Steven I. Weiss
By Steven I. Weiss
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News American Orthodox Leaders Try To Stay Above Fray
American Orthodox leaders say they are struggling to stay out of the debates tearing at Israel’s religious community over Prime Minister Sharon’s Gaza disengagement plan. Modern Orthodox groups in America traditionally look to Israel’s so-called national religious camp, embodied in the National Religious Party and the chief rabbinate, as primary counterparts in Israel. Like Israeli…
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News Program Seeks Emerging Leaders
A new program in Los Angeles dedicated to finding and training emerging leaders for local synagogues graduated its first class this month. Called the Los Angeles Synagogue Leadership Institute, the program, crafted by the Los Angeles Board of Rabbis, gathered 35 students from all the major denominations and taught them, over the past two years,…
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News Orthodox Synagogue Votes To Shift Its Affiliation
One of America’s last family-seating Orthodox-affiliated synagogues with mixed-gender seating voted this month to join the Conservative movement, leaving only one family-seating Orthodox synagogue in the entire country. Agudas Achim, a synagogue in Columbus, Ohio, voted to rescind its Orthodox affiliation at a meeting this month. The vote followed a long decision-making process in which…
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News Western Communities Battle Isolation
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. — A conference this month aimed at reviving Jewish life among communities in the American West turned into a debate between communal and religious leaders over the character of Jewish identity. The conference, Hadesh West, was organized by United Jewish Communities’s Renaissance and Renewal Pillar and brought together more than 70 leaders…
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News Ten Years After Schneerson’s Death, Lubavitch Movement Flourishes
This is the first in a series about the progress of the Lubavitch movement since the death of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the charismatic head of the Lubavitch chasidic movement, died 10 years ago this week, leaving both followers and observers wondering about the future of the highly successful religious organization….
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Israel News Rabbi Blasts Material Girl in Tirade Against Kabbalah Centre
The Material Girl has become a material setback for Rabbi Phillip Berg of the Kabbalah Centre, as another rabbi known for his association with questionable celebrities, Shmuley Boteach, attacked the star’s endorsement of the celebrity-heavy establishment. In a syndicated essay last week, Boteach — best-known for his 1999 best seller, “Kosher Sex” — described the…
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News Hebrew National Certified Kosher — But Not Kosher Enough for Some
Hebrew National became the unchallenged king of the kosher meat industry by marketing its product to non-Jews with the help of several catchy advertising slogans, including the famous, “We answer to a higher authority.” But its success masked a bizarre twist: Most kosher consumers won’t eat the company‘s products. But with the departure of Hebrew…
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Culture Rabbinical Turf Fight in Lithuania Spills From Shul Onto Front Pages
A months-long battle between two rabbis in Lithuania turned violent last week as the pair scuffled during the Jewish harvest festival of Shavuot. As with most matters involving their feud, both Rabbi Sholom Krinsky and Rabbi Chaim Burshtein are claiming the high road and are unable to agree on the basic facts of the situation….
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