David I. Klein
David I. Klein is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by David I. Klein
As Turkey’s Christians celebrate a new church, religious minorities still call for respect
By David I. Klein — October 27, 2023
ISTANBUL (RNS) — Though he has allowed new houses of worship to be built and old ones to be reopened, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan needs to do more, observers say, to restore respect for a truly pluralistic society as much as for church property.
Ukrainian Parliament moves to bar Russian-linked church from operating in the country
By David I. Klein — October 19, 2023
(RNS) — Draft law 8371, which requires another vote before moving to the president’s desk, would give Ukrainian authorities power to examine the connection of religious groups in Ukraine to the Russian Federation and to ban those whose leadership is outside of Ukraine.
Russian Orthodox Church appoints Putin’s spiritual adviser metropolitan of Crimea
By David I. Klein — October 16, 2023
(RNS) — In March, Metropolitan Tikhon was seen at Putin's side as the president made his first visit to Crimea since full-scale war broke out between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022.
In secular Tel Aviv, restaurants go kosher to support the war effort
By David I. Klein — October 13, 2023
(RNS) — 'We felt we needed to do something, and what we know how to do is cook', said Yuval Ben Neriah, the owner of Taizu, a chic Asian-fusion restaurant in downtown Tel Aviv.
Orthodox Jews emerged from holiday isolation to hear news of Hamas’ assault
By David I. Klein — October 10, 2023
(RNS) — Sequestered by bans on devices during holy days, many Orthodox Jews struggled to get news about the Hamas attacks.
Fate of historic Sofia church unclear as Bulgaria accuses abbot of spying for Russia
By David I. Klein — October 4, 2023
(RNS) — After three Russian Orthodox Church priests were expelled from Bulgaria on charges of espionage last month, their former church is at the center of a diplomatic rift between the Russian and Bulgarian governments and an ecclesiastical one between the two countries’ Orthodox churches.
Greek court: Orthodox students cannot be exempted from religion classes
By David I. Klein — September 26, 2023
ISTANBUL (RNS) — Even exemptions in which non-Orthodox Christian students state their beliefs, the Greek Council of State ruled, did not violate human rights or European Union privacy laws.
28 years after genocide, Bosniak Muslims mourn their dead but celebrate a return of Islamic life to Srebrenica
By David I. Klein — July 13, 2023
SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (RNS) — Though the area was depopulated of Muslims by the genocide, many survivors and their children have come back.
The ‘problem’ of where ancient Jerusalem was built gets thornier
By David I. Klein — July 6, 2023
(RNS) — A new find near the Temple Mount suggests that the ‘City of David’ was more likely a suburb of ancient Jerusalem.
In church remains, German archaeologists discover the truth of ‘Atlantis of the North Sea’
By David I. Klein — June 22, 2023
(RNS) — After a century, a legendary North Frisian city that has lived in church sermons, chronicles and art across the region for six centuries has been found.
After calendar change, many in Ukraine are looking forward to a new Christmas
By David I. Klein — June 16, 2023
(RNS) — The Orthodox Church of Ukraine has further cemented its split from the Russian counterpart it used to be a part of by adopting a new liturgical calendar.
In Morocco, conference brings together rabbis from three continents
By David I. Klein — May 22, 2023
(RNS) — Dozens of rabbis affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement gathered in Casablanca, Morocco, last week for a conference aimed at Chabad leaders serving small Jewish communities across Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
A newly identified document gives insight into the mind of Maimonides
By David I. Klein — May 19, 2023
(RNS) — The 900-year-old scrap of paper was among the hundreds of thousands of fragments collected from the Cairo Genizah, a trove of Jewish writings held in a Cairo synagogue that collectively chronicles nearly two millennia of Jewish life in Egypt.
Six dead after gunman attacks Jewish pilgrimage site in Tunisia
By David I. Klein — May 10, 2023
(RNS) — The attack came as thousands of Jews had traveled to the island of Djerba for an annual pilgrimage to El Ghriba synagogue, the oldest in Africa.
Half a century since its closure, Turkey’s Orthodox Christians still pine for their seminary
By David I. Klein — December 14, 2021
(RNS) — The Halki seminary, whose graduates include at least two saints, seven patriarchs, seven archbishops and six metropolitans, has become an international bargaining chip.
