Courtesy of Modular Moods Records, The Telegraph is pleased to present the new collaboration between Jewish hip-hop artists Y-Love and Kosha Dillz.

Y-Love, who is currently touring internationally, jumping from Jewish conferences to secular hip-hop events, released his debut album This is Babylon earlier this year to rave reviews from mainstream hip-hop publications like XXL, XLR8R and URB, several of which described his music as “revolutionary.”

Kosha Dillz, the latest addition to the Modular family, is an Israeli-American emcee who has been cited by URB as “a universal voice” and “a rarely seen culture clash in music.” Dillz has performed with the likes of Matisyahu, Pharcyde and Jurassic 5, and will see his first Modular recording, a collaboration with rapper C Rayz Walz, released later this summer.

You can listen to Y-Love and Kosha Dillz’s collaboration below.

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After Israel and Syria announced this week they were renewing peace talks, the question on the minds of many was: Why now? Iran and Hezbollah’s rising power, new Israeli willingness to cede the Golan, the fading influence of the Bush White House and Ehud Olmert’s domestic troubles all are being cited as possible factors. JTA managing editor Uriel Heilman talks with diplomatic correspondent Leslie Susser in Jerusalem about the prospects of and motivations behind Israeli-Syrian peace talks.

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I have an article up about the National Jewish Democratic Council event Sunday night, during which several speakers and attendees expressed concerns about Barack Obama’s ability to hold on to Jewish voters. Even NJDC’s executive director, Iran Forman, who generally can be counted on to dismiss GOP predictions of a Jewish shift, was voicing concern about the presidential race.

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Kind of weird last Tuesday night listening to Adam Mansbach, a nice Jewish boy from Newton, MA, tell a bunch of white Jews at the San Francisco JCC he was a dope emcee who grew up listening to hip hop.

Sure, Jewish kids are fascinated by black culture, said the 32-year-old Berkeley author of “The End of the Jews,” his third novel about race, hip-hop, and alienated young Jews trying to find their place in the world. His second book, “Angry Black White Boy,” is taught in more than three dozen universities, and is in development as a feature film.

Mansbach talks fast, in a rhythmic, jazzy kind of patter that prompted one audience member to ask why he “talked black,” a suggestion Mansbach dismissed. “What does that even mean?” he asked.

“This book is about margins,” he told the crowd. “If we look at the Jewish community of the past, those artists we value most highly occupied those margins. That’s where creativity happens.”

Mansbach spoke about his own early attraction to black culture, when he’d ride the bus that brought black kids to his heavily Jewish suburban school back to their African American neighborhoods to hang out and listen to the music that meant more to him than the Hebrew school he was thrown out of. In a world where chain stores use hip-hop to sell everything from computers to running shoes, he wondered, where does one draw the line between cultural appreciation and appropriation?

Oh yeah, that scary title. Once he was at a bar mitzvah with his grandfather, a retired law professor and judge from the Bronx whom Mansbach calls “brilliant, a heavy dude.” The gentleman surveyed the scene, with the Mexican hats and the over-sized sunglasses and the cheesy games and the extravagant buffet, turned to his grandson and muttered, “it’s the end of the Jews.”

It’s not, of course. But it makes good cover copy.

An audio segment of the author in conversation with Dan Schifrin, writer-in-residence at the soon-to-open Contemporary Jewish Museum of San Francisco, follows:

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Nigel Duara has been reporting for the Des Moines Register on the situation in Postville, Iowa in the aftermath of last week’s arrests at Agriprocessors. Here he talks with JTA’s Ben Harris about how the raid went down.

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Ben Harris is on the on the ground in Iowa, reporting on the aftermath of last week’s federal raid of the country’s largest meatpacking plant. Listen to his report on the first batch of undocumented workers to be deported, with hundreds more still in custody.

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Earlier today I had the opportunity to speak with Academy Award winning actor Jon Voight who is in Israel for the state’s 60th anniversary festivities. While here, Voight joined Chabad-Lubavitch in welcoming children evacuated from the devastated Chernobyl region of the Former Soviet Union to Israel. I spoke to Mr. Voight about his relationship to the Jewish community, his involvement with Chabad’s Children of Chernobyl campaign, and his affinity for the state of Israel.

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[Update] Here’s video of Jon Voight dancing on the Chabad telethon:

Last night, the President’s Conference reached its climax with an event celebrating the historic relationship between Israel and the United States. In their successive addresses, which were interspersed with musical and (more questionable) dance performances, President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and the event’s chair, American casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, celebrated the uniqueness of the U.S.-Israel relationship, expressed gratitude for America’s commitment to Israeli security, and lavished praise upon U.S. President George W. Bush, the evening’s guest of honor, whom they characterized as the most supportive U.S. President Israel has ever known. Their remarks, which were met with thunderous applause, preceded a brief address by President Bush, who linked the destinies of the U.S. and Israel through their shared commitment to bringing peace to the Middle East. The full audio of each speech follows.

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JTA’s Israel correspondent Dina Kraft speaks with American Jewish World Service director Ruth Messinger, who is attending the President’s Conference in Israel, about China’s support for Sudan, Israel’s handling of Sudanese refugees, and the call for Jews to boycott the Beijing Olympics.

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Earlier today, JTA correspondent Dina Kraft had the opportunity to speak with Stuart Eizenstat, who served as an adviser, undersecretary and ambassador under the Clinton and Carter administrations. Mr. Eizenstat discussed Holocaust restitution in Israel, the challenges posed by Iran’s nuclear program, and Jimmy Carter’s recent visit with Hamas.

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