Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
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News J Street Backed By Major Groups, But Will It Get Into Presidents Conference?
Several large, mainstream Jewish groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, have to decided to vote in favor of admitting the dovish Israel lobby J Street into organized Jewry’s primary umbrella group on Israel. Others, like the Jewish Federations of North America, are leaning towards voting that way, according to informed…
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Fast Forward Aaron Landes, Philadelphia Rabbi and Navy Chaplain, Dies at 84
Rabbi Aaron Landes, a Philadelphia congregational rabbi for decades and the longtime director of U.S. Naval Reserve chaplains, has died. Landes died on April 19 following a battle with leukemia. He was 84. He managed some 700 chaplains as head of the chaplains corps until retiring in 1989, according to the Jewish Exponent of Philadelphia….
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Opinion Virtues of the Marathon Rabbi
Even before my first day on the job, 44 years ago, as I was stocking up at a supermarket for my new residence, a soon-to-be congregant approached me in the parking lot. “You won’t last one year in Congregation Neve Shalom,” the congregant said. Your predecessor was too beloved, and you’ll never fill his shoes.”…
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Fast Forward South Africa Chief Rabbi Warns Not To Shelter Accused Molester
South Africa’s chief rabbi called on the Jewish community not to shelter or support Rabbi Eliezer Berland, who fled Israel after accusations of sexual assault. Rabbi Warren Goldstein in a letter dated April 11 wrote to rabbis throughout South Africa about Berland, who reportedly fled to South Africa after being ordered deported last week from…
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Life Rabbis Gone Wild — About Modesty and (Gasp!) Zumba
Thinkstock // One Orthodox Rabbi has strongly condemned Zumba classes. In recent years, a slew of savvy Orthodox rabbis have taken to condemning women for everything they do. Their brilliant speeches can be found on YouTube and other websites, and have made their rounds on social media. The topics of their impassioned speeches run the…
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Opinion New Generation of Rabbis Sees and Speaks Israel
Breaking the Silence Despite the concept of the occupation being an oddly contested one in some American political circles of late, there is much to decry about Israel’s military rule over the Palestinians in the West Bank. And while some security-minded observers focus on the need for an IDF military presence to widen Israel’s narrow…
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Israel News Israeli Jews Who Aren’t Jewish in Eyes of Rabbis Face Kafkaesque Conversion Plight
They live as part of Jewish society in the Jewish state, but the state itself does not consider them Jewish. For Israel, some 330,000 immigrants, mostly from the former Soviet Union, represent a big assimilation problem and a big political problem, made worse by the fact that the only solution for this largely non-religious group…
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Fast Forward Rabbis Raise Nearly $600,000 in Shave-a-Thon for ‘Superman Sam’
(JTA) — This week, 73 North American rabbis will be missing something when they go to Shabbat services: their hair. As part of a campaign that raised more than $570,000 for pediatric cancer research, approximately 60 male and female rabbis voluntarily shaved their heads on Tuesday night at the the Reform movement’s Central Conference of American…
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Fast Forward As rivals talk antisemitism, this NYC mayoral candidate pitches a bread and butter appeal to Orthodox voters
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Opinion The staggering hypocrisy behind Trump’s deal to free the last living American hostage
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Fast Forward Russell Brand defends Ye’s ‘Heil Hitler’ music video
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