Judaism
(ANALYSIS) By reevaluating the Samson narrative, readers can move beyond the one-dimensional portrayal of him as an overly masculine brute. His story is not just one of strength but also of longing and deep emotional vulnerability. His riddle may not be a challenge meant to humiliate his enemies, but an expression of personal connection.
The University of California agreed to pay $6.13 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the school of antisemitism in its handling of campus protests that excluded Jews from sections of the campus. Hours later, the DOJ said UCLA violated the civil rights of Jewish students, neglecting “obligations under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
(REVIEW) “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” continues the Marvel trend of having a strained relationship with God that reflects trends within our culture. And while this new version of the Fantastic Four is more optimistic in many ways, its view of God is increasingly terrifying. Marvel has long had a complicated relationship with God. While they mostly ignore Him, the movies have, over time, featured and discussed the Almighty more and more.
(ANALYSIS) For some Jewish college students, the Trump administration’s approach to campus antisemitism came as a relief after two years of what they perceived as weak action by universities and the federal government. Fewer are cheering after the White House signed a $221 million settlement with Columbia University.
(ANALYSIS) In reinventing himself, did Robert Allen Zimmerman — Dylan’s birth name and the grandson of Lithuanian and Ukrainian Jewish immigrants — also betray his Jewish heritage? What was that heritage and how did it shape his music, his worldview, his rise to fame and identity? Harry Freedman explores these questions in his probing book, “Bob Dylan: Jewish Roots, American Soil.”
In the second installment of “And So It Goes,” HBO’s new two-part documentary about Billy Joel, the Piano Man explains why he wore a yellow Star of David in August 2017, during his residency at Madison Square Garden, in his most extensive filmed account of his family’s experience in the Holocaust. “No matter what, I will always be a Jew,” he said.
(ANALYSIS) Although he remains little known beyond the country of his birth, Rinus Israël, who died July 1 in the Netherlands at age 83, was one of history’s great Jewish soccer players. In 1970, as captain of Feyenoord, Israël was the first Dutchman — and the first Jew — to lift the European Cup (the equivalent of today’s Champions League trophy).
(ANALYSIS) Are Superman and Jesus headed for an American revival? For better or worse, people’s love of Superman and devotion to God have always been tightly fused. Whether this will lead to a long-term revival for both or just a short-term connection remains to be seen. For now, a lot more people are looking up to the heavens than were before.
(OPINION) When was the last time you laughed in order to cope with some personal or social situation? 10 minutes ago? Today? Yesterday? Laughter can be a most effective coping medicine. In that way, laughter is an important spirituality tool. In many cultures, it always has been.
(ANALYSIS) Modern values have transformed many Jewish couples’ weddings, just as they have transformed the Christian wedding. Some Jewish couples make many changes, while some make none. And like every faith, Judaism has lots of internal diversity — not all traditional Jewish weddings look the same.
At a time when the Trump administration has renewed a travel ban on various Muslim majority countries in Africa and across the Middle East, the Quran owned by John Adams is but one indication that our nation’s founders regarded Islam — as well as other, non-Western, non-Christian faiths — as worthy of respect and protection under the law.
If Jim Henson and Fred Rogers could connect with kids through puppets, why couldn’t Shlomit Tripp? “It’s really important that these kids understand that being Jewish is also fun,” Tripp said. “It’s not only the Shoah or this dry religion sitting in a synagogue and being bored.” Regardless of background, all appeared enthralled before Tripp’s colorful creations and exaggerated voices.
(ANALYSIS) Whatever one’s position in a conflict, certain actions cannot be justified. Targeting civilians, destroying essential services, blocking aid, using civilian areas for military purposes or punishing entire populations for the acts of a few are all violations of international law and human conscience.
(ANALYSIS) Described in the Bible as the first nation to attack the Israelites after the Exodus, the Amalekites came to symbolize a recurring evil: Not merely one that seeks to harm the Jewish people, but one bent on their erasure. Across the centuries, Jewish thinkers have mapped this archetype onto real-world threats. Some are asking: Should Iran be added to that list?
(OPINION) I’m sure I am not the first person to think along these lines, but did you ever consider that you might not exist if certain things had happened or not happened?
Exploring interfaith dialogue using knitting is the surprising theme of a new touring event taking place around the United Kingdom. It all started when Canadian actor and artist Kirk Dunn developed a passion for knitting. The result is an interfaith look at society, how faith can bring people together for a unique show and the “commonalities and conflicts between the three Abrahamic faiths.”
Many Jews are outraged that while the war in Gaza has been raging since Oct. 7, 2023 and they have suffered many casualties and interruptions to their civilian life in response to repeated reserve duty call-ups, their able-bodied ultra-Orthodox fellow citizens have not shared the defense burden. The IDF faces shortages, needing approximately 12,000 new recruits, including 7,000 combat soldiers.
(ANALYSIS) There’s a new TikTok trend for Christian influencers: Gluing a small, rectangular box with a scroll inside, marked with a cross, that observers can nail to their door frames. Available to buy on TikTok shop, the boxes — called “Grace Marks” — come in gray-marbled white as well as a “terrazzo” confetti-flecked version.
Police say there are eight victims ages 52 to 88 who were hospitalized with burns, and another four who suffered minor injuries. The victims were part of Run for Their Lives, a weekly vigil and march for Israeli captives who remain held by Hamas.
When you think about Jewish contributions to the world of entertainment, your mind probably immediately goes to comedies, sci-fi and musicals. But there’s another genre rich with Jewish history: Westerns. In the new book “Chai Noon: Jews and the Cinematic Wild West,” scholar Jonathan Friedmann examines Jewish figures and themes in Western film, dating back to Hollywood’s first feature-length film. “The Squaw Man,” released in 1914.
(REVIEW) It’s been said, “You may not care about politics, but politics cares about you.” The same is true of religion. If you want to better understand your neighbors — and the cultural and political forces shaping America — “The American Religious Landscape” is the primer you’ve been looking for. Despite all the data, it’s also a book that does not disappoint.
(REVIEW) “The Many Lives of Anne Frank” is trenchant, elegant and relevant — beautifully written, almost like a novel. Franklin achieves the seemingly impossible: Allowing the reader to see the flesh-and-blood Anne — complex, rambunctious, talkative, critical, acerbic, funny and vivacious — rather than the homogenized and sentimentalized figure enshrined in pop culture.
(REVIEW) While “Bad Shabbos” is very funny, little about it really breaks new ground, as it primarily leans on the classic tropes and themes of a Jewish “meet the parents” comedy. The movie also has some tonal awkwardness between the relatively grounded characters and dialogue mixed with its rather unbelievable farcical premise and series of escalating decisions.
The man who allegedly walked up to two Israeli embassy staffers and shot them dead Wednesday night reportedly told eyewitnesses he “did it for Gaza.” The event those staffers had just left at the Capital Jewish Museum highlighted an organization that supplied aid to Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war. And his victims had made peace-building central to their work.
Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed outside an event in Washington, D.C., around 9 p.m. Wednesday, according to local and federal officials, by a suspect who appeared to target them in what many Jewish leaders are calling an antisemitic attack. The shooting took place following an American Jewish Committee event for young Jewish professionals and diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum.
(ANALYSIS) When the hip-hop artist formerly known as Kanye West went on his first antisemitic tirade, some opined that we should ignore it. Why give more gas to the fire? It was a different time; the platform the musician was posting his rants on was still called Twitter and he had just begun to use the name Ye. In the current context, it seems to have taken on more importance.
For President Donald Trump’s MAGA Jewish base, the plane may be a bridge too far. Three influential Jewish voices in the MAGA movement — figures typically known for their unwavering loyalty to the GOP standard-bearer — are aghast over Trump’s decision to accept a $400 million aircraft from the government of Qatar.
A newscast from Israel streamed on a large screen, and a woman speaking into a microphone translated updates into English: “Hamas announces it has released Edan Alexander.” “The Red Cross says it’s on the scene but does not yet have Alexander.” “We have confirmation that Alexander has been released.” “Alexander is officially in the hands of the IDF.” “Alexander has had a first conversation with his mother and is telling jokes.”
Three men from different faiths sit side by side on a stage. It’s nearly sundown just outside Berlin, with more than 100 people gathered for an interfaith iftar — the fast-breaking evening meal of Muslims during Ramadan. Each religious leader speaks about the power of fasting in their tradition, their words framed by the clatter of Turkish food being prepared in the kitchen.
The Vistula, Poland’s longest river, snakes 650 miles north from the Tatras Mountains past Krakow and Warsaw to the Gulf of Gdańsk, where it empties into the Baltic Sea. Upstream from the capital, the river flows past Góra Kalwaria, a place the country’s Catholics revere as Nowa Jerozolima (or “New Jerusalem”).