This is the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
The Latest
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Life What Rabbis Don’t Get About Opioids. And The Consequences Are Deadly.
A congregant, let’s call him Joe, walks into a rabbi’s office and bravely discloses that he is addicted to illicit opioids. After a lengthy discussion the rabbi sends Joe away with a twofold prescription: 1. Start attending 12 Step meetings; 2. Start attending regular worship and study sessions at the synagogue. The rabbi seems to…
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Fast Forward Montenegro Gets A Rabbi While Waiting For A Synagogue
BUDVA, Montenegro (JTA) — For the first time in over a century, the Jewish community of this small Balkan country has its own resident rabbi, its leaders said. Ari Edelkopf, a Los Angeles-born Chabad rabbi, settled in the capital Podgorica several weeks ago with his wife, Chana, and seven children. He said he is officiating…
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Art The Jewish Community Still Discriminates Against Bastards. These Artists Are Demanding Change.
Inside a small room in Jerusalem, four artists are taking on one of the most deep-rooted taboos in Judaism: That of the mamzer, the illegitimate child. A mamzer is someone born as the result of a sexual relationship forbidden in the Torah. Translated in English as “misbegotten” (according to the JPS Tanakh, but also commonly…
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News Reform Synagogues Underpay Female Rabbis — Despite Emphasis On Social Justice
Reform synagogues are chronically underpaying female rabbis, according to a previously unreported study issued this past summer by the Reform movement. Women in senior or solo rabbi positions at larger Reform congregations are paid 85% of what men make in the same jobs, the survey found. And while men outnumber women 4-to-1 among senior or…
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News So People Are Dressing Up As Rabbis. Is That Kosher?
Cherokee sweetheart. Trayvon Martin. Sexy nun. Adult rabbi. Every Halloween season features a signature stew of timely and extremely offensive costumes — such as the 2013 Trayvon Martin costume, the 2015 Caitlyn Jenner look-alikes and last year’s Zika-carrying mosquitoes. Just last week, the internet exploded in a rage about the sale of Anne Frank outfits….
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Opinion How Knesset Push Will Actually Help Chained Women Worldwide
Israeli lawmakers are considering a law that would help Orthodox women across the world. Jewish law does not permit a woman to divorce her husband without his consent, and in Israel and abroad, a number of women who wish to leave their husbands are unable to do so. These women are known as agunoth –…
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Opinion Why Move to Free Chained Women Will Only Further Shackle Them
On Monday, the government of Israel announced that it found a solution to a problem that has long plagued Orthodox women. A new bill purports to help agunoth, or women who haven’t received a religious bill of divorce (known as a get) from their husbands. This means that they are chained to these husbands (agunah…
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News Did AIPAC Secretly Write Your Rabbi’s Sermon?
AIPAC may have secretly written your rabbi’s sermon. Each week, the pro-Israel lobby the American Israel Public Affairs Committee sends out two prewritten sermons to rabbis across the United States, pushing AIPAC’s legislative agenda and its policy goals. And each week, AIPAC reminds rabbis that they shouldn’t tell congregants where they got the pre-written texts….
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Culture RFK Jr.’s poems to Olivia Nuzzi are peak cringe — so were King Solomon’s
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News DNA test kits spark a surge of online conversions to Judaism in the U.S.
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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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