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 Israel Chief Rabbi Vows To Defy Conversion Law
One of Israel’s two chief rabbis said he would not recognize conversions performed by municipal rabbis despite a government directive validating them. A recording of Yitzhak Yosef vowing to block the conversions was published Wednesday on the website kikar.co.il. The Sephardic chief rabbi said he would withhold his signature, which is still required to complete…
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Fast Forward ‘Get-Extort’ Rabbis Caught on Tape Plotting To Beat Reluctant Husbands
(Reuters) — An undercover FBI agent testified on Thursday in a case involving three Orthodox Jewish rabbis in New Jersey accused of kidnapping and beating husbands to force them to grant divorces under Jewish law to their wives. Special Agent Jessica Weisman, who went by the name Rachel Marconi during the operation, said she weaved a…
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Opinion Let’s Get Over Our Non-Orthodox Inferiority Complex
When I was in high school, I stopped wearing my kippah. I felt myself drifting away from the ultra-Orthodox community of my childhood and the Modern Orthodoxy my parents tried to model for me at home. I stopped wearing my kippah because I wanted to disaffiliate from the Orthodox Jews that filled New York City…
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News Non-Orthodox Jews Find Voice as Sharp Battle Lines Drawn in New York Suburb
Between economic challenges and declining affiliation rates, it has been a rough few years for the non-Orthodox Jewish community in Rockland County. Situated about 30 miles north of midtown Manhattan, Rockland has been named New York’s most fiscally stressed community for two straight years by the state comptroller, and median home values are still down…
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Opinion Why Was Muslim Graduation Banned from Hasidic Montreal?
Officials in the Montreal borough of Outremont — which includes a sizeable Orthodox Jewish population — are defending a last-minute decision this weekend to nix a reception hosted by a Muslim organization at a city-owned community center. According to the Montreal Gazette, borough mayor Marie Cinq-Mars told reporters the event was presented as a graduation…
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News New York Tweaks Pre-K Regulations To Suit Orthodox
New York City is changing the rules of its universal prekindergarten program to allow for prayer and the scheduling preferences of Orthodox Jews. But the Orthodox Union says the changes don’t go far enough. The current rules require pre-K programs to provide at least six hours, 20 minutes of uninterrupted secular instruction per day to…
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News Where Are All The Non-Orthodox Rabbis?
Lev Meirowitz Nelson grew up at a Conservative Jewish day school and a Conservative synagogue. When he decided to apply for rabbinical school, however, he didn’t even consider a Conservative seminary. Instead, Nelson applied to Hebrew College, the new, progressive, nondenominational seminary in Boston, where he was ordained in 2013. It’s a path that more…
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News Can Ex-Orthodox Be Sold on Modern Orthodoxy?
In March 2013, Jewish educator and activist Allison Josephs, now 34, went to lecture at Rockland Community College about the journey to observance she took when she was a teenager. With her Jew in the City blog and her YouTube presence, Josephs, who was raised Conservative, has become a self-appointed spokeswoman for Modern Orthodox Judaism,…
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