36+ min ago   (440+ words) (RNS) " On Wednesday, Jan. 28, Ran Gvili was finally laid to rest. The 24-year-old police special forces officer, who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, was the final Israeli hostage returned from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip. His burial closed a chapter…...

2+ hour, 1+ min ago   (542+ words) (RNS) " Opposition to President Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign has brought thousands of people into the streets of U.S. cities. Among them are the growing ranks of clergy who have wanted to do more than preach from the pulpit about the…...

6+ day, 2+ hour ago   (799+ words) (RNS) " A new four-part PBS documentary series traces the history between Black and Jewish Americans, examining their connection through shared experiences of persecution and tests to the relationship involving politics and societal dynamics." "It was such a rich discussion, and…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago   (784+ words) Highlights from a Capitol Hill briefing on Jewish-Muslim solidarity as a defense against authoritarianism, featuring prominent Muslim and Jewish leaders and lawmakers. With discussion and inspiration from host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush and interfaith organizer Maggie Siddiqi. The post Jewish-Muslim…...

2+ week, 4+ min ago   (519+ words) These influences left a deep imprint on Elfassi, 37. "In my family there were (many) different languages " Moroccan Arabic, French, Hebrew at the synagogue, and my dad also speaks Amazigh, Berber," said Elfassi. Music, too, was a constant presence " from Andalusian…...

1+ mon, 4+ week ago   (689+ words) Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi and as a cantor, happened to be in Jerusalem that day, attending a different conference. Buchdahl heard that Dy was having a hard time and reached out…...

1+ mon, 4+ week ago   (774+ words) Last week, archaeologists finished excavating the most complete part ever discovered of the foundations of the walls, which surrounded Jerusalem during the time of the Hasmonean Kingdom, when the story of Hanukkah took place. In Hebrew, Hanukkah means "dedication," and…...

2+ mon, 6+ day ago   (681+ words) (RNS) " People who leave tight-knit religious communities often feel anger, resentment or hurt toward religious leaders, family members or co-religionists in the group. But what if they decided to forgive " themselves, their families, their co-religionists or God? Would it help…...

2+ mon, 6+ day ago   (1020+ words) And outside Jewish spaces, exposure to antisemitism and remarks that conflated their Jewishness with support for Israeli government policies also felt alienating." "Most people are not exposed to what it means to be Jewish and experience anti-Blackness and antisemitism," said…...

2+ mon, 1+ week ago   (884+ words) (RNS) " After her synagogue was attacked, Mandy Bentley had nightmares about going back into the building, especially with her three children. "I was really unsure what I was going to do," said Bentley, 38, a mother of two boys and a…...