Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of rabbis, the spiritual leaders of Jewish congregations.
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The Latest
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Breaking News Israel Moves To Ease Path to Conversion
(JTA) — The Israeli government has adopted a major reform expected to ease the path to conversion for hundreds of thousands of Israelis now prohibited from marrying in the Jewish state. In the most significant response in decades to the estimated 400,000 Israelis who are not considered Jewish by the Chief Rabbinate, the Cabinet expanded authority…
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Culture Channeling Freud To Prevent the Next Barry Freundel
(Haaretz) — I was sitting in a group discussion with fellow psychotherapists recently when a colleague mentioned that one of his female patients had, unannounced, come over and sat down on his lap. Someone else shared the revelation that one of his female patients intimated a desire to see him without any clothes on. The therapists…
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Breaking News After Mikveh Scandal, Rabbinic Council Appoint Committee To Review Conversion
The Rabbinical Council of America has formed a committee to review its conversion process in the wake of the arrest on voyeurism charges of one of its leading conversion rabbis. The RCA announced Wednesday the men and women appointed to a committee to review its current Geirus Protocol and Standards conversion process and suggest safeguards…
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Opinion Why the Mikveh Scandal Cuts So Deep
The sordid story of the Washington rabbi accused of spying on naked women in his synagogue’s ritual bath is more than just a local scandal, an Orthodox scandal, a conversion scandal. It is a Jewish scandal, tearing deep into the heart of a religious hierarchy that is dominated by men who are rarely held to…
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Breaking News Women’s Yeshiva Says Male Rabbis Don’t Have To Oversee Converts in Mikveh
In the wake of voyeurism allegations against a prominent Orthodox rabbi, the head of an Orthodox yeshiva for women is arguing that male rabbis needn’t be present for a female convert’s ritual immersion. Rabbi Jeffrey Fox, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Maharat in New York, is preparing a teshuva, or Jewish legal opinion, arguing that…
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News How a Stunned Synagogue Faces Up to Sins of Rabbi Barry Freundel
There is no playbook guiding Modern Orthodox congregations on what to do when their rabbi is accused of abusing congregants and of violating their privacy at the most holy and intimate of moments. But when the venerable Washington congregation Kesher Israel got the news on October 14 that its spiritual leader of more than 26…
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Breaking News Savannah Congregation Defies Board, Votes Yes to Controversial Rabbi
A controversial Savannah rabbi may retain his pulpit for another three years, despite the synagogue board’s recommendation that his contract not be renewed. Savannah’s Congregation Agudath Achim voted 132 to 53, with two abstentions, to keep Rabbi Ruven Barkan in a secret ballot held October 19. As the Forward reported in July, several families left…
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Breaking News Jerusalem Elects Ashkenazi and Sephardi Chief Rabbis
The Jerusalem City Council elected two new chief rabbis, including Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the former chief rabbi of Israel. Amar was tapped as the city’s Sephardi chief rabbi on Tuesday evening. Rabbi Aryeh Stern was picked as the Ashkenazi chief rabbi. Both had the support of Mayor Nir Barkat. Stern is a modern Orthodox rabbi…
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