This is the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
The Latest
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Fast Forward Israeli Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger Praises Pope Benedict for Outreach to Jews
Israeli chief rabbi Yona Metzger on Monday praised Pope Benedict’s inter-religious outreach and said relations between Israel and the Vatican had never been better. “During his period (as pope) there were the best relations ever between the church and the chief rabbinate and we hope that this trend will continue,” a spokesman quoted Metzger as…
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Opinion Institution of Chief Rabbi Has Outlived Its Usefulness
Finally, after more than a year of deliberation, the United Kingdom has chosen Ephraim Mirvis to be its new chief rabbi, replacing Lord Jonathan Sacks. Actually, much of that sentence isn’t correct. It isn’t “the United Kingdom” that chooses the chief rabbi. For all its pretensions to established status, the chief rabbinate has only a…
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Fast Forward Google Ordered To Name Defamers of Scrutinized London Rabbi
A British judge reportedly ordered Google to help identify people who may have defamed a London rabbi accused of inappropriate conduct toward women. Justice Elizabeth Gloster of Britain’s High Court in London ordered the American Internet company to identify the authors of online comments said to have defamed Rabbi Chaim Halpern, the Jewish Chronicle reported…
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Fast Forward Orthodox Rabbi Defends Jewish Psychiatrist Convicted in Sex Assaults
Fissures are appearing in Calgary’s Jewish community following the conviction of one of its members, a prominent forensic psychiatrist, for sexually assaulting patients. Dr. Aubrey Levin was sentenced on January 31 to five years in prison for abusing people involved with the province of Alberta’s criminal justice system who were sent to him for assessment…
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Opinion The 21st-Century Rabbi
In Israel, there’s a fierce campaign being waged over control of the Chief Rabbinate, a powerful institution that regulates the lives of Israeli Jews from birth to death and a great deal in between. In Great Britain, the newly appointed chief rabbi is faced with proving to a skeptical Jewish community that his role is…
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Fast Forward Rabbis Changed Prayers To Make Barack Obama’s Inaugural Service ‘Jew-ier’
Preaching to a preacher man – or woman – doesn’t always play out as planned. That’s the lesson learned this week by officials at the National Cathedral after several clergy, including three rabbis, made impromptu changes to the readings they were given to deliver at a prayer service following the Jan. 22 inauguration of President…
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Israel News Rabbis for Human Rights Splits From Israel Group Amid Disagreements
The Israeli organization Rabbis for Human Rights and its American support group are parting ways, largely due to a disagreement over the American group’s desire to address human rights issues beyond Israel. In a January 15 press release, Rabbis for Human Rights-North America announced that it will now be known as T’ruah: The Rabbinical Call…
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Fast Forward Rabbi’s Car Stolen — With $30K Torah Scroll Inside
Thieves stole a Brooklyn rabbi’s car, with his synagogue’s $30,000 Torah scroll stashed in the trunk. Luckily, the joy-riders were more interested in a free ride than religious edification, and never touched the holy book, which was found untouched when the car was recovered by cops, the New York Post reported. “I cannot forgive myself….
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Film & TV The new ‘Superman’ is being called anti-Israel, but does that make it pro-Palestine?
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Fast Forward Tucker Carlson calls for stripping citizenship from Americans who served in the Israeli army
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Music ‘No matter what, I will always be a Jew.’ Billy Joel opens up about his family’s Holocaust history
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Culture She was my Hebrew school bully — and I finally learned what happened to her
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Nazi collaborator monuments Nazi collaborator monuments in Poland
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