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Hasidism
Pallbearers carry the casket of Scott Beigel, geography teacher from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, after a funeral service at Temple Beth-El on February 18, 2018, in Boca Raton, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP)
February 20, 2018, 10:06 am
Heroes at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High
We become the best version of ourselves when we push past the instinct for self-preservation and act to save others
By Binyomin Yudin
Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach during a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, early 1990s. (Shlomo Carlebach Legacy Trust)
December 20, 2017, 9:07 am
After #MeToo, some congregations weigh changing their tune on Shlomo Carlebach
The wave of sexual misconduct accusations toppling dozens of icons has reignited the conversation about the complicated legacy of the 'singing rabbi'
By Melanie Lidman
Chillent live onstage. (Courtesy Sruli Broocker)
August 28, 2017, 4:07 am
Since finding God, band Chillent doesn’t need to get stewed to feel high
Born-again hasidic group cooks up a fusion of prayer and play in a stirring, melodic ramble perfect for the jam band palate
By Madison Margolin
Rabbi Shimon Gershon Rosenberg, or Rav Shagar, as he is better known (Hugh Gordon)
July 10, 2017, 2:05 pm
Israel’s paradoxical man of faith, deconstructed
Rav Shagar, an audacious rabbi and mystic who sought to remake Orthodoxy with the aid of postmodern theory, makes a posthumous bid for the minds of US Jews
By Elie Leshem
From left: Moshe Jakubowitz, Moshe Ha-Elion, Esther Miron, Max Privler, Jeannine Stephane-Bouhanna, Elka Abromovitz, and Moshe Porat, the torch lighters for the 2017 Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem (Yaakov Schwartz/Times of Israel)
April 21, 2017, 9:52 am
With stories as varied as their accents, survivors ready for Holocaust memorial ceremony
Emotional dress rehearsal at Yad Vashem introduces the six torch-lighters and the woman who will share her story with the country at Sunday's event
By Yaakov Schwartz
December 2, 2016, 1:36 pm
A farewell tribute to Ben Zion Shenker
An unassuming Hasid brought melody to the Jewish masses, uniquely changing the worlds of traditional music and prayer
By Alon Goshen-Gottstein
August 31, 2016, 3:44 pm
Putting the Rebbe’s words into practice
She became the change she wanted to see, empowering Orthodox women to delve into Torah studies with the rigor of men
By Hadassah Silberstein
June 28, 2016, 2:11 pm
Teenage mountain climbing to talk to God
A sharp question from a puzzled adolescent sheds light on what it means to pray when you're stuck in cloudy darkness
By Dan Ornstein
Author Helen Maryles Shankman brings X-Men sensibilities to Holocaust horrors in Wlodawa, Poland. (courtesy)
May 27, 2016, 5:31 pm
Raised with miracle of parents’ survival, author writes magical Holocaust tales
With the X-Men and vampires as her influences, Helen Maryles Shankman brings 'fabulist' realism to Wlodawa, Poland
By Matt Lebovic
Actor Theo Barklem-Biggs plays Shmilu in 'Samuel-613.' (YouTube)
January 16, 2016, 4:59 am
Film about wayward Hasidic Jew nominated for BAFTA
'Samuel-613' is an effectively disturbing fictional look at what it's like to leave the ultra-Orthodox fold in North London
By Renee Ghert-Zand
Illustrative photo of Borough Park. (CC BY Violette79, Flickr)
November 23, 2015, 10:19 am
Sister of ex-Hasidic woman who committed suicide hangs self
Sara Mayer was found by family in their home at the heart of the Belz community of Borough Park, Brooklyn
By Raoul Wootliff
Matisyahu, Jewish-American reggae rapper and alternative rock musician performs at the Sultan Pool in Jerusalem on October 10, 2015. (Flash90)
October 15, 2015, 8:06 am
Leaving Orthodoxy one of ‘hardest things’ for Matisyahu
Reggae star says he didn't anticipate what reaction would be to his shaving beard and leaving Chabad-Lubavitch
By Gabe Friedman
A picture of the poem 'Worst day ever?' written by Chanie Gorkin of Crown Heights (screen capture)
July 25, 2015, 8:34 pm
Hasidic teen’s upbeat bottom-to-top poem goes viral
'Worst day ever?' seems to convey a depressing message, but the meaning changes when it's read from last line first
By TOI staff
Faigy Mayer seen in a photo from March 26, 2015. (Facebook)
July 24, 2015, 1:05 am
Ex-Hasid shared anti-Hasidic essay a week before her suicide
Faigy Mayer, who leapt to her death in Manhattan on Monday, recalled strict religious lifestyle as 'harsh' and 'austere'
By JTA
An Ethiopian Christian man poses for a picture alongside Orthodox Jewish worshipers at King David's Tomb, near Zion Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, on May 31, 2015 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
June 1, 2015, 11:41 pm
Yeshiva students try to block Christian Mass in Jerusalem
Police disperse dozens of radicals barricaded inside King David's Tomb and denying entry to Greek Orthodox worshipers
By Tamar Pileggi
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