This is the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
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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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Fast Forward Ephraim Mirvis Takes Reins as British Chief Rabbi
Britain’s new chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, who has vowed to remain traditional by barring women rabbis and same-sex marriage, was sworn in on Sunday to face the challenge of uniting the nation’s polarised Jewish community. About 1,400 guests, including Britain’s heir apparent Prince Charles, attended a ceremony at a north London synagogue as Mirvis replaced…
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Opinion End of Jonathan Sacks Era
Two countries; two chief rabbinates. But the institutions could hardly be more different. I have spent part of this summer observing the Chief Rabbi elections in Israel, and part in the U.K., hearing the opinions of British Jews about the end of the Jonathan Sacks era, with their Chief Rabbi (or strictly speaking the Chief…
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Fast Forward Jonathan Sacks Says Good-Bye as Chief Rabbi
On Friday morning, people listening to BBC Radio 4’s popular Today program heard a familiar voice addressing them on “The Thought for the Day” slot. It was Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks making his final appearance. This afternoon, Rabbi Sacks will formally step down from the post he has filled for the last twenty-two years…
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Fast Forward Top Paris Chabad Officials Arrested in School Abuse Probe
French police have arrested two Jewish men from Paris on suspicion they pressured parents of allegedly molested minors not to press charges. The two men, identified as Andre T. and Rabbi A., were arrested July 31, according to the RTL news network. The two men deny the allegations, the report said. The actions attributed to…
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Fast Forward Expelled Oberlin Chabad rabbi says he ‘made a mistake’ with explicit social media chats
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Culture Louis Theroux’s Netflix documentary on the manosphere takes a detour into antisemitism
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News Ben Gurion airport shutdowns leave already disrupted passengers desperate
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Opinion We must rewrite the rulebook for fighting antisemitism — or conspiracists like Joe Kent will win the narrative wars
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion Israel is gleefully copying Nazi imagery in the propaganda war with Iran
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Fast Forward The Justice Department’s Oct. 7 task force is unraveling, report says
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Fast Forward Backers of Jewish charter school launch federal challenge in Oklahoma
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Fast Forward Two men arrested after Hatzola ambulance arson attack in London
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