A leader of the Lemba people, wearing a prayer shawl, gathers with his fellow Jews. DNA tests have confirmed the Semitic heritage of these sub-Saharan Africans. Jekesai Njikizana /AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Rabbi Daniel Rockoff of Orthodox Congregation Beth Israel Abraham Voliner estimates there about 250 Sabbath-observant families in Johnson County, Kan. Elle Moxley/KCUR hide caption

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man prays along the Mediterranean Sea in the Israeli city of Herzliya, near Tel Aviv. Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Rather than only focusing on religious prayer, campus rabbis are embracing other cultural foundations, like traditional Passover Seder food and ethical values, to connect Jewish students to their roots. Alexander Smolianitski/Flickr hide caption

Wilderness Torah festival attendees take their Shabbat celebration outside the Tent of Meeting (at left) as the sun sets in the Panamint Valley of the Mojave Desert in 2014. At center in white, with both arms reaching up to the sky, is singer-songwriter Mikey Pauker. Shabbat participants are singing, drumming and playing guitars. Tom Levy hide caption

Ruth Calderon, a religious scholar, recently became a member of Israeli's parliament and has been a leading voice on issues that often divide the country's religious and secular communities. Emily Harris/NPR hide caption