Five years after the debut of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma, their South Pacific explored this theme in a more exotic context.

New attempts in the U.K. to outlaw shechitah (ritual slaughter) — and the broader political threat this poses to the Jews — bring to mind a book by Elijah J. Schochet, who has deep roots in the L.A. Jewish community.

At a National Prayer Breakfast in Washington attended by the Dalai Lama, President Obama decried Isis’ “death cult” and “hijacking” of Islam, and promised “to push back against those” who would distort “religion for their nihilistic end.”