Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
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Opinion Honest Rabbi Returned $98K — and Inspired Us
When Rabbi Noach Muroff needed a desk, he looked to Craigslist for a good deal. He got way more than he bargained for. The desk, purchased for $150 dollars, turned out to be hiding $98,000 stuffed in a ShopRite plastic bag, that had fallen behind the file cabinet. And Muroff gave it all back. Click…
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Fast Forward Ukraine Rabbi Says Little Sign of Anti-Semitism
A leading Ukrainian rabbi said on Wednesday he saw no sign of hostility toward Jews from nationalists involved in last month’s uprising but was cautious on whether there could be a rise in anti-Semitic threats. Russia brands of the some groups that helped to oust President Viktor Yanukovich as neo-Nazis, highlighting their admiration for Ukrainians…
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Life Not Becoming a Rabbi Was the Best Decision of My Life
Thinkstock There are a lot of things that I’m never going to be: a morning person, someone who remembers to check the weather report. A rabbi. It’s especially good that I am not this last thing, because it would have been the biggest mistake of my life. Throughout college, there were moments stacking up, like…
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Fast Forward Brooklyn Rabbi Samuel Waldman Hit With Child Pornography Charge
A Brooklyn rabbi was charged with downloading child pornography after federal agents caught him in a sting, authorities said. Samuel Waldman, 52, a teacher at a Jewish girls seminary, faces a possible five years in prison after he admitted downloading at least three short films depicting young boys and girls engaging in sex acts. “Samuel…
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Music Ukraine Rabbis Meet John Kerry in Kiev
Top leaders of Ukraine’s Jewish community joined Secretary of State John Kerry near Kiev’s Independence Square yesterday to commemorate demonstrators who were killed protesting their government last month. In an email to the Forward, the country’s Reform Chief Rabbi Alexander Dukhovny said that he presented a book entitled “Jewish Wisdom” to the secretary of state…
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News ‘Partnership Minyan’ Spreads Among Orthodox — and Rabbis Fire Back
(JTA) — If it wasn’t clear before, it should be abundantly clear now: The Orthodox establishment will not sanction so-called partnership minyans, and it’s willing to go to the mat to fight them. In recent weeks, a flurry of articles by leading Orthodox rabbis and scholars have taken aim at the growing phenomenon of partnership…
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Fast Forward Ukraine Chief Rabbi Accuses Russia of Anti-Semitic ‘Provocations’ in Crimea
Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, a chief rabbi of Ukraine, accused Russia of staging anti-Semitic “provocations” in Crimea in order to justify its invasion of the former Soviet republic. At a press conference in the Manhattan office of the United Jewish Communities of Eastern Europe, Bleich compared Russia’s behavior to that of the Nazis prior to…
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Fast Forward French Jews Demand New Vote for Chief Rabbi
Several hundred French Jews including dozens of community leaders have called for the re-election of a chief rabbi of France within three months. The community leaders made the call in a letter they sent last month to Joel Mergui, the president of the Consistoire – the French Jewish institution responsible for providing religious services, the…
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Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
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Opinion I co-wrote Biden’s antisemitism strategy. Trump is making the threat worse
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Opinion Stephen Miller’s cavalier cruelty misses the whole point of Passover
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Film & TV How Marlene Dietrich saved me — or maybe my twin sister — and helped inspire me to become a lifelong activist
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Fast Forward Trump administration can deport Mahmoud Khalil for undermining U.S. foreign policy on antisemitism, judge rules
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Opinion This Passover, let’s retire the word ‘Zionist’ once and for all
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Opinion Passover teaches us why Jews should stand with Mahmoud Khalil
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Culture At a seder by and for trans Jews, guests define liberation for themselves
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