Judaism News Archives

A man who took the identity of a dead Navy veteran after converting to Judaism has pleaded guilty to using a false name to apply for a U.S. passport and will be sentenced to a year and a day in jail. via The Topeka Capital-Journal

A federal judge has ruled that Missouri prison officials violated the constitutional rights of an inmate once labeled a white supremacist when they refused to serve him kosher meals.Norman Lee Toler, serving a ... via Kansas City Star

“However, we discovered that there are problems with the smaller stones, those at the top of the wall.”

For thousands of years it has withstood fires, floods and earthquakes. But now a portion of one of Judaism's holiest sites, Jerusalem's Western Wall, is crumbling. via Telegraph.co.uk

“Every church that lifts up the commemoration and celebration of our Lord's resurrection is going to have a devoutness to it”

Amid Old World ambience and an elaborate liturgy dating back to the early days of Christianity, members of the Eastern Orthodox Church will celebrate Pascha - the Easter of the New Passover - on Sunday. via Press-Telegram

Israel has granted its first adoption to a same-sex couple : "The landmark case involves a Cambodia-born boy, now eight years old, who was adopted in 2000 in the United States by two men who hold American and ... via Towleroad

“There's certain things you look for right off the bat when there's a hate crime, and some of those things are missing”

The FBI will launch an investigation into whether a fire that destroyed a Miami Beach synagogue Tuesday was an act of arson. via WJXT

“Destroying our Torah, which is such a sacred thing, and to do it on Passover, that just really makes it devastating for us”

A torn blue-and-white prayer shawl and a burned Torah lying a few feet behind him, Rabbi Zev Katz vowed to rebuild his Miami Beach synagogue after a fire gutted it Tuesday. via Fire Engineering

“I think that your attempt at writing a book that's supposedly revealing of the true nature of Israel is interesting -- because you've failed”

Gregory Levey, who once was a speechwriter for former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, poses for a photograph on Friday, April 18, 2008 in Toronto. via National Post

“For us, being here tonight is a moving and very exciting event, and we hope we will have many more events in this place”

A glass was smashed, and a cheer went up.

After months of careful negotiations with the Chinese government, Shanghai's Jewish community celebrated a revival last month as a historic synagogue opened for its first wedding in about 60 years.

For decades, the practice of religion was discouraged, and places of worship were torn down or given secular uses, such as storage spaces for grain. But China's largest city is regaining its cosmopolitan reputation as the country continues its dramatic rise, and the Jewish community of foreigners now numbers more than 2,000. Read more

“One day, we will liberate the Golan Heights. It is our land, it will return to us, by war or by peace.”

Syrian Jews celebrate Passover at the al-Firenj Synagogue in downtown Damascus Sunday April 20, 2008. via Buffalo News

April 20, 2008 at 1:15 am Filed under Jews & Judaism , Mideast Peace , Politics & Society The Ma Nishtanah page from the Sarajevo Haggadah To all my Jewish readers I wish a zis'n Peysach . via Make the World a Better Place

“The structure of Seder, what happens during it, has been around for hundreds and hundreds of years. But how that gets expressed - the language that's used, the embellishment and the nuances - is always something that's changing”

When Rabbi Lori Schneide sets the table tonight for her Passover Seder, she'll pour four cups of wine, a ritual that Jews have performed for centuries. via Press-Telegram

“I'll be thinking about it the rest of the day: something I did in fulfilling one of the things I should do as a first-born male.”

Before every Passover, Adam S. Foleck observes another Jewish rite: the "fast of the first-born" that recognizes that Jews like him were spared when God slayed Egypt's first sons three millennia ago. via WAVY-TV Portsmouth

“May God spread his canopy of peace over all of us”

Making a plea for human rights, Pope Benedict XVI warned diplomats at the United Nations on Friday that international cooperation needed to solve urgent problems is "in crisis" because decisions rest in the ... via Athens Banner-Herald

“It's almost like you can trace the history of pop culture through yarmulkes -- whatever is popular in society ends up on a yarmulke print”

Ethan Eisenberg, 9, of Endwell, loves the Yankees. He has Yankees T-shirts, a jacket and numerous other paraphernalia representing his fervor. via Press & Sun-Bulletin

“We tried to explain the importance to the Jewish community”

A glass was smashed, and a cheer went up. After months of careful negotiations with the Chinese government, Shanghai's Jewish community celebrated a revival last month as a historic synagogue opened for its ... via Arizona Daily Star

Religious devotees around the world enjoy expressing their faith with customized religious cell phones, which may play religious ringtones, carry scripture or provide guidance, content filtering and other ... via ComputerWorld RFID News

“People were looking for a contemporary Judaism ... to experience Jewish practice, Jewish culture and our great tradition of Torah and rabbinic text”

WARSAW, Poland : Reform Jewish leaders in Poland said Thursday they were launching a nationwide union of Reform Judaism. via International Herald Tribune

“Our movement fights on because we cannot allow the foundational crime at the core of the Jewish state... to slip out of world consciousness”

Senior Hamas lawmaker Mahmoud al-Zahar published op-ed in Washington Post, says Gazans live in open-air prison, Judaism 'corrupted itself' Ynet Published: 04.17.08, 12:23 / Israel News Hamas senior official ... via Ynetnews

“I thought it made it too juicy and it didn't hold together.”

Passover involves asking questions, especially the Seder ones that start with "Why is this night different from all other nights?" So let's start with a question: How do you decide what's a kugel when a kugel ... via Monterey County Herald

The rabbi who oversees Jerusalem's Western Wall says some of its stones need to be restored, but the main Muslim authority there objects. via JewishTucson

“God promised that every prayer uttered here would be heard in heaven, from Jews and gentiles alike”

Poking into crevices between the ancient stones of the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, a senior rabbi and his helpers on Tuesday removed thousands of handwritten notes placed there by visitors who ... via JewishTucson

“Sensitivities must be handled carefully”

Lebanon is a liberal Middle East country with unfettered Internet access, but state censorship is also rife on any topics that touch upon Israel or sensitive issues such as religion. via XtraMSN Real Estate

“People loved him. People can be respected, but people loved Jake Rubenstein”

A rabbi who died with his wife in a house fire was remembered as a leading voice for modern Orthodox Judaism.

Rabbi Jacob Rubenstein, 58, and his wife, Deborah Rubenstein, were buried Sunday following services at the Young Israel of Scarsdale synagogue, which he founded in their home nearly three decades ago.

From 1997 to 1999, Rubenstein was president of the Rabbinical Council of America, the nation's largest group of Orthodox rabbis. He also was a president of the Westchester Board of Rabbis. Read more

The home at 43 Baraud Road seemed an odd place to begin an Orthodox Jewish synagogue. via The Journal News

“We're demystifying Judaism and dispelling widespread misinformation about the Jewish people in the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond.”

The American Jewish Committee launched Asl Al-Yahud, a new Arabic Language website about Jews and Judaism. via Jewish Federation of Delaware

Two rabbis have joined the search for missing Israeli tourist Liat Okin. The 35-year-old has been missing for nearly three weeks, after she failed to return from the Routeburn track, near Queenstown. via Newstalk ZB

“The pope was aware that there were sentiments to explicitly limit this to the End of Days, and the statement does not express this sentiment”

Pope Benedict XIV greets Rabbi Arthur Schneier, right, at the Vatican in March 2006. via The Jewish Journal

“I must tell you from the bottom of my heart that I believe that he has been maligned by the press and unduly criticized by some in the Jewish community that cannot accept his unconditional love and support for Israel.”

Now that they've called each other disrespectful, Rabbi Eric Yoffie and the Rev. via Jerusalem Post

“Attempting to grab too much too soon means that one will eventually grab nothing.”

As the luggage spilled onto the moving carousel, I looked intently to find the one suitcase that was still missing from our treasured baggage that we had checked in at Los Angeles. via Jerusalem Post

“At each convention, Faith TV is deluged with programming offers from abroad”

And among married couples, nearly 37% have a spouse with a different religious affiliation. via BroadcastNewsroom

“It's special. A lot of people have plain white and plain black.”

Stylish options include pinstripes and seersucker Lisa A. Flam * Associated Press * April 5, 2008 * From Lansing State Journal Looking for a black satin yarmulke like the one your grandfather used to wear? ... via Lansing State Journal

“Judaism is internal to Catholicism. It's different from any other kind of relationship with another religion.”

Arthur Schneier, senior rabbi of Park East Synagogue, which the pope is to visit. via The Dispatch

A Jewish leader says American rabbis should exercise moral leadership this election year by highlighting issues such as the Iraq War, the need for universal health care and the growing problem of anti-Semitism ... via KTHV-TV

“People realize there were others besides them - and that they were important”

For Aida Oceransky, life as a Jew in Spain today isn't the silent burden it used to be. When she emigrated to Asturias from her native Mexico in 1968, Oceransky didn't dare talk about her family's Ukrainian Jewish past. All the Jews she knew in the 1970s and '80s went to Mass. Even a decade ago, 'you couldn't find anything on Judaism in Spain - a magazine, a book, nothing,' she said.

Now, more than five centuries after Spain violently expelled its Jews, the country is experiencing a revival of interest in its Jewish, or Sephardic, heritage - and neither Oceransky nor the 40,000 other Jews living here feel as though they have to whisper about their identity. Read more

“Anna embraced all religions, and followed the Jewish tradition out of respect for (companion) Howard K. Stern by covering all the mirrors in the house because she was in mourning”

Washington, April 3: Anna Nicole Smith embraced Judaism in the months before her death, because the religion's rules comforted her as she mourned the loss of her son Daniel. via Daily India

“In expressing contempt for other religions and rejecting territorial compromise under any and all circumstances, their views run against the American grain.”

The leader of the largest branch of American Judaism said Wednesday that synagogues in the movement shouldn't work with the Rev. via Florida Times-Union

“When I marched in Selma, my feet were praying.”

Though it seems a long time ago, the controversy over Rev. Jeremiah Wright's "hateful" comments - as Jonathan Tobin in a Jewish Exponent editorial labeled them - started while Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton ... via PolState.com