WASHINGTON (JTA) — An Orthodox rabbi in Washington and two of his congregants have filed a class-action suit against the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics. The complaint, filed May 27, claims that the board placed an unconstitutional burden on observant Jews by scheduling a special election on the last day of Passover [ Read More...]

(JTA) — The only Jewish day school in Toledo, Ohio, is closing at the end of the school year due to a lack of enrollment. The David S. Stone Hebrew Academy will shut down when the school year ends next week, the Toledo Blade reported. The school, serving grades K-5, dropped from an enrollment of [ Read More...]

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer did not rule out accepting the position of managing director of the International Monetary Fund should he win the election. Fischer made the remarks Tuesday during an address at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev as part of its 41st Annual Board of Governors meeting. “All of [ Read More...]

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israel’s attorney general is investigating the Ofer Brothers Group, which was sanctioned by the United States for dealings with Iran. The Ofer Brothers Group was sanctioned for its role in providing a tanker valued at $8.65 million to an Iranian shipping company; the brothers deny knowledge of involvement in the sale, saying [ Read More...]

CARACAS, Venezuela (JTA) — A group of squatters forcefully entered a building that houses a synagogue, in a move that anti-government observers say was religiously motivated. The squatters were peacefully dislodged Monday morning after negotiations with the police and community leaders. A group of 20 homeless people, including children, broke into the three-story building before [ Read More...]

TORONTO (JTA) — The head of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Bernie Farber, announced he is running for public office. Farber, who worked for the CJC for 27 years and has been its CEO since 2005, announced he is taking a leave of absence to run as a Liberal candidate in October’s provincial elections in Ontario. [ Read More...]

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli judoka Arik Zeevi won a gold medal at the prestigious Moscow Grand Prix. Zeevi’s victory in Sunday’s final against Cyrille Maret of France brings him within a few points of qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics. It was the second Israeli medal in the competition; Yarden Gerbi secured the bronze medal [ Read More...]

TORONTO (JTA) – Canada’s foreign minister has “strongly” urged against Canadian involvement in an international aid flotilla slated to leave for the Gaza Strip in late June. John Baird called the planned aid flotilla “provocative and, ultimately, unhelpful to the people of Gaza.” “I strongly urge those wishing to deliver humanitarian goods to the Gaza [ Read More...]

By Dan Klein NEW YORK (JTA) — One night back in 1985, businessman Bruce Slovin was walking home from a corporate board meeting with a lawyer named Joe Greenberger when Greenberger asked him about his involvement in the Jewish world. Slovin responded that he wasn’t at all active, so Greenberger invited him to attend the [ Read More...]

(JTA) — The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to confirm Daniel Shapiro as America’s next ambassador to Israel. Shapiro was nominated to the post in March by President Obama. At the time he was serving as senior director for the Middle East and North Africa at the National Security Council. He had coordinated Jewish outreach for [ Read More...]