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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Opinion ‘Liberal’ Jews Are Just As Judgmental As The Orthodox Behind The Kotel Decision
Like most of my fellow liberal Jews, I find it deplorable that the Israeli government reneged on a deal for egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall. I’m also feeling something that others probably aren’t, though: hope for a lesson learned about liberal Judaism’s own walls. What the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate is doing to the liberal…
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Community Sorry, Netanyahu: The Diaspora Won’t Take This Betrayal Lying Down
On the morning of July 12, I read a piece in the Opinion Page of the New York Times titled “Israel to American Jews: You Just Don’t Matter” by Thomas L. Friedman. In this piece, Friedman states that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu has yielded to the whims of the Orthodox and has basically…
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Opinion American Orthodox Rabbis Don’t Trust Women By Themselves In Mikvehs. Why?
In the past few years, the American Jewish establishment has spoken out against the Israeli Chief Rabbinate’s refusal — sometimes retroactive — to recognize conversions and marriages performed by American rabbis, one of whom, most notably, oversaw the conversion of Ivanka Trump. For many American Jews, the chief rabbinate was, once again, being unnecessarily strict…
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Community Is Religion Really A ‘Big Problem’ For American Jews?
A June 9 interview of Michael Steinhardt by correspondent Ben Sales of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency made a big splash in the Jewish media. The Forward titled its coverage of the interview, “Michael Steinhardt Says Religion Is Big Problem for American Jews.” As an American Jew who considers himself religious, I was shocked to discover…
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Opinion Orthodoxy Is Not Victimized By The Kotel Compromise
In his Forward column titled “Kotel Controversy Shows That U.S. Jewish Groups Don’t Represent The Orthodox,” Avi Shafran claims that the American Orthodox community has been treated like “chopped liver” in recent debates over the Western Wall and conversion law in Israel. While I acknowledge American Orthodox voices have been missing in the news coverage…
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Fast Forward Dear Israeli Rabbinate: Please, Add Us To The Blacklist!
Dear Israel Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau: We, the following San Diego, California, Rabbis are outraged that we were left off of your blacklist of rabbis whose testimony as to the Jewish identity of their congregants are unacceptable to Israel’s Chief Rabbinate. In the future please include our names among the other blacklisted rabbis. We…
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Opinion All Jews Must Welcome Interfaith Families — It’s What Rabbi Hillel Would Do
I encountered fierce opposition to a piece I wrote recently on the value of welcoming multi-faith families into our communities and adopting a posture of radical hospitality. I believe that providing a space that caters to every Jew’s spiritual needs — even if that Jew is married to someone of another faith — is the…
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Community What Does It Mean To Be A Religious Jew Today?
To me, being religious, in our contemporary conception of society, means making the invisible person visible and the unheard person heard. It means that in the constant journey to learn, one seeks moral refinement in each moment, all the while acting with kindness and humility towards all. One boldly leads from the inside out: inner…
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Film & TV Bonhoeffer biopic tells of a pastor turned would-be Hitler assassin — but is the story true?
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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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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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