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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News Orthodox Jews Divide Over Questions Of Whether Yoga, Crystals, Reiki Are Kosher
An Orthodox community is in the midst of a philosophical crisis that’s pitting hard-line rationalists against New Age-leaning mystics — and the publication of a new book by a well-known rabbi has exposed and intensified the struggle. In his recently published “Alternative Medicine in Halakhah,” Lakewood, New Jersey rabbi Rephoel Szmerla gives Jewish legal justifications…
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Life Banned from Print Media, Ultra-Orthodox Women Turn to Instagram
Orthodox women are disappearing. Over the years, Orthodox magazines and newspapers have placed a strict ban on any images of women. And ironically, this erasure has emerged at a time of the community’s increased access to a luxury lifestyle: Orthodox women, decked out in glamorous wigs and haute couture, will ultimately pick up glossy religious…
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Culture Everything You Need to Know About Judaism’s Saddest Day of the Year
Tisha b’Av, the Ninth of Av, is the commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem’s Temple. And it’s also, basically, Catastrophe Day for the Jews. It’s the day we consolidate all of our thousands of years of sorrow into one, 25-hour long inferno. Here’s what traditional Jews are mourning on this day, according to the Mishnah…
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Yiddish World Yankel and Leah 4: Observing the NYC Skyline – And Her
This originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. To read the previous chapter. “I’m available,” Leah said brightly. “Good,” he said, feeling an instant resistance to her enthusiasm. “I’ll see you at eight o’clock?” This time Yankel was able to borrow a different car. It was an almost-new Oldsmobile 98 Regency. “Beautiful car,” Leah said when he…
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News Orthodox Push For Eruv Sparks Fierce Backlash In New Jersey Suburb
More than 200 residents of the New Jersey suburb of Mahwah packed a local park Monday night to celebrate what speakers called a victory against a potentially negative influence on the wealthy town. It wasn’t an upsurge in crime or some kind of unwanted real-estate development that had them so riled up. It was the…
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Fast Forward London Orthodox Push Boycott Of JW3 Center Over LGBT Programming
(JTA) — A group of Orthodox rabbis in London have called on their members to boycott the city’s JW3 Jewish cultural center because it holds events for LGBT Jews. Signed by seven haredi Orthodox rabbi, the letter released Friday calls on members of their communities to “distance themselves fully from JW3, its activities and services,…
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Opinion WTF: Why Don’t Some Observant Jews Carry Umbrellas On Shabbat?
I’m not a rabbi, nor am I an expert on Jewish law by any means — but I have been a practicing Modern Orthodox Jew for my entire adult life. As one of the few Orthodox Jews working at the beautifully pluralistic Forward, I often become the go-to gal for questions of religious custom and…
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Fast Forward Attacking Prenups Is Bad For Jews Everywhere
Last week by Rabbi Zvi Tau added his signature to a yellowing letter, originally published in the 1980s, opposing the use of pre-nuptial agreements. In doing so Rabbi Tau, a leader of the ultra-conservation faction within Zionist Orthodoxy, added his name to a list of 44 rabbis similarly opposed. The timing is no coincidence. The…
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News What Mike Huckabee’s ‘Kids Guide to Israel’ says about his views
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Culture At 95, Shaindel Schreiber is still dispensing babka and advice on the Lower East Side
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