haaretz: Court rules Judaism, not place of birth, is grounds for Israeli citizenship The Haifa District Court rejected an appeal submitted by an anti-coercion activist, Professor Uzzi Ornan, who sought to compel Israel’s Interior Ministry to recognize his citizenship based on the fact that he was born in Israel, rather than on the grounds that he was Jewish. The court ruled that Ornan is an Israeli citizen since he was born to a Jewish mother and therefore he himself is Jewish, which the law of return states is the source of his citizenship. It rejected his petition to be considered a citizen without a connection to Judaism. Read more. Compulsory religion. Hmm.

haaretz:

Court rules Judaism, not place of birth, is grounds for Israeli citizenship

The Haifa District Court rejected an appeal submitted by an anti-coercion activist, Professor Uzzi Ornan, who sought to compel Israel’s Interior Ministry to recognize his citizenship based on the fact that he was born in Israel, rather than on the grounds that he was Jewish.

The court ruled that Ornan is an Israeli citizen since he was born to a Jewish mother and therefore he himself is Jewish, which the law of return states is the source of his citizenship. It rejected his petition to be considered a citizen without a connection to Judaism. Read more.

Compulsory religion. Hmm.

haaretz: DNA links prove Jews are a ‘race,’ says genetics expert   Conjuring fear of Nazism and anti-Semitism, Jews recoil from the thought that Judaism might be a race, but medical geneticist Harry Ostrer insists the ‘biological basis of Jewishness’ cannot be ignored. Although he readily acknowledges the formative role of culture and environment, Ostrer believes that Jewish identity has multiple threads, including DNA. He offers a cogent, scientifically based review of the evidence, which serves as a model of scientific restraint. Read more.

haaretz:

DNA links prove Jews are a ‘race,’ says genetics expert

 

Conjuring fear of Nazism and anti-Semitism, Jews recoil from the thought that Judaism might be a race, but medical geneticist Harry Ostrer insists the ‘biological basis of Jewishness’ cannot be ignored.


Although he readily acknowledges the formative role of culture and environment, Ostrer believes that Jewish identity has multiple threads, including DNA. He offers a cogent, scientifically based review of the evidence, which serves as a model of scientific restraint. Read more.

haaretz:

Western Wall being cleared of notes ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover

israelfacts: Iron shoes are pictured on the bank of the Danube on January 27, 2012, marking the Holocaust in Hungary. Hundreds of Hungarian Jews had to leave their shoes on the bank before they were shot into the river by Hungarian militaimen during the World War II. The United Nations declared in 2005 the Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27 to commemorate the 6 million Jews and other victims murdered by the Nazis. (Getty Images)

israelfacts:

Iron shoes are pictured on the bank of the Danube on January 27, 2012, marking the Holocaust in Hungary. Hundreds of Hungarian Jews had to leave their shoes on the bank before they were shot into the river by Hungarian militaimen during the World War II. The United Nations declared in 2005 the Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27 to commemorate the 6 million Jews and other victims murdered by the Nazis. (Getty Images)

“The word flew by but I caught it, excited, as though it were the prize I was waiting for. Shouldn’t I have been standing there with an open heart? I was! I was! I swear! But here was a religious observance and I am not religious. I can’t help but litigate, feel contrary. Let’s call it a form of engagement. When I heard it I responded like a lepidopterist leaping with his net, and brought back the prized species, the word “us.”
Thomas Beller’s meditation on being an atheistic Jew is a deep read no matter what one’s religion. (via moorehn)
coolchicksfromhistory: Praying on the Williamsburg Bridge, NYC Rosh Hashanah 1909 It is customary on Rosh Hashanah to pray near naturally flowing water, symbolically casting away your sins.  Sometimes pebbles or small pieces of bread are thrown.

coolchicksfromhistory:

Praying on the Williamsburg Bridge, NYC

Rosh Hashanah 1909

It is customary on Rosh Hashanah to pray near naturally flowing water, symbolically casting away your sins.  Sometimes pebbles or small pieces of bread are thrown.