Tagged JTA

‘Online conversion’ helps fulfill a longtime dream — but controversy dogs the process

'Online conversion' can help make Judaism more accessible to those in remote locations, but everyone isn’t on board. (Lior Zaltzman)
January 9, 2017 / Josefin Dolsten, JTA

(JTA) — The morning of her conversion, Diana Sewell was so nervous she “was running around like a headless chicken” in her Australia home. Meanwhile, some 9,000 miles away in Georgia, her rabbi was dealing with computer difficulties. Neither of those things put a stop to Sewell fulfilling a 60-something-year-old… Read more »

OP-ED Blaming Obama doesn’t advance the cause of Middle East peace

President Barack Obama speaks with John Kerry during a bilateral meeting with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in New York City, Sept. 21, 2016. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
January 4, 2017 / Rick Jacobs, JTA

(JTA) — What did Secretary of State John Kerry say last week that caused former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren to say that U.S. policy toward Israeli has become “sad, tragic and dangerous?” That led Sen. Ted Cruz to say that Kerry and President Barack Obama are… Read more »

Isaac Herzog wants ‘NATO-like’ alliance of Israel and moderate Arab states

Israeli Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog speaking at the party's convention In Tel Aviv, Nov. 8, 2015. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
November 14, 2015 /

NEW YORK (JTA) – In the mind of Israel’s opposition leader, Labor Party chief Isaac Herzog, the array of threats in the Middle East these days present Israel with a historic opportunity. Yes, Palestinians are stabbing Israelis daily. Yes, Israel arguably has its most right-wing government since Benjamin Netanyahu’s… Read more »