Israeli Divorce Spurs Debate Over Who Is Jewish

But for some, religious awakening looks a lot like exit strategy

(NEWSER) - Cuba's Jewish community is growing for the first time in decades, the Wall Street Journal reports. The country's Jewish population dwindled to 1,000 by the late 1980s but has now hit 1,500. Hundreds of other Cuban Jews have recently emigrated, landing in Israel, Canada, and the US. Many are rediscovering long-hidden Jewish roots, but the lure for some converts is a ticket off the island. More»

Catholic actress wants to convert

(NEWSER) - Lindsay Lohan apparently thinks her relationship with Samantha Ronson is strong enough to warrant a change in religion, the New York Post reports. The pair recently attended Ronson’s half-brother’s bar mitzvah, and Lohan, raised Catholic, now wants to convert to Judaism. LiLo’s dad? Not convinced: “She’s explored the Church of Scientology, she tried Kabbalah, and now this. I think it’s just another phase.” More»

Drew Barrymore, converting to Judaism, is the latest

(NEWSER) - Drew Barrymore is getting married , but first she's—reportedly—converting to Judaism, the religion fiance Will Kopelman practices. She follows the tradition of these seven other celebrity spouses (or not-quite-spouses) who did the same thing, notes The Frisky :

• Isla Fisher: Converted to Judaism for Sacha Baron Cohen.
• Jesus Luz: Started following Kabbalah for Madonna.

Five of the important scrolls now available on the Internet

(NEWSER) - To see the Dead Sea Scrolls, you'll need a plane ticket to Jerusalem, multiple keys to a vault, a magnetic card, and a secret code. Or you can just click here . Five of the more significant scrolls have been put on online through a partnership between Israel's national museum and Google, reports ABC News . You can even zoom in and read English translations of specific verses. The scrolls, written more than 2,000 years ago, "help us understand where monotheistic traditions in the West came from," explains an NYU professor. More»

Linked to Israeli engineers before the Islamic revolution

(NEWSER) - While right-wing Westerners are seeing Muslim crescents everywhere, Iranian authorities have just spotted ... the Star of David at the Tehran airport. It may be in the eye of the beholder, but Iranian officials are convinced a pattern on top of an airport building visible on Google Earth was deliberately placed there by Israeli engineers who designed the complex before the Islamic revolution. They've ordered it removed. Another six-pointed star was discovered recently on the roof of a building in Tehran's Revolution Square, reports the Jerusalem Post . More»