Tag: Orthodox Jews

Had Mitt Romney won the presidential election, Tevi Troy would be director of domestic policy on his transition team.

A massive outbreak of mumps among Orthodox Jews in 2009 was due to the system of learning in yeshivas, according to a report by NPR.

The title of this article is the supposed motto of the late Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago, but for Americans living in Israel it means, literally, vote twice. Both Israel and America are holding important elections and, hopefully, most Orthodox Jews will be voting. The United States will be holding its regular four-year elections for president and many other offices, and Israel will be voting for an entire “new” Parliament (Knesset).

Rejecting something with knowledge is one thing, but most Jews in the world today have essentially rejected a life of Jewish observance with very little book or experiential knowledge.

Modern Orthodox and Chassidic cultural norms may differ, but members of both communities have a respect for Halachah and desire to serve God.

The NY Post's Michael Benjamin, himself a former Democratic assemblyman, reported that NY State Senator Malcolm Smith from Queens, a Democrat, is planning to be the city's 109th mayor, come 2013, running on the Republican ticket. He also suggested that Smith’s trial balloon had rattled some GOP leaders, who are attempting to nip it in the bud. Democrats are saying Smith is just a stalking horse for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, meant to sway black votes from former city Comptroller Bill Thompson.

An Ultra-Orthodox man reading the Talmud on the subway from Underground NY Public Library. The photo blog is a project of acclaimed street photographer,...

The trial of the brothers Eliyahu and Avraham Werdesheim, who are accused of beating a black 15-year-old on November 19, 2010 as they were patrolling an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Baltimore, is scheduled to start today, Tuesday. In a case disturbingly reminiscent of the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida, the brothers are charged with assault, false imprisonment and carrying a deadly weapon, and could face 13 years in prison.

The Crown Heights Caribbean soccer players who were destroyed last year by a team of Orthodox Jews are seeking revenge this Sunday. Of course, this is all about good sportsmanship and harmony, as the organizers of "Soccer for Harmony" keep repeating, because in Crown Heights it's better to repeat those things, just to be on the safe side.

(JTA) -- An Orthodox Jew was found not guilty by a Hague appeals court of failing to produce an ID card on the Sabbath. The man...

As someone who lains fairly often at my synagogue, I don't consider it a big deal committing to a few aliyot every couple of weeks. I've even occasionally lained the megillah. Yet for more than 15 years, there is one Torah reading I have avoided laining at all costs: my bar mitzvah parshah.

In recent years, the attitude dubbed "orthopraxy", the notion that holds that fulfillments of halakha is sufficient on its own terms without serving, or being subordinate to, any higher purpose , has become fashionable in some circles. Most famously advocated by the late distinguished Israeli scientist Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Orthopraxy - which has become accepted practically if not avowedly by many Orthodox Jews, both in the US and Israel - has found a number of other proponents as well, a disproportionate number of whom are among the intellectual elite.

One morning recently, I woke up to find that someone had plastered our yishuv community with signs proclaiming, "Join the Likud Political Party." The signs and subsequent Internet and SMS messages informed us that party workers would soon be around to sign us up.

The recent episode of "The People's Court" featuring an Orthodox couple suing a laundry service for washing and ruining the woman's wig has once again put Torah Jews in a negative light. In addition to the show's regular viewers, countless others have seen a video of the trial and decision on the Internet.

Once upon a time, there were Orthodox Jews who wore blue hats. Blue hats! Some wore brown, or shades of gray. In the summer, they wore white, or amber hats of straw.

All last week, Rabbi Yehuda Levin's name appeared in the news as the man behind gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino's widely-reported remarks opposing gay marriage and homosexuality. After a maelstrom of criticism, Paladino apologized to the gay and lesbian community, prompting Rabbi Levin to sever his ties with the Republican candidate.

A great human tragedy is taking place before our eyes, yet few can see it. A singles event in Jerusalem, co-sponsored by no fewer than five groups or organizations, advertised the following: "Ask yourself this question: Do you really want to get married? If the answer is NO, then carry on having a good time going to all those parties, Shabbat meals, lectures, supermarket aisles . If the answer is YES, then we'll see you at the MEGA EVENT."

Perhaps it was inevitable. Ever since her address at the Republican National Convention two years ago, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has been popular among many Orthodox Jews. A month after the convention, a "Sarah Palin Wig" went on sale on Sheitel.com. Now, as worry increases in the Jewish community over President Obama's Middle East policies, a group of Jews have banded together to create Jewish Americans for Sarah Palin (JewsforSarah.com).

"Pluralism" has a reassuring tone. "Live and let live," people tell each other, and many religious groups - including Orthodox Jews - have flourished in America as a result.

According to the plaintiffs of a recent federal lawsuit, a conspiracy is brewing in the Five Towns. The plaintiffs allege that Lawrence's Board of Education has tried to "convert the [school board] into an Orthodox ruling committee, and to establish Orthodox Judaism as the official religion" of Lawrence.

Everyone seems to be obsessed with Jews. Although numerically we are an insignificant minority of the world's population, the media focus like lasers on everything we say and do.

About 10 years ago, I went to Israel for a brief visit and met up with the Kuper family, old friends I hadn't seen for many years.

He put on tefillin every day. He was rarely absent from shul. He ate only kosher. But during the busy season in the garment industry, this Bronx Jew who grew up in the first half of the 20th century worked on Shabbat. Can such a person be considered an Orthodox Jew?

Here are some of the ways to know whether you are in a controlling relationship:

That was what we were promised - "one united religious political party." It did not last too long.

Last week, I raised my hand holding my little red voting card and voted myself out of office.

Title: Dalet AmotAuthor: Rabbi Ari Enkin         A breezy refresher course in some basics about Judaism, Dalet Amot is a necessary addition to bookshelves in...

"There were these two diamond dealers negotiating over a diamond.

Jewish voters gave Bill Clinton 78 percent of their votes in 1992 and again in 1996 - at the time the best showing by a presidential candidate among Jews since Hubert Humphrey won 81 percent of the Jewish vote in 1968 - and their love for Clinton never dimmed during the course of his tumultuous presidency.