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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Community Who Gets To Judge The Converts?
The law “ואהבתם את הגר,” and you shall love the convert, is mentioned over 36 times in the Torah. The prolific rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrote that “As a matter of normative practice, one should know that the mitzvah (commandment) to love the convert obligates us to bring them closer and to be lenient on all…
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Fast Forward Get Ready, Israel: The Mooch Is Coming
Anthony Scaramucci, the colorful businessman who lasted 10 days as White House communications director before being fired, will soon head to Israel on an investment mission. Scaramucci, who came to politics from the world of Wall Street finance, will be a guest of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce. The “executive VIP” trip to Israel…
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Fast Forward Is Ivanka Trump Getting Into Kabbalah With Red Thread Bracelet?
Ivanka Trump has been spotted several times since the early summer sporting a thin red thread tied around her wrist. Set against the backdrop of her meticulously styled “looks,” complete with Ivanka Trump-brand jewelry, dresses and shoes, the red threat might seem out of place — even off-brand. But the bracelet has special significance to…
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Community Why I Chose To Attend Public High School Even Though I’m Ultra-Orthodox
Noticing the black velvet yarmulke atop my dark brown hair, many of the students at my new school assumed that I was Muslim. In the beginning of my freshman year, I enrolled in Baltimore City College High School (“City”) in Baltimore, Maryland after attending ultra-Orthodox schools or “yeshivas” in Maryland for the prior 14 years….
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Fast Forward Warring Brooklyn Candidates Agree On One Thing: No Yeshiva Reform
Amid a blistering City Council campaign in the Orthodox-dominated neighborhood of Boro Park, two warring candidates have found a rare point of agreement: Both dislike the advocates seeking to improve secular education at Hasidic Yeshivas. “I don’t want any outside group, I’m not going to give them airtime by mentioning their name, but they are…
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Fast Forward Hasidic Student Almost Misses His Wedding Over British Immigration Snafu
(JTA) — British immigration officers detained for three days a haredi Orthodox citizen of Israel and the United States who arrived in the United Kingdom to marry a citizen of that country. Yosef Goldenberg of Los Angeles, who is studying in Israel, arrived Thursday at London’s Heathrow Airport carrying his American passport en route to his wedding Monday in…
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Life Is Drinking Alcohol A Rite Of Passage Into The Fraternity Of Orthodoxy?
This past Simchat Torah, a friend and I watched warily as one of the congregants, usually a composed professional type, staggered around the front lawn of the synagogue, drunk and mumbling to himself. Inside, the other men of the congregation were bidding on aliyahs and other honors for the upcoming year, their wallets loosened thanks…
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Life Is The Media’s Obsession With Hasidic Jews Anti-Semitic?
Our news feeds and Shabbos tables are abuzz with talk of ‘One of Us’, the latest Netflix film by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (the creators of Jesus Camp), about the lives of those who leave the Hasidic community and are ostracized. I confess: I will not be watching this documentary. This isn’t out 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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