Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
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Fast Forward Masked Men Threaten To Torch Ukraine Chief Rabbi’s Home
Armed, masked men threatened to burn down the house of one of Ukraine’s chief rabbis, a spokeswoman from his office said. The incident outside the Kiev-area residence of Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich occurred on May 23 at 1:30 a.m., Inna Yoffe, the executive director of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine, told Ukrainian media last week….
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News Storybook Boston Suburb of Sharon Shaken by Rabbi Barry Starr Hush Money Sex Scandal
Rabbi Miriam Spitzer did not have to mention him by name. The class of sixth graders at Temple Israel, in Sharon, Massachusetts, knew exactly whom Spitzer was thinking of when she dedicated that day’s lesson to Elisha ben Abuyah, a revered rabbi who became a heretic. “The lesson was that the Torah taught [by Abuyah]…
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Opinion Pope Francis’s Rabbi No. 2
(JTA) — Pope Francis is bringing along not one but two Argentinean rabbis on his trip to the Holy Land. The pope’s close friendship with Rabbi Abraham Skorka is well known. Skorka even wrote a book with the then archbishop of Buenos Aires. Skorka told JTA that he would be with the pope “all the…
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Fast Forward Gang of 4 Rabbis Indicted in Orthodox Divorce Torture Extortion Scheme
Four Orthodox rabbis and one of their sons were indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap and torture Jewish men to force them to grant religious divorces to their wives. Rabbi Mendel Epstein and his son David Epstein, Rabbi Martin Wolmark, Rabbi Jay Goldstein and Rabbi Binyamin Stiller were charged Thursday in New Jersey federal…
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Opinion 5 Dudes Who Claim To Be America’s Rabbi
Judaism — it’s a big religion; America — it’s an even bigger place. But one man — one brave, self-sacrificing man — has taken upon himself the weight and burden of serving both constituencies, of being just the Jew that this country needs, of being: America’s Rabbi. I’m sorry, did I say “one man”? I…
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Fast Forward Israel Aims To Rein In Jewish Radicals for Pope’s Visit
Israel issued restraining orders against several Jewish right-wing activists on Wednesday, restricting their movements over concern that they could try to disrupt a May 24-26 visit to the Holy Land by Pope Francis. Francis will visit Jordan, the Palestinian Territories and Israel during the trip, his first as pope to the region. An Israeli police…
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Fast Forward Jonathan Sacks Warns of Religious Freedom Threat in Right-Wing Law Firm Speech
(JTA) — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was praised by a Catholic cardinal and then blessed by a Mormon apostle. The former British chief rabbi was being honored by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington-based public interest law firm that’s been busy representing clients — such as Hobby Lobby — who say their religious freedoms are…
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Fast Forward Jewish Boy Scout Leader and Rabbi Nabbed in Child Porn Round-Up
A Jewish Boy Scout leader from Long Island, a Brooklyn rabbi and a police officer were among some 71 people arrested in the New York City-area, in one of the largest roundups of those who share child pornography online, a federal official said Wednesday. Jonathan Silber, a Boy Scout den leader and Little League baseball…
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News No Jews allowed: White supremacists are building a segregated community in Arkansas, but is it legal?
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Opinion Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go
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News What a Mayor Mamdani would mean for New York Jews
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Fast Forward Mamdani tells Colbert — and a national audience — why NYC Jews shouldn’t fear him as mayor
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion Dr. Ruth taught me everything I know — because she was my mom
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Fast Forward Pro-Israel Jewish Democrats say Zohran Mamdani’s Israel stances are cause for concern, but not panic
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Fast Forward Report: Unilever cuts funding for Ben & Jerry’s foundation as it audits giving to progressive and pro-Palestinian causes
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Yiddish World Venice’s international arts festival gets unexpected taste of Yiddish
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