Religion

Tehran opens Virgin Mary metro station amid scrutiny over Iran's Christian rights

Iran opens a metro station named after the Virgin Mary, calling it a gesture of coexistence, while critics cite ongoing discrimination against minorities.

Tehran's new Virgin Mary metro station has drawn both praise and criticism for the treatment of Christians within Iran.
 Demonstrators burn the Swedish flag during a protest in Tehran against the insult to the Koran after the Muslim holy book was burned in Stockholm, July 21, 2023.

Sweden identifies suspect in Quran-burner murder case linked to 'foreign power'

A Jewish person holds Tehillim, the book of Psalms, seeking solace in prayer on Memorial Day in Tel Aviv

Psalms in tunnels: How scripture steadied Israel’s hostages

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach out to shake hands at the White House last week. The world must support the Trump-Netanyahu framework in which Hamas is held accountable and peace can take root, says the writer.

Sukkot and the canopy of peace - opinion


Days of Awe: Israel’s turn toward tradition - opinion

Increasingly, Israelis are forgoing the religious-secular binary. Instead, many are locating themselves along a continuum.

Preparing for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in the northern Israeli city of Safed, October 5, 2025

How a small town ‘Jewish hut’ has turned Sukkot into a cross-cultural shelter of peace - opinion

The Waterville Jewish community and the Center for Small Town Jewish Life have chosen a unique response to this moment of increased Jewish vulnerability and alienation.

The frame for the Waterville sukkah was up by workers from the city.

Two years in, some are asking if the war in Gaza is changing Judaism

Spiritual critiques are coming mostly from liberal Zionist thinkers and rabbis from the non-Orthodox denominations, who ask themselves, "Are we going to be able to defend Judaism?"

"Who do we become when we harden our hearts?” asked Rabbi Angela Buchdahl in a sermon. Above, a woman wears a Star of David and a necklace remembering the Israeli hostages during a rally at George Washington University, May 2, 2024.

Shabbat candle lighting times for Israel and US

See Shabbat times for your area.

Shabbat candles

Saving Gaza’s people: A sacred duty before Allah - opinion

Islamic law is founded on bringing benefit and preventing harm.

DISPLACED PALESTINIANS shelter in tents in the central Gaza Strip last week. More than two million Gazan Palestinians remain trapped in devastation; their suffering poses a moral and spiritual test for the Muslim world, the writer argues.

Gaza war drives young Israelis toward deeper faith and spirituality, study finds

According to the study, roughly one in four university students became more religious, while one in three described themselves as more spiritual.

Religious Jews gather on the eve of Tisha B'Av at a synagogue in Tel Aviv, August 12, 2024

'Questioning Belief': Torah and tradition today - review

Understanding the Torah in ways that ‘make sense to the modern mind,’ to ‘facilitate a deeper connection with our traditions and our Creator.’

CHARLIE KIRK, Turning Point USA founder, greets the crowd at the start of AmericaFest 2024 in Phoenix, last Dec. After his assassination, Kirk became a worldwide symbol for both those who agreed and disagreed with him, except the haters. He kept Shabbat ‘from Friday evening to Sunday morning.

Rosh Hashanah proves humanity's need for faith amid religious uncertainty - opinion

Faith and feelings of transcendence, after all, are older than institutions, a deep part of our evolution that existed before priests built temples.

DR. BENJAMIN FENICHEL sounds the shofar on Guadacanal Island, Rosh Hashanah 1943.

A Christian activist believed in me and in my Judaism, his name was Charlie Kirk - opinion

A campus encounter with Charlie Kirk sparked a journey that reshaped my faith, deepened my Jewish identity, and changed the course of my life.

The writer during his college days.

Would you choose to be Jewish? - opinion

If Judaism has been handed to us by accident of birth, how do we transform that inheritance into something chosen, something lived deliberately and proudly – rather than passively or resentfully?

MASSES GATHER at the Western Wall last week for Slihot prayers, which are recited in the lead-up to and during the High Holy Days.

Grapevine: Seat's taken?

Movers and shakers in Israeli society.

 The spiraling atrium of Jerusalem's Clal Building.