Hasidism

Interview

Globetrotting ‘Millennial Rabbi’ uses Insta-fame to click with younger Jews

From Gallipoli, Italy, to the holy city of Safed, Rabbi Daniel Bortz documents his travels with an eye towards spreading spirituality and mindfulness among his 26k followers

Rabbi Daniel Bortz helps a Coachella music festival attendee put on phylacteries and pray. (Courtesy)

October 18, 2019, 3:32 am

Globetrotting ‘Millennial Rabbi’ uses Insta-fame to click with younger Jews

From Gallipoli, Italy, to the holy city of Safed, Rabbi Daniel Bortz documents his travels with an eye towards spreading spirituality and mindfulness among his 26k followers

By Joseph Wolkin

Students meditate as part of the morning prayer at Romemu Yeshiva in New York, July 16, 2019. The yeshiva combines intensive study of Jewish text with mindfulness and mysticism. (Ben Sales)

July 21, 2019, 6:08 am

Tai chi with tefillin: Inside New York’s quirkiest yeshiva

Romemu Yeshiva seeks to show American Jews that Eastern concepts, such as meditation, mindfulness and mystical philosophy, are part of Jewish tradition

By Ben Sales

In this February 27, 2018, file photo, Malka Leifer, center, is brought to a courtroom in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File)

February 26, 2019, 1:25 am

Malka Leifer accused of sexual harassment in Israel before moving to Australia

Former education official says that rather than report her, community leaders moved woman to Melbourne, where she is wanted on 74 counts of misconduct against former students

By Jacob Magid

February 18, 2019, 8:11 pm

Ashdod rabbi appeals to residents for aid with Leifer legal defense

Synagogues throughout city distribute letter from Yosef Direnfeld requesting help to prevent extradition of ‘prominent woman’

By Jacob Magid

A school in Kazimierz Dolny, Poland. (screen capture: Google Street View)

July 2, 2018, 5:40 am

Hasidic pilgrims say rabbi’s grave buried under Polish school

Followers of Modzitz sect push Kazimierz Dolny to allow them to pray in schoolyard where they believe founder of group is interred

By JTA

June 10, 2018, 3:51 pm

Yaakov Klein

Judaism no longer resembles a cold knish

Hasidut gets the credit for shifting many who were only going through the motions to keeping mitzvot with fervor

May 3, 2018, 12:07 pm

Ari Segal

Imagine the Orthodox world without vitriol

If we regard alternate approaches to Orthodoxy as the best approach for each community, we’ll judge favorably

February 20, 2018, 10:06 am

Binyomin Yudin

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

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

Alon Goshen-Gottstein

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

August 31, 2016, 3:44 pm

Hadassah Silberstein

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

June 28, 2016, 2:11 pm

Dan Ornstein

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