Sam Kestenbaum is a contributing editor and former staff writer for the Forward. Before this, he worked for The New York Times and newsrooms in Sana, Ramallah and Beijing. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum and on Instagram at @skestenbaum.
Could adding an emoji to that text message make you idolatrous? Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, a France-born Israeli cleric, said that the popular praying hands digital emoji is not kosher — and that Jews should beware, as they may be committing avodah zarah, or “foreign worship,” one of the worst sins in Judaism. “The source is…
An Israeli couple calling themselves Messianic Jews was barred from marrying in a Jewish religious ceremony in Israel because they are considered Christians, a rabbinical court ruled. It was the first time an Israeli rabbinical court was forced to grapple with the issue of the status of Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah,…
As the historic Hurricane Harvey lingered over Houston this week like the biblical flood, Jewish and evangelical leaders found common ground in a moment of national crisis as both beseeched God to intercede on their behalf — literally. Two major Orthodox religious organizations called on followers to support the flood victims in Houston. They could…
In Nigeria, there are mounting calls to oust the Igbo population from the north of the country — and threats of violence if they don’t comply. Now, a group of United Nations experts have “grave concern” about the possibility of ethnic bloodshed. This summer, an ultimatum and accompanying social media campaign in the northern Hausa…
A linguist at the University of Amsterdam is studying the online community of the “alt-right” by trawling through billions of comments on Reddit — and found that the loosely-organized white nationalist movement is growing in strength. “We’re witnessing the radicalization of young white men,” Tim Squirrell, a researcher at the Alt-Right Open Intelligence Initiative, wrote…
The internet crackdown on white supremacists continues, with the prominent neo-Nazi website Stormfront shuttering this weekend. Stormfront.org’s domain provider Network Solutions LLC has placed a hold on the site. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that the site’s closure comes after the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law wrote a letter arguing that Stormfront was…
Ousted White House aide Steve Bannon is slated to speak at the Zionist Organization of America dinner in November. ZOA president Morton Klein told the Atlantic that Bannon is on the lineup to speak at the November 12 event in New York. “All I can tell you is Steve Bannon is going to be at…
In evangelical circles, anything that evokes Jewish roots carry cachet. Donning Hebrew prayer shawls, blowing shofars, avowing love and unwavering support for Israel — all are in vogue, and have been for years. If you can also claim some “ethnic Jewish” heritage? Even better. A number of high-profile evangelical televangelists, authors and speakers tout Jewish…
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