WebProNews

Tag: judaism

  • Jenna Jameson: Former Porn Star Says She Has Found God and Judaism

    Jenna Jameson says she has found God and will be converting to Judaism.

    The former porn star has revealed that she is converting from Catholicism to Judaism in order to marry and espouse the religious traditions of her Israeli financé Lior Britton.

    In preparation for her marriage to Britton, Jenna Jameson has been whipping up some Jewish dishes, including challah, a type of bread typically used by Jews during festival meals.

    Jenna Jameson is also embracing the greetings of her adopted country by signing off on tweets with “Shabbat Shalom” to fans.

    According to Fox 411, Jenna Jameson’s conversion is quite surprising considering how outspoken Jameson has been in the past about her Catholic faith.

    Such a successful Shabbat! Beautiful family and friends! #luckygirl

    A photo posted by Jenna Jameson (@jennacantlose) on

    “I’m very religious,” she told Larry King in 2013. “I think that we’ve come a long way religiously. I don’t think that you have to take the Bible literally… And I love being able to teach my children what it means to just believe and have the strength of faith… I’ve always been extremely Catholic. My father was Catholic, and he brought me up that way.”

  • Pope Francis Stresses Peace During Holy Land Visit

    Monday wrapped up the end of an arduous, three day trip to the Holy Land for Pope Francis, only the fourth such trip by a pope since the inception of the Catholic church some 2,000 years ago.

    Before embarking on his historic journey, Pope Francis and the Vatican insisted that the purpose of the journey was strictly religious, with the main goal being the meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew of the Orthodox Church, a meeting marking the 50th anniversary of the first meeting between a Catholic pope and Orthodox patriarch since the Great Schism in 1054 CE. Pope Francis even hearkened back to the 1964 meeting and Pope Paul VI’s reputation as the “pilgrim Pope” in his latest tweet:

    While creating better ties between the Catholic and Orthodox churches was perhaps the stated purpose of the Pope’s visit to the Holy Land, the Argentinian-born leader of the Catholic Church was able to accomplish much more.

    The Pope’s visit could have started on rocky ground as he decided to fly directly into Bethlehem, a Palestinian city, instead of heading to Israel first. Pope Francis only complicated matters further by referring to the “state of Palestine”, giving credence to the UN upgrade of Palestine to non-member observer state status in 2012, and by also making an impromptu stop at the separation wall constructed by Israel along the West Bank, taking a moment to pray for an end to the violence which has surrounded the Holy Land for the past two centuries.

    While the first half of the Pope’s ventures were concentrated on paying homage to the plight of the Palestinian state, Francis spent the second half of his visit attending to the Israeli aspect of the equation.

    The day started with Pope Francis visiting the third holiest place in the Islamic world, the Dome of the Rock. From there, the Pope continued his visit of religious intersectionality by praying at the Western Wall, the holiest place for Jews to gather and pray. Holding to Jewish tradition of placing a note in the crack of the wall, Pope Francis left behind a Spanish version of the “Our Father” prayer.

    Francis’s next stop, while not the most religiously significant, was perhaps the most politically important gesture of his three-day trip. When Theodor Herzl went to Pope Pius X in 1904 to ask for assistance in the creation of the Israeli state, he was adamantly denied, with Pius even insisting that the remaining Jews convert to Christianity.

    To atone for such a political insult with long-lasting implications, Pope Francis spent much time at the Mount Herzl cemetery, becoming the first Pope to lay a wreath on Theodor Herzl’s grave. Pope Francis would also lay a wreath, composed of yellow and white flowers, in the Hall of Remembrance at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. While at the memorial, Pope Francis had a message for the world concerning the events of the Holocaust: “Never again, Lord, never again! Here we are, Lord, shamed by what man — created in your own image and likeness — was capable of doing.”

    And if the political implications of Pope Francis’s trip were not evident enough, he also invited both the President of Israel, Shimon Peres, and the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, to the Vatican for all three gentlemen to pray for peace. Both presidents eagerly accepted the invitation.

    In a time with ever-rising tensions and declining Christian and Catholic populations, the Pope’s visit could not have been more important. Perhaps Pope Francis’s calming nature and egalitarian principles will be the first to appeal to an area which has been plagued by power grabs for centuries.

    Image via YouTube

  • Jerusalem Riot Disbanded by Israeli Police

    Israeli police mobilized at a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem Wednesday, employing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a riotous protest formed by Palestinian Muslims, who were attempting to block Jews from entering the compound.

    Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said that the unruly mob threw stones and firecrackers from atop the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. To Muslims, The Temple Mount is known as the “Noble Sanctuary” and is regarded as Islam’s third-holiest site. Israel captured the compound along with the rest of east Jerusalem from Jordan during a 1967 war, and skirmishes still occur at the site.

    Jews typically worship at the Western Wall, and while Israel allows them to climb the Temple Mount for visits, they aren’t permitted to pray at the site. The riot started when some Islamic worshippers barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque to “defend” the site from Jewish groups, according to Sheikh Azzam Tamimi, head of the Waqf, the Islamic authority that manages the Temple Mount. Jewish pilgrimages at times foster rumors that Israel is planning to take over the site.

    Here is some raw footage of the situation in Jerusalem as it escalated:

    Tamimi commented that roughly 30 people suffered from tear gas inhalation or had been hit by rubber-coated bullets, though none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.

    Jews historically gather at the Western Wall during the Passover holiday, and police restricted access to the adjacent Temple Mount after Wednesday’s clash. Jews see the compound as the site where the two biblical Jewish Temples stood, and believe that one day a third Temple will be constructed. Muslims on the other hand believe that the golden dome of the shrine, called Dome of the Rock, holds the rock where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. The site has been the center of religious and territorial conflict between Israel and its surrounding Arab neighbors.

    Tensions in the area had already been rising due to the recent shooting of an Israeli police officer who was en route to celebrate the Passover holiday with his family in the West Bank.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Anne Frank Literature: 265 Books Destroyed in Tokyo

    Since January, a vandal has been making the rounds, ripping pages out of Anne Frank books in libraries across Tokyo, Japan.

    Police investigators have counted a total of 265 damaged books.

    One of the most renowned, historical books of the Holocaust victim includes The Diary of a Young Girl, which details a firsthand account of Anne Frank’s experience.

    Evidence has shown that dozen of pages were ripped out of the book. Investigators believe that the books may have been searched in the librarian database.

    One library has now relocated their copies in a safe area behind the counter of the checkout area.

    There is reportedly no motive behind the vandalism, or is there?(image)

    The Associated Press implied that the former relationship between Germany and Japan could be the reason why the “paper-reaper” is targeting Anne Frank literature.

    Japan and Nazi Germany were allies in World War II, and though Holocaust denial has occurred in Japan at times, the motive for damaging the Anne Frank books is unclear. 

    According to BBC News, Japan has no history of anti-Semitism. Associate Dean Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which is a Jewish rights organization, believes otherwise.

    “The geographic scope of these incidents strongly suggest an organized effort to denigrate the memory of the most famous of the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis in the World War Two Holocaust,” he told BBC.

    Literature about Anne Frank has been popular among the Japanese community for years. Historians from Israel have confirmed that young adults in Japan are more receptive towards the Anne Frank story than any other age group.

    The The Diary of a Young Girl was first translated in 1952 and became a bestseller in Japan a year later. The country reportedly ranks second to the United States the number of copies sold.

    Images via YouTube

  • Thanksgivukkah: When America and Judaism Collide

    For most Americans, Hanukkah is the Jewish equivalent of the Christian Christmas. It makes sense, right? Hanukkah usually falls around the same time as Christmas, presents are exchanged during each, there are certain dietary requirements/needs/wants…

    What most Americans don’t realize, though, is that Hanukkah has no associations with Christmas. Hanukkah is a celebration of the Maccabees revolt against the Greeks in the 2nd century B.C., an event which liberated the Jews from oppression for the first time in many years. In fact, Boston marketing specialist, Dana Gitell, believes that there are great parallels between the story of the Jews and the Pilgrims: “There are amazing similarities between the Pilgrims’ quest for religious freedom and what the Maccabees were fighting for. This a great opportunity for Jewish Americans to celebrate this country and for everyone to acknowledge the greatness of our shared religious freedoms.”

    This is the first time the two holidays have fallen on the same date since 1888 (at least since Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday), and it may be the last time this mash-up happens until the year 79,043, according to astrophysics researchers.

    The reason for the discrepancy in the date of Hanukkah has to do with the fact that the Hebrew calendar is different than the Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian calendar is solar-based, and so we add one day every 4 years to make up with the revolutionary discrepancies. The Hebrew calendar, however, is lunar-based. As such, every calendar year has 12 months of 29 or 30 days. This results in an extra month being added to the calendar in 7 of every 19 years. Jews follow a lunar calendar to ensure that their seasonal feasts are always seasonally appropriate.

    Thanksgivukkah has shown much promise thus far. The unique collision of cultures has brought the creative spirit back to the holidays, and many people are taking advantage of the once in a lifetime business and culinary opportunities.

    A 9 year old boy in New York has invented the Menurkey, a turkey-shaped Menorah. T-shirts in a mock-Woodstock fashion have been crafted which feature a turkey on a guitar-menorah and the phrase “8 Days of Light, Liberty, and Latkes.” There has even been a song produced entitled “The Ballad of Thanksgivukkah.”

    Thanksgivukkah also presents opportunities for all the foodies here in the United States. BuzzFeed pulled its staff together to create their own version of a Thanksgivukkah feast, the most appealing item perhaps being the sweet potato bourbon noodle kugel (it’s even fun to say, dammit).

    Kutsher’s Tribeca, a modern Jewish-American bistro, is taking full-advantage of an opportunity which seems to be created just for them. The restaurant has created a full three-course Thanksgiving dinner, which includes such items as sweet potato latkes topped with melted marshmallows, a Jewish donut filled with Cranberry sauce, and a turkey with a chocolate mole sauce created from Hanukkah gelt.

    All of these amazingly ingenious cultural mash-ups makes one wonder what other holiday combinations could create such magical results: Chrisdepedence Day, where we light fireworks instead of stringing Christmas lights? Or perhaps Hallotine’s Day, where people in relationships give candy to those lonely souls in the world? Let us know your thoughts in the Comment section below.

    Image via Facebook

  • Hasidic Students Use Facebook, Get Slapped With $100 Fine

    Facebook can certainly become a breeding ground for impropriety quicker than you can even spell “impropri–” but those lowbrow kicks usually don’t cost you anything. If you happen to attend an all-girl Hasidic school in a particular Brooklyn neighborhood, though, checking in on the site could land you a fine of one hundred cool ones.

    Beis Rivkah High School in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, does not approve of the use of Facebook by its female students and, in order to get its disapproval across, fined 33 different students $100 for using the site. But why’s the social networking site so severely frowned upon by the school? According to the New York Daily News, the school’s head administrator and issuer of fines Rabbi Benzion Stock said, “It’s not a modest thing for a Jewish girl — or man or woman or student or father to be on. There is a lack of privacy and dignity.”

    Well, I don’t think anybody could really argue with that – after all, “lack of privacy and dignity” might as well be the motto sewn on the coat of arms for Facebook.

    The school banned the site several years ago and this year went so far as to require every student in the school to sign a formal contract stating that they would not use the site. Stock emphasized the meaning of the contract: “We have an eternal ban. A ban from whenever it started.”

    There is a rainbow at the end of this tear-rained road, though: the $100 will be returned to each penalized student at the end of the school year.

    No word on when the Facebook could be returned, but inferring from Rabbi Stock’s “eternal” measure of the ban, I don’t think eternity has an expiration date. Sorry, kids.

    [Via MSNBC.]