Menu JTA Search
Israeli conversion ruling dents Chief Rabbinate’s control of ritual

Israeli conversion ruling dents Chief Rabbinate’s control of ritual

By conferring legitimacy on private conversion, the high court puts Israel's religious authorities on the defensive.

Breaking News

Read More >

Featured Stories

An Israeli exhibition being displayed at the United Nations headquarters, April 4, 2016. (Courtesy of StandWithUs)

United Nations: ‘Miscommunication’ behind ban of Israel’s Zionism display

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, standing on with his wife Melania Trump, daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner (left to right) at a campaign rally at the Ramada Waterloo Hotel and Convention Center in Waterloo, Iowa, Feb. 1, 2016. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

Donald Trump’s campaign denies he scolded his Jewish son-in-law over Israel visit

Women of the Wall praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Jan. 2, 2014.(Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Israeli gov’t gets another 3 months to come up with Western Wall egalitarian plan

Read More >

United States

The Rabbinical Assembly’s unequivocal rule is that a Conservative rabbi may not officiate at an intermarriage. (Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Op-Ed: It’s time to allow Conservative rabbis to officiate at interfaith weddings

The Conservative Jewish ban against rabbis officiating at interfaith weddings is ineffective and counterproductive, writes a longtime Conservative rabbi who broke the rule.

A scene from the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation's Passover video. (Screenshot from YouTube)

Watch a flight attendant’s guide to the Passover seder

Senator Ben Cardin, D-Md., speaking during a press conference with other leading Democratic senators at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Nov. 19, 2015. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

Caught between White House and its critics, Sen. Ben Cardin pledges to renew Iran sanctions

Read More >

Israel & Middle East

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets on April 4, 2016 with a bipartisan US Congressional delegation led by House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). Photo/Kobi Gideon (GPO)

Paul Ryan meets Netanyahu in Jerusalem to ‘reaffirm’ US-Israel ties

Ryan, who led a bipartisan delegation, tweeted: "As long as I am speaker, I will not allow any legislation that divides #Israel & America to come to the House floor."

Israeli soldiers removing the body of a Palestinian man who stabbed a soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron, March 24, 2016. (Wissam Hashlamon/Flash90)

Israeli soldier’s bullet killed downed Palestinian assailant, autopsy reportedly shows

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visiting soldiers of the Kfir battalion in the Etzion regional brigade for Purim, in the West Bank, March 24, 2016. (Amos Ben Gershom/Flash90)

Netanyahu to Kerry: Declare Israel doesn’t commit extrajudicial killings

Read More >

From the JTA Archives

51Ybm7ztrGL

Andy Cohen, of Giants, Hailed As Long Sought Jewish Baseball Star

maxresdefault

Playboy to Publish Excerpts of Orthodox Rabbi’s Book on Sex

Bibi matzah

Bibi’s matzah trashed?

Read More >

World

Vlodymir, a waiter at the Pid Zolotoju Rozoju restaurant who calls himself Moishe, on March 14, 2016. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

My queasy night at Lviv’s controversial ‘Jewish’ eatery

The non-Jewish waiters wear fake peyot and haggle over prices at a quasi-Jewish restaurant attached to the historic, ruined Golden Rose Synagogue.

Edinburgh University (Wikimedia Commons)

Anti-BDS Scottish student accused of violating ‘safe space’ rules

People gather to show solidarity with the victims of the Paris attacks in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, Nov. 14, 2015. (Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

Are thousands of French millionaires really moving to Israel? There are reasons to be skeptical.

Read More >

From 70 Faces Media

skipping-the-bris

The Second Time Around, I’m Skipping the Bris

Bagels and Cream Cheese

People Are Putting Everything Bagel Seasoning On Everything

talmud_539_332_c1

What The Talmud Talks About When It Talks About Sex

Read More >

Life & Culture

Actress Milana Vayntrub, the "AT&T Girl," volunteering with Syrian refugees in Lesbos, Greece. (Courtesy of Milana Vayntrub/Can't Do Nothing)

The AT&T Girl’s surprising call to action

For actress Milana Vayntrub — herself a Soviet Jewish refugee — a vacation inspired her to speak up and act on behalf of Syrians arriving on Greece's shores.

Kevin Pillar, shown hitting against the Baltimore Orioles in a game on May 12, 2015, has shown his prowess at bat and in the field this season for the Toronto Blue Jays. (Hillel Kuttler)

Baseball’s back: Here’s a look at 8 Jewish major leaguers and a manager

Orit Arfa and the "Gaza Girls" performing in the "Kill All the Jews" online music video. (Screenshot from YouTube)

‘Gaza Girls’ spoof of Palestinian propaganda flagged as incitement in Spain

Read More >