This is the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
The Latest
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Life Inspiring ‘Em Way Down in Dixie
It’s easy to look at the struggle for justice in the Deep South through the lens of Hollywood dramas like ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ or ‘Selma.’ Things are a bit trickier when the battles are real — but that’s exactly what Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar faces every day at Temple B’nai Sholom in Huntsville, Alabama. Whether it’s…
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Fast Forward Mikveh-Peep Rabbi Barry Freundel Secretly Videotaped at Least 150 Women, Prosecutors Say
Rabbi Barry Freundel secretly videotaped at least 150 women in the mikveh at his prominent Washington D.C. synagogue, prosectors reportedly told a meeting of alleged victims. The disgraced Orthodox cleric has been criminally charged with peeping on six naked women in the ritual bath at Kesher Israel. But prosecutors said the number of victims is…
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Fast Forward Congregation Beth Elohim Names Rachel Timoner as Senior Rabbi
Rachel Timoner, a trailblazing Los Angeles rabbi, has been tapped as senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim, replacing Andy Bachman at the helm of the prominent Brooklyn Reform synagogue, the Forward has learned. “What comes next is an exciting chapter in the long, esteemed, and ever-unfolding history of Congregation Beth Elohim,” Timoner said in an…
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Fast Forward Did Rabbi Molest Baltimore Girl’s Sisters Too?
New details have reportedly emerged in the case of an Ohio rabbi accused of sexually abusing a Jewish Baltimore girl. Although his seminary rabbi called Rabbi Frederick Karp a “very fine young man,” the Baltimore Jewish Times reports he is accused of molesting a girl who is now 12 for five years — and her…
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Fast Forward Cleveland Rabbi Accused of Sexually Abusing Baltimore Girl
An Ohio rabbi charged with sexually abusing a Maryland girl was ordered held on $500,000 bail and to turn in his passport, officials in Baltimore said on Thursday. The rabbi, 50-year-old Frederick Karp, was charged Wednesday with sexually abusing the minor between July 2009 and December 2014 while visiting with her family in Baltimore. Karp…
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Fast Forward Orthodox Rabbi Martin Wolmark Pleads Guilty in Get Divorce Extortion Scheme
An Orthodox Jewish rabbi pleaded guilty on Wednesday to playing a role in a scheme to kidnap Jewish men and force them to grant divorces to their unhappy wives, said federal authorities in New Jersey. Martin Wolmark, 56, pleaded guilty to conspiring to travel to New Jersey to coerce a man to give his wife…
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Fast Forward Driver Who Killed Princeton Rabbi James Diamond Acquitted in Crash
The driver of the car that killed Rabbi James Diamond, the retired director of Princeton University’s Center for Jewish Life, was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Eric Maltz, 22, had faced up to 30 years in prison on charges of aggravated manslaughter, assault by auto and death by auto , according to the…
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News Jewish Activists Struggle for Right Tone on Racism After Murders of Police Officers
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum was observing the Sabbath on December 20 when New York police officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were shot and killed in their patrol car in Brooklyn by 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who then took his own life. After sundown, Kleinbaum, who leads New York’s Congregation Beit Simchat Torah and has been an…
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Culture RFK Jr.’s poems to Olivia Nuzzi are peak cringe — so were King Solomon’s
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Film & TV For ill and for good, this ‘Wicked’ song has become ubiquitous
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News DNA test kits spark a surge of online conversions to Judaism in the U.S.
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News As young Jews move away from Israel, Jewish leaders are reluctant to change their approach
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