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religious freedom
An illustrative photo of a man wearing a kippah. (Carsten Koall/Getty Images via JTA)
June 17, 2019, 1:34 pm
Quebec bans new public servants from wearing kippot, other religious symbols
Measure, which also includes Muslim veils, applies to police officers, judges, lawyers, prison guards and teachers; opponents say it impacts religious freedoms
By AFP and TOI staff
Jewish Home MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli speaks during a Knesset session on July 26, 2017. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
January 10, 2019, 12:26 pm
New Right MK under fire for saying Israel should abide by Jewish religious law
MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli recorded speaking about the ‘battle to bring Torah into every aspect of our lives’; opposition lawmakers assail party
By Michael Bachner
Members of the Reform movement hold Torah scrolls during a mixed men and women prayer at the public square in front of the Western Wall, in Jerusalem's Old City, November 16, 2017. (Noam Rivkin Fenton)
December 24, 2018, 8:16 pm
Poll: Israelis increasingly support non-Orthodox Jewry
New survey shows 57% of Israeli Jews believe Reform and Conservative movements should be able to offer their own life-cycle services
By Sam Sokol
Chabad of Towson (Google Streetview via JTA)
December 24, 2018, 7:45 am
Chabad House in Maryland files lawsuit to avert demolition
Ultra-Orthodox sect claims order to tear down 4,000-square-foot extension violates its constitutional right to free exercise of religion
By JTA
File: Iranian Christians attend Christmas mass at a church in Tehran, Iran, December 25, 2007. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
December 10, 2018, 11:25 pm
Iran said to arrest over 100 Christians in crackdown on conversions
While the Islamic Republic permits religious practice by its Christian minority, defection from Islam is a punishable offense
By TOI staff
Illustrative: A participant wears a kippah during a 'wear a kippah' gathering to protest against anti-Semitism in front of the Jewish Community House on April 25, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. (Carsten Koall/Getty Images via JTA)
October 11, 2018, 11:01 pm
New Quebec government plans to ban public servants from wearing kippas
Jewish groups assail move to limit religious symbols as ‘assault on fundamental freedoms,’ contravention of Canadian rights charters
By JTA
Conservative Jews praying at Robinson’s Arch in Jerusalem, July 30, 2014. (Robert Swift/ Flash90/ via JTA/ File)
September 7, 2018, 4:31 pm
Israelis want American Jewish help in promoting religious pluralism, study finds
Overwhelming numbers of Israelis want a reduction in religious restrictions imposed by the Orthodox state rabbinate, even as most prefer Orthodox practice
By Ben Sales
Illustrative photo of bearded religious soldiers. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
August 29, 2018, 2:36 pm
IDF criticized for forcing religious soldiers to shave their beards
Angry debate over how to determine who is observant after one soldier jailed, another punished for not knowing the week’s Torah reading
By Michael Bachner
Rabbi Michael Pincus, Senior Rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel, sits before the stained glass ark that was part of the synagogue’s original building. (Cathryn J. Prince/ Times of Israel)
June 30, 2018, 2:50 am
Connecticut Jews mark 175 years of religious freedom amid revived anti-Semitism
The progressive state was no bastion of tolerance for its first 200 years. Even today, bigotry is on the rise at twice the national rate
By Cathryn J. Prince
Reuven Bobby Weinmann
June 22, 2018, 7:33 pm
Reuven Bobby Weinmann
Has Reform Judaism jumped the shark?
At some point, the priority of complete personal autonomy in matters of religion stopped working for me
Pnina Peri berates man for putting on tefillin at Ben Gurion airport on May 28, 2018. (Screen capture: Facebook/Gad Kaufman)
May 30, 2018, 9:03 pm
Israeli woman disputes ‘distorted’ clip of airport rant over tefillin
Pnina Peri, an expert in multicultural theories, recorded yelling at rabbi and businessman; she says they told her ‘It’s too bad that Hitler didn’t kill you’
By TOI staff and JTA
Illustrative: In this photo from December 12, 2012, policemen are silhouetted against the Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
May 5, 2018, 10:54 pm
Egypt authorities arrest atheist blogger
Sherif Gaber nabbed; promoting atheism can be punished under a law that bans ‘insults to religions’
By AFP
In this June 7, 2017 photo, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback speaks during a news conference at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kansas. (AP/John Hanna)
January 25, 2018, 2:38 am
Brownback narrowly confirmed as US religious freedom envoy
Critics charge conservative Kansas governor, known for anti-LGBT stance, will only protect Christian minorities
By AP
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman leads a faction meeting of his Yisrael Beytenu party at the Knesset on October 23, 2017. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
November 29, 2017, 8:24 pm
Yisrael Beytenu says it will oppose new Shabbat mini-market bill
Party’s stance against legislation could threaten Netanyahu’s deal with ultra-Orthodox parties
By TOI staff
Moroccan Jews and Israeli Jewish tourists participate in Simchat Torah festivities at a synagogue in Marrakesh on October 12, 2017. (AFP PHOTO / FADEL SENNA)
November 18, 2017, 11:14 pm
Jews join other Moroccan minorities in call for religious freedom
Christians, Jews and Baha’is are less than one percent of Morocco’s population, which is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim
By AFP
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