National

NEW YORK (JTA) — Among the expansive field of 2016 Republican presidential candidates on display in the party’s first debates, Donald Trump may be the most closely connected to the Jewish people. Trump is from New York, works in professions saturated with Jews and long has been a vocal supporter of… Read more »

(Kveller via JTA) — For many Jewish parents, the challenges they face raising their children include choosing between Jewish and public schools, planning bar and bat mitzvahs, and staying sane while planning big Shabbat dinners. But for parents raising Jewish children in rural areas like me, without a cohesive community… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) – It may be America’s most iconic kosher brand, famous for its hot dogs that in the words of its unforgettable ad slogan, “answer to a higher authority.” So consumers might be confused to find videos on Hebrew National’s homepage suggesting they grill up their kosher… Read more »

  WASHINGTON (JTA) – Congress has until mid- to late September to consider whether to reject the nuclear restrictions for the sanctions rollback deal reached by Iran and six major powers on July 14. Some of the debate is over the meaning of certain provisions in the accord. Here’s a breakdown… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) – For the first time in about a century, a rabbi from outside the Lookstein family will lead New York’s storied Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun. The Orthodox synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side voted last week to hire as its new senior rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, who for… Read more »

(JTA) — The Los Angeles Dodgers may never achieve the lore of their brethren in Brooklyn, but now at least they’ve brought a bit of Brooklyn to the West Coast — in the form of hot dogs. Earlier this week, Dodger Stadium opened its first kosher hot dog stand,… Read more »

(JTA) — It was Friday evening and the cantor, wearing a leopard-print top and gladiator sandals — including one with a with a tambourine affixed to it — greeted the congregants at Shabbat services with a smile. She encouraged them to pick up the percussion instruments left on the… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — In a phone call with supporters on Thursday, President Barack Obama characterized opponents of the Iran deal as being backed by “billionaires” and urged those listening in to win over “squishy” lawmakers considering opposing the deal. Opponents “would be opposed to any deal with Iran,” Obama told… Read more »

Rep. Martha McSally (R.-Ariz.) will be one of more than 40 U.S. lawmakers traveling to Israel next month to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prior to a Congressional vote on the nuclear deal with Iran. Congress has until Sept. 17 to vote on the agreement the United States and five other countries (known… Read more »

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak to the American Jewish community and friends of Israel in a live webcast on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015 at 1 pm EDT. Register here to receive the web link for access to the address. Participation is free and open to all. The… Read more »

Egg banks report that they cannot meet the demand for Jewish donations. (Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

ROCKVILLE, Md. (Washington Jewish Week via JTA) – Laura has donated her eggs four times to women who needed help having children. “It gave me a real sense of purpose,” she said. “It really is a great personal pleasure to know that I have something that changes someone’s life.”… Read more »

(Jewniverse via JTA) — On these hottest days of summer – especially when parts of the United States are rationing water – we should thank the late Israeli engineer Simcha Blass for helping farmers figure out how to best harness the water they do have. Blass revolutionized drip irrigation in the early 1930s,… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Barack Obama will not alter the terms of Jonathan Pollard’s parole once he is released, a signal that Israel’s struggle to bring him to the country whose citizenship he has assumed will outlast his November release date. “Mr. Pollard will serve his sentence as mandated… Read more »

  TEL AVIV (JTA) — When the United States frees convicted spy Jonathan Pollard in November, many in Israel will celebrate the moment for which they have fought and hoped. What Pollard’s release won’t do, officials and analysts say, is make most Israelis feel any better about the nuclear deal with Iran. Pollard, who was convicted… Read more »

  WASHINGTON (JTA) – Call it a double miracle for the pastor who would be president: Mike Huckabee managed to unite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama while grabbing the spotlight from Donald Trump. Netanyahu’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, slammed Huckabee, a Republican… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) – When the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles came out with a strongly worded statement last week opposing the Iran nuclear deal, it became one of a handful of federations across the country to stake out a clear position on the agreement. “This Iran deal… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Obama administration is preparing to release Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in the next few months, the Wall Street Journal reported. Pollard may be released in the next few weeks or by Nov. 21, the date he is officially eligible for parole under rules in place… Read more »

Editor’s note: If you live in Southern Arizona and apply for the “Under 30 Change-the-World”  prize, please contact the AJP and tell us about your project. NEW YORK, July 24 – Calling all young Jewish and Israeli social entrepreneurs: here is your chance to help change the world while competing for… Read more »

Vice President Joe Biden delivering remarks at the Good Jobs Green Jobs National Conference in Washington, D.C., April 13, 2015. This week he beseeched about a thousand Jewish leaders in a phone call on the Iran nuclear deal. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Vice President Joe Biden had an intimate phone call this week with about a thousand Jewish leaders, beseeching, teaching and preaching the Iran nuclear deal. Biden’s imploring hourlong call on Monday typified how personal the campaign for and against the Iran nuclear deal is becoming. President… Read more »

(JTA) — New York Sen. Chuck Schumer was not actually in New York on Wednesday, but the Democrat’s influence on the fate of the Iran deal loomed large when several thousand people descended on Times Square to protest the agreement. Many of those demonstrating against the agreement chanted “Where… Read more »