(RNS) — The American Jewish Committee is encouraging Jews and “allies” to “flock” to synagogues for Shabbat services this weekend (Nov. 2-3), the first since the murder of 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Or L’Simcha Congregation. The group even has a hashtag advertising the push on social media: #ShowUpForShabbat. “What could be a more fitting response to the terror in Pittsburgh? We are not afraid. We are not going to think twice about affirming our identity and faith,” said David Harris, AJC’s CEO, in announcing the campaign. But many Jews are answering the hashtag call by expressing their fears. “I’m tired of being afraid to go to synagogue,” said one Twitter post this week. Others are already dreading a new reality that feels anything but normal. “My synagogue has armed guards and ‘hidden’ security,” read another Twitter post. “I got an email today about additional measures. Are we supposed to have our souls nourished in armed encampments?” With … [Read more...]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A shooter opened fire during a baby naming ceremony at a Pittsburgh synagogue and people with knowledge of the investigation said at least 10 people were killed. At least six other people were wounded, including four police officers who dashed to the scene Saturday (Oct. 27), authorities said. Police said a suspect was in custody after the attack at the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. A law enforcement official identified the suspect as Robert Bowers and said he is in his 40s. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. City officials said the shooting was being investigated as a federal hate crime. It comes amid a rash of high-profile attacks in an increasingly divided country, including the series of pipe bombs mailed over the past week to prominent Democrats and former officials. The shooting also immediately reignited the … [Read more...]

(RNS) — A federal court heard oral arguments this week on whether a longstanding housing tax break for clergy called a “parsonage allowance exclusion” is constitutional, setting the stage for a clash over competing claims of religious privilege and religious discrimination. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on the case Wednesday (Oct. 24) as lawyers made pitches for and against an IRS provision that allows “ministers of the gospel” to exclude the cost of their housing when filing their taxes. It’s the latest chapter in the legal battle over the housing allowance, which dates back to the 1920s and originally applied only to clergy who lived in homes owned by churches or other religious groups. It was later applied to clergy who receive a cash allowance for their house. Since 2002, the allowance has been capped at the fair rental value of the housing in question. The Freedom from Religion Foundation filed suit over the housing allowance in 2011. The … [Read more...]

(RNS) — In May, Roberto Rauda, an undocumented immigrant, went to a New London, Conn., courthouse to pay a fine for carrying an open container of beer. Instead he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in a routine sweep and ended up in the Bristol County House of Corrections in North Dartmouth, Mass. Rauda, 37, who came to New York from El Salvador as a teen and several years ago found work in construction and at a lobster processing plant in Connecticut, was released in September, after members of the New London advocacy group Unidos Sin Fronteras paid his legal fees and $3,500 bail. Sitting in his lawyer’s living room, Rauda grimly recalled conditions at the Massachusetts facility, such as cramped and uncomfortable sleeping arrangements and inedible food. Yet his face softened as he recounted how prayer helped him endure. “We had a Catholic priest who came every two weeks, and we would get together in a room to pray and sing hymns,” Rauda told … [Read more...]

(RNS) — Eugene Peterson, the bestselling author of “The Message” and longtime pastor praised as a “shepherd’s shepherd,” passed away Monday morning (Oct. 22) at age 85. Among Peterson’s last words were, “Let’s go,” according to a statement from his family. “During the previous days, it was apparent that he was navigating the thin and sacred space between earth and heaven,” according to his family. “We overheard him speaking to people we can only presume were welcoming him into paradise. There may have even been a time or two when he accessed his Pentecostal roots and spoke in tongues as well.” Peterson pastored Christ Our King Presbyterian Church, a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation he founded in Bel Air, Md., for 30 years while also writing widely to encourage and develop other pastors. He is best known for “The Message,” his popular paraphrase of the Bible in contemporary language that made the Bible accessible to so many Christians. Altogether, he wrote more than 30 … [Read more...]