Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
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The Latest
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News Rena Arshinoff, Nurse and Rabbi, Guides Couple Through Delivery of Stillborn Child
In November 2012, Renan Levine and Mira Victoria Perry were eagerly awaiting the birth of their second child. Two days before the scheduled C-section, the Toronto couple received the news expectant parents dread most: their child had died in utero. With no family in the area and their synagogue rabbi out of town, the couple…
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Breaking News Reality TV Star Alin Levy Speaks Out on Bizarre Conversion Fight
An Israeli television celebrity said the Chief Rabbinate is refusing to convert her to Judaism because of her acting career. Alin Levy, a 24-year-old reality TV celebrity whose Ukraine-born mother is Christian and whose father is Jewish, discussed her situation with Israel’s Channel 10 in an interview that aired earlier this week. She said she…
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Breaking News Conversion Reform Bill Passes Knesset Committee
A bill that would allow local rabbis to oversee conversions to Judaism in Israel passed a Knesset committee. The controversial bill passed the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Wednesday by a vote of 7 to 4. The bill will now return to the Knesset plenum for its second and third readings, which likely will…
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Israel News Reality TV Star’s Conversion Plight Reveals Orthodox Rabbinate’s Kafkaesque Grip
(Haaretz) — The struggle against the ultra-Orthodox grip on Israel’s Chief Rabbinate in issues of personal status in Israel has a new, and very attractive, poster girl. Alin Levy, an Israeli reality TV star, says she has been told she cannot complete the process of converting to Judaism because she is an actress. Levy blasted…
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Opinion Rabbi’s Meditation Lessons Changed My Life
Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg On those very rare occasions when I start to get anxious or freak out or dive down the rabbit hole of “What if this bad thing happens and then this and then this?” I hear the lilting voice of Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg in my head, telling me to breathe and…
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Breaking News White Powder Mailed to Hungarian Jewish Leader, Substance Deemed Harmless
An envelope containing white powder sent to a representative of Hungary’s Jewish communities did not contain any dangerous materials. The envelope was mailed earlier this week to Andras Heisler, president of the Mazsihisz federation of Hungarian Jewish communities, according to a report Wednesday by the ATV station. Separately, police in Tatabanya, which is approximately 30…
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Opinion An Unconventional Orthodox Rabbi
It isn’t every day that I find myself truly inspired by an Orthodox rabbi; it isn’t often that Forward readers hear me espouse such sentiments. But when the Forward put out a call to readers to nominate a rabbi that inspired or touched them in some way, I felt it my duty to nominate the…
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Opinion Honest Rabbi Returned $98K — and Inspired Us
When Rabbi Noach Muroff needed a desk, he looked to Craigslist for a good deal. He got way more than he bargained for. The desk, purchased for $150 dollars, turned out to be hiding $98,000 stuffed in a ShopRite plastic bag, that had fallen behind the file cabinet. And Muroff gave it all back. Click…
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Culture Why saying ‘L’shana Tova’ on Rosh Hashanah may not be the correct phrase
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Culture You can buy Sukkot gift boxes that say ‘tuchus’ on Amazon
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Culture Hitler is trending on TikTok again — and they’re trying to make him seem like a nice guy
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Film & TV Netflix finally gave Jews our Hot Rabbi. Too bad every other Jew in the show sucks
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