In Israel, Iraqi Jews Reflect on Baghdad Heritage
Source: The New York Times By JAMES GLANZ and IRIT PAZNER GARSHOWITZ GIVATAYIM, Israel — During a boisterous Passover Seder with her extended family, Sabiha Ziluf, 75, paused and said […]
German Anti-migrant Party Seeks to Curb Jewish and Muslim Ritual Slaughter
Haaretz.com: Germany’s leading right-populist party has included the banning of some Jewish and Muslim rituals and symbols in its convention platform. The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party, or AFD, in the program to be presented at its party convention April 30-May 1 in Stuttgart, called for an end to the […]
Beans And Rice For Passover? A Divisive Question Gets The Rabbis’ OK
Source: NPR By Maria Godoy As a Latina who married into a Jewish family, I’ve long lobbied my in-laws to include beans and rice on the Passover menu. The holiday […]
How Oregon became a center for Israeli babies born to surrogate moms PRI’s The World
Source: PRI By Kristian Foden-Vencil Rabbi Michael Cahana tells him to dip the baby completely underwater for her mikveh — that is, her conversion to Judaism. Amir and his husband, Ilan, […]
What different styles of head coverings say about Israeli Jewish men
BY MICHAEL LIPKA AND ANGELINA E. THEODOROU What you wear can say a lot about who you are and what you believe. In Israel, for instance, the type of kippa – or lack thereof – worn by an Israeli Jewish man often is strongly correlated with his religious identity as […]
Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism?
Source: The New York Times When the University of California regents condemned “anti-Semitic forms of anti-Zionism,” supporters of Palestinian rights said the university was suppressing criticism of Israel. In New York, […]
University of California softens anti-Semitism statement
Source: Religion News Service SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) The University of California’s regents declared on they would not tolerate anti-Semitism on campus but rejected a proposal to equate anti-Zionism with religious […]
Yemeni Jews brought to Israel in secret mission
Source: BBC Some of the last remaining Jews in war-torn Yemen have been brought to Israel in a secret mission. The Jewish Agency, which is responsible for Jewish immigration to […]
Merrick Garland is Jewish. Does it matter?
Source: RNS (RNS) President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, would be the current court’s fourth Jewish justice if confirmed. For Jews, who represent about 2 percent of the […]
Muslims, Protestants and Jews share common concerns in 2016 election
Source: RNS (RNS) This election season, Muslims face a slate of Republican candidates who demand curbs on immigration and compete over how tough they’d be on Islamic terrorism, if elected. […]
Believers, Not Judges, Should Decide What Their Religion Teaches
Source: The Daily Signal Last week, over the dissent of Justice Samuel Alito, the U.S. Supreme Courtdeclined to hear a case involving a prison’s refusal to allow a Jewish man […]
With Little Schooling, ultra-Orthodox Men Struggle to Find Jobs
Source: Haartez Haredi men are being forced into a labor market with little work for people without a higher education. A new study shows how seriously deficient the community is. In 2011, a suit filed in the High Court of Justice asserted that the rights of young ultra-Orthodox Jews were […]
D.C. Republicans extend primary hours so Sabbath-observant Jews can vote
Source: The Washington Post In D.C., where Republicans are scarce, Orthodox Jews actually are a large enough contingent to potentially affect the outcome of the GOP’s presidential primary that is scheduled […]
Georgetown gets $10 million for Holocaust research as Jewish studies grow at Catholic school
Source: The Washington Post Georgetown University, a Catholic institution long known for scholarship on the Arab world, is intensifying its study of Jewish civilization with aid from a series of […]
Bernie Sanders Is Jewish, but He Doesn’t Like to Talk About It
Source: The New York Times When Senator Bernie Sanders thanked supporters for his landslide victory in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, he wistfully reminisced about his upbringing as “the son […]
Who Are the True Heirs of Zionism?
Source: The New York Times JERUSALEM — ZIONISM was never the gentlest of ideologies. The return of the Jewish people to their biblical homeland and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty […]
Israel approves mixed-sex Jewish prayer site at Western Wall
Source: Reuters The Israeli government approved on Sunday the creation of a mixed-sex plaza at Jerusalem’s Western Wall to accommodate Jews who contest Orthodox curbs on worship by women there. […]
Religion and faith: Jews and Christians honor Holocaust victims
Source: Arizona Daily Star Public invited to talk on Islam, Quran The Tucson chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community will hold a “Holy Quran Exhibition” at the Wheeler Taft Abbett […]
US rabbis protest against Zurich museum extension
STIFF OPPOSITION JAN 19, 2016 – 12:02 Construction work on the extension of the Zurich Museum of Fine Arts in November (Keystone) More than 100 rabbis have protested in front of the Swiss consulate in New York against a planned extension of the Zurich Museum of Fine Arts. They say […]
Md. school system keeps Jewish holidays, adds days off for Diwali, Lunar New Year and Eid al-Adha
Source: The Washington Post Howard County’s school board voted unanimously this week to markedly expand its schedule of religious and cultural holidays, a decision members said recognized the growing diversity […]