Asaf Shalev

The caves of Tel Maresha at Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park in central Israel were declared a World Heritage by UNESCO in 2014. Tourists visit the caves and some join the excavation as volunteers for a day. (Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images/JTA)

January 25, 2022, 7:58 pm

Michael Steinhardt allegedly looted the same caves his donations help to preserve

Links between the Heliodorus Stele, Birthright Israel, and accused billionaire illuminate just how complicated a relationship Israel has with the megadonor philanthropist

By Asaf Shalev

Police vehicles stand in front of Congregation Beth Israel synagogue, on January 16, 2022, in Colleyville, Texas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

January 21, 2022, 9:30 am

US Jews prepare for Shabbat in shadow of ‘disheartening’ Texas synagogue attack

‘It’s scary to be Jewish in America these days,’ says religious leader acquainted with Charlie Cytron-Walker, the rabbi taken hostage in Colleyville last week

By Asaf Shalev

The Jewish Museum in New York City. (Wikimedia Commons via JTA)

January 13, 2022, 2:12 pm

Workers push to unionize at New York Jewish Museum amid pandemic uncertainty

Employees say drive is aimed at creating a ‘workplace built upon communication, respect, and integrity’

By Asaf Shalev

People walk into the headquarters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Washington, DC, on Thursday, December 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

January 11, 2022, 9:20 pm

US Muslim group accuses Jewish charities of funding Islamophobia

CAIR, which itself has faced accusations of bigotry, says foundations gave $106 million from 2017-2019 to organizations it considers ‘anti-Muslim’

By Asaf Shalev

A Christmas display at the entrance to the Tel Aviv flagship store of Tiv Ta’am, an Israeli supermarket chain known for selling food that doesn’t meet kosher dietary rules. (Asaf Shalev via JTA)

December 24, 2021, 7:44 am

For a growing number of Jews in Israel, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

An influx of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, combined with tech firms trying to project image of cosmopolitan savvy, mean the festival is becoming increasingly mainstream

By Asaf Shalev

Rabbi Michael Cook teaches a class at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati in 2016. (Janine Spang)

December 23, 2021, 6:31 pm

Probing ethics process, Reform group finds late rabbi ducked abuse complaints

New report commissioned by the Central Conference of American Rabbis reveals how Michael Cook was able to continue teaching after formal allegations were lodged against him

By Asaf Shalev

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers the keynote speech at F8, Facebook's developer conference, in San Jose, California, May 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

December 1, 2021, 11:29 pm

Florida Jewish federation: Facebook algorithm blocked our ad against antisemitism

Heads of Broward County Jewish organization pen letter to social media giant criticizing rejection of post as a ‘calamitous consequence of your effort to curb hate speech’

By Asaf Shalev

Members of USY, a Jewish youth movement, visit Millennium Park in Chicago. (Screen capture/YouTube via JTA)

November 20, 2021, 1:32 am

Young US Jews thriving the least in their spiritual lives — cross-religious survey

40% of Gen-Z Jews tell research institute they don’t need ‘spiritual community,’ highest rate among major religions and potential point of alarm for those looking to up engagement

By Asaf Shalev and Ella Rockart

Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk, right, addressed the audience as part of an event installing Rabbi Raymond Zwerin, left, as spiritual leader of Temple Sinai in Denver, 1968. Three years later, Gottschalk became the president of the Reform movement's rabbinical school. (Denver Post via Getty Images via JTA)

November 10, 2021, 2:08 am

Probe finds sexual harassers led Reform’s rabbinical school for over 3 decades

Report commissioned by school finds six senior men and a ‘good old boys’ culture harmed generations of rabbis and professionals at movement’s four campuses in US and Jerusalem

By PHILISSA CRAMER and Asaf Shalev

Aaron Feuerstein, president and CEO of Malden Mills, smiles outside a courthouse, on August 14, 2003, in Worcester, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Chris Fitzgerald, File)

November 7, 2021, 11:42 am

‘Mensch of Malden Mills,’ who paid workers even after factory burned, dies at 95

Aaron Feuerstein, a Massachusetts-based textile manufacturer, said Jewish teachings guided his treatment of employees: ‘You are not permitted to oppress the working man’

By Asaf Shalev

Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss (Scott Olson/Getty Images/ via JTA) and local resident Lesley Williams (Courtesy of Lesley Williams/ via JTA).

November 7, 2021, 3:20 am

The case for reparations, according to 2 Jews in the first US city to offer them

As Chicago suburb Evanston compensates some Black residents for past housing injustices, Jewish mayor Daniel Biss and local Lesley Williams disagree on whether it’s a good start

By Asaf Shalev and PHILISSA CRAMER

Members of the Lev Tahor sect prepare to depart from La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City on a journey to Iraqi Kurdistan in Oct. 2021 (Courtesy)

November 6, 2021, 4:08 am

As ‘Jewish Taliban’ sect tossed out of Iraq, its leaders stand trial in New York

Prosecutors this week completed presenting witness testimony in Lev Tahor child abduction case from 2018

By Asaf Shalev

Chabad bought a historic church in Chicago last year and converted it into a Jewish center known as Chabad of East Lakeview. (Courtesy of Chabad/ via JTA)

November 4, 2021, 1:51 am

As pandemic drove Judaism online, Chabad bet on over $137 million in real estate

While many non-Orthodox institutions are unsure about their physical spaces after 1.5 years of mostly digital engagement, droves attend the Hasidic stream’s in-person programming

By Asaf Shalev

The Luzzatto High Holiday Mahzor (Sotheby's via JTA)

October 21, 2021, 8:39 am

Medieval Jewish prayer book goes for near-record $8.3m in controversial sale

Efforts made to stop auction, as some call on France to declare book a national treasure; sale to private collector points to precarious state of some public Judaica collections

By Asaf Shalev

A Jewish man stand on the balcony of Ateret Cohanim yeshiva in Jerusalem's Old City, on August 1, 2017. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

October 19, 2021, 7:17 pm

UK Virgin Islands controlled contentious East Jerusalem properties, papers show

Pandora Papers leak details how right-wing group Ateret Cohanim, which settles Jews in Palestinian neighborhoods, let registrations of shell companies lapse

By Asaf Shalev