Mike Levy

Jewish Groups Stay Silent on Union Vote

Published on December 12, 2002

A showdown between Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and hundreds of its registered nurses over unionizaton will come to head after three days of balloting ending Friday, Dec. 13.

The hospital has strongly opposed the registered nurses push to be represented by the California Nurses Association (CNA) which represents 45,000 nurses at 150 hospitals in the state. According to observers, upwards of half of the 1,500 registered nurses eligible to take part in the vote may side with the hospital. Both sides have assailed each other in the days leading up to the vote.

The nurses have accused the medical center of illegal activities, while the hospital has said the nurses' actions have disrupted patient care.

Many Angry Voices

Published on December 12, 2002

The old joke says, "For every two Jews, you have three opinions." So is it possible that, as members of the Jewish political left complained in an ad on the back page of this newspaper on Nov. 22, "In the name of unity in a time of crisis, the great Jewish tradition of vibrant and open debate has given way to a single voice"?

One of the main organizers of that "One Community, Many Voices" statement, UCLA professor David N. Myers, said of current Jewish political discourse that "the default assumption is that you support the present policies of the Israeli government, and hold Israel free of responsibility for the situation, or you're against us."

One Night for Israel

Published on November 28, 2002

The new Toys for Chanukah campaign comes hot on the heels of IESF's Rosh Hashana Honey campaign -- when you, dear readers, sent honey for a sweet new year to Israeli victims of terror, IDF soldiers and friends and family in Israel.

7 Days In Arts

Published on November 28, 2002

7 Days In The Arts

The Festival of Lite

Published on November 21, 2002

Even "heart healthy" or "light" menu options can be filled with hidden fat, sodium or other dangers for those on special diets or trying to eat healthy.

Rubin Laid to Rest, But Not Controversy

Published on November 21, 2002

Mourners filled the seats and crowded into the back room of Sholom Memorial Park on Sunday, Nov. 17, to lay to rest Jewish Defense League (JDL) leader Irving David Rubin, but the funeral did not lay to rest the questions surrounding the controversial activist's death or the 11 months he spent in federal prison awaiting trial.

How Ready Are We?

Published on November 21, 2002

"For bioterrorism, we're about as prepared as we are for snow," said City Councilman Jack Weiss, who has spent a year working with security experts and local officials to figure out what Los Angeles needs to do to prepare for and prevent terrorist attacks.

JDL’s Questionable Future

Published on November 7, 2002

Kelly Rubin will turn 13 on Nov. 20. His bar mitzvah, already postponed to December, is now on hold as his father, Irv Rubin, lies in critical condition at L.A. County-USC Medical Center.

Local Jews Win, Mostly

Published on November 7, 2002

While Republicans swept in the national elections, with the GOP reclaiming the Senate and retaining their majority in the house, in California, Democrats made a strong showing, winning every statewide office.

Judges Facing Judgment Day

Published on October 31, 2002

It is a simple enough question: yes or no? Voters on Nov. 5 will answer the question many times, and the independence of California's judicial system depends on the answer.

Justices for the California Supreme Court and Court of Appeal are appointed for 12-year terms by the governor. They are confirmed by a committee consisting of the chief justice of the Supreme Court, the attorney general and the presiding justice of the Court of Appeal. If a judge is appointed to serve the remaining term of a retiring or deceased judge, or when the judge has finished a 12-year term, the jurist must be approved in an election in order to remain on the bench.

Among the judges up for retention on the Nov. 5 ballot are a handful of Gov. Gray Davis appointees with close ties to the L.A. Jewish community.

High Stakes on ‘Down Ballot’

Published on October 24, 2002

Nearly a quarter of all U.S. claims made to the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) have come from California.

Support for IsraelElementary to Watson

Published on October 3, 2002

She may not know the word shteibel, but she knows what's going on.

Top Cops Patrol Israel Beat

Published on September 26, 2002

"I went with police one night on patrol on Ben Yehuda Street," recalled Irvine Police Chief Michael Berkow. "There was a rock concert that night, about 20,000 people on the street, probably 80 percent 13, 14, 15, 16 years old, the rest parents with toddlers.

Get a CLUE to   Help the Poor

Published on September 19, 2002

"It's not someone else's problem. It's our problem." The problem Devorah Shubowitz is talking about: poverty.

Agencies Survive Budget Battle

Published on September 12, 2002

For Jewish community-affiliated agencies that receive money from the state, the last two months of past-deadline legislative wrangling over the budget has been a nail-biting time, with some organizations awaiting word on half or more of their annual funding.

Jew at the ‘Bu

Published on September 5, 2002

In June 1956, Kathy Kohner, a Jewish girl from Brentwood, began tagging along with some of the neighborhood boys driving out to Malibu.

High Security Holidays

Published on August 29, 2002

Last Sunday, a bomb squad van, police cars and fire trucks rushed to Temple Beth Torah in Culver City.

Last Yom Kippur, a car crashed into a small synagogue on Pico Boulevard, and off-duty police officers immediately evacuated the nearby B'nai David-Judea.

The Real Gidget

Published on August 22, 2002

In June 1956, a Jewish 15-year-old girl named Kathy Kohner began tagging along with some of the neighborhood boys and driving out from her Brentwood home to the beach in Malibu. The sport of surfing intrigued her, and she convinced the boys to teach her. Because she was young, slight and a girl, the surfer dudes took to calling her "Gidget," short for "girl midget."

When she told her screenwriter dad, Frederick Kohner, a Czech-born refugee who fled from the Nazis, about the goings on, he wrote the 1957 novel, "Gidget," featuring the lingo and subculture she brought home from the beach.

The New Middle East Battleground: College Campuses

Published on August 22, 2002

The signs on campus read, "Zionism equals Nazism" and "Why do Israelis love to kill Palestinian children?" One simply showed an Israeli flag dripping blood.

Strange BRU

Published on August 8, 2002

Who's taking a stand against Israel this week? Would you believe ... the Bus Riders Union (BRU)?

Send in the Committees

Published on August 8, 2002

As former Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks gears up for a City Council race, the campaign for his old job went into high gear last week with 47 candidates vying for the post.

Jewish Groups Make Housing Affordable

Published on August 1, 2002

The numbers are discouraging for anyone who does not own a home. Every month, California's housing prices seem to set new records. The state has the third lowest rate of home ownership in the country. Housing prices put pressure on rents, which rise even as stock-derived income, which cushioned the costs for many, disappears. Competition for affordable housing is intense; waiting lists are long.

What’s That You Say About the West Coast?

Published on August 1, 2002

It seems Arabs and Jews in can agree on one thing at least -- a touch of resentment toward East Coast "national" organization headquarters.

What’s That You Say About the West Coast?

Published on July 25, 2002

It seems Arabs and Jews in Los Angeles can agree on one thing at least -- a touch of resentment toward East Coast "national" organization headquarters.

No Shvitz

Published on July 18, 2002

Hot on the heels of the Jewish Community Center closings, YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles announced in late June that it would close the saunas and steam rooms in seven of the eight centers that still had them. (The Hollywood-Wilshire Y will leave its sauna open on a 90-day trial basis with increased monitoring.) The announcement sparked anger and protest from YMCA members who have used the facilities for years.

Fuel for Fear

Published on July 4, 2002

An FBI warning that Al Qaeda might attack Jewish targets with gasoline trucks ignited widespread concern in Los Angeles and fueled heightened security in Jewish communities nationwide this week.

Cedars-Sinai: Best in the West

Published on June 27, 2002

TheAmerican Jewish community supports the best medical centers in the country, from sea to shining sea, according to a new study published in the May/June issue of Modern Maturity magazine.

Israel Security Experts Advise L.A.

Published on June 27, 2002

The topic was terrorism. "How underprepared are we in the U.S.?" "Very." That exchange, between an emergency care physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Dr. Jonathan Halevy, director of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, was part of an ongoing effort in Los Angeles to change the answer.

From Russia with Love

Published on June 20, 2002

The Russian-speaking Jewish community in Los Angeles has come together for Israel in ways community leaders could not have imagined even a year ago.

Though the Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union have always been outspoken in their love for the Jewish state, a variety of factors, from a cultural unfamiliarity with charitable giving to the hardships of restarting their own lives, have kept "the Russians" from joining in major fundraising for Israel -- until recently.

"The community is growing up," says Si Frumkin, who is chairman of the Southern California Council for Soviet Jews and an unofficial spokesman for the community.

Rodeo: Not Just A Beverly Hills Street

Published on June 20, 2002

The broncs and the bulls are coming to Anaheim. Not the NFL or NBA variety, though -- real bucking broncs and angry bulls, with real cowboys holding on for dear life. The rodeo is coming to town.

Shooting in Cheviot Hills

Published on June 13, 2002

A dispute between two groups of young Persian men, one Jewish, one Muslim, erupted in a shooting at Cheviot Hills Park the night of June 3.

We Need You!

Published on June 6, 2002

The famous musical, "Fiddler on the Roof," which celebrates life and Jewish family tradition during turbulent times, is coming to town, and what better time than now?

Originally written by Shalom Aleichem and turned into a film by Joseph Stein and Norman Jewison in 1971, "Fiddler" has withstood the test of time. What happened in the Jewish ghetto of Anatevka, Russia, in 1904 is representative historically of the persecution Jews have faced, from the Nazis in World War II to the ascending tension in the Middle East between the Israelis and Palestinians today. The play is a celebration of togetherness and perseverance; fighting for Jewish pride and keeping the faith even when there is little left to believe in and no one else to turn to.

Cluck Naked

Published on May 30, 2002

Geneticist Avigdor Cahaner of Hebrew University is breeding featherless chickens, according to a report by Reuters.

Cahaner crossed a standard boiler chicken with a smaller chicken that is partly bald due to a naturally occurring "naked neck" gene. The resulting birds are less fatty than standard chickens. And they are naked.

Featherless chickens would be less expensive to raise in hot climates like the Middle East, where expensive cooling systems are needed to prevent feathered fowl from overheating. Energy and water used in large-scale feather-plucking plants would also be saved.

A Museum’s Fate

Published on May 23, 2002

The rent is paid through December. After that, no one knows where -- or if -- the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust will have a home.

For What It’s Worth

Published on May 16, 2002

That silver kiddush cup you save for special occasions? Your great-grandmother's seder plate? Beautiful objects with sentimental and ritual value, sure, but what kind of cash value do you have sitting on your mantels and bookshelves? With a fun takeoff of a popular PBS show, the Judaica Roadshow will answer your nagging questions. Professional appraisers specializing in Judaica will be on hand at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park-Simi Valley to offer appraisals of Judaica heirlooms, artwork and tchotchkes.

The Money Trail to Israel

Published on May 16, 2002

Seven-hundred-and-fifty-thousand dollars will pay for three medical trauma units at Tel Aviv's Sourasky Medical Center, which has treated 500 casualties of terrorist attacks, including those from the Passover massacre in Netanya. One-million dollars buys bulletproof vests for 1,000 volunteer civil guards, who protect their own neighborhoods and often are the first on the scene of a terrorist attack.

Couple Fights Harassment

Published on May 9, 2002

Jacobson and Dorman have installed a security system and now keep a video camera by the door, which they take whenever they leave the house. They are afraid of their neighbors, and the tapes they have made show good reason to be.

Funny Because It’s Jewish

Published on May 2, 2002

A laughter-filled evening, with a bit of insight thrown in, was a sure bet as the popular Writers Bloc series brought together actor-comic Jerry Stiller, Vegas legend Shecky Greene, uber-comedy writer Shelley Berman and "youngster" Jeffrey Ross.

The Sabra Kosher Gourmet

Published on May 2, 2002

Having studied abroad in Jerusalem between intifadas, I thought I had seen the attractions and sites of the land, but the ministry offered a view a student on a budget never imagined: Gourmet Israel, eight days of cutting-edge kosher restaurants and winery tours.

Living in Allen-town

Published on May 2, 2002

For Allen's fans, the 90-minutes of Woody's quips and movie clips offer some insight into the every-year process of moviemaking, and thoughtfully examines the recurring themes and obsessions of a thoughtful filmmaker.

We Want You!

Published on May 2, 2002

In very little time, 31-year-old Jamie Garelick had to frantically pack her bags, sublet her apartment and say goodbye to friends, all to prepare for her two-month trip to volunteer in Israel.

Ross Options

Published on April 18, 2002

In his featured speech to the crowd assembled for the Yom HaShoah program at Sinai Temple, Ambassador Dennis Ross, the diplomatic point man for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process during previous administrations of George Bush and Bill Clinton, acknowledged his disappointment in the current violence and outlined what he views as the likely possibilities for the conflict.

Physician, Heal The Soul

Published on April 18, 2002

Physicians played a significant role in the Holocaust, and today's doctors can learn from the ethical failures of that period, according to an article recently published by Dr. Joel Geiderman, co-chair of the emergency department (ED) of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

In "Physician Complicity in the Holocaust: Historical Review and Reflections on Emergency Medicine in the 21st Century," Geiderman sets out a series of moral failures he attributes to German physicians before, during and after WWII. Published in the March issue of Academic Emergency Medicine journal, the two-part article enumerates ethical challenges requiring greater vigilance from today's physicians.

6 Million Memorialized

Published on April 18, 2002

At Yom HaShoah commemorations across Los Angeles, the Jewish community and friends looked to the past to remember and to the present to engage.

The Citywide Youth Commemoration at Wilshire Boulevard Temple on April 9 was a by-the-kid, for-the-kids affair, with elementary, middle and high school students presenting artistic renditions of their understanding of the Holocaust. Through song, story, poetry and the testimony of survivors they had interviewed, students from 15 Los Angeles area schools ensured that the memory of what happened will be passed on to the next generation. After the Emanuel Academy sang the Yiddish "Partisan's Song," students from Fulton Middle School recounted a survivor's testimony, "Seven Days Locked Up," in English and Spanish.

JDL Trial Set for October

Published on April 11, 2002

The trial of Jewish Defense League (JDL) leaders Irv Rubin and Earl Krugel on criminal conspiracy charges in the alleged plot to detonate bombs at a mosque and a congressman's office is scheduled to begin in October. As Rubin and Krugel await their trial in a shared cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center, information has slowly come out about the informant who helped the government build its case since the arrests in December.

At the heart of the case against Rubin and Krugel are hours of tapes recorded by an informant working for the FBI. The tapes have been turned over to defense lawyers but are still being transcribed.

Thin Blue Media Line

Published on April 11, 2002

Felice and Michael Friedson call their news production company The Media Line, Ltd. (TML), but a limited media line is exactly what they are trying to get around. Dedicated to an accurate portrayal of Israel in the news, the Friedsons work to provide both sides of the story.

In early February, TML opened its own broadcast studio in Jerusalem after years of broadcasting from makeshift quarters in a hotel lobby. Now the nonprofit company has a home for its multiple projects, a list of journalistic endeavors that keeps expanding.

A District Divided

Published on April 4, 2002

As the City Council begins it consideration of Redistricting Commission-drawn district maps, a conflict between Valley activists and Jewish interests seems to have been resolved. But as proposed districts are scrutinized and rescrutinized block by block, the question of whether the 5th City Council District will contain three core Orthodox neighborhoods remains open.

Exodus From Addiction and Shame

Published on March 28, 2002

These are the Ten Plagues of Prison Life, and we take a drop of grape juice out of our cups for each: Damage left in the wake of destructive addiction. Abusive relationships. Low self-esteem. The embittered spirit. Wrong attitude. Weakening mind and body. Daily degradation. Deprivation. Captivity. Separation from loved ones.

L.A. Trembles

Published on March 14, 2002

Although "Trembling Before G-d" has enjoyed a successful theatrical run in Los Angeles, drawing in theatergoers is only part of the mission of Sandi Simcha DuBowski's documentary about gay Orthodox Jews struggling to reconcile conflicting parts of their identities.

Hopes ‘n’ Votes

Published on February 21, 2002

Kevin Feldman hopes that the newly drawn 30th Congressional District gives him a chance. His opponent in the March 5 Democratic primary is Rep. Henry Waxman, a popular 28-year veteran who has often run unopposed.