Haredi Jews
Holding Hasidic schools to account
By Mark Silk — September 25, 2022
(RNS) — The current Supreme Court, where a new New York law is likely to end up, isn't prone to do so.
What The New York Times’ story on Hasidic schools misses
By Avi Shafran — September 13, 2022
(RNS) — The vast majority of Hasidic parents and students cherish the education offered by their yeshivas.
Israel’s new policy on ‘kosher cellphones’ is an abomination for Haredi rabbis
By Eetta Prince-Gibson — July 13, 2022
JERUSALEM (RNS) — The country’s governing coalition has so far ended ultra-Orthodox control over adherents’ phones.
The Jewish way to celebrate Jerusalem Day
By Avi Shafran — June 1, 2022
(RNS) — We are enjoined by our Jewish faith not to goad or incite other peoples or religions.
A year after disaster, thousands flock to Israeli holy site
By Associated Press — May 18, 2022
(AP) — This year's Lag BaOmer holiday festivities at Mount Meron are overshadowed by last year's deaths, the largest civilian disaster in the country's history.
What is the Lag BaOmer pilgrimage?
By Joshua Shanes — May 17, 2022
(The Conversation) — A scholar of Jewish history explains why the annual Lag BaOmer pilgrimage to Mount Meron in Israel has such power and meaning.
Julia Haart’s memoir, a journey from religious orthodoxy to high fashion
By Yonat Shimron — May 13, 2022
(RNS) — In her memoir, 'Brazen,' she details her escape from the Haredi Jewish enclave and her meteoric rise to the elite world of fashion, partly captured in the Netflix reality TV show, 'My Unorthodox Life.'
Craving connection, 2,500 Jewish teens meet in Baltimore for in-person convention
By Yonat Shimron — February 17, 2022
(RNS) — BBYO’s annual International Convention kicked off a five-day gathering on Thursday (Feb. 17), the first large in-person gathering in the American Jewish community since the pandemic started.
Israeli police protect women’s prayer group from ultra-Orthodox protesters
By Michele Chabin — November 5, 2021
JERUSALEM (RNS) — Until now, Israeli security forces have done the bare minimum to enforce crowd control during the controversial prayer group’s once-a-month services in the women’s section of the Western Wall.
Netflix’s ‘My Unorthodox Life’ spurred ultra-Orthodox Jewish women to talk publicly about their lives
By Jessica Roda and Alexandra Stankovich — September 8, 2021
(The Conversation) — The #MyOrthodoxLife movement challenges both mainstream and ultra-Orthodox media to tell more nuanced and complex stories about Jewish women.
‘Unvaccinated people die!’ declare Orthodox rabbis in new video ad
By Yonat Shimron — September 3, 2021
(RNS) — Jewish Americans overall are the most likely US religious group to have received a vaccine. But vaccine hesitancy is far higher among some Orthodox Jews.
‘Insular’ Orthodox Jews mobilize to save lives, from Haiti to Kabul
By Avi Shafran — September 1, 2021
(RNS) — Recent disasters have shown a lesser-known side of Haredi Jews.
How Orthodox Jews became a streaming-TV hit
By Yonat Shimron — August 20, 2021
(RNS) — Streaming services have begun to take a chance on programs about Haredi Jews, but scholars say those narratives are nothing new.
Netflix’s ‘My Unorthodox Life’ is an exposé that fails to explain some basic facts
By Avi Shafran — July 14, 2021
(RNS) — Fashion triumphs over fundamentalism. What could be more inspiring?
Will Naftali Bennett’s diverse coalition lead Israel to recognize Jewish diversity?
By Michele Chabin — June 16, 2021
JERUSALEM (RNS) — Many Israelis and Diaspora Jews are hoping the new government will unlock the decades-long monopoly that strictly Orthodox Jews have had on everything from marriage to public transportation.
