This is the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
Rabbis
The Latest
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News Online-Ordained Rabbis Grab Pulpits
Rabbi Eli Kavon’s colleagues don’t consider him a rabbi. Ordained in two years via a correspondence course by a virtually unknown rabbinical seminary in Long Island, he’s not a member of any mainstream rabbinical association. Nor is Kavon eligible for membership on the local board of rabbis. His congregation, a Conservative synagogue in Boca Raton,…
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Fast Forward Rabbi Sacks: Gaza War ‘Got To Do With Iran’
The BBC issued an apology to British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks after a presenter asked him about the Gaza operation while he thought he was off the air. Sacks presented the “Thought for the Day” on BBC Radio 4 Today on Friday. After the segment, presenter Evan Davies asked the rabbi’s opinion on the conflict…
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Fast Forward Rabbi Slammed for Linking Sandy to Gay Marriage
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo slammed a rabbi who called superstorm Sandy “divine justice” for gay-friendly policies. Rabbi Nosom Leiter, head of Torah Jews for Decency, praised the destructive storm for making a point, especially in lower Manhattan, which he branded “one of the national centers for homosexuality,” the Daily News reported. Cuomo dismissed the…
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Fast Forward Aussie Chabad Turf War Heads to Religious Court
A rabbinical court in New York will determine the fate of a controversial Chabad rabbi in Melbourne who has been dismissed from his post amid allegations of improper conduct. A Chabad spokesman confirmed that Rabbi Chaim Herzog has appealed his dismissal after he received an official letter last month saying he no longer has the…
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Fast Forward Dutch Rabbi Objects to Nazis in Monument
A Dutch rabbi has demanded that the names of his relatives be removed from a monument which commemorates Jewish Holocaust victims along with German soldiers who died in World War II. “I don’t want my family members’ names to appear next to the names of German murderers,” Rabbi Wim van Dijk said in a filmed…
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Opinion Prophets or Partisans?
October 7 is Pulpit Freedom Sunday, when hundreds of pastors are expected to openly violate the law of the land and preach politics from the pulpit. The law they intend to violate is known as the Johnson Amendment. Enacted in 1954 and sponsored by then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, it limits the amount of political activity…
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Fast Forward Rabbi: Burn Your iPhones!
A prominent haredi Orthodox rabbi in Israel ordered his followers to burn their iPhones. The call by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, 84, appeared Sunday on the front page of the religious daily newspaper Yated Neeman, according to the Failed Messiah website. Following the decree by Kanievsky, large posters appeared throughout Jerusalem’s haredi neighborhoods calling iPhones “an…
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Fast Forward Romney Talks Economy and Iran in Call to Rabbis
Mitt Romney discussed Iran, the economy and Medicare in a holiday call with rabbis and other Jewish leaders. The 20-minute call Thursday was organized by the Republican candidate’s presidential campaign. Word went out through a number of Jewish list-serves and Romney did not directly mention President Obama in order not to compromise the nonprofit status…
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Fast Forward Expelled Oberlin Chabad rabbi says he ‘made a mistake’ with explicit social media chats
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Fast Forward CA Gov. Newsom says he regrets apartheid comment, ‘reveres’ Israel in new interview
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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
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Fast Forward 50 years after the Dirty War, Argentinians remember the Jews who ‘disappeared’
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Fast Forward Fortnite tops ADL’s new ‘leaderboard’ ranking video games on antisemitism safeguards
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Fast Forward Mamdani voices concerns about synagogue buffer zone bill poised to pass NYC Council
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Fast Forward Who is Hasan Piker, the left-wing streamer accused of being an antisemite?
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