Danielle Rose Nurko might be a 2024 JCC Maccabi Games medalist, but for the 16-year-old tennis player, the annual Olympic-style competition for Jewish teens isn’t about winning.
Was Seinfeld ‘Too Jewish’?
As America is becoming more politically polarized, American Jews are becoming more theologically polarized. According to Pew surveys, four in ten Jewish adults under 30 describe their religion as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular” rather than Jewish. But 17 percent…
The gift that Jews can give Pope Leo XIV
Habemus papam! We have a pope!
Why ‘Jesus is a Palestinian’ sounds like Christian solidarity but is disastrous theology
In Advent of last year, a Nativity scene at the Vatican briefly showed the baby Jesus wrapped in a keffiyeh, along with the spurious declaration that “Jesus was Palestinian.”
Why immigration will always be a Jewish issue
This past Shabbat, I delivered a sermon at Temple Israel in Miami, musing about my early days there and tying that experience to the congregation’s support of HIAS, formerly known as Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.
Jews have long been strong advocates for immigrants. Is that changing under Trump 2.0?
The mood was bittersweet recently when Rabbi Dan Kaiman headed to the local airport to welcome an Afghan refugee about to be reunited with her sister.
American Jews skeptical of Trump’s ability to combat antisemitism
Most American Jews do not believe President-elect Donald Trump will effectively address rising antisemitism or manage the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a new survey, but a larger portion have confidence in his nominee for secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio.
Christopher Columbus was … Jewish?
Although Christopher Columbus is remembered as much today for unleashing destruction on native peoples as for discovering new lands, one thing about him has remained a mystery: What is his own lineage? Now, Spanish scientists believe he was born into…
Religious freedom takes practice, not just legislation
Editor’s note: This is the fifth opinion piece in a new series on religious liberty authored by BJC Fellows and made possible by a grant from the Prichard Family Foundation. A few years ago, I met a woman who,…
Samford and Candler grad at center of Tennessee controversy over Bible history class in public schools
A middle school teacher with an undergraduate religion degree from a Baptist university and a master of divinity degree from a Methodist seminary now finds herself at the center of a controversy over alleged hate speech against Jews. Moreover, Chattanooga’s…
Jewish couple sues after United Methodist agency receiving taxpayer funding refuses to help them adopt a disabled child
Among the core beliefs espoused by Holston United Methodist Home for Children in Tennessee are assertions that “it is the birthright of every child to have a family” and that “the best place for a child to be raised is…
At this conference, religious minorities told each other’s stories of persecution
Imagine the conflicts that could be ended and prevented if the world’s faith leaders got to know one another and began to advocate for those experiencing religious persecution everywhere, said Sam Brownback, the former U.S. ambassador for international religious freedom…