Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
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News Aging Wisely, Together
Until recently, Howard Sharfstein, an attorney who has had a decades-long career at a white-shoe law firm, had never meditated. “I never took the time to sit and be mindful,” he said. “I never took the time to consider my life values or life goals, or the meaning of relationships or faith.” In a little…
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Fast Forward Australia Abuse Victim’s Brother Tussles With Chabad Rabbi in Synagogue
A senior Australian Orthodox rabbi had his glasses ripped from his face during a synagogue altercation with a relative of a prominent advocate for sex abuse victims. Rabbi Zvi Telsner, the spiritual leader of the Yeshivah Center, which houses the city’s Chabad headquarters, offered festive greetings to Chaim Waks at the end of the Shavuot…
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Life Q&A with Maharat Ruth Balinsky Friedman
On June 16, three young Orthodox women will receive a title that no woman (or man) before them has ever held: maharat (short for Manhiga Hilchatit Ruchanit Toranit, which means leader in Jewish law, spirituality and Torah). The graduation of the first class from Riverdale’s Yeshivat Maharat, which trains Orthodox women to be spiritual leaders,…
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Opinion Reform Rabbi Urges Hebrew Union College To Reconsider Decision on Intermarriage
An open letter to the board of governors of Hebrew Union College — Jewish Institute of Religion: I am writing to urge you to reconsider the HUC-JIR requirement that all prospective rabbinical students sign an agreement that “any student engaged, married, or partnered/committed to a person who is not Jewish by birth or conversion will…
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Fast Forward Pamela Geller’s Invitation to Speak in Toronto Angers Board of Rabbis
The Toronto Board of Rabbis criticized the Jewish Defense League of Canada for inviting Islam critic Pamela Geller to speak in the city. The statement was issued just prior to Geller’s speaking engagement Monday sponsored by the group. She spoke at the Toronto Zionist Center without incident. A Chabad rabbi had uninvited Geller to speak…
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News Modern-Day Rabbi Must Be CEO, Teacher and Spiritual Leader at Once
Last fall, Jessica Minnen, a rabbinical student at the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary, was on her way to officiate at a wedding in Brooklyn. What started out as an ordinary ride on the A train turned into a spiritual revelation about the 21st-century rabbinate. Minnen was quietly reviewing a course catalog for a new…
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News Orthodox Rabbinic School Sparks Feud With Graduation of First Class of Women
An Orthodox umbrella organization has rejected the ordination of three female clergy by a groundbreaking Bronx Orthodox rabbinical school as “contradicting the norms of our community.” The Rabbinical Council of America, a prominent group that serves more than 1,000 Orthodox rabbis, reacted strongly to the recent graduation of three women from Riverdale’s Yeshivat Maharat, which…
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News Holocaust Claims Fraud; The Changing American Rabbinate; Comedian Marc Maron
In this week’s Reporters Roundtable podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis is joined by reporter Paul Berger to discuss how employees of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany falsely claimed $57 million meant for Holocaust victims. Then, Forward fellow Anne Cohen describes the challenges and opportunities facing America’s new rabbis. Finally, deputy arts editor Ezra…
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News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
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News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
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Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
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Opinion What Jewish university presidents say: Trump is exploiting campus antisemitism, not fighting it
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Over 100 Chicago-area rabbis and cantors condemn Trump’s campus crackdown
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Culture Will the next pope be good for the Jews?
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Yiddish איבערזעצערין קאַרעד אָברײַען שרײַבט בוך וועגן די שטערן סימאָר רעכטצײַט און מרים קרעסיןTranslator Caraid O’Brien writing book on Yiddish stars Seymour Rechtseit and Miriam Kressyn
זי שטעלט אויך צונויף אַ פּאָדקאַסט מיטן בראָדװײ־אַקטיאָר האַל ראָבינסאָן אין דער ראָלע פֿון רעכטצײַט.
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BINTEL BRIEF How do you deal with invitations from someone who drives you nuts?
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