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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Fast Forward Quicken Loans Makes It Kosher For Orthodox Jews To Take Out A Mortgage
(JTA) — Orthodox Jews can continue to take out mortgages and other loans from Quicken Loans after the company resolved a Jewish legal problem. Agudath Israel of America, a major haredi Orthodox organization, issued a Jewish legal ruling in April prohibiting Jews from taking out loans from the Detroit-based company because it is majority-owned by Jews —…
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Life How Orthodox Women Get Around The Prohibition Of Wearing Makeup On Shabbat
There are loads of Shabbat makeup tutorials online. In one, the gorgeous yet likeable LA beauty blogger Gila Katz (@GilaGlam) adeptly runs through a “glamorous Shabbat look” for The Shabbos Project, an inclusive platform that invites all Jews to observe one Shabbat together. Ms. Katz’s vlog tutorial incorporates long-lasting standards like Dior Show waterproof mascara….
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Community This Orthodox Woman Spoke Out After Her Mother’s Suicide. Now, She’s Breaking The Silence About Her Own PTSD
On June 5, the iconic 55-year-old fashion designer Kate Spade committed suicide, leaving behind a husband and 13-year-old daughter. The news shocked the world: Spade was known for her bright and cheerful designs, incredibly successful and seemingly in the prime of her life. But it’s not just the family members of the rich and famous…
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News Ex-Camper Accuses Female Orthodox Counselor Of ‘Traumatic’ Sex Abuse
When Leah Sokolovsky was 15, she spent many Friday nights sleeping over at the home of the 20-year-old assistant head counselor of her ultra-Orthodox summer camp. The two had not been particularly close at camp. But during the school year that followed, the counselor, an ultra-Orthodox woman named Gittie Sheinkopf, cultivated Sokolovsky. Sokolovsky says Sheinkopf…
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Opinion The Lesson For Diaspora Jews In Israel’s Deplorable Conversion Law
The best that can be said about the proposed State Conversion Bill is that it is destined to be thrown away into the waste bin that Israeli politics has designated for the recommendations of committees appointed mostly to put out political fires. The proposal is not only a slap in the face, disguised with a…
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Breaking News Why New Jersey’s Orthodox Want To Change A Bill Banning Child Marriages
(JTA) — A bill that would ban teenagers under 18 from getting married in New Jersey has been stalled because of opposition from the state’s haredi Orthodox community. Agudath Israel of America, the national haredi organization, says it supports the bill but that its provisions are too strict. Citing child marriages that take place in…
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Community Why I Made The Heartwrenching Decision To Pull My Son Out Of Yeshiva
I’ll never forget the moment when I finally made the decision to pull my son out of the yeshiva day-school system and into a Jewish community school. As an alumnus of the yeshiva he attended, and someone who still deeply respects that style of learning, I wanted to tell the Rosh Yeshivah (Head of School)…
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Community ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Inspires Fight Against Religious Coercion In Ireland — And Israel
From the moment Atwood’s book was converted by Bruce Miller to a multi-award winning TV series, comparisons haven’t stopped between the horror it depicts and the potential evils of populist nationalism inspired by extremist interpretations of sacred texts. When writing the novel in 1985, Margaret Atwood made a rule for herself that her work of…
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Culture Why saying ‘L’shana Tova’ on Rosh Hashanah may not be the correct phrase
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Culture A Jewish prophet of the 1980s would be horrified to see that we didn’t heed his warnings
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Opinion This is the most disorienting Rosh Hashanah in memory
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Fast Forward Meet Lev Kreitman, who brought down Tel Aviv shooter and survived Nova music festival on Oct. 7
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Fast Forward Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff plant a pomegranate tree for Oct. 7 victims
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Forverts in English How can Jews committed to Yiddish culture call a massacre of Jews ‘resistance’?
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Fast Forward Suspect arrested in U of Michigan rabbi’s home robbery, with no evidence of antisemitic intent
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Opinion A year after Oct. 7, will Israel choose the way of peace, or that of religious nationalism?
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