The NY Synagogue Statement on the Palestinians: Too Little, and 40 Years Too...
By Shalom Goldman, Duke University A few days after the United Nations voted overwhelmingly to raise the status of Palestine to a “nonmember observer state,” the Rabbis and directors of a New York...
View ArticleTop 10 Religion Stories of the Year
Journalists vote for contraception fight as top 2012 U.S. religion story, pick Cardinal Dolan as top newsmaker COLUMBIA, MO—As the nation reeled from the Dec. 14 killing of 20 first graders and six...
View ArticleMen of the Clergy, Women of the Wall
By Shalom Goldman, Duke University Within Israeli Jewish society, a frequently-heard witticism is that “the synagogue I don’t go to must be Orthodox.” This is a way of signaling that the speaker does...
View ArticleWomen of the Wall in Comparative Perspective
By Laurie L. Patton, Duke University In December, the group of Jewish women activists arguing for women’s rights to pray near Jerusalem’s Western wall in full religious regalia, using tallit (prayer...
View ArticleA Bagel with Hagel? Not If You Are an American Jewish “Leader”
By Shalom Goldman, Duke University Ever since the name of Chuck Hagel was floated by the Obama White House as a possible appointment to the post of Secretary of Defense, conservative Republicans have...
View ArticleAre Evangelicals Monopolizing, Misleading US Anti-Trafficking Efforts?
Since the late 1990s, the US federal government has stepped up its efforts to stop human trafficking – the trade in human beings, usually for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. The...
View ArticleInhofe, with God on His Side, vs. Hagel
By Shalom Goldman, Duke University At the confirmation hearings for Chuck Hagel’s nomination to head the Department of Defense, the former senator from Nebraska has been pilloried by some of his former...
View ArticleWhy Jews Don’t Elect a Pope, and What Might Happen if They Did
By Shalom Goldman, Duke University While the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics eagerly awaited the decision of the Cardinals who were sequestered in the Sistine Chapel, members of the world’s other...
View ArticleAttacks on Kathy Boudin Are Attempts at Vigilante Justice – Op Ed from Julien...
Editor’s Note: The following is an opinion piece from Julien Hawthorne, currently a student at Columbia University, regarding controversial Columbia professor Kathy Boudin. Boudin’s participation in...
View ArticleClerical Sexual Abuse Among Catholics and Jews: Comparisons and Contrasts
By Shalom Goldman, Duke University Many Catholics in the US and overseas are hoping that the new Pope, Francis I, will help heal the wounds inflicted on the Church by the sexual abuse scandals of the...
View ArticleTedx Talk: The Numbers of Religious Freedom
By Brian J. Grim This TEDx talk* provides an overview of Pew Research findings on the rising tide of restrictions on religion around the world coming from governments as well as groups in society. For...
View ArticleGod Speed: “Race Cars for Peace” in the Holy City
By Shalom Goldman, Duke University In the US, spectator sports and religious conviction often go hand in hand. Americans are used to players, and teams, who pray and play, invoking Jesus before,...
View Article“Judaism” or “Jewishness”?
By Shalom Goldman, Duke University Earlier this month the pop star Madonna, accompanied by her ex-husband film director Guy Ritchie, celebrated her son Rocco’s Bar Mitzvah at the Kabbalah center in...
View ArticleReligion, State, and Soccer in Israel
by Shalom Goldman, Duke University Throughout the world sports fans can be roused to emotional extremes of enthusiasm, euphoria, and despair that seem almost religious in nature. The only other public...
View ArticleJohnny Cash Is In the Promised Land
By Shalom Goldman, Duke University Johnny Cash died on September 12, 2003, and as we approach the tenth anniversary of his death, his reputation as an American musical master seems only to grow. His...
View ArticleThe Real Mistake Behind “Mistaken Identity”
By Harleen Kaur This past Saturday, a man that I look up to and respect deeply was attacked while going for a walk with a friend in Harlem. I met Dr. Prabhjot Singh, a professor at Columbia University,...
View Article“And a Merry Christmas to You, Mr. Netanyahu!”
By Shalom Goldman, Duke University American Jews have long struggled with the Christmas Season. It may not be our holiday, many Jews have felt, but it is after all a great American holiday. How then...
View ArticleThe ExGay Deception and God’s Grace
By John J. Smid My heart is grieving today for all of the men and women who have spent the majority of their lives praying, seeking, and hoping for deliverance from their homosexual attractions. For...
View ArticleThe Scholars: An Alternative Story about Wendy Doniger and “The Hindus”
By Vamsee Juluri Imagine this: A book called The Women, written by a man who claims to be an expert on women. A book called The Poor, written by a millionaire who read a few books on poverty (written...
View ArticleSchism among the Dawoodi Bohras
By Shireen Hamza A schism has occurred in my religious community. Of the many reasons I could have imagined a Muslim, American college student might find herself socially boycotted by some of her...
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