For several decades, opposition to circumcision has been building in the United States and within the American Jewish community. This year, the people of San Francisco will see on their ballots a proposed ordinance banning circumcision entirely, with no exception for religious Jews or Muslims. As others have written in these pages already, this measure…

By MICHELE CHABIN c. 2011 Religion News Service JERUSALEM (RNS) The international basketball federation has decided to permit an Orthodox Jewish basketball player to cover her arms during competitions in accordance with her religious beliefs. FIBA made the decision several weeks after point guard Naama Shafir, a member of the Israeli national women’s basketball team,…

By DEBRA RUBIN c. 2011 Religion News Service SILVER SPRING, Md. (RNS) Saraleah was 19 and a part-time student when she discovered she was pregnant. She didn’t know how it could have happened — until she flashed back to a party nine weeks earlier where she was given a drink, realized it was vodka and…

By MICHELE CHABIN c. 2011 Religion News Service TEL AVIV, Israel (RNS) Though never short on spectacle, this year’s annual gay pride festival was even more colorful with a parade float, sponsored by Google, representing the country’s religious gay and lesbian communities. Dressed in shorts and T-shirts bearing the words “Religious Pride Community,” the 20-…

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