National News

Jewish Groups See Major Shift In Priority Of Gun Control

12/15/2012 | Adam Dickter | Assistant Managing Editor

For the first time in his more than two decades at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Ethan Felson has been seeing an issue presented, and a consensus reached, in a matter of hours, not days.

Child Artists Win Contest, iPads

12/14/2012 | Julie Wiener | Associate Editor

Most children like making art, but they aren't usually compensated for their work.

However, posters created by 8-year-old Amarya Levy-Mazie, of Brooklyn, 9-year-old Sophia Trigub of Fairlawn, N.J. and 10 other children around the country, were rewarded with new iPads.

New Era On The Hill

12/11/2012 | Ron Kampeas/ JTA

Washington — When the new Congress convenes in January, it will be missing several longtime pillars of support for Israel on Capitol Hill.

Gone from the House of Representatives will be veteran Jewish Reps. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Gary Ackerman (D-Queesn/L.I.), the ranking member on the committee’s Middle East and South Asia Subcommittee; and Steve Rothman (D-N.J.), a point person on funding Israel’s missile-defense efforts. Absent from the Senate will be Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.).

Event Spurned By Stevie Wonder Raises More Than $14 Million

12/10/2012 | JTA

The Friends of the Israel Defense Forces fundraiser that singer Stevie Wonder pulled out of raised more than $14 million.

More than 1,400 people attended the event in Los Angeles to aid Israeli soldiers. Entertainment mogul Haim Saban and his wife, Cheryl chaired the gala. Saban is a national board member of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces.

ADL Hails Drop in FBI Hate Crimes Stats, Though Still 'Far Too Many'

12/10/2012

The Anti-Defamation League welcomed an FBI report showing a decrease in hate crimes over the past 10 years but said there were still “far too many” such crimes.

There were 6,222 hate crimes reported during 2011, according to the report released Monday. The year 2000 showed slightly more than 8,000 hate crimes.

The 2011 figure was a 6 percent decrease from 2010 and the least number of such crimes reported since 1994.

JFNA's TribeFest Event To Skip 2013

12/04/2012 | Adam Dickter

Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) is planning the third installment of its TribeFest young leadership conference for 2014, giving the Las Vegas confab a year off after successful events this year and last year.

The umbrella group for American Jewish philathropy is instead planning a smaller, low-key young leadeship conference this March in Dallas, to include several hundred TribeFest alumni.