A midnight swim in the Sea of Galilee is not unusual, but when participants in a Republican congressional delegation dive in, and one of them (Rep. Kevin Yoder of Kansas) does it in his birthday suit, it’s bound to make waves. In this case, it took a year. But once Politico reported it, the issue made national headlines, became fodder for late-night jokes and even prompted an FBI probe. David Letterman did a Top 10 list of “Yoder’s excuses for skinny dipping in the Sea of Galilee.” Yoder is running virtually unopposed for reelection this year; no word yet on whether a possible victory party will be held poolside.

Birgitta Ohlsson, a non-Jewish Swedish minister, led some 400 kippah-wearing Jews and non-Jews on a solidarity march through the streets of Malmo on Saturday. The 37-year-old minister drew international attention to the habitual harassment of Malmo’s Jews — primarily by men from Muslim families. At the end of the so-called Kippah Walk, Ohlsson addressed the crowd and pledged her commitment to work to create a Malmo and a Sweden where minorities can walk the streets without fear. In parallel, some 75 people staged a Kippah Walk in Stockholm, 320 miles north of Malmo.

When a group of Jewish teenagers — some as young as 13 — attacked a young Israeli Arab in Jerusalem’s Zion Square late last Thursday, it prompted a new national conversation about hatred and violence in Israeli society. What one eyewitness described as a “lynch situation” left 17-year-old eastern Jerusalem resident Jamal Julani unconscious after being pummeled from punches and kicks. Julani, who reportedly regained consciousness in an Israeli hospital nearly three days later, said he had no memory of the incident. On Monday, Israeli police arrested seven Jewish teens for the assault. Their legal troubles go on, as does the debate over how to handle the problem they represent.