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Breaking News Five Women Detained at Monthly Kotel Protest
Israeli police detained five women activists on Thursday at the Western Wall, one of Judaism’s most sacred sites, for wearing prayer shawls, which Orthodox tradition sees as solely for men, a spokesman said. The incident occurred during a monthly prayer session by the Women of the Wall, a group opposed to police-enforced Orthodox controls at…
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News Kotel Egalitarian Prayer Plan Set in Motion by Dramatic Western Wall Compromise
A dramatic offer to set up a new egalitarian prayer section at the Western Wall in Jerusalem was met with a no less dramatic willingness to compromise on behalf of all the major religious leaders in the American Jewish community. In a rare show of consensus, activists on the liberal side of the Reform movement…
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Culture Projected Prayers Grow in Popularity as Part of Jewish ‘Visual Tefillah’ Services
Several years ago, Rabbi Lance Sussman, spiritual leader of the Reform synagogue Keneseth Israel, in Elkins Park, Pa., received the grim news that he was going blind. After surgery, eye patches and other treatments, his sight miraculously improved. The experience left him with a profound appreciation for the visual in life. “We live in an…
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Breaking News Jewish Groups Push for Immigration Reform on Passover Eve
An array of Jewish groups urged President Obama and Congress to ease the path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Nineteen national groups and dozens of local groups and clergy signed on to a letter sent last Friday that was timed for Passover. “American Jews know too well the impact of restrictive immigration policies, and we…
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News At Men’s Only Seders, Challenges of Modern Jewish Man Are the Focus
Steve Walk participated in his first men’s seder last year as a member of Temple Beth-El in Great Neck, N.Y. There was no exodus story, no matzo and no bitter herb. Instead, a moderator walked around with a freedom plate, encouraging participants to put down things they felt burdened them. Walk said someone put down…
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Breaking News Chuck Schumer Nixes Piecemeal Plan for Immigration Reform
Senator Charles Schumer, a member of a bipartisan group crafting comprehensive U.S. immigration reform, urged technology firms on Tuesday to stop lobbying for a standalone bill on high-skilled immigrants, saying such narrow legislation would not pass. “You will not get a bill unless there’s a full immigration bill,” the New York Democrat said at an…
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Food Building Gardens, Growing Communities
“Elizabeth, why does God make weeds?” “Well, that’s a really good question. What do all of you think?” “I think it’s so that the bugs have food to eat.” “It’s because weeds protect the dirt from getting too dry.” “Well, weeds are also plants and they deserve to grow too.” “We have weeds because it…
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Opinion Our Search for America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis
Two weeks ago, when the Forward launched its special editorial project America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis, we had no idea what to expect. We asked people of all ages, denominations and backgrounds to nominate a rabbi who has inspired them or who had a profound effect on their lives or in their communities. But would readers…
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Culture How a son of Holocaust survivors joined a commune and helped to free ‘Hurricane’ Carter
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Fast Forward Why the Weitzman, a museum of American Jewish history, tapped an Israeli as its next CEO
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