This is the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
The Latest
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Fast Forward Western Wall Rabbi Warns Ultra-Orthodox To Stay Away During Women’s Prayer Protest
The Western Wall rabbi requested that haredi Orthodox girls not fill the plaza for the next Women of the Wall service. Aiming to reduce tension at the plaza, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz made the request on Thursday, one day before the monthly Rosh Chodesh service by the group. Rabinowitz said in a statement that the mass…
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Fast Forward Suspect in Dagestan Chabad Rabbi Shooting Killed by Russia in Firefight
The alleged shooter of a rabbi in southern Russia was killed in a raid by Russian security forces. Sherif Akhmedov was one of five suspected extremists killed last week in Derbent, in the predominantly Muslim Republic of Dagestan near Chechnya, Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee said in a statement issued Friday, according to international news agencies….
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Fast Forward Who Will Replace Ailing 93-Year-Old Shas Leader Ovadia Yosef?
The seriously ailing Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has broken off ties with his former protege for the second time since the summer, bringing their brief reconciliation to an end as the question of who will replace the 93-year-old Yosef as the Shas party’s spiritual leader remains unanswered. Yosef’s daughter-in-law and the strongwoman of Shas, Yehudit Yosef,…
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Fast Forward Ephraim Mirvis, Britain’s New Chief Rabbi, Will Attend Limmud
Great Britain’s new chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, announced on Monday that he would be attending Limmud, Britain’s largest and oldest festival of Jewish learning and culture. Rabbi Mirvis’ announcement may have been expected, but it is still significant for the future of Britain’s rapidly fracturing Jewish community. Mirvis’ predecessor, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, had been an…
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News Russian Chief Rabbi Tells Jews To Back Off on Criticizing Vladimir Putin
When Vladimir Putin offers you a gift — you accept it. That’s according to Berel Lazar, Russia’s chief rabbi, who said he had to accept Putin’s offer to move a contested Jewish library to a new Jewish museum in Moscow controlled by Chabad in Russia. The Schneerson Library, a collection amassed by the early rabbinic…
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Fast Forward Western Wall Rabbi Condemns Muslims for Riot on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount
The rabbi of the Western Wall called on the world to condemn riots by Muslims on the Temple Mount during Rosh Hashanah. Palestinians threw rocks at police and at Jewish worshipers on Friday on the Temple Mount, the holiest site for Jews, following Muslim prayer services at the Al-Aksa Mosque there, as well as at…
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Fast Forward Chief Rabbi Urges Better Treatment for Kapparot Chickens
Israel’s Ashkenazi chief rabbi, David Lau, called for better treatment of the chickens used in the pre-Yom Kippur kapparot ritual. Lau in a letter addressed to ritual organizers and participants wrote that causing the chickens to suffer before and during kapparot would be a “mitzvah through a transgression,” which he said “was not the intention…
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Fast Forward Barack Obama Holds Rosh Hashanah Conference Call With Rabbis
President Obama reflected on the High Holidays and offered New Year’s greetings in a conference call with nearly 1,000 rabbis. Obama in the call on Friday afternoon extended the greetings on behalf of himself and the first lady for a sweet, happy and healthy New Year. He noted that the Jewish High Holidays provide an…
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