Judaism

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13 Plead Not Guilty Over Illegal Tunnel at Brooklyn Synagogue

Dispute at the site led to a melee back in January

(Newser) - Thirteen members of the Hasidic Jewish community have pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from their alleged role in a dispute over an illegal tunnel built beneath a historic Brooklyn synagogue. The defendants, many of them international students from Israel, appeared in Brooklyn court this week on charges of reckless...

For Some Jews, Muslims, Roe Reversal Is an Attack on Religious Freedoms
Why Some Jews, Muslims,
See Roe Reversal as an Attack
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jul 2, 2022 12:15 PM CDT

Why Some Jews, Muslims, See Roe Reversal as an Attack

Their religions allow for abortions, some argue

(Newser) - The role of religion in the abortion debate is getting a lot of attention in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade—but when it comes to certain religions, some say the reversal represents an infringement of their religious liberty. Some Jewish groups have been very vocal...

Einstein's 'God Letter' Expected to Fetch 7 Figures at Auction

1954 note declares religion as 'superstitition'

(Newser) - "The word God is for me nothing but the expression of and product of human weaknesses." Even now, more than 60 years later, Albert Einstein's words carry some shock value—which is why auction house Christie's expects to nab up to $1.5 million with the...

Mike Pence Causes Outrage With 'Christian Rabbi'
Mike Pence Causes Outrage
With 'Christian Rabbi'
THE RUNDOWN
Oct 30, 2018 6:48 AM CDT

Mike Pence Causes Outrage With 'Christian Rabbi'

Alleged shooter appears in court in wheelchair

(Newser) - Mike Pence is taking flak for what critics say was an extremely insensitive choice of rabbi at a campaign event Monday night. The vice president invited Rabbi Loren Jacobs to the stage at the event in suburban Detroit to offer a prayer for victims of the Pittsburgh mass shooting, and...

Battered Book Will Help You Pray Like Marilyn Monroe

Actress' Jewish prayer book may fetch up to $8K at auction

(Newser) - A Jewish prayer book that once belonged to Marilyn Monroe will hit the auction block in New York next month, where it's expected to fetch up to $8,000. The book has notes believed to be written by the actress around the time she converted to Judaism in 1956,...

Israel Passes Controversial 'Jewish Nation' Law

Arabs say they are being sidelined

(Newser) - Israel's parliament approved a controversial piece of legislation on Thursday that defines the country as the nation-state of the Jewish people but which critics warn sidelines minorities. The government says the bill, which passed the Knesset by a 62-55 vote, will merely enshrine into law Israel's existing character....

Rice and Beans OK for Passover for First Time Since 1200s

A 13th century rule has been reversed

(Newser) - Foods like rice and beans may be on the Passover tables of some Jews for the first time in 800 years thanks to a ruling by a committee of rabbis in the Conservative movement, Smithsonian reports. Those foods, along with corn, beans, and peanuts, which belong to a category called...

The Surprising Traditions of Jewish Christmas Eve

Toilet paper, abstinence, and persecution

(Newser) - For many people—religious and non-religious alike—Christmas Eve means hot cocoa with family, watching Love Actually, or furiously wrapping last-minute gifts. But for centuries of Jews, Christmas Eve was all about abstinence, tearing toilet paper, and the occasional poker game. Slate has a fascinating look at the little-known—even...

Vatican to Catholics: Stop Trying to Convert Jews

Help them fight anti-Semitism instead: new report

(Newser) - The Vatican is taking steps toward fixing its long-troubled history with the Jewish faith with the Thursday release of a 10,000-word document that instructs Catholics to help Jews fight anti-Semitism instead of trying to convert them, Reuters reports. The Commission for Religious Relations With the Jews explained that Catholicism...

Zooey Deschanel Converts to Judaism

Sources say she made the move for husband Jacob Pechenik

(Newser) - Zooey Deschanel is now Jewish. Sources tell Us she converted to Judaism for her Jewish husband, Jacob Pechenik. Prior to that, she didn't feel strongly about religion: Her mother is Roman Catholic and her father is Quaker, and she once explained, "I don't attach myself to any...

Israel Thinks It's Cracked Mystery of Maccabees' Tomb

Scholars and archaeologists have pointed to this site for 150 years

(Newser) - For 150 years, scholars and archaeologists have sought the final resting place of the Maccabees, a band of rebels who established a Jewish kingdom in the second century BC, in one of the great mysteries of Jewish history, reports the AP . Now the Israeli Antiquities Authority says that it may...

Church, Synagogue, Mosque to Share One 'House'

Berlin project will cater to Christians, Jews, and Muslims

(Newser) - A pastor, a rabbi, and an imam walk onto an empty lot, and ... bury their shoes. Why? Because they plan to build what may be the world's first interfaith facility with separate houses of worship for Christians, Jews, and Muslims, the BBC reports. Dubbed the "House of One,...

Scholar Finds 9 More Dead Sea Scrolls
 Scholar Finds 9 More 
 Dead Sea Scrolls 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 16, 2014 7:01 PM CDT

Scholar Finds 9 More Dead Sea Scrolls

Experts will unravel, analyze the tiny parchments

(Newser) - They may be small, but they're still Dead Sea Scrolls—and no one knows what they contain. An Israeli scholar has discovered nine tiny parchments amid the thousands of world-famous scrolls and scroll fragments that date back to the second century BCE, the Times of Israel reports. Dr. Yonatan...

Christmas Is for Jews, Too
 Christmas Is 
 for Jews, Too 
OPINION
Dec 24, 2013 1:38 PM CST

Christmas Is for Jews, Too

Two Jewish writers say they celebrate the holiday

(Newser) - People often try to tell Charlotte Alter that she shouldn't celebrate Christmas because she's Jewish. Her response? "First, mind your own business and leave my gingerbread house alone," she writes at Time . For many, this holiday is about Santa, not Jesus—and who's to say...

American Jews Losing Their Religion
American Jews
Losing Their Religion
new survey
Oct 1, 2013 3:42 AM CDT

American Jews Losing Their Religion

22% now consider themselves non-religious Jews

(Newser) - America has by far the world's largest Jewish population of any country save Israel, but the proportion of them who consider themselves non-religious Jews has surged to 22%, according to a new poll. Around two-thirds of those interviewed did not belong to a synagogue and a third had a...

Oldest Torah Scroll Found
 Oldest Torah Scroll Found 
May 29, 2013 4:25 PM CDT

Oldest Torah Scroll Found

Researcher in Bologna, Italy, finds it in university library

(Newser) - An Italian researcher has found what is believed to be the oldest scroll from Judaism's most important text, and he didn't have far to look. The professor at the University of Bologna found the 850-year-old Torah scroll in the school library, where it had been mistakenly labeled a...

World Growing Less Tolerant of Muslims, Jews: Report

State Dept says anti-Semitic, anti-Islamic sentiments growing

(Newser) - Anti-Islamic and anti-Semitic sentiments are growing in many countries around the world, according to a new US State Department report. Venezuela, Egypt, and Iran in particular are singled out for anti-Semitism—the report says the Egyptian media engages in Holocaust denial and glorification, while the Iranian government regularly denounces Judaism,...

10 Women in Israel Detained for Wearing Prayer Shawls

One is Sarah Silverman's sister

(Newser) - Ten women, one the sister of comedian Sarah Silverman, were detained today for wearing prayer shawls at a holy site in Israel. The Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City is under Orthodox ritual law, which only allows men to wear prayer shawls, Reuters reports. Susan Silverman was there as...

Ultra-Orthodox Israelis Lose Draft Exemption

Leader warns of 'civil war' if devout conscripted

(Newser) - The draft exemption that ultra-Orthodox Jewish men have enjoyed since Israel's founding ended last night, and defense minister Ehud Barak has given the military a month to prepare for the change, reports AP . A law granting exemptions to religious scholars has expired and Israel's Supreme Court has ruled...

Prophecy Drives Firm to Dig for Diamonds in Israel

And it thinks it has found evidence that it's on the right track

(Newser) - All it took was a prophecy. That was enough to launch Shefa Yamim, an Israeli mining firm that has spent more than a decade combing the hills and valleys around Haifa for diamonds, something no one ever expected to find in Israel. "It's a mission," CEO Avi...

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