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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Life First Woman Orthodox ‘Rabbi’ Is Hired by Synagogue
The first graduate of Yeshivat Maharat to take the title “rabbi” said she has been hired by an unnamed American Orthodox synagogue. Lila Kagedan, who was ordained this summer by the seminary created by Open Orthodox Rabbi Avi Weiss to train Orthodox female clergy, told the London-based Jewish Chronicle this week that she was recruited…
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News Hillary Clinton Complains in Email of ‘Unbelievable’ Airbrushing From Orthodox Papers
Hillary Clinton complains in a newly released email about being airbrushed out of photographs by ultra-Orthodox newspapers. The email with the subject line “unbeleivable” was bared as the State Department released another 5,000 pages of emails of the former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate. The emails released on Thursday afternoon are part of…
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Fast Forward Women of the Wall Slams Bibi Over Reports of No Change at Western Wall
The Women of the Wall group vowed to continue reading from the Torah in the women’s section of the Kotel in the wake of a report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised haredi Orthodox parties that it still would not be allowed. Army Radio reported Tuesday that Netanyahu met last week with the haredi parties…
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News New York Yeshivas Get City Funds for Guards — at Cost of $19M
Government funded sentries will soon be guarding nonpublic schools in New York’s five boroughs, thanks to a major victory won by Orthodox Jewish advocates after a year of tough political defeats. A security guard bill passed by New York’s city council in early December is the first in the country to guarantee religious schools city…
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Opinion Why Chief Rabbi Couldn’t Be More Wrong About Conservative School
Rabbi David Lau’s condemnation this week of Naftali Bennett’s visit to the Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan was shortsighted and inaccurate in many ways. Most close to home for me, it denigrated the vital work we are doing at Schechter Manhattan to nurture positive Jewish identity in our students, the future leaders of the American…
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News Does Israel Owe This Ex-Orthodox Woman for Not Teaching Her Basic Math and English?
Bar Von Mayer knew that leaving ultra-Orthodoxy at age 17 would be difficult, but she didn’t know that it would be so expensive. Her Orthodox high school did not prepare her for the bagrut, the matriculation exam that is a prerequisite for attending college in Israel, so she paid around $1,800 for a course that…
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Fast Forward Orthodox Reject Anti-Muslim Push Without Mentioning Donald Trump by Name
The umbrella bodies for modern Orthodox Jews joined Jewish groups in rejecting Donald Trump’s call to ban Muslims’ entry into the United States. Unlike the range of other groups that have condemned the call by the candidate for the Republican presidential nod, the Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Council of America in a joint statement…
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News Is ‘Chained’ Wife Tamar Epstein’s Remarriage Kosher — Even Without Orthodox Divorce?
Tamar Epstein, the prominent “chained woman” whose right to remarry under traditional Jewish law was long stymied, may have finally found two Orthodox rabbis willing to help her wed again. But her fate in the broader Jewish community — and the fate of any children she may have — is anything but ensured. Epstein, who…
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