Yonat Shimron
Yonat Shimron is an RNS National Reporter and Senior Editor.
All Stories by Yonat Shimron
A new Anne Frank Center aims to reshape racism through Holocaust education
By Yonat Shimron — September 15, 2021
COLUMBIA, S.C. (RNS) — The German-Dutch diarist is being memorialized in the heart of the South as part of an educational effort to stem not only hatred of Jews, but bigotry, discrimination and racism more broadly.
Blocked from serving their church, Catholic women push for female deacons
By Yonat Shimron — September 14, 2021
(RNS) — There is growing momentum to restore women to the diaconate, which would allow women to serve as Catholic chaplains in prisons, hospitals and other settings.
‘The story is still unfolding’: 10 Americans on how 9/11 changed their faith lives
By Yonat Shimron and Kathryn Post — September 10, 2021
(RNS) — The Sept. 11 attacks changed many Americans’ faith communities and spiritual lives as much as it did how we see our world and one another.
An American Jew turned Hindu holy woman tells her story
By Yonat Shimron — September 9, 2021
(RNS) — Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati quit her Ph.D. program, divorced her husband, moved to India and became a Hindu renunciate. In her new memoir she reveals a past life of sex abuse and bulimia.
‘Unvaccinated people die!’ declare Orthodox rabbis in new video ad
By Yonat Shimron — September 3, 2021
(RNS) — Jewish Americans overall are the most likely US religious group to have received a vaccine. But vaccine hesitancy is far higher among some Orthodox Jews.
This rabbinical school is moving into a Catholic university
By Yonat Shimron — September 2, 2021
(RNS) — ‘There was a practical need and a philosophical proximity,’ said Rabbi Mel Gottlieb, president of the Academy for Jewish Religion California, which will move to the campus of Loyola Marymount University next month.
Israel’s rabbinate asks Pope Francis to explain comments about Judaism
By Yonat Shimron — August 26, 2021
(RNS) — In a homily on Aug. 11, the pope said the Torah does not offer life, which only belief in Jesus can fulfill.
Amid a boom of plus-sized churches, one Catholic church wants to keep it small
By Yonat Shimron — August 26, 2021
CARY, N.C. (RNS) — The explosive growth of Catholicism in the Diocese of Raleigh has led to building massive churches. One church has been fighting to keep things small.
Franklin Graham calls for a day of prayer for people of Afghanistan
By Yonat Shimron — August 20, 2021
(RNS) — Graham has been sharply critical of President Biden’s pullout from Afghanistan, saying, "the blood of this nation' will be on his hands."
How Orthodox Jews became a streaming-TV hit
By Yonat Shimron — August 20, 2021
(RNS) — Streaming services have begun to take a chance on programs about Haredi Jews, but scholars say those narratives are nothing new.
Synagogues hoped to be in person this year. Now they’re not so sure.
By Yonat Shimron — August 18, 2021
(RNS) — A flood of new cases fueled by the highly contagious delta variant is putting increased pressure on synagogue leaders to scale back High Holy Days services.
New book plumbs the role of the Herods in forming early Jewish, Christian views
By Yonat Shimron — August 17, 2021
(RNS) — In his book “The Herods: Murder, Politics, and the Art of Succession,” Bruce Chilton, a professor of religion at Bard College, places the dynastic family that ruled Judea and Israel for the Romans front and center.
Study: Jews of color love Judaism but often experience racism in Jewish settings
By Yonat Shimron — August 12, 2021
(RNS) — The study was intended to foreground the racial diversity of American Jews, a group long assumed to be overwhelmingly white, and to give voice to the experiences of Jews of other races.
Infrastructure bill includes energy efficiency grants for houses of worship
By Yonat Shimron — August 11, 2021
(RNS) — Deferred maintenance at aging sanctuaries has become an ever-increasing burden. A $50 million pilot program would award grants of up to $200,000 for energy efficiency.
Christian ethicist Donald W. Shriver Jr., who called America to repent of racism, dies
By Yonat Shimron — August 9, 2021
(RNS) — The former president of Union Theological Seminary in New York, Shriver believed public repentance was the only hope for 'a future less evil than our pasts.'
