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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Judaism

Judaism stories: 45 news summaries

1 - 20 of 45 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

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 Crocs Too Comfy 
 for Yom Kippur: Rabbi 

Sandals don't inflict sufficient suffering for holiday, religious leader rules

Sep 25, 09 5:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Lithuanian rabbi has ruled that Crocs should not be worn during Yom Kippur because the sandals are too comfortable, Ynet news reports. Rabbi Elyashiv based his judgment on a prohibition against leather sandals, saying they were banned because they fail to provide an appropriate level of suffering for the... More »

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Judaism • Crocs • orthodoxy • Lithuania • rabbi • Yom Kippur

 Houses of Worship 
 Adapt to Swine Flu 

Synagogues, churches, mosques get ready for H1N1

Sep 20, 09 5:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - Places of worship across the country are adjusting holy rituals to head off swine flu, CBS News reports. On the Jewish New Year, one Massachusetts synagogue is skipping handshakes and promoting the use of hand sanitizer—and, in a substantial break from tradition, allowing worshipers to not kiss the Torah.... More »

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Islam • Jews • Muslims • Judaism • Catholicism • mosque • synagogue • Catholics • swine flu • H1N1 virus

OPINION

  Hey, Jews Should Be 
 Conservatives, 
 Not Liberals: 
 Podhoretz 

Following 'false messiah' Obama is bad politics, bad religion: Podhoretz

Sep 10, 09 8:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - Jewish voters backed Barack Obama over John McCain last year by a staggering 57 points—the most resounding mandate from any group other than African Americans. That bewilders neocon Norman Podhoretz, who argues in the Wall Street Journal that both Judaism and the Jewish experience endorse "the infinitely precious... More »

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Barack Obama • Jews • Norman Podhoretz • Judaism • liberal • the Jewish vote • conservatism

interview

'Hasidic Reggae Guy' Matisyahu Stretches Sound

Hasidic reggae singer expands his sound on new CD

Aug 25, 09 6:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Matisyahu Miller is tired of just being the “Hasidic reggae guy,” the singer tells AP. His newest CD, Light, shows a wider range of influences, including guitar rock, electronic pop, and folk. As a Hasidic Jew who sang reggae—complete with Jamaican accent—Matisyahu was a curiosity act... More »

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entertainment • music • Judaism • reggae • Orthodox Jews • Jay-ZTV • genre • Matisyahu • Matisyahu Miller

Jews Tweet Prayers
to Wailing Wall


Jul 24, 09 3:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - Jews seeking to send a message to God can now do so via Twitter, the Daily Telegraph reports. The "Tweet Your Prayers" service prints out tweeted prayers and deposits them between the stones in Jerusalem's 2,000-year-old Western Wall. Its founders accept no responsibility for unanswered prayers. "Take... More »

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Jews • Judaism • prayer • Twitter • Western Wall

 This Week, 
 Britney May 
 Be Jewish 

Singer flip-flops between Christianity, Kabbalah, Hinduism...

Jul 8, 09 1:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - Britney Spears was raised a Baptist, but her latest accessory—a Star of David necklace—led the New York Daily News to take a look back at the religions she’s tried out:
  • In 2003, it looked as though she would be one of Madonna’s Kabbalah converts, and
... More »

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entertainment • Britney Spears • parenting • Christianity • religion • Judaism • celebrity • Madonna • Kabbalah • Baptist • Sean Preston Federline

 Turkish Game Show 
 Tries to Convert Atheists 

Imams, priests, rabbis, and monks given chance to convert unbelievers live on TV

Jul 3, 09 1:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - This was probably only a matter of time: A Turkish game show starting this fall will bring on 10 atheists per show and give holy men from four faiths the chance to convert them, the Guardian reports. A Muslim imam, a Greek Orthodox priest, a rabbi, and a Buddhist monk... More »

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Islam • Turkey • Christianity • religion • Judaism • game show • Buddhism • atheism

 US Gets Its 
 First Black 
 Female Rabbi 



'I will not be boxed in,' says newly ordained Stanton

Jun 16, 09 6:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - Last week Alysa Stanton was ordained as a rabbi at the Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati, one of the country's oldest synagogues, and a little history was made—the US had its first black female leader of a Jewish congregation. Stanton, born a Pentecostal Christian, converted in 1987, enduring hostility... More »

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Jews • religion • Judaism • Cincinnati • African-Americans • rabbi • blacks

 Pope Visits Holy 
 Sites of Judaism, Islam 

Benedict meets with leading Muslim cleric after visit to Dome of the Rock

May 12, 09 5:52 AM CDT
(AP) - Pope Benedict XVI began the second day of his Holy Land tour at one of the most contentious sites in the Arab-Israeli conflict: the Dome of the Rock, where Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, and the adjacent Western Wall. The pontiff urged both sides to engage in... More »

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Islam • Pope Benedict XVI • Catholic Church • Jerusalem • Judaism • Dome of the Rock • Arab Israeli conflict • Western Wall

(Newser) - The kosher alcohol scene has long been dominated by sweet Manishevitz, but that old standby is getting a run for its money as premium wines, and even hard liquor, are crossing the kosher barrier. Making kosher product has many restrictions, but entrepreneurs seem to think Jewish tipplers are in the... More »

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wine • Judaism • kosher • vodka • tequila • Passover • seder

 Pope Must 
 Hide Cross at 
 Jerusalem 
 Site: Rabbi 

'I wouldn't go into a church wearing Jewish symbols,' Rabinovitch says

Mar 19, 09 1:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI plans to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem next month as a show of mutual understanding and sensitivity between Catholicism and Judaism—but a request from a prominent rabbi almost ensures he’ll offend someone, Time reports. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch said the pontiff should remove the cross... More »

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Pope Benedict XVI • Christianity • Jerusalem • Judaism • Western Wall • rabbi

 8 Offbeat Library Collections 

Hidden treasures abound in local libraries across the country

Mar 7, 09 3:20 AM CST
(Newser) - Your local library may be home to an odd or wonderful specialized stash of artifacts. The Smithsonian compiles a list of the nation’s most unusual library collections:
  • The Cleveland Public Library sports perhaps the world’s largest collection of chess- and checkers-related material, with more than 30,000
... More »

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Cleveland • Judaism • chess • romance • Smithsonian • University of Utah • library • University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

 LiLo Takes Up Judaism for Sam 

Catholic actress wants to convert

Mar 3, 09 9:05 AM CST
(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’... More »

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Scientology • religion • Lindsay Lohan • Judaism • celebrity • Kabbalah • conversion • Samantha Ronson • Michael Lohan

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff’s alleged mega-fraud and the large number of Jewish investors he apparently snookered is stoking anti-Semitic feeling in tony Palm Beach, ABC News reports. “It is a terrible thing to say, but some of the WASPs are delighted, they take great pleasure in this,” said an... More »

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philanthropy • fraud • Judaism • investment • Ponzi scheme • Palm Beach • anti-Semitism • scandal • Bernard Madoff • charitable giving

Pope to Reinstate Bishop Who Denies Holocaust

Hardliner rejected Vatican reforms for being too tolerant of other faiths

Jan 23, 09 4:08 AM CST
(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI is planning to welcome four rebel bishops excommunicated by his predecessor back to the Catholic Church, reports the Times of London. The ultra-conservative bishops reject the liberal reforms of the Second Vatican Council. One of them, Richard Williamson, openly endorses the anti-semitic tract Protocols of the Elders ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Pope Benedict XVI • Catholic Church • Holocaust • Judaism • excommunication • Catholic • bishop • anti-Semitism • Society of St. Pius X

Oy, Caramba!
Cubans Turn
to Judaism

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

Jan 14, 09 8:25 AM CST
(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... More »

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Israel • Jews • Cuba • Judaism • emigration • conversion • Jewish

OPINION

The Upside of the Madoff Mishegoss

Thank Bernie for reminding us that Jews shouldn't be WASPs

Jan 13, 09 11:42 AM CST
(Newser) - Bernie Madoff, the professionally dishonest, gelt-grubbing financier, seems to conform to some of the worst stereotypes about Jews and money, writes Joseph Epstein in Newsweek. While Madoff appears to have made a particular specialty of swindling fellow Jews, he is actually less anti-Semite than "truly equal-opportunity son of a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
golf • Jews • Judaism • Ponzi scheme • Bernard Madoff

 No Time For Faith? 
 Try a Podcast 

Practitioners of all stripes distill religious teaching for on-the-go Americans

Jan 7, 09 2:45 PM CST
(Newser) - Overscheduled Americans are fueling a boom in devotional books and media that mete out bite-sized doses of faith, the Los Angeles Times reports. An editor at a Christian book house calls its One Minute Bible “a ready-made, quick little devotion they can do every day.” But it’s... More »

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radio • Christianity • religion • Judaism • publishing • podcast • Bible • Buddhism • devotional

Murdered Brooklyn Rabbi, Wife to Be Buried in Israel

'Crying' son marked
2nd birthday yesterday

Nov 30, 08 11:50 AM CST
(Newser) - The Brooklyn-raised rabbi and his wife who were murdered in the Mumbai attacks will be buried in the Holy Land, the Daily News reports. Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, had wrapped the bodies of slain hostages in prayer shawls before being shot himself. The couple’s orphaned son marked his second birthday... More »

MORE ABOUT:
India • Chabad Lubavitch • Judaism • Mumbai • terrorist attack • hostage • rabbi

OPINION

 The 11th Commandment: 
 'Thou Shalt Not Forge' 

Unscrupulous scholars fake history to make a buck

Nov 29, 08 6:06 PM CST
(Newser) - Fraudulent biblical artifacts come a dime a dozen, but reputable archaeologists are turning out to be far less common, Nina Burleigh writes in the Los Angeles Times. The latest example involves an Israeli collector who claimed to have relics from the time of Christ. Declaring the items forgeries, authorities prosecuted... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Israel • archaeology • fraud • Christianity • Judaism • Bible • prosecutors • faithful • Holy Land

1 - 20 of 45 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>


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