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hindu_3473
A Hindu holy man stands in the backdrop of a tent during the annual Magh Mela festival at Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges and Yamuna in Allahabad, India, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims take dips in the confluence, some hoping to wash away sins and others to secure a fine spouse during the monthlong festival. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
hindu_3472
Hindu devotees offers prayers to the Sun as they take holy dips during the monthlong Magh Mela festival at the Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati, in Allahabad, India, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims take dips during the Magh Mela in the hope of washing away their sins. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
hindu_3471
Hindu devotees take holy dips during the monthlong Magh Mela festival at the Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati, in Allahabad, India, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims take dips during the Magh Mela in the hope of washing away their sins. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
hindu_3470
Hindu devotees perform rituals before taking holy dips during the monthlong Magh Mela festival at the Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati, in Allahabad, India, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims take dips during the Magh Mela in the hope of washing away their sins. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
hindu_3469
Hindu devotees take holy dips during the annual Magh Mela festival at Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges and Yamuna in Allahabad, India, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims take dips in the confluence, some hoping to wash away sins and others to secure a fine spouse during the monthlong festival. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
hindu_3466
A Hindu devotee prays during the annual Magh Mela festival at Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges and Yamuna, in Allahabad, India, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims take dips in the confluence, some hoping to wash away sins and others to secure a fine spouse during the monthlong festival. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Epiphany_3440
A Priest blesses Orthodox believers as part of celebrations of the Epiphany in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. Orthodox believers celebrate the holiday of the Epiphany on Jan. 19, and traditionally bathe in holes cut through ice on rivers and ponds to cleanse themselves with water deemed holy for the day as they commemorate Christ's baptism. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Epiphany_3438
A Russian man emerges from cold water on Epiphany in Uglich, Russia, some 250 kilometers (150 miles) northeast from Moscow, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers plunged into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. Water that is blessed by a cleric on Epiphany is considered holy and pure until next year's celebration, and is believed to have special powers of protection and healing. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
Epiphany_3437
Orthodox priests conduct a service at the ice hole of the pound in the Kolomenskoe park on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers plunged Tuesday and Wednesday into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark the upcoming Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. Water that is blessed by a cleric on Epiphany is considered holy and pure until next year's celebration, and is believed to have special powers of protection and healing. The Russian Orthodox Church follows the old Julian calendar, according to which Epiphany falls on Jan. 19. Moscow temperatures on Wednesday night dropped to -14 C ( 7 F). (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)
Epiphany_3436
People gather around the bath of the ice cold water as taking the bath in the ice hole of the pound in the Kolomenskoe park on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia, early Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011, with the moon in the sky. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers plunged Tuesday and Wednesday into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark the upcoming Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. Water that is blessed by a cleric on Epiphany is considered holy and pure until next year's celebration, and is believed to have special powers of protection and healing. The Russian Orthodox Church follows the old Julian calendar, according to which Epiphany falls on Jan. 19. Moscow temperatures on Wednesday night dropped to -14 C ( 7 F). (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)
Epiphany_3435
A man walks through the bath of the ice cold water in the ice hole of the pound in the Kolomenskoe park on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers plunged Tuesday and Wednesday into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark the upcoming Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. Water that is blessed by a cleric on Epiphany is considered holy and pure until next year's celebration, and is believed to have special powers of protection and healing. The Russian Orthodox Church follows the old Julian calendar, according to which Epiphany falls on Jan. 19. Moscow temperatures on Wednesday night dropped to -14 C ( 7 F). (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)
Epiphany_3433
Russian Orthodox believers are blessed at Epiphany Cathedral, to mark the upcoming Epiphany in Moscow, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. Water that is blessed by a cleric on Epiphany is considered holy and pure until next year's celebration, and is believed to have special powers of protection and healing. The Russian Orthodox Church follows the old Julian calendar, according to which Epiphany falls on Jan. 19. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
Epiphany_3432
An Orthodox priest conducts a service at an ice hole in a pond in Kolomenskoe park, on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers plunged Tuesday and Wednesday into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark the upcoming Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. Moscow temperatures on Wednesday dropped to -14 Celsius (7 Fahrenheit). (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)
Epiphany_3431
A Moldovan man drinks holy water at a cathedral in Chisinau, Moldova, on Epiphany, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. Epiphany marks the baptism of Jesus in the Orthodox Church, and worshippers believe that on this day water becomes holy and is imbued with special powers. (AP Photo/John McConnico)
Epiphany_3430
A woman lights prayer candles at the main cathedral in Chisinau, Moldova, during the Epiphany Wednesday Jan. 19, 2011. The Epiphany, celebrated on January 19, marks the baptism of Jesus in the Orthodox Church and worshippers believe that on this day water becomes holy and is imbued with special powers. (AP Photo/John McConnico)
Epiphany_3429
Nikola Bankovic, center, celebrates after retrieving a cross partially made of ice from the water of the Savsko lake, in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. The retrieval of the cross is an annual event that marks the Orthodox Epiphany commemorating Christ's baptism. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Epiphany_3428
Nikola Kovacevic, 21, center, lifts up a wooden cross as he reaches the shoreline, after being the first to reach the cross and retrieving it from the river Danube, in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. The retrieval of the cross which is cast into the water, is an annual event that marks the Orthodox Epiphany commemorating Christ's baptism. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
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**FILE** Protesters run as riot police officers use tear gas during a demonstration in the center of Tunis on Jan. 18. (Associated Press)
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Orthodox Jewish children gather outside a school in Beni Brak, Israel, on Thursday. Dramatic changes may be coming in Israel. Demographers now estimate about a third of last year's Jewish babies were born into the ultra-Orthodox community, an insular and devout minority that has long been at loggerheads with the rest of the increasingly modern and prosperous country. (Associated Press)
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Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Satmar sect followers gather during the funeral of Rabbi Yeshayahu Deutsch in the religious neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem on Thursday. Ultra-Orthodox Jews — known in Hebrew as "Haredim," or "those who tremble" before God — have a birthrate far higher than that of other Israeli Jews, with 10 children not uncommon, and they seem poised to become far more numerous and influential. (Associated Press)
