Canaan Lidor

British Home Secretary Suella Braverman speaks at the annual Community Security Trust fundraising dinner in London, UK, on March 29, 2023. (CST)

March 30, 2023, 9:35 pm

UK cabinet minister blasts major Jewish group for criticizing immigration policy

Home Secretary Suella Braverman warns Board of Deputies against veering into partisanship while announcing new security funding

By Canaan Lidor

Locals handing out snacks and water to protesters against Israel's judicial overhaul on March 23, in Bnei Brak, Israel. (Haim Uzan)

March 30, 2023, 1:46 pm

Bnei Brak presents: How to turn a tense anti-overhaul rally into a ‘cholent party’

A grassroots charm offensive in the predominantly ultra-Orthodox city had locals handing out treats to thousands of protesting out-of-towners

By Canaan Lidor

Tourists stand near a disputed Wassily Kandinsky painting at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, July 10, 2019. (Canaan Lidor)

March 29, 2023, 3:29 pm

Art in spotlight as 9 countries’ Holocaust envoys hold 1st gathering on restitution

US delegate Ellen Germain say conference meant to ensure governments are building on each other’s experience

By Canaan Lidor

Yosef Mendelevitch visiting St. Petersburg Airport, November 30, 2014. (Canaan Lidor)

March 28, 2023, 10:27 pm

Judicial overhaul divides ex-Prisoners of Zion from former Soviet Union

Groups on both sides of the issue have published open letters making arguments grounded in their experiences behind the Iron Curtain

By Canaan Lidor

Rick Sopher and his wife Carol planting a date palm in Medina (Courtesy of the Sophers and the Jewish Chronicle)

March 27, 2023, 7:00 pm

Jews plant palm trees in Medina, Saudi Arabia, in rare interfaith gesture

A local landowner invited a British delegation to add to his grove, in what some view as a sign of growing religious openness

By Canaan Lidor

Illustrative. Pizza. (Yossi Zamir/Flash90)

March 26, 2023, 11:31 pm

Activists plan Passover ‘pizza party’ to protest hospital hametz law

Legislation would give hospital directors the power to ban leavened products from their institutions during the week-long holiday

By Canaan Lidor

A woman watches anti-overhaul protesters in Or Akiva, Israel on March 26, 2023. (Canaan Lidor)

March 26, 2023, 10:34 pm

In Or Akiva, social strife driving overhaul conflict rises to the surface

The impoverished and largely Sephardic town, eclipsed by its wealthy neighbor Caesarea, has become a flashpoint for violence by right-wing demonstrators

By Canaan Lidor

Rabbi Shlomo Dov Rosen of the Yakar Jerusalem Center attends a prayer for unity near Knesset in Jerusalem on March 22, 2023. (Canaan Lidor)

March 23, 2023, 3:19 pm

Between the court and the Knesset, overhaul critics and advocates pray for unity

Songs replace speeches at an unusual rally focused on healing the deepening political and societal rift

By Canaan Lidor

Jewish Agency Chairman Doron Almog speaks to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem on February 23, 2023. (Amit Elkayam/Conference of Presidents)

March 23, 2023, 4:29 am

Judicial overhaul can’t trump civil war, Jewish Agency and its US backers tell PM

Major US Jewish organizations warn of ‘serious polarization among Israel-loving Jews around the globe’ as Netanyahu government presses ahead with radical plans for judiciary

By Canaan Lidor

Dutch Jews express solidarity with Israel at a rally in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on May 16, 2021. (Canaan Lidor)

March 22, 2023, 2:18 pm

In new poll, 63% of Israeli Jews call Diaspora coreligionists ‘brethren’

The survey, conducted during protests over the government’s judicial overhaul, shows fraternity at a 6-year high

By Canaan Lidor

Rabbi David Stav, cofounder and chairman of the Tzohar rabbinical organization. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash90)

March 22, 2023, 12:25 am

Leading rabbi calls for public day of fasting to heal overhaul discord

Tzohar founder Rabbi David Stav issues plea for prayers and refraining from food Wednesday ‘so our leaders find the way to continue this tremendous project — the State of Israel’

By Canaan Lidor

View of the HaEmek Medical Center in Afula, Israel on February 12, 2018. (Flash90/ File)

March 20, 2023, 9:23 pm

Bill to let hospitals ban leavened bread over Passover cleared for final readings

Legislation’s authors note proposal doesn’t include enforcement measures, as opposition lawmakers denounce so-called hametz law as an assault on civil liberties

By Canaan Lidor

The cover of the new book by Rabbi Haviva Ner-David and Rachel Stock Spilker. (Bedazzled Ink Publishing)

March 20, 2023, 2:04 pm

Mysterious mikveh fish helps educate kids about ritual bath

New children’s book harnesses childish curiosity and wonderment to expose very young readers to the deeper aspects of the Jewish purification ritual

By Canaan Lidor

Jonny Daniels stands beside the Israeli and Polish flags atop a residential building overlooking what used to be the Warsaw Ghetto in Warsaw, Poland on March 19. (From the Depths)

March 19, 2023, 7:56 pm

Ahead of ghetto uprising anniversary, Polish and Israeli flags again fly over Warsaw

Holocaust commemoration group places the banners atop a roof as an homage to a famous act of defiance during the revolt 80 years ago

By Canaan Lidor

Illustrative: Students at the Yeshivat Maharat liberal Orthodox seminary for women. (Chavie Lieber/Times of Israel)

March 17, 2023, 2:12 am

67% of young US Jews say ‘ideal rabbi’ could better connect them to Jewish identity

Most survey respondents say having a relationship with a rabbi important, half want to be more connected to Judaism

By Canaan Lidor