Avi Shafran
Avi Shafran is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Avi Shafran
The UN’s ‘memories’ of antisemitic terrorism are painfully faulty
By Avi Shafran — August 26, 2024
(RNS) — A tribute to the victims of terrorism at the world body's New York headquarters fails to mention attacks on Jews.
Why Christian adoption agencies should have the right to deny Jewish couples
By Avi Shafran — August 7, 2024
(RNS) — Some see Christian nationalism. But really, these laws are an attempt to preserve religious freedom.
The Jewish summer weeks of mourning
By Avi Shafran — June 24, 2024
(RNS) — Two mid-summer Jewish holidays bookend a period of bereavement.
How an inspired Orthodox rabbi used arranged marriage to curb Tay-Sachs disease
By Avi Shafran — May 21, 2024
(RNS) — Tragedy can be a potential nurturer of blessing.
The countercultural joys of a big family
By Avi Shafran — May 2, 2024
(RNS) — Outsiders often look upon large Orthodox Jewish families with scorn, others with pity.
Safeguarding Israel with Torah study
By Avi Shafran — March 12, 2024
(RNS) — The question of Haredi conscription is not a matter of political privilege but religious liberty.
The ‘death’ of the brain should not decide the fate of the body
By Avi Shafran — February 15, 2024
(RNS) — What is really driving the decision to say a life is over?
Yes, Biden and Trump are old. Jewish teaching says that can be a good thing.
By Avi Shafran — January 29, 2024
(RNS) — Look what happened when Judean King Rehoboam shunned the advice of the court elders.
Loaded words can end with loaded guns
By Avi Shafran — December 12, 2023
(RNS) — ‘Genocide,’ ‘apartheid’ and ‘terrorism’ are being loosely employed — and grossly misused.
Painting asylum-seekers as potential threats is an old, cynical game
By Avi Shafran — September 13, 2023
(RNS) — Fears of malefactors entering the U.S. among legitimate asylum-seekers are overblown.
Secular Israelis have workarounds for Sabbath rules. It’s their loss.
By Avi Shafran — August 9, 2023
(RNS) — Even nonreligious visitors to Jerusalem’s religious neighborhoods marvel at Shabbat's calm.
We hoped for a miracle for OceanGate’s Titan crew. We ignore the ones waiting for us every day.
By Avi Shafran — June 30, 2023
(RNS) — The rabbis of the Talmud enjoined us to express boundless gratitude at our waking every day.
Biden White House plan to fight antisemitism has its faults. Let’s welcome what’s good.
By Avi Shafran — June 14, 2023
(RNS) — An unprecedented government effort to combat a pressing problem overcomes its own flaws.
Freedom was granted at Passover. It was defined on Shavuot.
By Avi Shafran — May 24, 2023
(RNS) — The Festival of Weeks shows that true freedom comes in endeavoring to live a 'mission-focused' life.
Passover reminds us why a nation needs to remember its ‘bad old times’
By Avi Shafran — April 3, 2023
(RNS) — The holiday is about recalling uncomfortable truths, an exercise every American can benefit from.
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