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
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Life Where Are The Orthodox, After Pittsburgh? We’re Right Here, Mourning With You.
I have been asked, repeatedly, by non-Orthodox Jews about the “Orthodox response to Pittsburgh.” What a strange question. After all, the American Orthodox Jewish community has undoubtedly been plunged into mourning over the Pittsburgh shooting victims. Still, I sense a frustration here, among progressives seeking emotional responses from the Orthodox — and I want to…
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News Women Victims Of Pittsburgh Bloodbath Get Erased By Hasidic Newspaper
A Hasidic newspaper left faces of the female victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre out of a front page spread on the tragedy. On the cover of its November 2 edition, the weekly Yiddish-language tabloid Di Tzeitung ran photos of the eight men slaughtered last Saturday at Tree of Life congregation in Pittsburgh. Underneath, in…
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Life How To Talk To The Sex Abuse Survivor Who’s Probably Sitting At Your Shabbat Table
For several years, while earning my doctorate in clinical psychology, specializing in traumatic stress, I felt like I lived a double life. My weekdays were filled with stories of trauma — I conducted countless evaluations of youth who had survived physical or sexual abuse, completed court-ordered risk assessments of minors who had displayed problematic sexual…
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Fast Forward Israel Chief Rabbi Won’t Call Pittsburgh Shooting Site ‘Synagogue’ — Because It’s Not Orthodox
Israel’s Ashkenazi chief rabbi came under fire on Sunday for refusing to acknowledge in a newspaper interview that the massacre in Pittsburgh was carried out in a synagogue. The country’s ultra-Orthodox newspapers, in reporting on the event, have also refused to acknowledge that it took place in a Jewish house of prayer because Tree of…
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Letters Wearing Tefillin Is Serious — And Only Those Properly Prepared Should Don Them
There is nothing more admirable in this world than the desire to get close to God. It is an innate part of every soul to want to return to the spiritual bliss found in the Divine Presence. Luckily, that Presence also wants to draw us close. That’s why Hashem bestowed on humanity both the Written…
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Fast Forward Measles Outbreak Spreads In Brooklyn Orthodox Community
Six cases of measles have been confirmed in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, with all of the patients being Orthodox Jewish children between 11 months and four years old, the New York City Department of Health confirmed on Wednesday. “The initial case of measles was acquired by a child on a visit to Israel, where…
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Life Why I Got A Tattoo — Despite My Orthodox Community’s Rules
For long as I can remember, I have been captivated by tattoos. I love the variety, the creativity, and the idea that your body can be a canvas for art. As a serious lover of heavy metal, this tatted-up aesthetic makes me swoon. I have lusted after tattoos for my entire life — even in…
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Fast Forward Man Charged With Hate Crime After Orthodox Jew Beaten In Brooklyn
A man was been charged on Sunday with a hate crime in connection to the beating of an Orthodox Jewish man in Brooklyn, NBC New York reported. Police said they found Farrukh Afzal of Staten Island beating 62-year-old Lipa Schwartz in the Boro Park neighborhood. Afzal was arrested and charged with assault as a hate…
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Fast Forward Why neo-Nazis marched in Ohio this weekend, and almost every weekend in the US
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Opinion The group behind Project 2025 has a plan to protect Jews. It will do the opposite.
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Opinion Just about every interpretation of Trump’s narrow election victory is wrong
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News Texas schools want to add Queen Esther to the curriculum. Here’s why Jews (and many Christians) are opposed.
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Fast Forward Ursula Haverbeck, infamous German Holocaust denier known as ‘Nazi grandma,’ dies at 96
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