Don’t expect Howard Rieger to spend his last year on the job quacking. Rieger, the president and CEO of the United Jewish Communities, told JTA this summer that he plans to play the heavy during the next dozen months as he works hard to make sure that the relationship between the UJC and the network… More ▸
John McCain used his closing speech at the Republican National Convention to unveil his game plan for claiming the mantle of real change: Shore up support among conservatives by touting traditional GOP positions while appealing to undecided voters by criticizing his party’s actual performance and promising to work across party lines. In the process, McCain… More ▸
One by one, until they numbered more than a thousand, they clambered up the bobbing rope and twine that God-fearing sailors centuries ago dubbed Jacob’s Ladder. It was Italy, May 1947. A bottomless sea lay below, a dark night sky above. The Jewish refugees finally were leaving Europe and the ashes of the Holocaust. They… More ▸
A fierce feud over immigration to Israel appears to be ending, as two organizations involved in promoting aliyah have agreed to work together. The deal involves the Jewish Agency for Israel, the quasi-governmental organization that traditionally has overseen aliyah, and Nefesh B’Nefesh, a nonprofit group that has used cash incentives to help encourage 16,000 people… More ▸
The Reform movement’s rabbinical group endorsed the Conservative movement’s ethical kosher initiative. The Board of Trustees of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Reform movement’s rabbinical association, resolved last month to explore ways to cooperate with the initiative, known as Hekhsher Tzedek. The conference urged producers of kosher meat to adhere to the highest… More ▸
With his Kadima Party just weeks away from electing a new leader, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is making a concerted last-ditch effort to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians. Olmert has drawn up a detailed peace offer and presented it to U.S. and Palestinian leaders. After being shown the plan last week, U.S…. More ▸
The Jewish Agency has agreed to an official collaboration on North American aliyah with Nefesh B’Nefesh. The organizations announced Sunday that under an agreement signed a week ago, Nefesh B’Nefesh will have primary responsibility for marketing and promotion, while the Jewish Agency will remain responsible for determining aliyah eligibility with other authorities in Israel and… More ▸
Leaders of the Conservative movement’s ethical kashrut certification program are taking their campaign to the next level. They are inviting Conservative rabbis to sign onto the Hekhsher Tzedek initiative, meeting with at least one Orthodox kosher certification agency and making initial overtures to selected kosher food producers that might seek the new certification. “We are… More ▸
After months of playing up their candidate’s support for Israel, Obama advisers say the campaign is opening up a second front in the battle for Jewish voters. Obama Jewish outreach director Dan Shapiro told JTA the campaign will now be emphasizing that the presumptive Democratic candidate’s “values” are “in sync” with historic “Jewish values” on… More ▸
A Jewish Olympic sailor from New Zealand failed to medal after leading at the halfway point. Jo Aleh, 22, was ahead in the women’s laser radial competition over the weekend, but she finished ninth in the medal race Tuesday in Qingdao and seventh overall. Aleh was born in New Zealand after her Israeli father and… More ▸
