http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php en nrubin@jewishtimes.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-10T19:04:19+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/marines_ss_photo_condemned/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/marines_ss_photo_condemned/#When:18:02:23Z The publication of a 2010 photograph showing U.S. soldiers with a logo resembling a Nazi symbol was greeted with condemnations by Jewish groups. In the picture, taken in Afghanistan, American Marines are shown with a flag that reads “SS” in a manner similar to the logo of the infamous Nazi police. A Marine spokesperson said the soldiers did… News - National 2012-02-10T18:02:23+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/orthodox_musicians_find_alternatives_to_friday_night_concerts/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/orthodox_musicians_find_alternatives_to_friday_night_concerts/#When:15:44:03Z With his yarmulke, ritual fringes and lyrics occasionally borrowed from ancient texts, Grammy-nominated reggae star Matisyahu may be the most publicly Jewish performer in the mainstream music scene. But he’s not the only one. Growing ranks of Jewishly committed performers are finding success on the national stage. Located on both coasts, these independent artists share more with Matisyahu… News - National 2012-02-09T15:44:03+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/rabbi_shmuely_boteach_running_for_congress/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/rabbi_shmuely_boteach_running_for_congress/#When:12:53:38Z Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has sent a letter declaring his intent to run for Congress in New Jersey’s newly formed 9th District. Boteach sent the letter of intent to the offices of the Bergen County Republican Organization by the Jan. 31 deadline but has not decided definitively to run, the New Jersey Jewish Standard reported.… News - National 2012-02-07T12:53:38+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/hebrew_charter_schools_spread_but_face_setbacks/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/hebrew_charter_schools_spread_but_face_setbacks/#When:12:52:19Z The emergence of Hebrew charter schools — publicly funded schools that teach Hebrew language and aspects of Jewish culture — has been a controversial development in recent years. Required by law to be open to all regardless of religion or ethnicity, and prohibited from promoting religion, the tuition-free schools nonetheless have drawn scrutiny from church-state watchdogs, as well… News - National 2012-02-06T12:52:19+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/poll_jewish_shift_to_gop/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/poll_jewish_shift_to_gop/#When:13:19:06Z A survey suggested a shift toward Republicans in party identification among Jews. The survey, published Thursday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Life, showed an overall shift to the GOP among various religious groups. Jewish identification with Democrats slipped from 72 to 65 percent between 2008 and 2011, the poll… News - National 2012-02-05T13:19:06+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/gingrich_romney_cut_kosher_food_to_holocaust_survivors/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/gingrich_romney_cut_kosher_food_to_holocaust_survivors/#When:16:56:56Z A Newt Gingrich robocall told Florida voters that Holocaust survivors “were forced to eat non-kosher” because of Mitt Romney. “As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney vetoed a bill paying for kosher food for our seniors in nursing home,” said the call reported Tuesday by Shaun Daikin, an activist who seeks to stop the phenomenon of the automatic phone… News - National 2012-02-02T16:56:56+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/jews_jump_into_enviornmentalist_fracking_debate/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/jews_jump_into_enviornmentalist_fracking_debate/#When:17:14:23Z To frack or not to frack? As concerns mount over the environmental and public health consequences of hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, Jewish groups are coalescing around a strategy that supports efforts to extract natural gas from shale rock while seeking to mitigate its worst effects. In May, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the community’s main public… News - National 2012-02-01T17:14:23+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/new_book_frames_conversation_debate/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/new_book_frames_conversation_debate/#When:12:41:34Z The issue of who can become a Jew through conversion is controversial and critical to determining the essence of the Jewish character, and as timely as the current headlines from Jerusalem. But as two rabbinic scholars — one Reform and one Conservative — show in assessing Orthodox rabbinic decision-making on the subject over the last two centuries, the… News - National 2012-01-31T12:41:34+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/romney_gingrich_blame_palestinians/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/romney_gingrich_blame_palestinians/#When:22:43:38Z Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich put the blame for the impasse in Middle East peace talks squarely on the Palestinians. The candidates were responding a a question at the latest GOP debate Thursday night, in Jacksonville, Fla., from an audience member, Abraham Hassan. “How would a Republican administration help bring peace to… News - National 2012-01-29T22:43:38+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/cleveland_jewry_stable_numbers_more_orthodox/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/cleveland_jewry_stable_numbers_more_orthodox/#When:13:45:51Z - A population study of the greater Cleveland area found that the Jewish population has remained relatively stable over the last 15 years. The 2011 Greater Cleveland Jewish Population Study, the first comprehensive survey since 1996, found 80,800 Jews living in the greater Cleveland area, down slightly from 81,500 in 1996. Among the findings: * 62 percent of… News - National 2012-01-27T13:45:51+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/floridas_jews_key_in_primaries_--_again/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/floridas_jews_key_in_primaries_--_again/#When:13:04:37Z Barack Obama won’t show up on the vote tallies after polls close in Florida’s Republican primary on Jan. 31, but the president’s supporters already are waging a fight for the Sunshine State. Democrats are rolling out a campaign to rival any of the GOP candidates, with a particular focus on the state’s substantial Jewish community. Democratic officials said… News - National 2012-01-26T13:04:37+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/cubans_tracked_marylands_alan_gross_for_years/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/cubans_tracked_marylands_alan_gross_for_years/#When:18:11:21Z Jailed American Jewish contractor Alan Gross visited Cuba at least five times in one year to set up wireless Internet connections, according to a report citing leaked court documents. The report Thursday by The Associated Press comes two days after Juan Lamigueiro of the Cuban interests section in Washington posted a letter on the Cuban Foreign Ministry website… News - National 2012-01-19T18:11:21+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/studies_more_than_6_million_jews_in_u.s/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/studies_more_than_6_million_jews_in_u.s/#When:16:51:34Z More than 6 million Jews are living in the United States, according to two independent studies. The two studies, using completely different methodology, discovered between 6.4 million and 6.6 million U.S. Jews, or about 1.8 percent of the population, the Forward reported. The figure is some 20 percent higher than the 5.2 million reported by the 2000 National… News - National 2012-01-18T16:51:34+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/heightened_anxiety_security_after_nj_attacks/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/heightened_anxiety_security_after_nj_attacks/#When:00:51:53Z As Jews in some northern New Jersey communities made their way to synagogue last Shabbat, the scene was slightly different from the typical day of rest. Extra police cars were on patrol near synagogues. At Bnei Yeshurun in Teaneck, a new buzzer system had been installed. And at Ahavath Torah in Englewood, a phalanx of security guards stood… News - National 2012-01-18T00:51:53+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/jewish_groups_welcome_courts_ministerial_exception/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/jewish_groups_welcome_courts_ministerial_exception/#When:14:11:01Z Two groups each known for their internal divisions on religion-state issues found themselves in a degree of accord this week: the justices of the United State Supreme Court and the organized Jewish community. In a decision issued Wednesday, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the right of religious institutions to use “ministerial exception” to bypass employee discrimination protections and… News - National 2012-01-14T14:11:01+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/jack_lew_obamas_new_jewish_address/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/jack_lew_obamas_new_jewish_address/#When:13:14:28Z @JewishWhiteHouse is back. President Obama on Monday announced that Jack Lew, his director of the Office of Budget and Management—a Cabinet-level position—would replace William Daley as White House chief of staff. Lew, 56, was chosen for his long years in government and his reputation as a skilled multitasker—he was top- budget cruncher for Bill Clinton before reprising the… News - National 2012-01-12T13:14:28+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/jewish_gopers_nervous_as_favorites_savage_one_another/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/jewish_gopers_nervous_as_favorites_savage_one_another/#When:17:23:18Z As the Republican primary fight moves from New Hampshire to South Carolina, Newt Gingrich is stepping up his attacks on Mitt Romney and some prominent Jewish Republicans—who have a rich, mutually admiring history with both men—are wondering what happens next. Gingrich and a pro-Gingrich SuperPAC—reportedly funded to the tune of $5 million by Sheldon Adelson, one of the… News - National 2012-01-11T17:23:18+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/santorums_conservatism_tough_sell_for_many_jews/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/santorums_conservatism_tough_sell_for_many_jews/#When:17:22:04Z Rick Santorum’s near-win in Iowa has made him the GOP’s latest “not Romney” to pick up steam, but he may have his work cut out for him in attracting Jewish support. Pro-Israel insiders say the Santorum campaign is now aggressively reaching out to Jewish givers who helped him when he was a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania. Santorum’s stumbling… News - National 2012-01-09T17:22:04+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/u_penn_distances_self_from_anti-israel_conference/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/u_penn_distances_self_from_anti-israel_conference/#When:17:44:17Z The University of Pennsylvania distanced itself from a BDS conference scheduled for February on its Philadelphia campus. In a statement released last month, Penn President Amy Gutmann emphasized that the school is not sponsoring the 2012 National Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions conference, nor does it support its aims. “The University of Pennsylvania has clearly stated on numerous occasions… News - National 2012-01-06T17:44:17+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/the_jewish_channel_tries_to_make_its_mark/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/the_jewish_channel_tries_to_make_its_mark/#When:16:10:09Z It is a strange irony: Jews have been successful in the television business—but Jewish TV, not so much. It’s not for lack of trying. Right now, no fewer than three Jewish-focused national cable channels are trying to carve out a viable niche within the already small niche for Jewish TV. It’s a road others have taken in the… News - National 2012-01-05T16:10:09+00:00