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FEATURED STORIES Pa. Senate race turning into Israel proxy fight The Senate bid of U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) is turning into a proxy fight between organizations that support President Obama's Middle East policies and those who oppose them. (Molly Theobald/AFL-CIO) A close battle for Pennsylvania's open U.S. Senate seat is quickly turning into a proxy war between self-described pro-Israel forces on the left and right. Read more » AJCongress demise a tale of money, shifting priorities The demise of the 90-year-old American Jewish Congress is a story not just about cash-flow problems but about the changing of priorities of the American Jewish community. Read more » AJCongress shutters quickly, pays debts slowly When the American Jewish Congress decided to suspend its operations last week, it gave employees just two days' notice and deferred their severance pay for at least a couple of months. Read more » Senate committee advances Kagan nomination The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved Elena Kagan for the U.S. Supreme Court in a vote mostly along party lines. Read more » Live video: Israel's Limmud conference Visit The Telegraph, JTA's catch-all blog, to watch live streaming video from this week's Limmud conference in Israel for Russian speakers. Read more »

JEWISH IDEAS DAILY Sponsored Content Another Madoff Casualty? Not really. The American Jewish Congress, lately redundant, irrelevant, and moribund, once made revolutionary contributions to Jewish life and Jewish interests. Read more »

EDITORS' PICKS Rotem on his conversion bill (N.Y. Jewish Week) David Rotem, the author of an Israeli conversion bill strongly opposed by non-Orthodox Diaspora groups, argues that his bill is essential to breaking the Orthodox-dominated Israeli Rabbinate's monopoly over marriage and does nothing to alter the Law of Return or the status of converts from the Diaspora. Israel Museum gets a facelift (N.Y. Times) The crown jewel of Israel's cultural heritage reopens next week with new galleries and public spaces meant to be easier to navigate, and to suggest interesting connections among the objects on display. From the bimah to pot dispenser (Washington Jewish Week) Jeffrey Kahn, a pulpit rabbi for nearly three decades, is setting up a medicinal pot shop in a Washington neighborhood to help the chronically ill. A California Yankee on Israel's court (Haaretz) L.A. native David Blumenthal, a veteran shooting guard for Maccabi Tel Aviv, finally agrees to join the Israeli national basketball team for the first time. Seal speaks (Jerusalem Post) The soul/R&B singer, who is performing tonight at the Raanana Amphitheater, talks about his music and upcoming reality show with supermodel wife Heidi Klum and their three kids. BREAKING NEWS Israel's conversion bill reportedly will not reach the Knesset floor until October. Americans opposed to Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip are organizing a ship from the United States to take part in an international flotilla. Israel has lifted an advisory warning its citizens against traveling to Turkey. More than 80 countries signed an agreement to cooperate in the fight against anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. A dual Jordanian-American citizen was convicted of mailing a bomb threat to a Chicago Jewish day school. Israel's military has implemented operational changes designed to further minimize future civilian casualties, according to an update on Israel's investigation into the Gaza war. Australia's opposition leader accused the Labor government of weakening the country's longstanding bipartisan support for Israel. Israeli Defense Forces chief Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi praised military relations between Italy and Israel. Dozens of protesters stood outside the Capitol to denounce Congress' handling of the BP oil spill while commemorating Tisha B'Av. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs urged the House of Representatives to pass a child nutrition funding act before its August recess.