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Saturday, June 8, 2013
Sivan 30, 5773
2:11 pm IDT
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The Times of Israel

The one-stop news site
covering Israel, the region and
the Jewish people worldwide

Founding editor:
David Horovitz

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The Jewish world's
fastest-growing
news site

Topic: Union for Reform Judaism

May 15, 2013
1:54 pm

Members of the Jewish community in Canton, Ohio, celebrate the dedication of a new building housing the local federation and two synagogues, July 12, 2012. (photo credit: Karen Phillippi/JTA)

To stay afloat, shuls merging across denominational divide

Shifting demographics and a challenging economy have led synagogues to consider remedies that were previously unthinkable

By Ben Gittleson

April 19, 2013
3:34 am

Birthright participants visiting Masada, summer 2012. (photo credit: Taglit-Birthright/JTA)

The flip side of Birthright Israel

Drastic decline in travel to Israel among US Jewish high-schoolers, in part because they can come for free when they turn 18

By Gil Shefler

February 17, 2013
1:27 am

Better late than never, no? (Illustrative photo: Adam Jones/Creative Commons via JTA)

Debate over old prayer books goes underground

US synagogues face grave decisions about whether to bury holy texts

By Chavie Lieber

February 3, 2013
9:57 pm

Proponents of Jewish summer camp claim the experience increases the likelihood that kids will light Shabbat candles and attend synagogue. (Courtesy of the Foundation for Jewish Camp via JTA)

Are rising camp costs a threat to Jewish continuity?

Convinced that summer sleep-aways connect kids to Judaism, donors and directors are seeking ways to keep camp affordable

By Gil Shefler

January 29, 2013
7:00 pm

Rabbi Sharon Brous of the IKAR congregation in Los Angeles reads Prayers for the People at the presidential inaugural service. (Donovan Marks/Washington National Cathedral via JTA)

Rabbis tweaked inaugural readings to make them ‘Jewier’

White House was okay with last-minute changes added by Jewish clergy at service after Obama’s swearing-in

By Ron Kampeas

January 11, 2013
8:02 pm

Reform rabbi in Massachusetts considers Senate run

Jonah Pesner is conducting ‘exploratory conversations’ about attempting to take over John Kerry’s seat

January 1, 2013
5:11 am

Reform leader Rabbi Rick Jacobs (Robert A. Cumins/JFNA via JTA)

Reform Jews, AIPAC take opposing positions on penalizing Palestinians

Are organizations’ competing responses to a recent UN vote a minor bump, or a sign of a coming schism in the pro-Israel community?

By Ron Kampeas

December 31, 2012
5:35 am

An Israeli member of the Women of the Wall organization prays just outside the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City (photo credit: AP/Dan Balilty)

US Jewish groups hail Netanyahu’s initiative to make women more welcome at Western Wall

‘The Wall cannot continue to be the purview of only one religious perspective,’ says National Council of Jewish Women CEO

November 14, 2012
9:33 pm

Rabbi Rick Jacobs (photo credit: Ben Fink Shapiro/Union for Reform Judaism)

Reform leader Rick Jacobs slams Israeli discrimination against non-Orthodox

US Jews applaud speech calling for pluralism, right of women to lead prayers at Western Wall

November 14, 2012
4:23 am

A rainbow flag of Israel at the gay pride parade in Jerusalem. (photo credit: Flash90)

First-of-its-kind LGBT ‘equality index’ calls on Jewish groups to strengthen inclusion policies

Fewer than 10% of groups surveyed on LGBT policies responded, but major groups such as JDC, JFNA, Hillel are aware of LGBT inclusion and willing to do more, report finds

By Haviv Rettig Gur

November 13, 2012
11:11 pm

Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, left, and Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Natan Sharansky speak at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations in North America last year. (David Karp/JTA)

With Jewish life splintering, federations focus on streamlining work

At annual gathering, communal organizations look toward updated model for philanthropy and budgeting

By Uriel Heilman

November 5, 2012
5:44 am

A volunteer helps sort through donations at Hoboken High School in Hoboken, New Jersey, on Sunday as surrounding neighborhoods remain without power due to damage caused by superstorm Sandy (photo credit: AP/John Minchillo)

Jewish groups offer many ways to help in hurricane relief efforts

A week after Sandy, online forums call for volunteers and donations to help the worst-hit areas in NY and NJ

By Haviv Rettig Gur

November 2, 2012
11:37 pm

At Mazel Academy in Brooklyn, Torah scrolls were unrolled to dry after being damaged by floodwaters from Hurricane Sandy (Ben Harris/JTA)

‘Our insurance papers are underwater’

Left reeling by Hurricane Sandy, US Jewish communities face deluged day school, ruined Torahs and difficulties even estimating the damage

By Ben Harris

November 2, 2012
11:36 pm

A Haredi couple awaits the arrival of Hurricane Sandy on Monday in Brooklyn. (Azi Paybarah via Twitter/JTA)

Jewish volunteers step up in Sandy’s wake

‘Synagogues, organizations and individuals — everyone has been coming out,’ says Upper West Side resident; kosher soup kitchen dishes out four times its usual fare

By Chavie Lieber

October 31, 2012
5:34 pm

A Haredi couple awaits the arrival of Hurricane Sandy on Monday in Brooklyn. (Azi Paybarah via Twitter/JTA)

Jewish communities race to find, provide aid following Hurricane Sandy

Storm targeted largest concentration of Jews in the US, where full recovery is expected to take months

By Adam Soclof