Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Orthodox Judaism, which aims for a stricter observance of halachic law than Conservative or Reform Judaism. It includes Modern Orthodox Judaism, as well as Haredi (sometimes called ultra-Orthodox) Judaism,…
Orthodox Judaism
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Life How Tefillin Empowers Me
Editor’s Note: This article is a response to Avital Chizhik’s article which called for Orthodox feminism to seek to open the minds of women, not just to emulate the ritual practice of men. (Ha’aretz) — Dear Ms. Chizhik, I – a high-school student – write to you from a community in which your proposals for…
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Breaking News Ultra-Orthodox Internet Company Meshimir Blocks WhatsApp Messaging
An ultra-Orthodox web filtering company will begin blocking photos and videos sent via WhatsApp as of February 11. The smart phone message service, which is wildly popular among ultra-Orthodox Jews, has grown increasingly controversial in recent weeks, with rabbis and community newspapers condemning it in public. Now, key features of WhatsApp will no longer be…
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News Postnup Parties Get Happily Married Orthodox Couples To Plan for Divorce
Bobby and Chelle Medow are happily married — and have been for almost 50 years. Yet one Sunday evening in January, the St. Louis couple made contingency plans for a divorce. And 31 other Orthodox married couples joined them. They are part of a small but budding movement that is being promoted by some Orthodox…
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News WhatsApp Spreads Fast Among Ultra-Orthodox — and Rabbis Cry Foul
Ultra-Orthodox leaders are targeting a new threat to their community: the smartphone messaging service WhatsApp. Orthodox Jews have swarmed this service ever since a 2012 anti-Internet campaign tightened communal restrictions against social networking sites like Facebook. Now, some leaders are launching a new crusade against WhatsApp, an SMS-like tool that allows users to share digital…
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Breaking News ‘Chained’ Wife Gital Dodelson Wins Fight for Orthodox Religious Divorce
Gital Dodelson, the “chained” woman featured on the front page of the New York Post last fall, says she has received a get, or religious writ of divorce, from her husband. The announcement appeared Wednesday afternoon on a Facebook page dedicated to helping Dodelson obtain a get and was confirmed by a publicist who has…
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News New York Fails To Enforce Consent Forms for Metzitzah B’Peh Circumcision Rite
It has been more than a year since New York City introduced a regulation requiring mohels to obtain written consent before performing a controversial rite that risks infecting infants with neonatal herpes. The regulation put Mayor Michael Bloomberg at loggerheads with the ultra-Orthodox community. And it promises to be a headache for his successor, Bill…
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Opinion Forget Tefillin — Orthodox Women Need Empowerment in Daily Lives
(Haaretz) — It never ceases to amaze us, the Orthodox plebeians, how quickly hordes of bloggers can skew matters out of proportion. Skim the blogs and you will discover the din of rumbling male voices expounding on Orthodox gender roles. Perhaps the voices are predominantly male because men are usually better versed than us women in…
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Breaking News Holland Wants Accused Orthodox School Molester Extradicted From Israel
The Netherlands asked for the extradition from Israel of a Dutch teacher suspected of molesting pupils at an Orthodox school near Amsterdam. The request was sent last week by the Public Prosecution Service of the District Court of Amsterdam, the court’s press officer, Franklin Wattimena, told JTA Thursday. The 26-year-old man identified in Dutch media…
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