US Gets Its First Black Female Rabbi

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.

Remains were discovered last year in mass grave in the forest

(NEWSER) - The remains of some 60 Jews killed in 1941 by Romanian troops and discovered last year were buried yesterday in a Jewish cemetery in the country’s east. The bodies, including those of women and children, were found in November in a Romanian forest. The mass grave was added evidence of the country’s involvement in the Holocaust, a matter kept quiet for decades. Seven rabbis from the US, Britain, and Romania participated in the ceremony, the AP reports. More»

American should be ashamed of anti-Muslim extremism

(NEWSER) - America has learned better than to make sweeping statements about Jewish people, Japanese Americans, and African Americans, so why, asks Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times , in the 21ist century is it OK to equate Muslims with terrorism? It's not, he says. Those who follow Islam are not a violent "undifferentiated mass," and he is "sickened" to hear "gentle souls lumped in with Qaeda terrorists." More»

It hurts, but it's a necessary comfort in an uncertain world

(NEWSER) - Taffy Brodesser-Akner believes that circumcision is “brutal” mutilation. So why did she subject her sons, and herself, to the traditional Jewish bris—even as she suffered “self-loathing” for what she was putting them through? She traces her Jewish upbringing, denouncement of religion, and eventual return to the faith in a thoughtful Salon column , ultimately realizing that even though she leaves room “for the idea that religion is a made-up superstition whose goal is to function in exactly the way I'm using it,” she still needs to cling to it as a parent. More»

Court rarely reflects country's faith mix well

(NEWSER) - If Elena Kagan is confirmed, the Supreme Court will have six Catholics, three Jews, and, for the first time in history, not a single Protestant. That might not seem as important as it used to, but Ed Kilgore of FiveThirtyEight decided to take a quick look at the court's historic religious makeup. At present, Catholics, who make up only about a quarter of the population, are certainly overrepresented. More»