Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
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Fast Forward Chabad Rabbi Loses Russia Deportation Appeal
(JTA) — A Russian appeals court affirmed the expulsion order issued against an American rabbi working in Sochi, in what a local leader of the Chabad movement called a “dark day” for Jews. In its ruling Tuesday against Ari Edelkopf, the Krasnodar Court of Appeals accepted the position of a Sochi tribunal that earlier this…
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Opinion The Rabbi Refused To Do What?
The year was 1968, and I was senior at Hewlett High School, on Long Island. I was a jock, Liz Adams was a cheerleader, and it seemed like a perfect match. We liked the same music and we made each other laugh, so it was only natural that we go out. On a date. Maybe…
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Fast Forward Israel Plans Global Push To Track Jewish Marriage — And Divorce
An Israeli government ministry plans to keep track of Jews who marry around the world with an international database of Jewish marriage and divorce, the Jerusalem Post reported. The database is meant to stop Jews from marrying another partner if they are already married, but religious freedom advocates warn that such a list could be…
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Food Meet The Rabbis Keeping Kentucky’s Bourbon Kosher
There was a time not long ago when all bourbon was considered kosher. But for many observant Jews, that simple assumption has gone the way of the Grand Ole Opry. After decades of domination by clear alcohol, the U.S. liquor market has seen a resurgence in the popularity of darker liquors in recent years, with…
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Fast Forward Jews Cited As ‘Model Minority’ In French Election, According To Rabbi
PARIS (JTA) — The Jewish community of France has emerged during the nation’s presidential campaign as a model for integration of other faith groups, a senior rabbi noted following the first candidates debate. Rabbi Moche Lewin, a spokesman for the chief rabbi of France, Haim Korsia, made the observation in an interview Tuesday with JTA…
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Fast Forward Orthodox Rabbinical Council Appoints New Conversion Director
The Orthodox Union’s rabbinic arm has created a new position to help smooth the conversion process. The Rabbinical Council of America announced Monday that Abby Lerner will be the first National Director of Conversion Services. Lerner will “assume responsibility for the support of candidates in their conversion process,” according to an RCA statement. She will…
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Community The David Friedman I Know
The night the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the nomination of David Friedman as President Donald Trump’s Ambassador to Israel, Friedman celebrated the way he wanted. It was the way many who know, respect and like David Friedman expected. David took his wife, their children and spouses to a local kosher casual restaurant and ate…
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Fast Forward Israeli Army Rabbi ‘Not Sorry’ For Disparaging Female Soldiers
Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, the head of a prominent pre-army training academy in the occupied West Bank, is standing his ground after his denigrating remarks about women soldiers made waves in the Israel. “They recruit them to the army, where they enter as Jews, but they’re not Jews by the time they leave,” Levinstein said, in…
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Film & TV How Marlene Dietrich saved me — or maybe my twin sister — and helped inspire me to become a lifelong activist
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Fast Forward ‘Next year in Gracie Mansion’: Where Jewish NYC mayoral candidates will do Seder
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Fast Forward How Coke’s Passover recipe sparked an antisemitic conspiracy theory
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Opinion Pro-Palestinian protests enriched Jewish life on my campus. Trump’s actions will do the opposite
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Fast Forward Fake rabbi sentenced to 135 years for sexually abusing adoptive sons
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