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News | Religion

A Reign of Terror for Jews in France

Nobody has been killed yet, but the atmosphere of suspicion and anti-Semitic violence in Marseille, France’s famously mixed port city, is getting dangerous.

    News | Religion

    The doubt essential to faith

    When Lesley Hazleton was writing a biography of Muhammad, she was struck by something: The night he received the revelation of the Koran, according to early accounts, his first reaction was doubt, awe, even fear. And yet this experience became the bedrock

      News | Religion

      The doubt essential to faith

      When Lesley Hazleton was writing a biography of Muhammad, she was struck by something: The night he received the revelation of the Koran, according to early accounts, his first reaction was doubt, awe, even fear. And yet this experience became the bedrock

        News | Religion

        How To Get Wax off Your Menorah After Hanukkah

        On Thursday morning—the last day of Hanukkah—we received the following query from reader Daniel S. Palmer: How do you get those last pesky bits of wax off  your menorah? We felt that this was a matter of some importance (if not urgency—after all, H

          News | Religion

          Our Favorite Hanukkah Toy Was Actually a Non-Jewish Irish Gambling Game - Culture

          With the arrival of Hanukkah comes the reemergence of dreidels from closets, desk drawers and cupboards. These tops are a beloved part of the holiday — but where did they actually come from?

            News | Religion

            You Can't Understand ISIS If You Don't Know the History of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia

            Abd al-Wahhab argued that all Muslims must individually pledge their allegiance to a single Muslim leader (a Caliph, if there were one). Those who would not conform to this view should be killed, their wives and daughters violated, and their possessions c

              News | Religion

              Total Badass Goes On Fox News In Patriotic Hijab

                News | Religion

                If you think raising your kids religious makes them nicer, science has bad news for you.

                A new report has found that children from religious households are meaner than their secular counterparts. These findings were the result of an international study conducted by seven universities

                  News | Religion

                  Study: College experiences can boost Jewish identity for children of mixed marriage - Religion News Service

                  (RNS) Jewish experiences in college were found to boost attachment to Jewish life for those whose Judaism comes from one side of the family.

                      News | Religion

                      The Playground Theory of Morality

                      Yom Kippur reminds us we are imperfect—and it takes work to awaken our better selves

                          News | Religion

                          Pope Francis Calls for Ending Tax-Exempt Status of Churches That Don't Help the Needy

                          This might be the Pope's best idea yet.

                            News | Religion

                            Op-Ed: Religious People Must Oppose Attacks on Planned Parenthood

                            Conservatives balk when we say they are waging a war on women. Yet, the way in which conservatives attack and degrade women leaves little doubt that something is dreadfully wrong. The latest attack comes from Senator Ted Cruz who called on evangelical pas

                              News | Religion

                              How Jewish Musicians Influenced 20th-Century American music

                              Ben Sidran argues that Jewish hunger to fit in shaped both the core of their identity and many of America’s greatest songs in his book

                                News | Religion

                                Exit of Anti-Defamation League head marks shift for US Jews

                                NEW YORK (AP) — Over 28 years as head of the Anti-Defamation League, Abe Foxman emerged as a forceful torchbearer for American Jews. He counseled presidents and diplomats, CEOs and celebrities. He took on prominent figures over anti-Semitic remarks or r

                                  News | Religion

                                  Dog or Jewish Boyfriend? A Quiz

                                  Shouts & Murmurs: “My grandma Dottie loves him and says he’s a ‘good, good boy.’ ”

                                    News | Religion

                                    Brace Yourself for “Adon Olam” to the Tune of Pharrell’s “Happy”

                                    Move over, Maccabeats. If Pharrell's

                                      News | Religion

                                      Community Post: The Entire Story Of Purim. Told With Cat GIFS

                                      The festive Jewish holiday of Purim begins the evening of this Wednesday, March 4th.The entire story of Purim, retold in the universal...

                                        News | Religion

                                        Sealed With A Kiss: The Religious History Of X And O

                                        (RNS) When I was a young girl, my mother taught me to add “x” and “o” — a kiss and a hug — after my signature. So deeply embedded was this English-language tradition that it never crossed her mind that these symbol...

                                          News | Religion

                                          Godless Parents Are Doing a Better Job

                                          Hate to break it to you, Bible thumpers: Parents who raise their kids without religion are doing just fine, studies say, possibly even better. Overall, not believing in God seems to make people and their offspring more tolerant. Less racist. Less sexist.

                                            News | Religion

                                            Why American Jews Eat Chinese Food on Christmas

                                            If there’s a single identifiable moment when Jewish Christmas—the annual American tradition where Jews overindulge on Chinese food on December 25—transitioned from kitsch into codified custom, it was during Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan’s 2010

                                              News | Religion

                                              The Maccabeats - Candlelight - Hanukkah

                                              Join the Miracle Match Campaign: http://www.makesomemiracles.com Based on Mike Tompkins' a cappella version of Taio Cruz's

                                                News | Religion

                                                The Ghosts of Gaza: Israel’s Soldier Suicides

                                                Were Israeli soldiers so haunted by what they saw and did in the last Gaza war that they took their own lives? What role did their zealous commander play?

                                                  News | Religion

                                                  The Universal Message of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

                                                  Any Jew who has just finished attending many hours of worship services during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur ought to know that the liturgy of these holidays is not just about us. Too many prefer to see these holy days only through separatist lenses....

                                                    News | Religion

                                                    How the Once-Every-Seven-Years Observance of Shmita is Changing Jewish Lives

                                                    Cultural conditions are ripe for connection to shmita, which relates to food, economic justice and personal, as well as environmental, restoration....

                                                      News | Religion

                                                      Exploring the World’s Jewish Communities

                                                      Harry D. Wall talks about finding a lesser-known side of Jewish culture, which community surprised him and more.

                                                        News | Religion

                                                        Is Israel good for the Jews?

                                                        Is Israel good for the Jews? For vast majority of Americans — and certainly for most Jews — the answer is a no-brainer. But on the intellectual left, a place where nationalism and religion are view...

                                                          News | Religion

                                                          Oy Vey! European Jews Are All 30th Cousins, Study Finds

                                                          If you're European Jewish and meet another European member of the community, odds are you're at least 30th cousins. A study by an international team suggests the central and eastern European Jewish population, known as Ashkenazi Jews, from whom

                                                            News | Religion

                                                            Jewish life before the Holocaust in thousands of never-seen photos

                                                            In 1920, a young Jewish man with a keen eye fled anti-Semitism in his native Russia, arrived in Berlin and began snapping pictures. Roman Vishniac would go on to become one of the 20th century’s great photographers.

                                                              News | Religion

                                                              Stances on Israel roil UCLA campus

                                                              Sunny Singh campaigned for UCLA student body president this spring, pledging to push for mental health resources, increase graduate school opportunities and make student government more efficient.

                                                                News | Religion

                                                                This Is Why We're the Atheist Generation

                                                                It's Easter weekend, so now seems like as good of a time as any to discuss the radically decreasing popularity of religion among America's young people. This won't ruffle any feathers, will it?

                                                                  News | Religion

                                                                  Once hounded, Sephardic Jews find Spanish embrace

                                                                  MADRID (AP) — They were burned at the stake, forced to convert or chased into exile. Now Spain is moving to right a half-millennium old

                                                                    News | Religion

                                                                    China’s Hidden Jews

                                                                    In Kaifeng, where Sephardic Jews from the Silk Road settled in the 12th century, their descendants are rediscovering lost religious practices and petitioning Israel for recognition.

                                                                      News | Religion

                                                                      Israel reaches out to save US Jewish community

                                                                      JERUSALEM (AP) — More than 100 Israeli leaders gathered with Jewish-American counterparts in Jerusalem last month with a daunting mission: to save Jewish life in North America.

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                                                                          Holocaust Survivor Gives Thanks To His Rescuer In Emotional Reunion

                                                                          Leo Gersten survived the Holocaust because of Czeslaw Polzeic and his family. Yesterday, he was able to properly express his gratitude for the first time in 69 years, as the two men reunited at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City to celebrate Hanukka

                                                                            News | Religion

                                                                            Last Jew in Afghanistan faces ruin as kebabs fail to sell

                                                                            By Jessica Donati and Mirwais Harooni KABUL (Reuters) - Zabulon Simintov always removes his kippah, the skullcap worn by Jewish men, before entering his cafe in a dilapidated building that also houses Afghanistan's last synagogue. In his 50s, Siminto

                                                                              News | Religion

                                                                              8 Brands With Religious Affiliations (Who Knew?!)

                                                                              SPECIAL FROM Grandparents.com Would you like a Bible verse with those fries?