Rock Beats Muezzin: Offensive Mosque Speakers Removed after Threat of Reprisal

Posted on: July 24th, 2012

That's all it took – a simple message to the Muezzin and the local leaders in the village of Al Issawiya, near the French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem.

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Happy Ramadan

Posted on: July 20th, 2012

Ramadan began on Friday as 100,000 Muslims pray on the Temple Mount.

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ADL Criticizes Anti-Abortion Center’s Western Wall Motif

Posted on: July 19th, 2012

The wall will be fronted with 60 white cross "that symbolize the 60 million little baby boys and girls have been murdered since 1973 in America alone."

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Rabbi Elyashiv, 102, Passed Away

Posted on: July 18th, 2012

There is great concern in Haredi circles following a severe deterioration in the condittion of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, who has been hospitalized for the past six months in Shaarey Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem.

Half of US Reform Rabbis Officiate at Intermarriages

Posted on: July 4th, 2012

While the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) does not have statistics on how many of its 2,000 Reform rabbis in North America officiate at intermarriages, when pressed, Rabbi Hara Person, director of CCAR Press, estimated "it's about half." A resolution proposed at CCAR's 2008 annual convention called for dropping the official opposition to intermarriages. The resolution was tabled but the practice is now commonplace.

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It’s Official: No Circumcision in Germany – Jewish Hospital Bans the Brit

Posted on: July 3rd, 2012

The Jewish Hospital in Berlin has suspended all religious circumcisions of children following a ruling delivered by a German court banning the practice.

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A Revolutionary Rabbinic Idea For Organ Donations

Posted on: June 28th, 2012

JERUSALEM – A leading Orthodox rabbi in Israel has a revolutionary proposal for the harvesting of organs from a clinically dead patient. At present, his proposal not only has no support from other rabbis, it is also against Israeli law – but he is not fazed.

Shocking German Ruling May Lead to ‘Circumcision Tourism’

Posted on: June 28th, 2012

Head of the Religious Community of Islam in Germany Ali Demir predicted that a ban on circumcisions in Germany would lead to the development of "circumcision tourism in neighboring countries in Europe." ADL's Abe Foxman called on Germany's parliament to change the law, lest Jews again feel unwanted in Germany.

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Haredi Draft Proposal Offers Few Sticks, Many Carrots

Posted on: June 27th, 2012

The Plesner Committee, tasked with crafting an alternative to the Tal Law for haredi service in Israel, is reportedly drafting a proposal which would defer the enlistment of haredi men till age 22, offer financial incentives to yeshivot that have younger enlistment rates, and begin to levy economic sanctions on haredim who don't enlist by age 23.

German Court Criminalizes Religious Circumcision

Posted on: June 26th, 2012

A Cologne district court ruled on Tuesday that parents may not have their sons circumcised for religious reasons, essentially criminalizing religious circumcisions.

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Lakewood Girls School under Attack for Controversial Letter on Modesty

Posted on: June 14th, 2012

The Lakewood, NJ, Bnos Yaakov elementary school is not happy over the fact that an internal letter to its students has been published online. It contains a story with a disturbing notion of purgatory for girls who don't obey the laws of tzniyut (modesty).

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Reform and Conservative Leaders Deemed Rabbis, to Receive Israeli State Funds

Posted on: May 30th, 2012

The Israeli government announced on Tuesday that, for the first time, it will pay the salaries of a small number of Reform and Conservative rabbis who are considered leaders in their communities, and will also recognize them as rabbis.

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Saudis Outraged by McDonald’s Toy They Believe to be Insulting to Muhammed

Posted on: May 28th, 2012

Saudi Muslims have launched several campaigns against McDonald's in "response to the savage attacks on the noble Prophet," under banners like "Help your Prophet!" and "Together in support of the Prophet."

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At Least 50 Thousand Haredim Assemble to Decry Dangers of the Internet

Posted on: May 21st, 2012

More than 50,000 ultra-Orthodox Jewish men packed Citi Field in Flushing, Queens, on Sunday, for the Asifa, a gathering decrying the dangers of the Internet. Organizers have also rented the nearby Arthur Ashe Stadium for the overflow crowd. Event spokesman Eytan Kobre said the group wants to teach families how to use technology responsibly.

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Rabbinic Court Annuls 20-Year Marriage: Witnesses not Shabbat Observers

Posted on: May 18th, 2012

In a precedent setting decision, the Chief Judge of the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court Rabbi Eliyahu Abergel this week freed a woman from her aguna status (separated from her husband but unable to marry another) and annulled her marriage because the witnesses who signed the ketubah were not Shabbat observers. The plaintiff's husband had fled Israel to Florida and was refusing to sign a get.

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New Poll Shows Ultra-Orthodox Increasingly Interested in Integrating

Posted on: May 15th, 2012

On the issue of ultra-Orthodox military service, 41% of those surveyed said they would be moderately or very interested in joining the Haredi IDF program, while 59% said they had either little or no interest. Still, the percentage of interest is substantially higher than the current annual rate of Haredi enlistment in the IDF.

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Obama Endorses Same-Sex Marriage; Rabbis Debate Homosexuality

Posted on: May 9th, 2012

President Obama on Wednesday went on the record with a statement that he now supports same-sex marriage, a reversal of his longstanding opposition. While US public opinion on this issue has seemingly reached a point of no return, the debate within Orthodox Judaism has centered on accepting gays rather than legitimizing the gay agenda. But a few cracks have appeared even in that wall.

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Vatican Rep Wants Alliance With Jews, Muslims, to Combat Gay Marriage

Posted on: May 3rd, 2012

A Vatican representative has issued a call for the world’s foremost religions to unite to take a stand against gay marriage. Archbishop Antonio Mennini, the “Apostolic Nuncio” (Vatican representative) to Great Britain has proposed enlisting the help of all Christian denominations, as well as Jews and Muslims, to oppose the proposition of legalizing gay marriage [...]

International Religious and Cultural Leaders Convene in Kiev for Interfaith Forum

Posted on: April 30th, 2012

‘Global Winds of Change’ Conference addresses role of religion in democracies and changing societies.

Forcibly Converted Hindu Women Opt to Stay with Husbands, But Story Remains Murky

Posted on: April 20th, 2012

Three young Hindu women who were kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to Muslim men, chose this week to live with their husbands instead of their families. It has been rumored that the three women had been threatened by Pakistan People's Party parliamentarian Mian Mithu with "dire consequences" if they decided to return to their parents.