Michele Chabin
Michele Chabin is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Michele Chabin
‘Beautiful’ Ramadan returns for Israeli Muslims as restrictions lift
By Michele Chabin — April 28, 2021
(RNS) — Last year, Israel was under a strict lockdown to thwart the spread of COVID-19. Worshippers were forbidden to pray at mosques, synagogues and churches, even during Ramadan, Passover and Easter.
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.'
‘Royal’ purple fabric found in Israel dates to days of David and Solomon
By Michele Chabin — February 3, 2021
JERUSALEM (RNS) — Researchers in Israel have identified pieces of fabric dyed ‘true purple’ dating to the 10th century BCE, when David and Solomon ruled in Jerusalem, according to the Hebrew Bible.
German teens go to Israel to atone for their families’ Holocaust history
By Michele Chabin — January 22, 2021
(RNS) — March of Life, a German movement that actively atones for the Holocaust through volunteerism, fights anti-Semitism through activism.
Israel hopes to vaccinate Holocaust survivors to save and repay ‘treasured’ population
By Michele Chabin — January 14, 2021
(RNS) — An Israeli government initiative to help vaccinate Holocaust survivors around the world against COVID-19 is drawing praise for its intentions, but also skepticism.
Israel’s recognition of Utah marriages gives hope to ineligible couples
By Michele Chabin — January 4, 2021
(RNS) — Mixed-faith, LGBTQ and nonreligious couples have had to travel abroad and obtain a civil marriage certificate.
Christians in Holy Land face bleak Christmas season due to COVID-19
By Michele Chabin — December 18, 2020
(RNS) — A usually festive and economically important time for the Holy Land’s tiny Christian minority has been changed with an absence of pilgrims.
Second coronavirus lockdown in Israel frustrates many religious Jews’ plans for High Holidays
By Michele Chabin — September 16, 2020
JERUSALEM (RNS) — The three-week shutdown is timed not only to take advantage of the slow pace of the High Holiday period, but is also an acknowledgment that crowded religious institutions were a coronavirus breeding ground this past winter.
Orthodox Jewish students embrace gap year in Israel, despite COVID-19
By Michele Chabin — August 25, 2020
JERUSALEM (RNS) — COVID-19 can’t keep 17,000 international students from taking a gap year in Israel.
Holy Land churches, mosques, synagogues close for coronavirus
By Michele Chabin — March 26, 2020
(RNS) — Public religion in the Holy Land has ground to a halt due to the coronavirus.
In Jerusalem, thousands of Israeli women mark the end of 7 years of daily Talmud study
By Michele Chabin — January 10, 2020
JERUSALEM (RNS) — This past week, a group of women gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the completion of a Daf Yomi cycle — more than seven years of daily Talmud study.
Women’s group brings Torahs to Western Wall, faces backlash from conservatives
By Michele Chabin — October 30, 2019
JERUSALEM (RNS) — Several hundred schoolchildren, seminary students and adults gathered at the Western Wall to protest Women of the Wall members who brought Torah scrolls to pray with in the women's section.
Demi Lovato’s controversial trip to Israel included exploring Jewish roots
By Michele Chabin — October 18, 2019
While in the Holy Land, Lovato and her mother met with an expert on Sephardic Jews, who are descended from Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal 500 years ago.
Archaeologists uncover mosaic floor from 5th century church near Sea of Galilee
By Michele Chabin — September 16, 2019
JERUSALEM (RNS) — A fire that destroyed an ancient Holy Land church near the Sea of Galilee around 700 CE appears to have preserved the church’s beautiful mosaic floor, which includes depictions of baskets, loaves and fish as well as inscriptions.
Exhibition in Jerusalem challenges perceptions of modestly dressed women
By Michele Chabin — September 6, 2019
JERUSALEM (RNS) — Featuring women from different cultures, the multimedia investigation of modest dress shows that the common denominator is a thirst for spiritual meaning.
