This is the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
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Fast Forward Russian Chief Rabbi Urges New Push Against Anti-Semitic Hate Speech
Following the dissemination of an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory by a politician from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s party, a chief rabbi of Russia called on the government to stamp out hate speech against Jews. Rabbi Berel Lazar’s appeal Friday to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was in reaction to the April 10 statement on Jews by Vladislav…
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Fast Forward Top Court: Israel Must Accept Non-Rabbinate Orthodox Conversions
TEL AVIV — Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the state must recognize Orthodox conversions performed in Israel outside the authority of the Chief Rabbinate. The ruling Thursday means any non-citizen who converts in a private Israeli Orthodox conversion court can gain Israeli citizenship under the country’s Law of Return. Previously, converts could only gain Israeli…
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News Poll: 75% of Israelis Want Divorce Out of Rabbinate’s Hands
Three quarters of respondents in a survey about divorce in Israel said they supported taking the procedure out of the rabbinate’s hands and subjecting it to the authority of secular family courts. The survey on divorce, which under Israel’s laws is handled for Jewish couples by rabbinical judges with the authority of family court magistrates,…
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Fast Forward Haifa Rabbinate Reportedly Denied Marriage Licenses to Couples Registered with Tzohar
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Tzohar Rabbinical Organization has called on the Israel Police to investigate the Chief Rabbinate of Haifa following a report that it denied couple’s requests to marry due to their affiliation with the group. The call Sunday for police to launch a criminal investigation by Tzohar, an organization made up of religious…
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Fast Forward Israel Rabbinate Opposes Western Wall Egalitarian Prayer Plan
Israel’s Chief Rabbinate said it had not agreed to the expanded egalitarian area of the Western Wall on the same day that some 150 male and female Reform rabbis held a prayer service at the site of the expansion. On Thursday afternoon, the Chief Rabbinate Council issued a statement following its monthly meeting demanding the…
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Fast Forward ‘Sauna Rabbi’ Jonathan Rosenblatt Quits Post at Riverdale Jewish Center
The Riverdale Jewish Center’s Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt, who has been under fire for having sauna chats with boys from the synagogue, reportedly has resigned from his position at the synagogue. Rosenblatt told the Riverdale Jewish Center on Wednesday that he will step down from his position as Senior Rabbi of the congregation, the Times of…
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Life When Is Internet ‘Get’ Shaming Kosher?
In recent years, the power of social media has been harnessed to shame men who refuse to grant a “get,” or Jewish divorce, to their wives. YouTube, blogs, Facebook and an old-fashioned demonstration helped free last month. Porat, an Israeli woman who had been waiting for a divorce for eight years after her husband had…
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News Meet the Rabbi Who Asked Hillary Clinton a Question — and Got Whole Nation Thinking
Rabbi Jonathan Spira-Savett became an Internet sensation for a moment, when his Tuesday night question to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton at the CNN town hall event, turned out to produce a rare candid and reflective moment from the former secretary of state. On social media, supporters, and even critics, praised Clinton’s response and Spira-Savett’s question,…
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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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Film & TV For ill and for good, this ‘Wicked’ song has become ubiquitous
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News As young Jews move away from Israel, Jewish leaders are reluctant to change their approach
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