When Pope Benedict XVI visits NYC this month, one of his stops will be to a synagogue on Manhattan's Upper East Side. It will be the first time a Catholic pope has visited a Jewish temple on U.S. soil, although it will be Benedict's second visit to a synagogue as pope after a 2005 trip to his native Germany. The visit continues a movement for ecumenicism and interfaith dialogue that was strongly supported by the......

An influential group of rabbis have put the kibosh on a concert planned for next Sunday at MSG’s WaMu theater. Billed as The Big Event, the show was to be headlined by popular Hasidic pop singer Lipa Schmeltzer and raise money for an Israeli charity that finances weddings for orphans. But after an edict was issued against the event, Schmeltzer dropped out, saying, “I have to get out of the fire.” Two Brooklyn community leaders,......