Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
rabbis
The Latest
-
The Schmooze Did You Catch The Woman Rabbi Cameo On Saturday Night Live?
Did you catch the song “Holes” on Saturday Night Live this weekend, hosted by Adam Sandler? The musical sketch focused on the fact that clothing has holes in it (arm holes, leg holes, etcetera,) and is a pretty good cautionary tale about when people of one gender and race combination, who represent a tiny segment…
-
Fast Forward Rabbi Wounded In Synagogue Shooting Finished Sermon Before Going To Hospital
The San Diego rabbi who was shot in the hand during Shabbat services — but insisted on finishing his sermon — has also served as the county’s police chaplain. Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein is a rabbi with the worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch movement, which emphasizes outreach and education to other Jews, and as chaplain tended to the “spiritual…
-
Life Passover Falls On Marijuana Holiday 4/20 This Year. Rabbis Aren’t Thrilled.
For so long, in Judaism and elsewhere, “getting stoned” meant getting literal stones thrown at you until you died. Now it means getting high on marijuana. And isn’t that freedom? Well…said the seventeen rabbis and spiritual leaders contacted by the Forward for this story. Not — well — uh, not exactly? This year, the second…
-
Opinion Israeli Rabbis Are Using DNA Testing To Police Civil Rights. This Shouldn’t Shock You.
On Tuesday, Judy Maltz reported in Haaretz that the Israeli Rabbinate, which controls conversion, marriage and divorce in Israel, is using DNA testing to verify a person’s Jewishness. Since a person who isn’t Jewish can’t marry a Jew in Israel, which has no civil marriage, the rabbinate is using the DNA test to deny people…
-
Fast Forward Orthodox Rabbi Appointed To Serve In Illinois Legislature
(JTA) — An Orthodox rabbi was appointed to serve in the Illinois State Legislature. Rabbi Yehiel Kalish was sworn in to the Illinois House of Representatives on Sunday night. Kalish, 43, is the first rabbi to serve as an Illinois state representative. “I may be the first rabbi in any state legislature. And that’s very exciting,”…
-
Fast Forward Miami Teen Sues Police Department After Being Cleared In Rabbi’s Murder
A Miami teenager who was arrested for a rabbi’s murder and later cleared of the charges is suing Miami’s police department, claiming that police jailed him despite having evidence that suggested he was not involved. De’Andre Charles was arrested in 2015 at age 14 for the murder of Rabbi Joseph Raksin during a botched robbery….
-
The Schmooze Billy Crystal Plays A Rabbi Who Feels ‘Like A Foreskin’ In This Extremely Jewish Sex Comedy
In the beginning, the Torah says the earth was “tohu vavohu” — a phrase that translates to something like “chaos and futility.” Billy Crystal appearing as a Rabbi in a sex comedy starring a mostly Jewish cast plus the star of “Fifty Shades Of Grey” must be the opposite of tohu vavohu. The Jewish pop…
-
News TFW You Want To Multiply The Jewish People But Can’t Get Off Work
When “Emma,” a director of education at a Conservative synagogue in New York, began to prepare for her upcoming contract negotiations, she went to check the movement’s “Guide to Contractual Relations,” written to help people have such delicate conversations. She found that while the movement advises synagogues to offer clergy — rabbis and cantors —…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Music In 1964, when he was just 23, Bob Dylan wrote the prophetic anthem that encapsulates Trump’s America
- 2
Fast Forward What does the election of Mark Carney mean for Canadian Jews and Israel?
- 3
News State Department plan to deport ‘pro-Hamas’ students relies on a 1952 law that targeted Jews
- 4
News Jewish groups targeted Columbia grad Mahmoud Khalil — then ICE arrested him
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward As ICE targets a pro-Palestinian activist, some Jews are asking if this is the fight against antisemitism they signed up for
-
Fast Forward American Jewish Committee says it’s ‘appalled’ by Mahmoud Khalil’s views but does not praise his arrest
-
Fast Forward Antisemitic terror plot in Australia was fake and staged by a crime boss, police say
-
Fast Forward A bagel shop backed out of a Jewish food festival over Israel. Then regret set in.
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
