Lifestory: Avi Dabush survived 7th October; so did his commitment to peace
MICHELE CHABIN, of Religion News Service, reports that the longtime peace activist has ramped up his activism since the terror attack that threatened his family and killed five in his village…
The Explainer: Hanukkah
GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO, of Associated Press, explains what Judaism’s “festival of lights” is all about…
Religion and politics: Argentina’s new President takes spiritual pilgrimage toward radical political change
The country’s President-elect talks of converting to Judaism as he awaits his inauguration. But political observers say the country’s economic crisis will soon make him too busy to dally with religious questions, personal or public. EDUARDO CAMPOS LIMA, reporting for Religion News Service, reports…
The Explainer: Jewish denominations – a brief guide for the perplexed
In an article first published on The Conversation, JOSHUA SHANES, a US-based scholar of modern Jewish history, explains the differences between Judaism’s major denominations…
Sight-Seeing: We praise people as ‘Good Samaritans,’ but there’s a complex history behind the phrase
TERRY GILES, professor of theology at Gannon University in the US, looks – in an article published on The Conversation – at the history of the people known as the Samaritans mentioned in Jesus’ famous New Testament parable…
Renaissance synagogues being restored in Venice’s ghetto
Venice, ItalyAP Venice’s Jewish ghetto is considered the first in Europe and one of the first in the world, and a new effort is underway to preserve its 16th-century synagogues for the Jews who have remained and tourists who pass through. For nearly two years, restorers have been peeling away paint and discovering the original […]
American Jews say making daylight saving time permanent threatens morning prayer
RNS American Jews say they were blindsided by the US Senate’s lightning-fast passage of a bill to make daylight saving time year-round and intend to fight it. The Sunshine Protection Act, which passed the Senate on 15th March, will make it nearly impossible for Jews to pray communally in the morning, Jewish advocates say, and […]
Sight-Seeing: Faith and true crime – the morals of writing about seekers and grisly deaths
True-crime writer MARK I PINSKY, in an article published on Religion News Service, says the Bible offers an “ethical lens” through which to judge modern wrongdoing, and the nature of justice…
Pope, world religious leaders, issue pre-COP26 appeal on climate change
Vatican CityReuters Pope Francis and other religious leaders made a joint appeal on Monday for next month’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) to offer concrete solutions to save the planet from “an unprecedented ecological crisis”. The “Faith and Science: Towards COP26” meeting brought together Christian leaders including Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Orthodox Ecumenical […]
Child sex abuse found across major UK religions – report
London, UKAP An inquiry investigating child sexual abuse in a wide range of religious organisations and settings in England on Thursday found “shocking failures” in how many religions handled abuse allegations, with victim-blaming and abuse of power by religious leaders often contributing to under-reporting. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse looked into child protection […]