Orthodox Jews
How threats of hellfire helped keep ‘immodest’ women in their place – from the ancient world to ‘My Unorthodox Life’
By Meghan Henning — September 13, 2021
(The Conversation) — Ancient Christian and Jewish texts threatened women with hellfire if they stepped out of line – and those terrifying visions still resonate in U.S. society today.
‘Unvaccinated people die!’ declare Orthodox rabbis in new video ad
By Yonat Shimron — September 3, 2021
(RNS) — Jewish Americans overall are the most likely US religious group to have received a vaccine. But vaccine hesitancy is far higher among some Orthodox Jews.
How Orthodox Jews became a streaming-TV hit
By Yonat Shimron — August 20, 2021
(RNS) — Streaming services have begun to take a chance on programs about Haredi Jews, but scholars say those narratives are nothing new.
Netflix’s ‘My Unorthodox Life’ is an exposé that fails to explain some basic facts
By Avi Shafran — July 14, 2021
(RNS) — Fashion triumphs over fundamentalism. What could be more inspiring?
Jewish community prays for miracles after condo collapse
By Kelli Kennedy, Terry Spencer, and Luis Andres Henao — June 26, 2021
SURFSIDE, Fla. (AP) — Numerous members of an Orthodox synagogue are among those missing after the collapse of a seaside condominium tower in Surfside, Florida. The town is home to a large Jewish community, where the families often crowd the sidewalks before sunset as they walk to services for the Sabbath. Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar, […]
How Israel’s missing constitution deepens divisions between Jews and with Arabs
By Brendan Szendro — June 17, 2021
(The Conversation) — Governed by a changeable body of 'basic laws,' Israel never settled basic questions like the rights of religious minorities. These destabilizing issues will continue to fester under a new government.
Marriage trends, political views undermining the notion of a unified American Jewish identity
By Jonathan D. Sarna — May 25, 2021
(The Conversation) — The American Jewish community is changing as it becomes increasingly diverse and politically polarized.
RNS News Quiz: A transgender bishop and a landmark survey of American Jews
By Emily Churchill — May 15, 2021
(RNS) — Test your knowledge of the week's current events in the world of religion.
Five takeaways from Pew’s massive study of American Jews
By Brad Hirschfield — May 11, 2021
(RNS) — What does the study tell us: What do they tell us that we didn't know before? What's worth acting on? More than what it says about who we are, what do we want to be?
Study: Young Jews are moving to polar ends — secularism and Orthodoxy
By Yonat Shimron — May 11, 2021
(RNS) — By contrast, the number of Jews identifying as Reform and Conservative — the two largest branches of Jewish denominational life — has remained flat.
Stampede in Israel claims dozens of lives, injures hundreds of Jewish pilgrims
By Michele Chabin — April 30, 2021
JERUSALEM (RNS) — The tragedy occurred at Mount Meron, where more than 100,000 Orthodox men, women and children gathered to celebrate Lag b’Omer, a holiday that recalls the end of an ancient plague.
Israel’s high court broadens acceptance of non-Orthodox Jews, setting up political battle
By Michele Chabin — March 2, 2021
(RNS) — The US Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly said in a statement that the ruling 'was a very long time coming. Not swift justice, but sweet and righteous just the same.'
In voting, Orthodox Jews are looking more like evangelicals
By Yonat Shimron — February 19, 2021
(RNS) — American Jews are liberal and vote Democratic; but among them, Orthodox Jews are increasingly voting Republican and spouting familiar conspiracy theories.
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox reject criticism, defy virus rules
By Ilan Ben Zion — February 10, 2021
JERUSALEM (AP) — On Tuesday night, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox demonstrators protested lockdown restrictions, set dumpsters on fire, and faced off with police officers in Jerusalem.
Orthodox Jews may not like Trump, but they’re voting for him
By Ilana M. Horwitz and Laurence Kotler-Berkowitz — November 2, 2020
(RNS) — Many voters are showing that the character of the person at the top of the ticket can matter less than the familiar issues that are driving our political divide.
