Orthodox Judaism

IfNotNow activists form a human chain outside the Washington Convention Center to protest the annual AIPAC Policy Conference, Washington D.C., March 26, 2017. (Gili Getz)

Why young Jews don’t trust what their institutions say about Israel

Growing up, I found that the Conservative movement embraced nuanced approaches to Torah, yet that critical approach never extended to discussions of Israel. Questioning Zionism was verboten. By Eliana Fishman It was the summer before eighth grade at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires, a Jewish summer camp affiliated with the Conservative Movement. I was 12 years old.…

By +972 Magazine September 14, 2017

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to then Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, Tel Aviv, April 9, 2013. (State Dept photo)

Michael Oren’s diplomatic psychobabble

Does the former Israeli ambassador really think that an imaginative psychoanalysis of Obama can explain away Netanyahu’s annexationist policies? By Aviad Kleinberg Michael Oren blames President Barack Obama for ruining relations with Israel, after the latter broke two sacrosanct rules that Oren himself came up with: that the United States and Israel should not have public disagreements, and…

By +972 Magazine June 25, 2015

An Israeli Wedding (illustration, the people in this photo are not related to the content of the article. photo by: Yosef Silver/flickr)

Israel’s marriage police: An aberration from Jewish tradition

From interrogations to blacklists to computerized databases, Israel’s rabbinical authorities have adopted a coercive system of oversight that punishes violators of Jewish law’s bans on ‘certain’ kinds of relationships. By Akiva Miller Everyone knows that Israel’s Jewish-Orthodox-controlled marriage system must change. But while activists, lawyers and politicians struggling to reform it have won some important…

By +972 Magazine December 18, 2014

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Anat Hoffman of Women of the Wall (Nshot Ha-Kotel) arrested at the Western Wall, Old City of Jerusalem (photo: Women of the Wall)

3 women arrested while praying at Western Wall in 24 hours

Head of Women of the Wall was held in custody the entire night after trying to pray at the holy site while wearing a prayer shawl – a practice reserved only for men, according to Orthodox Judaism. Three members of Women of the Wall (Neshot Hakotel), a group of Jewish women which seeks to conduct prayers and…

By Noam Sheizaf October 16, 2012

African refugees demonstrate in Tel Aviv, earlier this week (Photo: Yossi Gurvitz)

On racism, Foreign Ministry worried about image, not reality

Diplomats warn that reports of Israeli attitudes and acts towards refugees may harm Israel’s image, ignoring the acts themselves. Our Foreign Ministry finds itself in a quandary. Israel brutally expels refugees from South Sudan, and runs a vicious and racist campaign against refugees from Sudan. Ministers and MKs are competing to see who can lead…

By Yossi Gurvitz June 13, 2012

Ultra Orthodox men stop bus because Tanya Rosenbilt refuses to move to the back (Photo: Tanya Rosenbilt)

A call to support the Orthodox majority opposing extremism

In the struggle within the Orthodox Jewish community between reactionaries who use Judaism as a weapon against democracy, and modernists whose worldview is based on integrating the two, the reactionaries have been the dominant voice – but the silent majority is starting to raise its own. By Rachel Liel It cannot be easy to be…

By +972 Magazine January 18, 2012