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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The Schmooze Orthodox Hungarian Boy Steals Show on Oprah Winfrey’s ‘Belief’
(JTA) — Orthodox Jewish boys from Hungary are not typically a hot topic on Twitter. But after the Sunday night premiere of Oprah Winfrey’s “Belief,” a seven-part documentary series exploring various faiths around the world, the Internet is enamored with Mendel Hurwitz, one of the show’s first subjects. Hurwitz, now 15, hails from Budapest, where…
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Fast Forward Orthodox Man Beaten on Brooklyn Street
New York City police are investigating an attack on a Jewish man in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. On Oct. 16, an Orthodox man was assaulted in front of a Jewish school in an incident being investigated as a possible bias attack. Moshe Yehuda Feldman, 35, was hit in the back of the head in…
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Fast Forward Ultra-Orthodox Will Be Majority of British Community in 15 Years
Haredi Orthodox Jews will soon account for half of the British Jewish population, according to a study of the United Kingdom’s Jewish community. Accelerating birth rates among the strictly observant religious Jewish communities mean they are expected “to constitute a majority of the British Jewish population before the 21st century is over,” a report from…
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Fast Forward Why Jonathan Sacks Says Jews Must Stop ‘Navel-Gazing’
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, a philosopher and member of the U.K. House of Lords who served as Britain’s chief Orthodox rabbi from 1991 to 2013, is in America lecturing and promoting his latest book, “Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence.” JTA’s Uriel Heilman caught up with Sacks in New York for a conversation about his…
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The Schmooze For Matisyahu, Leaving Orthodoxy Was ‘Hardest Thing’
(JTA) — With his clean-shaven face and hip clothing, it’s easy to forget that Matisyahu was a Hasidic icon before he was just a Jewish one. But on a segment of HuffPost Live on Tuesday, the Jewish reggae singer called leaving the Hasidic community “one of the hardest things [he] had to go through.” From…
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Fast Forward London Orthodox School Ordered To Stop Asking Parents About Sex Lives
An Orthodox Jewish public school in London must stop asking parents about their sex lives in order for their children to gain admission, a school watchdog ordered. The Hasmonean High School in Barnet in north London asks parents on its admission form whether they observe the laws of family purity, under which women abstain from…
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The Schmooze Welcome to the Sexy Frum World of Orthodox Erotica
Most erotic fiction doesn’t come with an accompanying glossary of Yiddish terms. Unless, of course, your sexy fantasies involve Orthodox Jews. Shosha Pearl writes what she calls “Orthodox erotica,” a relatively new genre of erotic fiction about, and geared to, Orthodox Jews. Her first book, “I Will Watch You: Four Short Tales of Jewish Love…
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Books Why Secular-to-Orthodox Memoirs Matter
“Writing is a miserable, awful business. Stay with it. It is better than anything in the world.” This quote from Ann Patchett sums up my feelings about writing — and it’s also how I feel about my chosen religious lifestyle. I grew up in a secular Jewish home and, as a young adult, was drawn…
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