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Rabbis Call On Boy Scouts To Lift Gay Ban

05/23/2013 | JTA

More than 500 rabbis and cantors urged the Boy Scouts of America to drop its ban on homosexual members when the youth group’s National Council convenes in Dallas this week.

Representatives of the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements signed the letter, which was coordinated by the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism and sent to the BSA leadership on Tuesday night.

Anthony Weiner Declares Candidacy For Mayor, Asking For 'Second Chance'

05/22/2013 | Adam Dickter and JTA

Ex-New York Rep. Anthony Weiner, who was forced out of office by a scandal, announced his run for mayor of New York City in the Democratic primary early Wednesday morning.

“Look, I’ve made some big mistakes and I know I’ve let a lot of people down,” Weiner said in a two-minute YouTube video released early Wednesday morning. “But I’ve also learned some tough lessons. I’m running for mayor because I’ve been fighting for the middle class and those struggling to make it for my entire life. And I hope I get a second chance to work for you.”

Chabad In Oklahoma Takes In Tornado Refugees As Jewish Organizations Muster Aid

05/21/2013 | JTA and Adam Dickter

A Chabad center in Oklahoma City opened its building as a shelter for those displaced by a deadly tornado.

The Chabad Community Center of Southern Oklahoma also is collecting supplies for those left homeless by the tornado that tore through an Oklahoma City suburb on Monday afternoon, leaving at least 91 people dead, including at least 20 children, and injuring hundreds.

Cigarette-Smuggling Palestinan Linked To Deadly 1994 Brooklyn Bridge Terror Attack

05/20/2013 | JTA

One of 16 Palestinians arrested in a cigarette-smuggling ring was linked to the 1994 murder of yeshiva student Ari Halberstam in a terror attack on the Brooklyn Bridge.