This is the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
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Fast Forward 600 Conservative Rabbis Protest Bibi ‘Betrayal’ Over Orthodox Control
More than 600 rabbis affiliated with the Conservative movement have signed a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu protesting the country’s lack of recognition and support for non-Orthodox Jewish movements. “We ask you to lead; we ask you to fulfill your promise to us that Israel will be the homeland of the entire Jewish…
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Yiddish World The Surfing Orthodox Rabbi Who Inspires Kids To Get Fit
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. As a young boy growing up near the ocean in Los Angeles, Rabbi Nachum Shifren would often take a surfboard under his arm and hit the waves. It wasn’t until he was 30, while living in Santa Barbara, that he became inspired by the local Chabad to become an Orthodox Jew. At…
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Fast Forward Your ‘Blessed’ Emoji? Rabbi Brands It Idol Worship.
Could adding an emoji to that text message make you idolatrous? Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, a France-born Israeli cleric, said that the popular praying hands digital emoji is not kosher — and that Jews should beware, as they may be committing avodah zarah, or “foreign worship,” one of the worst sins in Judaism. “The source is…
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Yiddish World Why Does This Moscow Shul Attract So Many Converts?
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. In the center of Moscow stands the historic Choral Synagogue – a beautiful yellow-white Neoclassical structure, the most famous shul in the Russian capital. The building, which now belongs to the Lithuanian Jewish community and its “Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia,” was built in 1891 by…
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Fast Forward Rabbi Says Synagogue Fired Him For Welcoming Nonwhite Members
The rabbi of a Modern Orthodox synagogue in the New York suburb of Yonkers is filing an anti-discrimination complaint against his own synagogue board, alleging that they punished him for welcoming nonwhite families to the synagogue. Rabbi Rigoberto Emmanuel Vinas filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Lincoln Park Jewish Center, the…
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Fast Forward Israeli Chief Rabbinate: Supreme Court Lacks Jurisdiction Over Western Wall
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Chief Rabbinate said the country’s Supreme Court lacks the jurisdiction to rule on the “intrareligious” struggle involving egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall. In a 166-page brief filed Tuesday with the Supreme Court, the Chief Rabbinate said in part, “The courts are not the appropriate tribunal to decide if Jewish law…
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Fast Forward Orthodox Rabbinical Group Condemns Trump Over Charlottesville
The largest body of Orthodox rabbis in the United States released a statement on Wednesday condemning President Trump’s continued comparisons between white supremacist marchers and counter-protestors in Charlottesville, Va. “There is no moral comparison,” the president of the Rabbinical Council of America, Rabbi Elazar Muskin, said in a statement. “Failure to unequivocally reject hatred and…
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Opinion I Am A Rabbi — And My Place Was In Charlottesville
(JTA) — I was in Charlottesville on Saturday. I felt called to go because white supremacy is a hateful ideology that has murdered millions throughout history and continues to kill. I went because my family and ancestors suffered at the hands of anti-Semites throughout history, because I bear their scars on my DNA, because the…
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Fast Forward Unarmed man who tackled Bondi Beach Hanukkah attacker identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed
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Opinion I grew up believing Australia was the best place to be Jewish. This Hanukkah shooting forces a reckoning I do not want.
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Fast Forward Hanukkah shooting leaves at least 15 dead at Australia’s most popular beach
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Fast Forward Father and son suspects in Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack identified as Sajid and Naveed Akram by law enforcement
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion My religion was ‘None of the above,’ until Oct. 7 and now Bondi
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Yiddish World This Pennsylvania rabbi fuses liberal Judaism with Hasidic Yiddish
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Yiddish World What’s a gender-segregated Hasidic pilgrimage like?
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Fast Forward Australian authorities confirm that Bondi Beach attackers were affiliated with Islamic State terror group
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