Oy, Caramba! Cubans Turn to Judaism

(NEWSER) - A divorce ruling in Israel has thrown thousands of Jewish conversions into question and sparked a debate over who is really Jewish, the Washington Post reports. Ultra-Orthodox rabbis, who frame one side of the dispute, refused to let a Jewish convert divorce last year, saying she was never married because she did not observe Jewish law. "I was in shock," she said. "I couldn't believe it." More»

No home country and an Americanized palate spell doom for brisket

(NEWSER) - The Jewish deli is dying, author David Sax tells New America Media , and there’s not much anyone, Jew or gentile, can do about it. In New York, for instance, there are about two dozen kosher and non-kosher establishments today, down from 1,500 in the 1930s. One of the problems is the rootlessness of the culture. “A Mexican restaurant always has a Mexico to go back to, for its source,” Sax says. With Jewish food, “there is no physical place that you can return to.” More»

Portrays those assimilated outside Israel as missing

(NEWSER) - An Israeli outreach group has dumped an ad campaign that sparked controversy by portraying assimilated Diaspora Jews as “lost,” the Jerusalem Post reports. Prominent American Jewish voices slammed the campaign, which many took as a slight to intermarried Jews. An intermarried Israeli critic called it “racist,” pointing out that his children would be deemed “lost” even after serving in Israel’s army. More»

Jews set upon Arab for driving his car, igniting violence

(NEWSER) - The Israeli city of Acre descended into rioting today after a group of Jewish youths attacked an Arab man who was driving on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. The young men allegedly shouted anti-Muslim epithets at the driver before several younger Arabs came to his defense. As news spread of the altercation, Jewish and Arab gangs took to the streets and destroyed dozens of cars and shops, Haaretz reports. More»

Jewish new year coincides with Muslim month of Ramadan in city special to both

(NEWSER) - This year’s intersection of Jewish new-year holidays and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan—a rarity due to Islam’s changing calendar—is felt particularly keenly in Jerusalem, a sacred city for both religions, Ethan Bronner notes in the New York Times. Night has become “a kind of monotheistic traffic jam,” with devout Jews praying at the Western Wall while Muslims break their fast. More»