“Stuck in Between”: A Druze Love Story
June 10, 2014
HAIFA – One day three years ago, Feras Anteer and Rabaa Swaid met on the campus of the University of Haifa. He had been visiting the university to explore its Master’s programs and overheard her ...
“Song of Songs” Revisited: Orthodox Women Struggle with the Ancient Text
June 10, 2014
JERUSALEM – The Song of Songs, the Biblical text attributed to King Solomon, has long been a source of controversy. Because of its sexual nature and sensual imagery, the ancient rabbis debated whether or not ...
Looking for Love in One of the World’s Tiniest Religions
June 6, 2014
CHERRY HILL, NJ — “It’s a question people ask. I’ve been asked it myself. Are you only marrying this person because he happens to be Druze?” Fatin Harfouch tells me from her armchair in the ...
Religious and Political Divisions along the banks of the jordan
June 4, 2014
ON THE BANKS OF JORDAN RIVER, ISRAEL — The first thing most pilgrims to the Qasr al-Yahud baptismal site notice are the gilded crosses atop the Orthodox Church of John the Baptist across the river ...
A Tale of Two Gay Cities
May 14, 2014
TEL AVIV — Under the relentless Mediterranean sun, a collection of rainbow flags thrash in the ocean breeze along a strip of oceanfront in Tel Aviv known as Hilton Beach.
Holy Land Christians hope Pope might revive peace talks
May 13, 2014
BETHLEHEM — Some are hoping that a scheduled visit by Pope Francis to the Holy Land in May will breathe new life into the peace process.
Finding refuge in Christ: African churches of Tel Aviv
May 12, 2014
TEL AVIV — On Saturday mornings, the thunderous sounds of singing can be heard from the Evangelical and Pentecostal churches on Levanda Street, which is known locally as Church row.
99 years after the genocide and the wounds are still fresh
May 12, 2014
JERUSALEM — Every April, Armenian Christians around the world remember the lives of the more than 1 million Armenians who were annihilated by the Ottoman government during World War I.
A long distance Hindu-Jewish love story
May 12, 2014
NEW YORK — Last April, Josh watched his wife Priya convert to Judaism in a Manhattan synagogue. He was Jewish, she was Hindu. They had been married for two months.
There are already Orthodox Jews in the IDF, so why is Israel up in arms?
May 12, 2014
The Equal Service Bill made it illegal for yeshiva students to dodge the national army draft, and the ultra-Orthodox were up in arms.