Religion

From Hillel and Shamai to Trump and Netanyahu: Polarized, divided Jewry is dangerous - opinion

Jews have always had differences of opinion, and it has never shown the best of us. We can't be divided anymore.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a press conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 29, 2025.
Rabbi Yaakov Medan speaks during a protest against the planned eviction of the outpost of Amona, in front of the Israeli parliament on January 30, 2017.

'Ritual sexual abuse' of minors: Senior religious Zionist rabbi warns of ‘social narcissism’

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, November 17, 2025

Death penalty bill could turn terrorists into heroes - opinion

Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir walks inside the Knesset, on the day US President Donald Trump delivers remarks, in Jerusalem, October 13, 2025.

Moral, legal issues with Israel’s terrorist death penalty - opinion


Sukkot and the canopy of peace - opinion

Sukkot reminds us that the sukkah stands only because each beam supports the others.

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach out to shake hands at the White House.

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.