This is the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
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Life Be Ima — The Bima Can Wait
I don’t have time to write this blog because I have an infant on my lap. But I am driven to write because I do not hear my voice represented in the discussions about motherhood and the rabbinate. Recently Rabbi Jill Levy, who was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary, wrote on The Sisterhood about…
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Life Making Room for Ima on the Bima
It did not feel like a compliment when someone told me that I was the “prettiest” rabbi he had ever seen. Nor did it feel like a compliment when a congregant said he was really impressed with me although he always thought “ima” — Hebrew for mother — “did not belong on the bima.” I…
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The Schmooze ‘Dr. Death’ Jack Kevorkian Dies at 83
“Dr. Death” has finally lived up to his name. Jack Kevorkian, who has spent decades campaigning for the legalization of euthanasia, has died at 83. Kevorkian, who expired — unassisted — in a Detroit hospital, served eight years in prison and was arrested multiple times for helping more than 130 patients commit suicide between 1990…
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The Schmooze Israeli Rabbis Get a Raise
Being a young rabbi in Israel just got a whole lot more lucrative. Starting salaries for Jewish clergy will rise by up to 250 percent in the coming years, according to a new set of raises approved today by Israel’s treasury. Because the salaries will be paid by the government — Israel doesn’t separate synagogue…
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The Schmooze Rabbi and Father of 11 on Trial for Molesting IDF Officer
Editor’s Note: Yesterday Bidany was found guilty of the charge of molesting a female Israeli Army officer. A female IDF officer is not taking an alleged case of misdemeanor sexual contact sitting down — especially not while sitting on an airplane. The NY Daily News reported that the 23-year-old officer, who commands a missile defense…
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Life Newsweek List Takes a Page From ‘The Sisterhood 50’
Newsweek magazine, this year in conjunction with its sister publication The Daily Beast, has just published its annual list of America’s 50 “most influential” rabbis. It’s Newsweek’s fifth such list but the first time that a woman — writer Abigail Pogrebin — has been directly involved in the selection, which no doubt explains why the…
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The Schmooze Montreal Cabbie Can Display Religious Objects in his Cab
Is a rabbi’s picture dangerous? That’s what Montreal police seemed to imply by fining and ticketing cabbie Arieh Perecowicz, who’d racked up more than $1,000 in fines “for having pictures of his daughter and a rabbi in his cab, along with a Canadian flag, two small religious symbols and a Remembrance Day poppy,” according to…
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The Schmooze Peeling Back The Forbidden Strawberry
It’s the forbidden fruit… unless peeled. The strawberry has been the cause of much rabbinical consternation in recent years. The reason is that many rabbis believe strawberries to be a favorite hangout for insects, and eating an insect is actually more problematic in Jewish law than eating pork. Now one of Israel’s most prolific Haredi…
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News As young Jews move away from Israel, Jewish leaders are reluctant to change their approach
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