cincinnati campus, the longtime seat of Reform Judaism in America, woke up to find themselves victims of anti-Semitism. A large, white swastika had been scrawled on the seminary’s red entrance sign. You couldn’t miss it. Though traumatic…
-
News Was 2016 the ‘Worst’ Year for Ultra-Orthodox Suicide and Overdoses?
Boorey Deutsch can’t keep track of the number of people he knew who died by suicide or overdose this year. Four were close friends. One of them hung himself; one drove the wrong way on the highway and two overdosed. Others he knew in passing. “I knew many of them, unfortunately,” Deutsch said, in the…
-
News At 15, This Orthodox Girl Is a National Pingpong Champion
(JTA) – She’s beaten a table tennis Hall of Famer. She’s beaten Jewish philanthropists in suits and high heels. She’s beaten tennis champion Rafael Nadal. And she’s only 15. Like many Orthodox Jewish teens, Estee Ackerman was raised around a basement pingpong table, a traditional gathering spot for Sabbath-observant kids on long Saturday afternoons. But…
-
Opinion Intermarriage Will Shape a New American Judaism
When Rabbi Seymour Rosenbloom, a retired rabbi from Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, performed an intermarriage ceremony for his stepdaughter and her fiancé in 2014 more than a glass got shattered at the end of the wedding ceremony. Rabbi Rosenbloom’s membership in the Rabbinical Assembly wound up in pieces as well. In December 2016, the rabbinical body…
-
News Boro Park Jews Still Back Donald Trump Despite Post-Election Anti-Semitism
Since Donald Trump’s election, Jews in New York have been the targets of more than half the city’s hate crimes, from Williamsburg and Brooklyn Heights to the New School in Manhattan; and all this, amid the sharp spike in reports of anti-Semitic vandalism and hate speech nationally. Yet in the heavily Orthodox neighborhood of Borough…
-
Fast Forward Happy Hanukkah — Cut the Chit Chat With Cousin Gertrude!
It’s Hanukkah time, but don’t get carried away with the holiday spirit. Fliers posted in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of New York City warn: amidst your Hanukkah parties, dreidel spinning and menorah lighting — don’t let the men and women mix. There should be no engaging in “unnecessary chatting,” “frivolous laughter,” or “playing games together.” This even…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion Israel is becoming a pariah state. Here’s what American Jews must do.
- 3
Opinion We must face reality — the Gaza war is now a war of annihilation
- 4
Fast Forward Exclusive: Jewish voters prefer Cuomo, with Mamdani in second place for New York Mayor, new poll shows
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Several hospitalized with burns after man attacks pro-Israel gathering in Colorado
-
Fast Forward Paris synagogues and Holocaust memorial vandalized with green paint on Shabbat
-
Fast Forward Radiohead’s Thom Yorke criticizes Netanyahu, Hamas and pressure on artists to opine on Gaza
-
Fast Forward Poland votes for its next president, with Polish-Jewish history on the ballot
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
