Avi Shafran
Avi Shafran is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Avi Shafran

Queen Vashti is not the feminist symbol many want her to be
By Avi Shafran — March 6, 2023
(RNS) — It’s sad to see a carefully preserved Jewish historical tradition sacrificed on the altar of a contemporary ism.

Time to remember more than one atrocity? A defense of Holocaust Remembrance Day
By Avi Shafran — February 1, 2023
(RNS) — There’s a reason we take a special day to remember the Holocaust.

Why Israel’s Orthodox Jewish parties want to narrow the country’s ‘Law of Return’
By Avi Shafran — January 11, 2023
(RNS) — The Orthodox parties see the law as a recipe for increased intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews.

Signs invited Jews to visit the Temple Mount. Why Israel’s chief rabbi forbade them.
By Avi Shafran — December 20, 2022
(RNS) — Jewish nationalists bent on affirming the Jewish connection to the Mount have increasingly visited the site.

Israel’s Haredi parties support Netanyahu again, but their politics aren’t what you think
By Avi Shafran — November 14, 2022
(RNS) — The 'ultra-Orthodox' Shas and United Torah Judaism parties aren't political hardliners, or very political at all.

My evangelical Sukkot saviors
By Avi Shafran — October 9, 2022
(RNS) — Every year as the Jewish holiday comes around, I remember Anthony.

What The New York Times’ story on Hasidic schools misses
By Avi Shafran — September 13, 2022
(RNS) — The vast majority of Hasidic parents and students cherish the education offered by their yeshivas.

Expansions on euthanasia should be sounding alarm bells for us all
By Avi Shafran — July 27, 2022
(RNS) — ‘In our utilitarian and utopian zeal, the right to die today may become the duty to die tomorrow,’ warns Toronto physician Mark D’Souza.

Abortion is not a ‘Jewish value’ for all Jews
By Avi Shafran — July 13, 2022
(RNS) — The media has deposited in the public sphere that all of Judaism embraces ‘abortion rights.’

The church-state divide, never a wall, isn’t about to fall
By Avi Shafran — June 29, 2022
(RNS) — The court long ago made clear the line of separation ‘is a blurred, indistinct, and variable barrier.’

The Jewish way to celebrate Jerusalem Day
By Avi Shafran — June 1, 2022
(RNS) — We are enjoined by our Jewish faith not to goad or incite other peoples or religions.

Disinviting Alice Walker is not cancel culture
By Avi Shafran — April 4, 2022
(RNS) — We cannot shrug at antisemitic conspiracy theories — especially coming from a celebrated human rights advocate.

The joys and ironies of Purim echo through history
By Avi Shafran — March 16, 2022
(RNS) — On Purim, Jews celebrate having overcoming their darkest hours.

We should hire Deborah Lipstadt to combat antisemitism, not punish her for doing so
By Avi Shafran — January 19, 2022
(RNS) — Congress appears to be holding up an antisemitism watchdog’s confirmation for pointing out antisemitism.

What to give your Jewish neighbors for Christmas
By Avi Shafran — December 16, 2021
(RNS) — Fighting antisemitism starts with the people you live and work with.
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