This is the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
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Fast Forward Madrid Chief Rabbi Calls Gays ‘Deviants’
Madrid’s chief rabbi, Moshe Bendahan, called gays “deviants” who should be re-educated and said same-sex marriages are “monstrous.” “Homosexuality is a deviation from nature,” Bendahan is quoted as telling the online news site Religion Digital in an interview published Wednesday. “It’s an anti-natural tendency and a sin. Contemplating allowing, consenting to what is known as…
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Fast Forward Chief Rabbi David Lau Says Racist Jibe Was Joke
Newly elected Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau dismissed on Thursday criticism of a racially-loaded comment he made earlier this week, calling it ‘a joke that lost control.’ During a meeting with ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students on Tuesday, in an attempt to dissuade them from watching basketball on television, Lau asked “why do you care whether these…
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Fast Forward New Chief Rabbi David Lau Makes Racist Remark About Basketball Players
David Lau, the recently elected chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Israel, was broadly condemned for a racist comment about basketball players at the Maccabiah Games. Exhorting his haredi Orthodox constituents to devote their time to learning Torah rather than watching basketball, Lau said on Tuesday, “Why do you care about whether the ‘kushim’ who get paid…
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Fast Forward Double Dynasty Win in Israel Chief Rabbinate Vote a Letdown for Critics
(JTA) — In a city with a seemingly infinite number of kosher restaurants, Jerusalem restaurateurs have a tough time obtaining certification from the country’s Chief Rabbinate. Proprietors of the city’s eateries have long complained of exorbitant fines, strict limits on what food they may buy and lax certification supervisors. But they had no choice: the…
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Opinion Princes, Rabbis and the Danger of Dynasties
A new prince was born this week, and two new chief rabbis were elected. One of them was my cousin. The common denominator for all three? Dynasty. Born into elite clubs, these very different individuals will serve according to some ancient human code of pedigree and privilege in which some people are worth more than…
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Fast Forward Chabad Rabbi Shot in Dagestan Taken to Israel for Treatment
The Foverts has learned that Rabbi Ovadia Isakov, the Chabad emissary who was critically wounded in the southern Russian Republic of Dagestan, was brought Thursday to Israel for medical treatment, according to the chief rabbi of the Russian military, Aharon Gurevich. A group of Israeli doctors arrived in Dagestan on a specialized medical airplane Thursday…
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Fast Forward Chabad Rabbi Clings to Life After Shooting in Russia’s Dagestan Province
The rabbi of a Chabad center in the southern Russian state of Dagestan was shot in the chest Thursday as he was leaving his car. He was hospitalized in critical condition and is fighting for his life, the Lubavitch movement’s Col website reported. An unknown assailant opened fire on Rabbi Ovadia Eisekoff, an emissary in…
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Fast Forward David Lau and Yitzhak Yosef Elected New Israeli Chief Rabbis
A special electoral assembly on Wednesday elected Sephardi Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau as Israel’s next chief rabbis, after weeks of a controversial and tense candidacy period. The two chief rabbis will hold office for the next decade. Both are sons of former chief rabbis: Yosef’s father is Shas spiritual leader Ovadia…
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