(ANALYSIS) Sotomayor’s dissent poses an interesting inquiry, regardless of one’s personal opinion of where the court should have landed on affirmative action: Does the Constitution uphold the spiritual and religious freedom of faith-based higher education institutions to engage in holistic, race-conscious admissions practices as an expression of their sincerely held institutional religious beliefs?
Read More(REVIEW) Joseph Lovett’s “Children of the Inquisition” is a feature length documentary exploring the worldwide Sephardic diaspora and recounting the history of various Jewish families seeking refuge during the Spanish Inquisition.
Read More(REVIEW) Martin Doblmeier’s documentary, “Sabbath” explores how each of the monotheistic faiths have tackled the restlessness and consistent hurry of modern culture through adopting some variation on what the weekly Sabbath or time of rest looks like in their respective faith cultures.
Read MoreThis week, the next step of our Talking to Tech series was a “conversation” with ChatGPT, one of today’s most popular AIs. This was the first in a multi-part series exploring the depth of ChatGPT’s knowledge of and skillset concerning religion and religious topics.
Read More(OPINION) Today, “the longest and deepest hatred of human history” shows no signs of abating. This is especially true online, where the worst aspects of humanity get free expression, where conspiracy theories of the ugliest kind abound, and where the most uncredentialed, unqualified person can gain a following. This is fertile ground for antisemitism.
Read More(Religious Liter-AI-cy): In comparison with Siri, Alexa’s answers were very winsome and detail oriented. She elaborates more on the answers to the questions asked, often without making a reference to a specific web source, making the interview more seamless and in depth. Alexa seems more intelligent and, dare I say, personal.
Read MoreJERUSALEM — Israel’s central — and arguably shameful — role in the global antiquities business was the subject of a Zoom lecture on May 2 sponsored by the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem and the Palestine Exploration Fund headquartered in London.
Read MoreMousseline, a small gourmet ice cream shop directly across the street from the president’s residence on Hanasi Street, found itself swamped on Saturday nights, the regular night for the demonstrations in recent months.
Read MoreFrom Addis Ababa to Tehran, Daniel Herszberg visited synagogues, schools, cemeteries and Sabbath services in hospitable homes. In Suriname and Poland, in Pakistan and Sudan, Barbados and Brazil, Herszberg not only discovered cherished archives and legacies but connected with locals who shared their stories — both lived and long forgotten. In some instances, he was the first person to have visited Jewish heritage sites in decades.
Read More(REVIEW) “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” is firmly part of American literary canon, and it’s been adapted into a movie. It’s a perfect nostalgia vehicle for fans of the book and those who grew up nearer to the time it was first published, but it isn’t good for much else.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Richard Glazar insisted that no one survived the Holocaust without help. To this Prague-born Jewish survivor, who endured Nazi imprisonment at Treblinka and Theresienstadt, plus years in hiding, it was impossible to persevere without others’ support.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Marking April as Arab American Heritage Month – a time to learn about the history, culture and contributions of our nearly 4 million strong community – is gaining traction across the country. In 2022, Joe Biden made history as the first U.S. president to recognize the month, which he did again in 2023.
Read More(OPINION) For the last 40 years, I have engaged in scores of public debates on religious subjects, sometimes drawing passionate, standing-room-only crowds. But are the debates actually fruitful? Do they bring more heat than light? Do they really change anyone’s mind?
Read MoreWashington, D.C.’s Museum of the Bible is fascinating for Christians of all denominations and even for people who identify with another faith tradition. The museum — in addition to highlighting Hebrew texts and the time Jesus lived — also integrates how the Bible and Christianity have influenced American culture and society since the early 1600s to the present.
Read More(OPINION) Why is it that, “among all racial and religious groups, Jews remain the greatest hate crime target”? And why is it that Jews are targeted by both White supremacists and Black supremacists? I began documenting this more than 30 years ago. It is even worse today.
Read MoreModeled after soccer’s World Cup and organized after the International Olympic Committee’s decision in 2005 to remove baseball from the Summer Olympics, the World Baseball Classic is contested every three years. The WBC returned this month with 20 teams, including Israel, which is made up largely of Americans of Jewish heritage.
Read MoreThe goodwill Israel earned when she sent a team of nearly 700 emergency medical responders to Turkey following the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that devastated Hatay province on Feb. 6 evaporated after the revelation that the search and rescue team secretly exported two 200-year-old Scrolls of Esther from Antakya at the end of its six-day mission there.
Read MoreFor a fraction of the cost of a comparable hotel in relatively expensive Bollywood, all Jews are welcome in the air-conditioned kosher guesthouse that operates thanks to the perpetual generosity of the Sir Jacob Sassoon Trusts. And the impact of the Sassoon family traces forward to 2023, when a valuable Hebrew Bible from 1,000 years ago, the Sassoon Codex, goes to auction at Sotheby’s this spring as previously reported by ReligionUnplugged.com.
Read MoreThe Codex Sassoon has 24 books divided into the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Writings, abbreviated as TaNaKH in Hebrew. About 15 chapters are missing, including 10 from Genesis, but it is far more complete than the Aleppo Codex. Another medieval Bible text, the Leningrad Codex, is “entirely complete,” but is more than a century younger than Sassoon 1053, Sotheby’s said.
Read More(OPINION) Santos’ intersectionality worked perfectly in a congressional district that is itself exceedingly diverse and arguably somewhat tribal. I write from experience as I lived in that district for several years and understand the dynamics firsthand.
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