Judaism & Culture

Split in haredi leadership? Fears lead rabbis to issue joint statement on coronavirus

Rabbis’ representatives issue joint statement after haredi party’s newspaper refuses to print letter instructing the reopening of the sector’s schools.

April 23, 2020

WATCH: Leaders of 4 faiths hold first joint prayer in Jerusalem

The chief rabbis of Israel were joined in Jerusalem by Christian, Islamic, and Druze religious leaders, who offered prayers together to end the coronavirus pandemic and eliminate hatred throughout the world.

April 22, 2020

Rabbis group warns IDF: Leftists seek to dilute Holocaust message

Torat Halechima says the Education Corps is 'damaging the IDF' by allowing lessons that universalize the Holocaust.

April 20, 2020

US Amb. Friedman joins Passover priestly blessing at Western Wall

American Ambassador David Friedman, an observant Jew, one of select few to offer the priestly blessing at holy site in Jerusalem's Old City.

April 12, 2020

Happy Passover: ‘Festival of freedom’ marks birth of Jewish nation

Jews mark week-long Passover holiday with traditions and symbolism inspired by the biblical exodus from slavery to freedom.

April 8, 2020

Israel’s chief rabbis sell nation’s bread to Arab businessman in traditional ceremony

Rabbis sign over hundreds of millions worth of goods to a non-Jew for 20,000 shekels in annual traditional ceremony; sale to be reversed after the Passover festival.

April 7, 2020

US group offers ‘The Unapologetic Zionist’s Haggadah’

'Our fervent hope is that through this unique compilation readers will be provided a respite from worries about coronavirus,' said the group's director.

April 6, 2020

Millions of eggs arriving in Israel to replenish critical Passover staple

The government announced last week that it will subsidize the import of eggs, which have been missing from most supermarkets for the last two weeks.

April 5, 2020

‘No more minyans’: Leading haredi rabbi rules out prayer groups of 10 during health crisis

Leader of ultra-Orthodox joins fight against the coronavirus as rate of illness soars in sector where quarantines are being considered.

March 30, 2020

MK defects from Lapid: ‘Gantz doing the right thing’

MK Tamano-Shata, formerly of Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, defects to Gantz’s Israeli Resilience party to join unity government.

March 29, 2020

Olympic dreams of 52 promising Israeli athletes put on hold

A record-setting 52 athletes, including Israel’s first baseball team, will have to wait until 2021 to compete due to pandemic.

March 26, 2020

Reports of rabbinic ‘ruling’ allowing Passover seder video-conference were inaccurate

Reports on a rabbinical ruling allegedly permitting computer use on Jewish holy days were not accurate, according to a subsequent investigation by an Israeli TV channel.

March 25, 2020

Coronavirus upends Jewish Sabbath, people pray from balconies

Although up to 10 men can pray together they must keep two meters apart.

March 22, 2020

‘A death blow’: Coronavirus brings curtain down on Israeli cultural life

With all theaters and live shows cancelled, professionals worry for their livelihood even as they understand the reason for the restrictions.

March 15, 2020

Amazon’s Nazi-hunters show should be nixed, says Holocaust foundation

Amazon’s first season of 'Hunters' was full of historical inaccuracies and can lead to more Holocaust denial, says foundation head.

March 15, 2020

Piano said to be made of wood from Holy Temple up for auction

The 220-year-old Siena Piano, now in Israel after many wanderings, is expected to sell for over $1 million.

March 6, 2020

Purim events canceled, games played to empty arenas as Israel’s coronavirus fears grow

Israeli authorities are not willing to take the risk of holding large public events during the current health crisis.

March 5, 2020

Quentin Tarantino and Daniella Pick bring an Israeli baby into the world

The daughter of legendary Israeli singer Tsvika Pick married the filmmaker in 2018.

February 23, 2020

IDF radio station apologizes for crack about military hero

Its satirical show made 'a mistake' in the way it referred to the prime minister’s brother, who died rescuing the hostages of Entebbe in 1976.

February 11, 2020

Israeli pop star puts career on hold to join IDF

Noa Kirel will sing for the troops instead of going on lucrative tours and acting on TV.

February 3, 2020

Israeli researchers find origins of literacy in ancient Samaria

'Over the course of the century and a half or two centuries that separate the two corpora, we observe the development…to a broad proliferation of literacy,' they conclude.

January 23, 2020

Ancient siege of Jerusalem remembered on Jewish fast day

The fast is one of four which relate in some way to the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

January 7, 2020

Polish president won’t attend Yad Vashem event unless given chance to ‘refute Putin’s lies’

Andrzej Duda says he will come to Yad Vashem only if he will be one of the speakers.

January 6, 2020

Rabbi proposes that robots should write Torah scrolls

Such an invention would revolutionize an entire industry in the religious Jewish world.

January 2, 2020

Polish school play re-enacts Auschwitz gassing

National Holocaust museum pans the event even though Polish pride and not anti-Semitism was the underlying theme.

January 1, 2020

WATCH: Israeli kids from Gaza belt honored at Knesset Chanukah celebration

Israeli children who endure rocket fire in the Gaza periphery lit Chanukah candles during a special celebration at the Israeli parliament yesterday.

December 26, 2019

Holy hotline: Israeli rabbis set up 24-hour call center for families of terminally ill

The new service will help people make life-and-death decisions according to Jewish law.

December 3, 2019

Sound of building fills Israel’s night sky as Jews turn to Sukkot building ahead of festive holiday

Traditionally, Jews immediately begin to build their sukkahs after breaking their fast, in preparation for the next holiday in the Jewish calendar which begins Sunday night.

October 10, 2019

Ancient Jewish manuscripts showcased online by British Library

The online collection features sacred texts of 9 different faiths

September 26, 2019

Israeli baseball is going to the Olympics for first time in history

Israel takes first place in the Baseball Europe/Africa qualifying event, booking its first-ever appearance in the 2020 Summer Olympics.

September 22, 2019

HBO series ‘Our Boys,’ branded anti-Semitic by Netanyahu, doesn’t violate law, Israel broadcast council says

Israeli broadcast council says it has no reason to interfere with a TV series branded 'anti-Semitic' by Prime Minister Netanyahu.

September 3, 2019

High court nixes separate seating by gender, angering Orthodox Israelis

After first claiming victory, the haredi community warned that religious rights are being endangered by the top legal arbiter in the country.

August 15, 2019

WATCH: NBA star takes his Jewish pride as seriously as his basketball

Basketball superstar Omri Casspi, who played for the NBA for 10 years in the U.S., says it was a wonderful experience but he's happy to come "home" to Maccabi and represent Israel.

August 14, 2019

DNA finds Hungary to have highest percentage of citizens with Jewish ethnicity

DNA testing found that Hungary has the highest percentage of citizens of Ashkenazic Jewish extraction outside of Israel.

August 14, 2019

Religious Zionist leader: Netanyahu will pay at polls for deriding those who seek Torah state

The religious Zionist leader blasted the prime minister, who told a visiting congressional delegation that the idea of a state run according to Jewish law is 'total nonsense.'

August 8, 2019

Religious Zionists cry ‘media lynch’ for wanting Israeli state run by Jewish law

The transportation minister hit back at critics after a speech in which he said he would like a state run by Jewish law.

August 6, 2019

Raising a Torah scroll as part of prayers for the Fast of the 17th of Tammuz at the Western Wall

Jews fast, begin mourning period for Temple’s destruction

The annual three-week mourning period concludes with another fast on the ninth day of the month of Av, when the destruction itself is mourned.

July 21, 2019

Supermodel Naomi Campbell praises Lubavitcher Rebbe on 25th anniversary of his death

Supermodel Naomi Campbell wrote an extended accolade of the Lubavitcher Rebbe on her Instagram account.

July 9, 2019

DNA shows that the Philistines, arch-enemy of the Israelites, came from Europe

DNA remains extracted from 10 individuals buried in Ashkelon display molecular links showing 'an affinity with European-related populations,' say researchers.

July 4, 2019

Anti-Semitism drives ‘Wonder Woman’ to flaunt her pride in being Israeli

Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot said she receives many anti-Semitic messages.

July 1, 2019

WATCH: A deeper look into the text of the Passover Haggadah

An Israeli artist published a new Haggadah, using a blend of traditional graphics and abstract painting to make the story come alive, bringing light and hope.

April 22, 2019

Sharon Maymon, Jaime Ray Newman, Guy Nattiv

WATCH: Israeli director Guy Nattiv takes home the Oscar

Nattiv said he was inspired by his grandparents, who survived the Holocaust.

February 25, 2019

Beverly Hills Mayor Julian Gold visits Western Wall

WATCH: Beverly Hills mayor goes on underground Western Wall tour

Beverly Hills Mayor Julian Gold, in Israel as part of the 33rd International Mayors' Conference in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, was impressed by the archaeological and historical finds during an underground tour of the Western Wall.

February 24, 2019

Israel’s president: ‘There’s nothing more Jewish than disagreement’

'There is nothing more Jewish than pointed disagreement. And there is nothing more democratic than pointed disagreement,' Rivlin told a Bible-study gathering ahead of elections.

February 18, 2019

Arik Einstein, Dafna Armoni, Shalom Hanoch

Israel national library’s new music app rises to top of the charts

Feel like listening to a good old Arik Einstein song or discovering music from the next superstar? Shiri offers everything from Sasha Argov to Zohar Argov.

February 17, 2019

Adam Neumann, co-founder and CEO of WeWork

WeWork’s Adam Neumann says observing Jewish Sabbath keeps his ego in check

The CEO of NY-headquartered real estate company WeWork shared spiritual wisdoms during a keynote speech at a UJA Federation event.

January 27, 2019

WATCH: Jewish folklore comes to US theaters

“The Golem,” a horror film based on Jewish folklore, will be released in select theaters in the U.S. and on Blu-Ray/DVD on February 5.

January 27, 2019

Israeli film, Jewish stars and composers among 2019 Oscar nominees

This year's Academy Award nominees included works by Jewish and Israeli artists.

January 23, 2019

Who knew? Hebrew could be the basis for many English and European words

'Hebrew is a much older language as well, so it makes sense the roots of words go back before Latin or Greek,' a linguistics buff theorized.

January 1, 2019

Israeli orchestra plays to warm applause in Morocco

The Israeli Andalusian Orchestra played to a full house and warm applause in Morocco at one of the country's most prestigious music festivals.

December 30, 2018

Israel to celebrate Hebrew’s revival in special day

Hebrew Language Day is 'an excellent opportunity to advance reading among students and the young generation,' says Education Minister Naftali Bennett.

December 26, 2018