This is the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
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News For Rabbis, Whichever Days They Get Off Are The Sacred Ones
“Everybody’s working for the weekend,” as the song goes. Except rabbis. They work on the weekend. Friday nights are for evening services and hosting guests at home. On Saturdays, the rabbi is at synagogue by 8 or 8:30 a.m. for the main event of his or her week: Shabbat services, with Torah reading. Sunday morning…
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Fast Forward New Jersey Rabbi Who Gave His Kidney To A Stranger Donates Part Of Liver
(JTA) — A New Jersey rabbi who a decade ago donated a kidney altruistically, has donated part of his liver. Rabbi Ephraim Simon, a 50-year-old father of 9 who co-directs Chabad of Bergen County in Teaneck, New Jersey, traveled to the Cleveland Clinic in mid-December to give part of his liver to Adam Levitz, a…
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News Baltimore Rabbi Expelled By Reform Rabbinic Group Amid Sex Misconduct Probe
The former senior rabbi of a historic Reform synagogue in Baltimore has been expelled by the movement’s rabbinical association two months after being fired by the board for over unspecified allegations of the movement’s ethical code, Rabbi Steven Fink was fired in October after the members of Temple Oheb Shalom, a large, 165-year-old community, voted…
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News Conservative Rabbis Can Get Kicked Out For Breaking These Four Rules
Once you’re a rabbi, you’re good for life — unlike a law or medical license, no central professional body can take the title away. And while you can get the title from a Jewish seminary, such as Hebrew Union College (Reform), Yeshiva University (Orthodox) or the Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative), there are thousands of rabbis…
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News When A Retired Rabbi Is The Elephant In The Synagogue
Some retired rabbis just can’t let go. There’s the rabbi who wants to marry the kid he bat mitzvah-ed, or the rabbi who thinks he could give a better Yom Kippur sermon than the next guy. Some may simply feel that the buck should still stop with them, even when they’re no longer officially in…
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Community An Outspoken Orthodox Rabbi Is Breaking The Rabbinate’s Monopoly On Marriage
A version of this article originally appeared in Plus61J, an Australian-Jewish publication. Israelis love complaining about the overbearing power of the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate. Few, however, have done more to challenge the Rabbinate’s monopoly over Jewish life choices than Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz of Jerusalem. After completing his struggle to introduce alternative kosher certificates to restaurants…
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News A Tax Break For Rabbis Might Be Unconstitutional. Can They Make Ends Meet Without It?
What does Rabbi Aviad Bodner, leader of Manhattan’s historic Stanton Street Shul, which seats 400, have in common with televangelist mega-preachers whose sermons reach millions of people around the world? All get a tax break on their housing costs — despite the fact that Bodner rents a two-bedroom in Manhattan’s East Village with his wife…
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The Schmooze Orthodox Rabbi Caught Studying Torah During Soccer Game Goes Viral
Rabbi Zev Leff never set out to be a viral star — he just wanted to get in some Torah study. But the Haredi rabbi of Moshav Matityahu, located near the Israeli city of Modiin, became an accidental sensation when a stadium camera caught him studying at the Israel-Scotland game in Glasgow. Rav Leff was…
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Fast Forward After dozens of Jewish girls get lost in NY creek tunnel, antisemitic comments follow online
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Yiddish דער קאַמף צװישן טראַדיציע און רעװאָלוציע אין סאָװעטיש־ייִדישער קולטור The battle between tradition and revolution in Soviet-Yiddish culture
סאָװעטיש־ייִדיש איז געװען אַ ראַדיקאַלער עקספּערימענט, װאָס פֿאַרנעמט אַ װיכטיקן פּלאַץ אױף דער װעלטמאַפּע פֿון ייִדישער קולטור
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News A Jewish nonprofit was training men to prevent sexual abuse. Then the funding disappeared