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
The Latest
-
News Criticizing Cuomo, de Blasio, judge loosens COVID restrictions on religious gatherings
A federal judge in Syracuse issued a preliminary injunction Friday preventing New York officials from enforcing different coronavirus restrictions for houses of worship than for secular nonessential businesses. Senior U.S. District Judge Gary L. Sharpe wrote that Governor Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Letitia James and Mayor Bill de Blasio had made decisions that led to…
-
Fast Forward Head of the Orthodox Union reflects on how the pandemic has changed Orthodox life
(JTA) – Even before the coronavirus pandemic hit the New York region in March, the Orthodox community was on edge. A surge in anti-Semitic incidents targeting visibly Orthodox Jews climaxed with an attack in which a man was killed by a machete at a Hanukkah party in December. Then the virus hit, forcing the closure…
-
News How New York’s Haredim are responding to George Floyd protests
A crowd of police in riot gear marched down Crown Heights’ Eastern Parkway one day this week to applause and salutes from some of the neighborhood’s Haredi residents. Another day, amid another Black Lives Matter protest, a Jewish man with side curls offered the throng in Williamsburg a double thumbs-up. Over on Williamsburgh’s Bedford and…
-
Fast Forward Federal lawsuit accuses town of discriminating against Orthodox Jews
(JTA) — The U.S. Justice Department has filed a discrimination lawsuit against a New Jersey township over zoning restrictions that allegedly target the Orthodox Jewish community. The lawsuit accuses the Township of Jackson and its Planning Board of violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and the Fair Housing Act by passing zoning…
-
Fast Forward Prayer services get the OK in New York, but some Orthodox rabbis say wait
(JTA) – Despite Wednesday’s announcement that New York state will now allow religious services to resume with up to 10 people, some Orthodox rabbis are saying not so fast. A group of 27 Orthodox rabbis on suburban Long Island announced last night that they will not immediately resume in-person services. “Please continue to show the…
-
News As New York synagogues reopen, government guidelines leave little room for Orthodox women
Orthodox women are anxious to pray in synagogues once more, but New York’s new guidelines for resuming religious services may leave them out in the cold. On a recent Shabbat evening, Laura Shaw Frank took a walk with her husband through their neighborhood in the Bronx. Their route took them past the shuttered doors of…
-
News Los Angeles Orthodox leaders pump brakes on synagogue reopening
Orthodox synagogues in Los Angeles present a united front against spread of COVID-19
-
News Prayer in the parking lot: Orthodox Atlanta shuls become first synagogues to reopen
Orthodox rabbis in Atlanta have agreed on a framework for how synagogues can safely reopen – and at least one began doing so on Monday. Synagogues across the country shut their doors in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. But three weeks after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp proclaimed that houses of worship could reopen, 15…
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Why saying ‘L’shana Tova’ on Rosh Hashanah may not be the correct phrase
- 2
Culture A Jewish prophet of the 1980s would be horrified to see that we didn’t heed his warnings
- 3
Opinion With killing of Hezbollah’s chief, Israel occupies the inarguable moral high ground
- 4
Opinion This is the most disorienting Rosh Hashanah in memory
In Case You Missed It
-
Film & TV How Leonard Cohen — and a Yom Kippur prayer — inspired a coming-of-age epic
-
Opinion A year after Oct. 7, Israel has the chance to remake its future — for better or worse
-
Opinion Campus protests defined the year since Oct. 7. Could they actually change U.S. policy?
-
Special Report At the kibbutz hit hardest on Oct. 7, a wrenching debate over how to rebuild
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism