This is the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
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Life Why Sara Hurwitz’s JOFA Speech Was ‘Retrograde’
There was an exciting energy at the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance conference. Speakers in both the plenary and individual sessions, such as emerging star Lisa Schlaff, made far-reaching statements and bold suggestions about issues ranging from marriage and sexuality to halachic ingenuity. Participants responded in kind with creativity and courage, revealing what seems to be…
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Life Who’s To Say Tefillin Barbie Is a Rabbi?
“You know Barbie’s getting a new job,” says my friend Mimi to me. “People can vote for her new career.” I put tefillin on a Mattel Barbie doll in 2006, unwittingly creating the Jewish icon now known as Tefillin Barbie Tefillin Barbie has a religious-girl denim skirt, a T-shirt, the tallit and tefillin more generally…
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Life Rabbi Avi Weiss Backs Down From Ordaining Women
It’s seems like an effort to put the rabba back in the hat. Rabbi Avi Weiss, who is not usually known for backing down from a fight, on Friday announced via a statement from the Rabbinical Council of America that after discussions with officials there, he is rescinding his decision to describe the women who…
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Life Daring To Daven at the Kotel
Before leaving for Israel, where she will take part in the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations’ annual mission to the Jewish state, Rabbi Julie Schonfeld reflects on the recent debacle over women’s prayer at the Western Wall — responding both as the Rabbinical Assembly’s executive vice president and as the mother of two…
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Life Rabbi Recounts Seminary Profs’ Sexist Remarks
On the heels of a Forward survey revealing that fewer than one in six Jewish communal organizations are run by women, and that those women who do occupy top jobs earn less than their male counterparts comes an essay by Rabbi Rebecca W. Sibru about her personal experience with sexism during rabbinical school and in…
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Life Conservative Women Rabbis Celebrate Changes, Still Face Struggles
Much has changed for female rabbis in the 25 years since the first woman was ordained in the Conservative movement — including acceptance by peers and congregants — but some things, including more difficulty getting good jobs and resentment from other women, remain challenging. These issues were explored at a conference at the Jewish Theological…
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Life When Swine Flu Flies, Rabbis Take to the Skies
The swine flu epidemic continues to rage in Israel. Referred to by its scientific name of H1N1 to avoid the stigma of the unkosher pig, swine flu (by whatever name) is flying through the population with 2,000 reported cases and five reported fatalities. To fight this, a group of rabbis and mystics took to the…
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Life Black Female Rabbi Soon to be Ordained
Saturday will mark a new era for the Jewish community as the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati ordains mainstream Judaism’s first African-American female rabbi, Alysa Stanton. According to a report issued by the Institute for Jewish and Community Outreach in San Francisco, twenty percent of the Jewish population in the United States,…
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Opinion What does Mamdani’s response to synagogue protests mean for Jews? No one will like the answer.
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News As young Jews move away from Israel, Jewish leaders are reluctant to change their approach
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