Netflix’s ‘Shtisel’ Is Binge-Worthy TV on a Strict Form of Judaism What makes the Israeli series “Shtisel,” such groundbreaking television is that the characters are the black-hatted, side-curled men and bewigged women of ultra-Orthodox Judaism, a group that is known in Hebrew by the umbrella term Haredim and includes Hasidim. It is an insular subculture […]
This week, history was made when lawmakers in Albany finally agreed to loosen New York state’s statute of limitations for molestation survivors, known as the Child Victim Act. This breakthrough came about after a long and arduous battle by child sex abuse survivors and their advocates, going up against a state with one of the […]
Anne Frank House Banned Orthodox Jewish Employee From Wearing His Skullcap at Work A Jewish employee at Anne Frank House could not believe his ears when his bosses banned him from wearing a skullcap at work. Barry Vingerling turned up for work on his first day at the museum in Amsterdam and was told to […]
Learning to Pray When Words Fail Julie Shulman decided to study linguistics because she wanted to help people with speaking disorders. She never imagined how personal this mission would become when her husband, business-development manager Ayal Shulman, suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. Despite the initially grim prognosis, his cognitive function is intact. But his speech […]
I recently sat down with Emma Green, staff writer at The Atlantic where she covers politics, policy, and religion. Religion is one of her areas of expertise. I asked Green for her thoughts on how Orthodox Jews are depicted in traditional media. She admitted that there can be a lack of nuance. “In general, certain religious minorities […]
Young Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Increasingly Prioritizing Career, Education Over Marriage, Family According to figures obtained by Haaretz from the upcoming statistical report on ultra-Orthodox society for 2017 (published jointly by the Israel Democracy Institute and the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies), the Haredi community has undergone a dramatic shift in marriage patterns over the last […]
