I’m excited to be back after a two-week break while I traveled on a reporting trip to Vanuatu and Australia.

Believe it or now, among the big headlines last week was this: Taylor Swift is Time magazine’s Person of the Year. For fans, Swift’s concerts are “a religious experience,” according to Sam Lansky’s insightful cover story.

Meanwhile, the presidents of three elite American universities are facing a backlash “over their refusal to say whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates their policies against bullying and harassment,” as USA Today’s Michael Collins explains.

The backlash at Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania includes “threats from donors, demands that their presidents resign and a congressional investigation,” the New York Times’ Alan Blinder, Anemona Hartocollis and Stephanie Saul point out.

This is our weekly roundup of the top headlines and best reads in the world of faith. We start with the concerns that the Israel-Hamas war has brought to Hanukkah.

What To Know: The Big Story

The war and Hanukkah: The eight-day holiday commenced at sundown Thursday, prompting veteran religion writer Cathy Lynn Grossman to ask here at ReligionUnplugged:

With Israel at war and antisemitism, particularly on college campuses, showing a sharp upswing across America, is this any time to put a menorah in the window — to “publicize the miracle” of Hanukkah by celebrating boldly, according to Jewish tradition?

Grossman — best known for her time as a national religion correspondent for USA Today and later Religion News Service — talks to Jews across the nation “about yearning to be simultaneously joyful and careful, to be festive in fearful times.”

Light in darkness: The Hanukkah message feels uniquely relevant to U.S. Jews amid the war and antisemitism, The Associated Press’ Giovanna Dell’Orto writes.

“We need Hanukkah now more than ever,” a rabbi tells the Dallas Morning News’ Joy Ashford.

But parties have been canceled and celebrations toned down, and Hanukkah won’t be the same, according to Religion News Service’s Yonat Shimron.

Hanukkah without decorations?: That’s the reality for some Jews marking the holiday amid the war, the Los Angeles Times’ Nathan Solis notes.

The Houston Chronicle’s Eric Killelea delves deeper into the debate over whether to hide or display decoration and religious items during the annual holiday.

Across the nation, most public celebration of Hanukkah “appear to be going ahead without disruption, according to the Jewish Federations of North America, which works with Jewish event organizers across the United States.” That’s the latest from the New York Times’ Jacey Fortin.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Muslim-Jewish strains: In the U.S., the Israel-Hamas war is stressing interfaith ties, The Associated Press’ Luis Andres Henao and Mariam Fam report.

Conversations “are becoming increasingly difficult, with the war and its polarizing reverberations in America testing and straining some interfaith relationships more than ever,” according to AP. “For many, the losses are too personal, the emotions too raw.”

2. California vs. Texas: “The nation’s two most populous states are political opposites — the liberal bastion on the left coast, and the conservative Southern garrison on the Gulf,” the Los Angeles Times’ Jack Herrera notes.

Still, Herrera’s fascinating takeout finds similarities between the two states and evidence that “the gap between America’s quintessential red and blue states comes down to tipping points.”

Yes, religion is a crucial factor.

3. A holy makeover: “The Bible is increasingly going digital, thanks in part to a generation that doesn’t read books — even the Good Book,” the Washington Times’ Mark A. Kellner writes.

“Printed Bibles remain top sellers, but digital Bibles — like YouVersion — are gaining in popularity and usage.”

CONTINUE READING: “Amid Israel-Hamas War, Hanukkah 2023 Mixes Fears With Festivities” by Bobby Ross, Jr., at Religion Unplugged.