JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

JTA, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, is the definitive source for American Jewish community news and opinion.

Does Obama have a plan for peace—or a plan for a plan?

Talk of a near-term U.S. peace plan was spurred last week when a State Department official said one would be in place "within weeks" -- a projection confirmed within a day by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Read more »

Top Stories

For some U.S. Jews, recession is catalyst for aliyah

The economic downturn in the United States has prompted some Jewish families to accelerate their plans to immigrate to Israel. Read more »

Conservative rabbi says Georgia’s kosher law unconstitutional

In the latest sign of the Conservative movement's more activist approach to kashrut, a rabbi in Georgia is challenging the constitutionality of his state’s kosher law, saying it favors Orthodox religious standards and constitutes state entanglement in religion. Read more »

Limbaugh slammed for comparing Democrats to Nazis

Rush Limbaugh's remarks comparing Democrats to Nazis drew swift condemnation from many corners of the Jewish community -- and also sparked a fight between Jewish Democrats and Republicans over which side isn't doing enough to stop the use of such analogies. Read more »

Op-Ed: Obtaining justice for the AMIA victims

Pressing for prosecution of the perpetrators and fighting anti-Semitism, particularly the vitriol emanating from Tehran, is the best way to honor the victims of the 1994 AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, writes Bernardo Kliksberg. Read more »

Blogs

Capital J

Bayh-Risch letter tops 70 (but more than half of Jewish senators don’t sign)

A letter which became a battleground between AIPAC and left-wing pro-Israel groups gets 71 signatures… Read Blog »

The Telegraph

Defending Nadav Tamir

The Boston Globe reports that local Jewish leaders are voicing support for an Israeli diplomat under… Read Blog »

Photos and Videos

Yuri Foreman addressing the media after capturing the WBA super welterweight title from Daniel Santos in Las Vegas, Nov. 14, 2009. (Catch Miura) Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, left, and Israeli President Shimon Peres meeting in Brasilia, Nov. 11, 2009. (Jose Cruz / Abr) Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Esti Ginzburg and Dean Stern, host and co-chair of a fashion show showcasing Israeli designers in New York on Nov. 11, 2009. More than 15 Jewish organizations co-sponsored the event, which attracted some 800 young Jewish professionals. (Maya Barkai) Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries dancing during a procession toward Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Nov. 11, 2009, following the completion of a Torah scroll in honor of the six slain terror victims at the Chabad House in Mumbai, India, in November 2008. The scroll, written by Chabad's 4,000 emissaries from around the world, will be sent to the Mumbai Chabad House. (Baruch Ezagui / lubavitch.com) Catheline Manville of the University of Central Florida holds the Havdalah candle during a ceremony at the close of the annual Chabad on Campus International Student Shabbaton in Brooklyn, N.Y., where hundreds gathered from more than 100 campuses worldwide/ (B. Lifshitz / Chabad.org) Attendees of the Jewish Federations of North America's General Assembly gather at the Marriott Hotel in Washington, Nov. 8, 2009.
 (Robert A. Cumins / Jewish Federations of North America) Young Palestinian girls learn with Israel trainers to defend against sexual assault and other acts of violence as part of the Impact program at The Israel Women's Martial Arts Foundation in Jerusalem, Nov. 8, 2009. (Kobi Gideon / Flash90 / JTA) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, Nov. 9, 2009. (Robert Cumins / Jewish Federations of North America) Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, left, Charles Bronfman, Michael Steinhardt, and Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, commit to increasing the number of Jewish young adults visiting Israel at an event held on the eve of the GA in Washington, Nov. 8, 2009. (David Karp) Jack Terpins, president of the Latin American Jewish Congress, seen here with Caridad Diego Bello and Rabbi Yossi Schildkraut, attended meetings in Sao Paulo to talk about religious integration, Nov. 5, 2009. (Conib)

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  • Yuri Foreman addressing the media after capturing the WBA super welterweight title from Daniel Santos in Las Vegas, Nov. 14, 2009.
  • Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, left, and Israeli President Shimon Peres meeting in Brasilia, Nov. 11, 2009.
  • Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Esti Ginzburg and Dean Stern, host and co-chair of a fashion show showcasing Israeli designers in New York on Nov. 11, 2009. More than 15 Jewish organizations co-sponsored the event, which attracted some 800 young Jewish professionals.
  • Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries dancing during a procession toward Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Nov. 11, 2009, following the completion of a Torah scroll in honor of the six slain terror victims at the Chabad House in Mumbai, India, in November 2008. The scroll, written by Chabad's 4,000 emissaries from around the world, will be sent to the Mumbai Chabad House.
  • Catheline Manville of the University of Central Florida holds the Havdalah candle during a ceremony at the close of the annual Chabad on Campus International Student Shabbaton in Brooklyn, N.Y., where hundreds gathered from more than 100 campuses worldwide/
  • Attendees of the Jewish Federations of North America's General Assembly gather at the Marriott Hotel in Washington, Nov. 8, 2009.
  • Young Palestinian girls learn with Israel trainers to defend against sexual assault and other acts of violence as part of the Impact program at The Israel Women's Martial Arts Foundation in Jerusalem, Nov. 8, 2009.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, Nov. 9, 2009.
  • Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, left, Charles Bronfman, Michael Steinhardt, and Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, commit to increasing the number of Jewish young adults visiting Israel at an event held on the eve of the GA in Washington, Nov. 8, 2009.
  • Jack Terpins, president of the Latin American Jewish Congress, seen here with Caridad Diego Bello and Rabbi Yossi Schildkraut, attended meetings in Sao Paulo to talk about religious integration, Nov. 5, 2009.
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Updated 11/20/09 @ 11:30AM EDT

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