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
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Yiddish World How Aaron Frank Became the Unlikely Orthodox Head of Secular Day School
In 1996, Asher Abramovitz, the longtime principal of Kinneret Day School, a non-denominational community school in Riverdale, New York, received an unusual proposition: Aaron Frank, the 27 year-old assistant rabbi of a local Orthodox synagogue, offered to meet weekly with the school’s mostly non-observant eighth graders to chat about Jewish ethics and philosophy, a sort…
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Fast Forward Jerusalem Woman’s Search for Diamond Engagement Ring Comes Up Empty
The Municipality of Jerusalem allowed dozens of haredi Orthodox volunteers to search through one of its garbage trucks, after a young woman accidentally threw her engagement ring in a city trash container. The search was conducted Thursday at several locales, including on a public square in the predominantly haredi Orthodox neighborhood of Geula, west of…
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Fast Forward British Chief Rabbi Backs Women Saying Mourning Prayer
Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said that women who would like to say the Mourner’s Kaddish “should feel comfortable and supported in doing so.” His comments came in the wake of the publication Wednesday by the United Synagogue, a union of British Orthodox Jewish synagogues, of a mourning and Kaddish booklet for women. “It is…
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News Why Does Bronx Old-Age Home Funnel Millions to Ultra-Orthodox Groups?
A Bronx old-age home whose board includes several high-powered Orthodox Jewish activists has sent at least $20 million to dozens of ultra-Orthodox organizations in an unusual, decades-long arrangement. The not-for-profit, called the Bronxwood Home for the Aged, runs a home care agency and an assisted living facility, which serves largely non-Jewish seniors. It has sent…
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News Trailblazing Orthodox Rabbi Lila Kagedan Stands on ‘Shoulders of Giants’
(JTA) — When Rabbi Lila Kagedan spends her first Shabbat at the Mount Freedom Jewish Center in Randolph, New Jersey, later this month, she will be making history. A recent graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, Kagedan, 35, is the first person ordained at the Orthodox women’s clergy training institute in New York to adopt the title…
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Fast Forward New Jersey Synagogue Reveals It Hired First Orthodox Woman ‘Rabbi’
An Orthodox synagogue in New Jersey has hired Lila Kagedan, the first Yeshivat Maharat graduate to go by the title “rabbi.” Mount Freedom Jewish Center, in Randolph, New Jersey, announced in a news release Monday that Kagedan is joining its “spiritual leadership team.” The news release did not use the word “rabbi,” instead referring to…
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Fast Forward Restaurateur Says Synagogue Threatened Kosher Certification in $1.8M Dispute
A New York restaurant owner claims in legal papers that a prominent Orthodox synagogue threatened to have his kosher certification revoked if he does not drop a $1.8 million lawsuit against it. Joseph Allaham, who operates several kosher restaurants in Manhattan, said Lincoln Square Synagogue wants him to move his legal dispute with the shul…
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Opinion Jewish Extremists Divide Israel’s Right Wing — Even as Orthodox Take Reins of Security Services
In a uniquely Israeli bit of irony, the VIP protection unit of Israel’s Shin Bet security service has beefed up protection — for the director of the Shin Bet, Yoram Cohen. The reason, according to Israel’s Channel 10 television news, is growing agitation against the Shin Bet and its director by pro-settler radicals. Intense anger…
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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 Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla could reach Israeli waters over the weekend: What you need to know
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Fast Forward French police detain Palestinian man who allegedly struck rabbi with a chair
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Culture That time Yiddishists met extraterrestrials a short while ago in a galaxy not far away
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Opinion Were the attacks in Boulder and D.C. the product of ‘blood libel’? Not so fast
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