This is the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
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Fast Forward Nina Mandel Named Head of Reconstructionist Rabbis Group
Rabbi Nina Mandel of Pennsylvania has been appointed the new president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. Mandel’s appointment was announced Monday. She joins two other women in leading the Reconstructionist movement: Rabbi Danielle Leshaw, the association’s interim executive director, and Rabbi Deborah Waxman, president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and Jewish Reconstructionist Communities. Mandel was…
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Life Israel’s State-Sanctioned Adultery Blacklist
It’s time to talk about Israel’s blacklist. This registry of “untouchables” — the last public accounting of it in 2004 lists 5,305 Israelis — is a motley crew who fall under three general categorizations: People who can’t marry any type of Jew (2,835) “Unkosher” Jews who can’t marry “kosher Jews” but can marry other “unkosher…
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Fast Forward Rabbi’s Speech Sparks Vandalism at Copenhagen Church in Gunman’s Neighborhood
A Copenhagen church was vandalized in an anti-Semitic event hours before a rabbi was scheduled to speak there. “Free Gaza” and “Close the Death Camps” was spray-painted on the door of the Anna Church in the Copenhagen district of Nørrebro overnight Sunday, the Local reported. Bricks also were thrown through some of the church’s windows….
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Fast Forward 14 Rabbis Join Baltimore March for Freddie Gray
Fourteen rabbis in the Baltimore region will join a rally and march for “police reform and justice for Freddie Gray.” The rally, organized by Baltimore United for Change, a coalition of grassroots organizations that focus on systemic inequality, was scheduled to begin Friday at 3 p.m. and was expected to draw hundreds of activists, including…
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Fast Forward 3 Rabbis Convicted in Orthodox Divorce Extortion Scheme
(Reuters) — Three Orthodox Jewish rabbis were convicted in New Jersey on Tuesday of conspiracy to commit kidnapping in a scheme to force men to grant divorces to their unhappy wives under Jewish law. Two of the rabbis were convicted as well of attempted kidnapping in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey, according to the…
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Fast Forward Reconstructionists May Lift Ban on Intermarried Rabbis
(JTA) — The Reconstructionist movement is on the cusp of making a historic decision about whether to drop its longstanding ban against intermarried rabbinical school students. If the policy change passes, as most expect, Reconstructionism would become the first of America’s four major Jewish religious denominations to ordain intermarried rabbis. Supporters of the change argue…
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Fast Forward Elio Toaff, Rabbi Who Brought First Pope to Synagogue, Dies at 99
(Reuters) — Elio Toaff, the chief rabbi of Rome for half a century and a pivotal player in Christian-Jewish reconciliation, has died at the age of 99. Toaff, who a spokesman said died on Sunday night, was Rome’s chief rabbi in 1986 when then-Pope John Paul II made the first visit by a Roman Catholic…
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Fast Forward Chief Rabbis Meet Pope on Anti-Semitism — 50 Years After Vatican II
A delegation of chief rabbis from Europe travelled to the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Francis about anti-Semitism. After meeting Monday with the delegation of 10 rabbis representing the Conference of European Rabbis, Pope Francis is scheduled to meet privately with the chief rabbi of France, Haim Korsia, who is a prominent promoter of…
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Fast Forward A synagogue helped Palestinians raise money for Gaza — and found common ground over falafel
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Fast Forward This Jewish feminist has been the NYC’s sanitation department’s official artist for 50 years. A new movie tells her story.
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Fast Forward House to consider bipartisan resolution condemning Hasan Piker, Candace Owens for antisemitism