Despite the primacy of Christmas in American culture, the visibility of Hanukkah in pop culture reminds Jews that they have their own holiday in which they can take pride.
In the United States, Hanukkah has gained much significance.
Tercer Ojo Photography/Shutterstock.com
Hanukkah is ranked one of Judaism’s minor festivals, but its popularity in the US has a lot to do with America’s Jews trying to fight assimilation into a culture that welcomed them.
Two women hug before placing flowers at the Star of David memorial in front of the Tree of Life Synagogue, two days after a mass shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Jared Wickerham/AAP
Loren Jacobs’s prayer for victims of the Tree of Life congregation offended many Jews. Jacobs is part of a group called Jews for Jesus – a messianic Jewish organization with a complicated history.
Prayers outside the Tree of Life synagogue.
Reuters/Cathal McNaughton
A national survey of over 1,300 congregations found that religious leaders struggle to balance security concerns with carrying out a mission to be open to the communities they serve.
A makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue.
REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton
The idea of welcoming the stranger is central to Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Today, that engenders a responsibility to shield refugees and other immigrants from violence and oppression.
A conservator works with a portion of the Dead Sea Scrolls containing Psalm 145 at The Franklin Institute, in Philadelphia.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
Thousands of Jewish immigrants and their children changed their names in America – but not at Ellis Island. The reasons are complicated and part of the Jewish struggle with their identity in America.
As Israel approaches the 70th anniversary of its establishment, many older American Jews will be celebrating. Many younger ones will wonder whether the Jewish state is something to celebrate at all.
Jesus and Mary, as portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara in Mary Magdalene.
Transmission Films
Mary Magdelene film props up a view of Judaism as archaic, unchanging and out of date.
Puzzle: fragments of 2,000-year-old scrolls before reassembly.
Shay Halevi, Israel Antiquities Authority, The Leon Levy Library of the Dead Sea Scrolls