Religion Dispatches
A full third of Jewish Americans think that followers of Jesus Christ can also be Jews, though theologically speaking, Jesus isn’t messiah material for religious Jews. So what gives?
Read MoreThe holy work-around.
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Why on earth is an orthodox Jew pushing a turbaned Muslim man in a wheelchair on the cover of Charlie Hebdo, the French baby-boomers’ favorite satirical magazine? Don’t bother looking for any deep symbolism—you won’t find it.
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This year, LGBT advocates in New York had ample cause to be hopeful, but the opposition—led by National Organization for Marriage, the Catholic Bishops, and Orthodox Jews—remain confident of victory.
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The Orthodox Jewish community in the U.S. has treated allegations of sexual abuse with the same secrecy and refusal to include secular authorities as the Catholic Church. Now, however, more Orthodox abuse victims are coming forward than ever before.
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Because women aren’t permitted to be rabbis in the Orthodox Jewish tradition, Sara Hurwitz was given the made-up title Mahara”t upon her ordination. A little while later, after she was quietly given the title rabba, the Orthodox Jewish world responded with condemnations.
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Depends whom you ask, these days. Either way, the senator’s obstructionist posture regarding health care reform has exposed him to a round of criticism in the press, including the theory, rapidly gaining traction, that he’s not all that smart.
Read MoreThe Orthodox Jews of Lakewood, New Jersey, are worried about supporting the rights of gays and lesbians to marry because it might reflect badly on the community. Rabbi Justus N. Baird offers a corrective.
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In both Israel and India, religious rituals governing purity and health are clashing with efforts to stop the “swine flu” virus from spreading and killing more citizens.
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Set against the backdrop of the recent closure of a Knesset cafeteria due to an unkosher cockroach, Shalom Goldman takes an entertaining and meandering look at the state of affairs in Israel. Touching on topics as disparate as the alliteration-happy Israeli media and racist policy proposals, Goldman brings into sharp relief some of the tensions in Israeli religious and cultural life, much of which remains at the mercy of the Orthodox rabbinate.
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