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State Budget Crisis Threatens Jewish Social Service Programs

Four Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles programs that serve the elderly, disabled and frail may end up casualties of the state budget crisis, which leapt to a new level of urgency Tuesday as California lawmakers failed to pass budget revisions before a July 1 deadline. more

Our Annual List of Local Favorites

It’s tough to resist the temptation of calling this list “The Best of Jewish L.A.” Plenty of publications and Web sites anoint restaurants, products and people with the hallowed “best of” label. We don’t go in for such hype.

Instead, our writers and editors weigh in about what they like in the community, from kosher-friendly fro-yo to a venue that draws numerous Israeli musicians. The choices reflect not only the varied tastes of our staff, but also the great diversity of L.A. more

Local Jewish Camps Face Down Swine Flu

More than 40 campers and counselors from Jewish summer camps in Southern California have been sent home with flu-like symptoms. As of June 29, there have been several cases of Influenza A, which are currently being tested by the California Health Department to determine if they are the H1N1 strain, commonly known as Swine Flu. more

He's Good Enough, Smart Enough and Doggone it, The MN Supreme Court Likes Him

The Minnesota Supreme Court just declared that Democrat Al Franken is the winner in the Minnesota Senate race, beating out incumbent Norm Coleman. more

Madoff gets 150 Years in Prison

Bernard Madoff, the now infamous conman who admitted to running the biggest Ponzi scheme in American history, was sentenced this morning to 150 years in prison. That’s the maximum, and it pretty much guarantees that the 71-year-old disgraced financier will die in prison. more

Madoff Victims Speak Out

HuffingtonPost.com: Victims who lost millions of dollars in the multibillion-dollar fraud perpetrated by Bernard Madoff described their ruined lives Monday to the judge sentencing the 71-year-old former Nasdaq stock market chairman. more

Mousavi would shun nuclear weapons, says Iran scholar

Even if the Iranian authorities succeed in suppressing the large demonstrations, the opposition might adopt other forms of protest - such as manifestos, strikes and mass resignations by university professors. more

Stepping Out: L.A.’s Israelis organize like never before.

“On behalf of the citizens of Israel, I wanted to say thank you,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a letter addressed to guests at the Israeli Leadership Council’s (ILC ) first annual gala, held at the Beverly Hilton hotel on May 13. “For standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel, for working to ensure that the deep feeling of solidarity you have toward Israel will be passed onto the next generation and for strengthening unity among our people, which is more important than ever.” more

Early Expatriates Got the Cold Shoulder

The official policy of turning a cold shoulder to the Israeli expatriate population is well documented. Anna Schwarz, a graduate of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, wrote her 2009 master’s thesis on Israelis living in Los Angeles, in which she discussed at length the Jewish American establishment’s reaction to Israeli immigrants in the 1970s and thereafter. more

The fate of the Jews in Iran after the election violence

During the recent uprisings in Iran following the June 12th elections in that country, I have been approached by dozens of individuals asking me what is going on in Iran’s Jewish community today. The simple answer is pure fear. more

MICHAEL JACKSON: Memories From My Childhood

By Michael Jackson

When I look back on my childhood, it is not an idyllic landscape of memories. My relationship with my father was strained, and my childhood was an emotionally difficult time for me. more

What Happens to Michael Jackson's Jewish Kids?

RARE PHOTOS OF MICHAEL'S POSSESSIONS

David Suissa: The day I sang for Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's Jewish Connections

Europeans: Gilad Shalit transfer to Egypt imminent

European diplomatic sources said Thursday that kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit will be transferred to Egypt in the coming hours or coming days.

This information has yet to be confirmed by Israeli officials. more

Admissions remain open at School of Jewish Communal Service

Despite plans that could have led to the closure of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s School of Jewish Communal Service in Los Angeles, the board of governors decided Tuesday to keep admissions open for the 2010-2011 school year. more

Council rules out nullifying election

CNN.com: Iran’s Guardian Council has ruled out the possibility of nullifying the results of the country’s disputed presidential election, saying irregularities were reported before the balloting—not during or after. more

Iran turmoil likely to benefit Israel

Like the collapse of the Soviet Union nearly two decades ago, the outcome of the post-election unrest in Iran could be of major strategic significance for the Middle East and for Israel. more

Photos from Iranian protest outside Westwood Federal Building

Twitter won’t make Iran protestors bulletproof

Outside of Iran, it’s easy being green these days. The streets of major cities worldwide host swirling masses of light-emerald protestors on a semi-daily basis, the throngs blending into a peaceful mix of nationalities hoisting V signs to the sky. more

ANALYSIS: No one truly knows how the protests in Iran will end

A perusal of newspaper headlines this week may lead the reader to the mistaken conclusion that the revolution has already occured. Indeed, a revolution in Iran is an old Israeli hope. For Israel, the end of the ayatollahs’ regime could be seen as belated compensation for the downfall of the friendly regime of the shah exactly 30 years ago. more

Bruno’s Top Five Jewish Moments

When Bruno fails to achieve uber-fame by solving the problems in Darfur, he comforts himself with the knowledge that “luckily, there is still one sh—hole left to fix in the world: “The Middle East” (or “Middle Earth,” as he calls it). more

SEC sues Stanley Chais and four others

Stanley Chais, the 83-year-old Beverly Hills investor manager, keeps getting bad news. Last month he was sued by the court-appointed trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff’s bogus investment company; the trustee, Irving Picard, claimed Chais “knew or should have known that they were reaping the benefits of manipulated purported returns, false documents and fictitious profits.” more

Mass Converts Pose Dilemma for Latin American Jews

Luis Alberto Prieto Vargas appears to be a Jew. He wears a kippah, he introduces himself as Jewish, and two years ago Vargas, a Christian by birth, underwent a conversion ceremony to Judaism following several years of religious study. more

LA’s Top Chef Wins First Round of Top Chef Masters [VIDEO]

Suzanne Tracht, executive chef and owner of Los Angeles chophouse, Jar, will feed hungry locals (although not necessarily her creations, to their misfortune) after winning both the Quickfire Challenge and elimination challenge of the second episode of “Top Chef Masters,” a new spin-off of Bravo’s popular cooking competition, “Top Chef.” The new show is designed for chefs who have already achieved their fame the old-fashioned way. more

Speak Up, Bibi!

Millions of Iranians are marching for the democratic freedoms we take for granted. Their government is suppressing their protests with brutality and violence. The whole world is watching. more

Mousavi ‘ready for ‘martyrdom’ as fresh Iran protests erupt [VIDEO]

Defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi declared Saturday he was “ready for martyrdom,“ an aide said, in the protests that have shaken Iran and brought warnings of bloodshed from the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader. more

Khamenei: Elections were fair, ‘Zionist’ media to blame

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denied that the country’s recent elections were fixed, called on protesters to stop and blamed the “Zionist” media.

In his first public address since the June 12 elections, Iran’s highest ranking political and religious authority accused the opposition of “challenging democracy after the elections.“ more

Protest Outside Federal Building on Wilshire [VIDEO]

Local Iranian Americans Protest Iranian Election

The ties that bind Los Angeles’ Iranian community to its roots a half-world away have been in full view this week, as protesters cried out in reaction to the June 12 Iranian presidential election, calling it fraudulent and a sham. Within the Iranian Jewish community in particular, the belief remains that none of the candidates can be expected to effect real change in Iran — not the rabidly anti-Israel, Holocaust-denying Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, nor the so-called moderate candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. more

Wolpe Calls Iranian Protest, “A Vision of Freedom”

The rabbi to one of the largest Iranian Jewish congregations in the world spoke directly to some 1200 congregants on Saturday morning from the pulpit, saying the events unfolding in Iran echo the Biblical promise of freedom. more

Anti-Israel Group Boycotts Trader Joe’s [UPDATED]

Although “World Refugee Day,” the boycott of Trader Joe’s planned by the anti-Israel group “Don’t Buy into Apartheid,” came and went on Saturday, June 20, with no apparent incidents in Los Angeles, other cities in California did witness protestors invade the popular supermarket chain. more

Church Members Picket Outside Gay and Lesbian Synagogue

A man drove by and rolled down his window to say “I’m Jewish, did I kill Jesus? He was addressing a woman standing on the street corner holding four picket signs with a speaker blasting a song that repeats the words “God hates Jews.” She screamed back, “Yes you did!” more

Teresa Strasser Inner Child, Meet Baby, Please Don't Smother It

Rob Eshman The Education of Roger Cohen

Torah Portion Turn Enemies Into Friends

more news below

Opinion, Columns and Letters

• Rob Eshman

  One Day

• David Suissa

  Rembaum’s Unity

• by Ron Wolfson

  Bernie Madoff’s Next Trial

• Mona Eltahawy

  The Sounds of Silence on Iran