Dear JTA Reader:
Next week, we will dip apples into honey, bid farewell to a year of turbulence and transition, and welcome a new year that we all hope will be filled with sweet, good news.
At JTA.org, we're featuring a special section called Shofar, So Good written especially for the High Holidays. There you'll find a rich selection of stories, including a Year in Review of 5769, personal observations on marking the holidays, reflections on topics like family life and film, and some unique international holiday recipes.
This has been a challenging year for many of us, including JTA. Yet, with your readership and your support, we believe we have not only weathered the worst of it, but grown and improved in ways that strengthen our mission as the only global Jewish news service.
Some highlights:
- At the start of the Jewish year, we launched the new jta.org, with a more appealing format, better tools for navigation, and features to encourage community participation in the gathering and understanding of the news.
- During the election cycles in the United States and Israel, our political coverage brought you not only the obvious breaking news stories, but in-depth features and revealing profiles that gave you a more well-rounded picture of the candidates and the issues. Much of the American election was covered through our Washington blog, now called Capital J.
- As the Madoff scandal unfolded, our Fundermentalist philanthropy blog became the go-to source for the latest news, not only about the details of Madoff's misdeeds, but also about how our community organizations, philanthropies and Federations were directly affected. The strength of our coverage led to the introduction of the Fundermentalist weekly e-mail later in the year (sign up here).
- In honor of Tu B'Shevat, we introduced Eco Jews, a special section on Jews and the environment. A contest to reward the best Jewish green initiatives drew entries from around the world, spotlighting programs created by everyone from day schools to homes for the aged.
- Our international reporting featured an in-depth look at the U.N. World Conference on Racism; a special series on Muslims in Europe; close coverage of terrorist and anti-Semitic activity, from India to Venezuela; and the exploration of Jewish life in places both obvious and unexpected around the globe.
The High Holidays are a meaning-filled time for our community as we remember our shared history and reconnect in the spirit of our traditions and with hope for the future.
It has been an honor to serve you this past year. We look forward to bringing you the news you need to stay connected -- not just at holiday time but year round -- for many years to come.
Shanah Tovah,
Elisa Spungen Bildner
President
Mark J. Joffe
Publisher
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