Posts in Judaism
Was Taylor Swift Supposed To Say ‘Free Palestine’ At The Grammys?

(OPINION) Everyone is mad at Taylor Swift. I mean, everyone is always mad at Taylor Swift. Over football, her boyfriends, her music. This week, it’s over her failure to call for a ceasefire during the Grammys. Perhaps Swift’s silence on the destruction in Gaza would not have made waves had Annie Lennox not used her moment on the Grammys stage to raise her fist and proclaim “artists for a ceasefire.”

Read More
A Different Campus Story: Jewish-Palestinian Cooperation

The Jewish and Palestinian American pair are the force behind Atidna, a student organization of Jews and Palestinians that began at the university’s Austin campus two years ago. Initially, it focussed on similarities between Jewish and Palestinian culture, Kahlenberg said on a call shared with Hashem, stressing “that Jews and Arabs are cousins in one family and we’re not inherent enemies.”

Read More
An Oral History Of ‘Palestinian Chicken’ Of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Fame

The most Jewish episode of “Curb” — and one of its most beloved — retold here by the people who made it. “Palestinian Chicken,” the third episode of the Larry David comedy’s eighth season, seemed anything but dated when it aired on July 24, 2011, and today, you can’t assemble a list of the show’s greatest episodes without it.

Read More
South Africa vs. Israel: International Court Of Justice Orders Provisional Measures

(ANALYSIS) On Jan. 26, the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, ordered provisional measures in the case of the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel).

Read More
Amid Ongoing War In Gaza, Palestinians Find Joy In Their Soccer Team

Palestinians celebrated the country’s national team after qualifying for the knockout stage at the AFC Asian Cup. The historic win, a 3-0 victory against Hong Kong to close out the group stage, allowed Palestine to reach the round of 16 for the first time in the tournament’s 68-year history.  It also brought some comfort amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

Read More
Death Toll Nears 25,000 As Israel-Hamas War Marks 100 days

In the face of the vast human suffering, staggering damage to infrastructure and environmental catastrophe caused by the conflict — which marks its 100th day on Sunday — another controversial post-war scenario is for Israel to rebuild some of the post-1967 Gaza Strip settlements from which it unilaterally withdrew in 2005.

Read More
Israel’s Highest Court Protects Its Power To Curb Extremism

(ANALYSIS) In the midst of Israel’s fierce war against Hamas in Gaza, the country’s highest court on New Year’s Day drew attention back to a previous conflict within the country. In a narrowly divided decision, the justices struck down a significant part of the contentious judicial reform passed in July 2023 by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Read More
How Blue And White Became Synonymous With Judaism

A web search for “Hanukkah decorations” yields a trove of whimsical items like menorah-and-dreidel-adorned straws, pillows, mugs, candy and napkins. These widespread choices have one thing in common — they are blue and white.

Read More
Jews Increasingly Living In A Time Where Antisemitism Is Accepted

The Holocaust may have long passed, but amid the Israeli-Hamas fighting in Gaza, there is a creeping anti-Semitic bias going on in countries where Jews and Jewish communities are situated. For Israeli Ambassador to to the Philippines Ilan Fluss, and others Jewish officials, this is very concerning.

Read More
Wake Up World Before Jewish Blood Is Shed In Your Country

(OPINION) I am urging you. I am pleading with you. I am imploring you. Wake up! The irrational hatred of the Jewish people and the demonizing of Israel is reaching proportions so dangerous that if people of conscience do not stand up, speak out, and push back, Jewish blood will start flowing in America, England, and many other countries around the world.

Read More
Amid Ongoing War, Israel’s National Library Opens Its Doors

Israelis craving a reprieve from all the bloodshed of the past month stemming from the Oct. 7 terror attacks perpetrated by Hamas are venturing out to explore the newly-opened National Library of Israel in Jerusalem. The visionary mega-project, a landmark to Jewish resilience, contains some six million rare volumes, manuscripts and books.

Read More
Colleges Plagued By Antisemitism As Israel-Hamas War Rages On

The war between Israel and Hamas may be taking place 5,600 miles away from the United States, but the streets of some of America’s largest cities — and on college campuses in particular — have been highlighted over the past month by incidents of antisemitism. In many cases, students and professors who are pro-Palestine have made threats against Jews.

Read More
Israel Struggling To Identify Many Of The 1,400 Hamas Victims

Since Hamas’ savage Oct. 7 cross-border assault on multiple army bases, kibbutzim, cities and a music festival near the Gaza Strip, staff at the Israel Defense Forces’ Shura Army Base have been working around the clock to identify the bodies of the 1,100 civilians and 315 soldiers, reservists and police officers massacred by jihadi terrorists.

Read More
A Rabbi’s Cry Of Pain Following Oct. 7 Terror Attacks

(OPINION) The news only seems to get worse whenever Jews venture online, even when digging into their social-media feeds, said Rabbi Sharon Brous, in a viral sermon at her progressive IKAR (“essence”) congregation in Los Angeles. If the Holocaust is the “dominant psychic reality of the Jew,” it's impossible not to view news reports through “Shoah-colored glasses.”

Read More
Collective Trauma From Hamas Attack Will Forever Scar The Jewish People

(ESSAY) It’s been nearly three weeks since the attacks and Israel seems to be a country transformed. The turnaround from a nation bifurcated by protests for and against judicial reform just last month to one united by social cohesion has been extraordinary. Yet, the trauma from the Oct. 7 terror attack unleashed by Hamas that killed 1,300 civilians remains.

Read More
Gaza Hospital Bombing Highlights ‘Blood Libel’ And Other Antisemitic Tropes

The heated discourse about the deadly rocket explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza is rooted in the centuries-old religious hatred underlying the current war in Gaza. Immediately after the blast, journalists accepted Hamas’ account blaming the Israel Defense Forces for the deadly attack.

Read More
Should Hamas Members Be Called ‘Terrorists’ Or ‘Fighters’?

(ANALYSIS) Many in the media continue to get this story wrong. For many, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is treated like a political story. It was a story about land. It was about colonization. It was about human rights. It may be about all those things, depending on whom you ask, but it’s also a story about Jews, Muslims and sacred sites in the Holy Lands. In other words, it’s a religion story.

Read More
Christian Leaders Call For ‘End To Cycle Of Violence’ Between Jews and Muslims

As Israeli forces mount a ground invasion of Gaza following last week’s Hamas attack on thousands of civilians, Christians across the Holy Land called for both sides to “de-escalate this war” and end this “new cycle of violence.” Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant leaders said the violence following Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 8 that killed 1,300 Israelis should come to an end.

Read More
‘Miracle We Got Out Alive’: Jews Recall Horror of Hamas Attacks

A week after the attacks and the number of dead Israelis has topped 1,300, making it the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. In response, Israel has been bombing Hamas targets and directed the evacuation of northern Gaza, a region that is home to 1.1 million people, in anticipation of a possible ground assault.

Read More