The leading Orthodox advocacy and religious authority has released a rabbinical decree ahead of the High Holidays that contains no mention of masks or social distancing, in contrast to the organization’s previous statement, which called on congregations to be careful at large gatherings. The decree, or Kol Korei, was written by a group of 15…
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced during a Wednesday press conference that worshipers will be able to resume religious gatherings of no more than 10 people starting Thursday, but some rabbis aren’t sure if they’re ready to open. While some Jewish and other faith leaders pushed for this move, others were caught off guard by…
The health guidelines issued by one of the country’s biggest Orthodox Jewish organizations proclaim that the first stage of opening synagogues safely will prevent women from attending. Agudath Israel of America, which represents Haredi Jews (sometimes called ultra-Orthodox Jews), released their plan on Friday advising member synagogues on how to safely reopen their synagogues once…
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio personally called Orthodox leaders asking them to support his effort to retain control over the city’s schools in exchange for soft-balling a probe into the state of secular education at yeshivas, according to internal emails obtained by the New York Post. The emails from late June support a report,…
Posters implying that a major Orthodox Jewish political organization is opposed to requiring students to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV) have been exposed as forgeries. The fliers, discovered in the Borough Park and Flatbush neighborhoods of Brooklyn on January 14, use the logo of Agudath Israel of America, a lobbying, charitable and social…
For decades, some Catholic and ultra-Orthodox leaders in New York have opposed efforts to make it easier for victims of child sexual abuse to sue their abusers. Now, with the long-stymied Child Victims Act poised to pass in Albany as early as Monday, opponents in the Catholic Church have continued to argue over aspects of…
In fewer than 6 months, God willing, I will be ordained as an Orthodox rabbi. I am becoming a rabbi because I believe that rabbis play an important role in empowering and building strong Jewish communities. It is for this reason that I am ashamed and angry when rabbis of my denomination undermine that mission…
In the final weeks of 2018, New York’s Orthodox Jewish community went into full-blown panic mode. One Orthodox newspaper in Brooklyn, the Flatbush Jewish Journal, ran the screaming front-page headline “ATTACK ON OUR YESHIVAS!” in red, inch-high letters. “The Jewish people will not bow down or surrender to the wicked, not even before the commissioner…
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