This is the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
The Latest
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News Leonard Matanky, Chicago Rabbi, Named to Head RCA
The leading Modern Orthodox rabbinical association selected Rabbi Leonard Matanky, a longtime insider, as its new president at a recent convention. Matanky, who leads an Orthodox synagogue and a Jewish day school in Chicago, will replace Rabbi Shmuel Goldin as president of the Rabbinical Council of America. Matanky previously served as vice-president under Goldin. “We…
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Fast Forward Rabbi Blames Fake Cop Drama on Bipolar Disorder
A suburban New York rabbi accused of impersonating a police officer is claiming his bipolar disorder led to his attempt to stop and yell at a woman driver who was driving slowly in a school zone. Rabbi Alfredo Borodowski of Congregation Sulam Yaakov in Larchmont in Westchester County, N.Y., was arrested on June 19 and…
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Fast Forward ‘Don’t Sell to Arabs’ Rabbi Backed in Israel Race for Sephardic Chief
Most of the members of the Jewish Home Knesset faction support the election of Safed’s chief rabbi, Shmuel Eliyahu, as Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel. The MKs have voiced their support despite criticism of Eliyahu’s candidacy even within the religious Zionist movement because of racist statements he has made in the past. Haaretz checked and…
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Fast Forward Medical Marijuana Gets Blessing of Orthodox Rabbi — But Don’t Get High
An Israeli Orthodox rabbi ruled that distributing and smoking medicinal marijuana are kosher, but using weed for fun was “forbidden.” Efraim Zalmanovich, the rabbi of Mazkeret Batia, a town south of Tel Aviv, made the distinction in a recent halakhic ruling, NRG, the news site of the Maariv daily reported on Friday. Leading rabbis frequently…
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Opinion Jonathan Sacks and the Twin Danger Facing Jews
Jonathan Sacks, the outgoing British chief rabbi, is warning of a twin threat to Judaism from assimilation on the one hand and ultra-Orthodoxy on the other. At his retirement dinner, he said that “those who embrace the world and reject Judaism, and those who embrace Judaism and reject the world” represent a “global danger” to…
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Life Female Rabbis Should Have Male Friends
Does a woman need to give up friendships with members of the opposite sex when she marries a man? For Rabbi Rachel Miller Solomin, the answer is yes. In a piece for Tablet, she writes about the decision to write a friend — a Catholic priest with whom she said explicitly she would never have…
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Fast Forward Chief Israeli Rabbi Suspends Himself After Arrest on Corruption Charges
Israel’s Ashkenazi chief rabbi, Yona Metzger, has suspended himself from some of his duties following his arrest on corruption charges. Metzger said he will suspend himself from his position as president of the Chief Rabbinate Council and will not attend its meetings, and from, his position as a Rabbinical High Court judge. Metzger made the…
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Fast Forward Chief Rabbi Placed on House Arrest for Graft
Police placed Israel’s Ashkenazi chief rabbi, Yona Metzger, under house arrest following a 10-hour interrogation on corruption allegations. According to The Jerusalem Post, police ordered Metzger not to leave his home for five days at the end of his interrogation Thursday. Investigators from the National Fraud Squad raided his home and offices as part of…
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Opinion The dark message behind Tucker Carlson’s attempt to drum up drama in Israel
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Fast Forward This Jewish family’s toy company challenged Trump’s tariffs. The Supreme Court agreed.
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Film & TV A compelling horror series from Israel — even if you don’t like horror movies
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