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Jay Firestone

Report: U.S. stopped Israeli attack on weapons ship

The United States vetoed an Israeli plan to attack a ship bearing weapons allegedly from Iran to Hezbollah, according to a report in an Arabic-language newspaper.

Fans Embrace Maccabi Electra at Staples

It’s a long way to fly for a home game, but that was the effect when Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv’s players walked into Staples Center, more than 7,500 miles from Israel, to play the Clippers in an exhibition game on Tuesday, Oct. 20. Rather than wearing the blue uniforms normally associated with a Maccabi away game, the players wore home gold, which gave the superficial appearance of a Lakers-Clippers match-up.

New Group Forms for Non-Jewish Mothers Raising Jewish Children

Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills is recruiting participants for the Los Angeles area’s first Mothers’ Circle, a group for non-Jewish mothers who are raising their children Jewish. Set to begin mid-November and funded by The Jewish Federation Valley Alliance, the 16-session course includes information for mothers on Jewish lifecycle events and celebrating Jewish holidays. The group also provides access to local rabbis for one-on-one dialogues and a forum in which mothers can discuss issues and get answers to questions that “just aren’t comfortably asked with Jews in the room,” according to Temple Aliyah’s program director Lori Marx-Rubiner.

A Time to Cast Away Stones

They come to the cemetery with a pocketful of stones for the gravesite. Once we’ve recited the tradition’s prayers and a few words of memory, they dutifully place the stones on the marker. But I can see in their faces that the stones they carry home are so much bigger than those left behind. Tiny pebbles are left on the grave marker, but boulders sit heavily on the heart: cold stones of bitterness, betrayal and rage.

L.A. county to vote on Iran divestment

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is due to vote on a Iran divestment motion.

FREE MUSIC DOWNLOAD: The Wailing Wall

CA Election Results Early Analysis

New Endangered Species: Israeli Sperm

Making swine flu kosher:A sympton of the disease of Israeli politics

Swine Flu in Israel

U.S. Seizes Demjanjuk, But Court Halts Deportation

US ‘Set to Detain’ Nazi suspect

Israel Fears Jewish Extremists Will Avenge Settlement Murder

Netanyahu Sworn In as Israel’s Prime Minister

JEWISHJOURNAL.COM EXCLUSIVE: An Eyewitness Recounts the Day Venezuela Booted Israel’s Embassy

On February 6th, 2009, Shlomo Cohen, Israeli Ambassador in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, received an unwelcome and distressing phone call. The government of Venezuela was expelling all Israeli diplomats and staff – they had 72 hours to leave the country.

Never Too Old to Write a Letter ... of Torah

The Jewish Home for the Aging has never had a Torah it could call its own. Since the home first opened in 1912, synagogues or individuals have donated Siferei Torah to the senior-living community, but the scrolls were often old and tarnished, with faded letters or finger smudges on the parchment. These Torahs are considered pasul, or unfit for public reading, but they were the only ones available to the home for religious services.

Expert Tips for the Phony Bar Mitzvah Boy

A few months ago, an e-mail message began circulating among religious scholars: “Film studio looking for someone to teach non-Jewish 13-year-old actor a haftarah portion for Todd Solondz movie bar mitzvah scene.”

‘West Wing’ Actor Ron Silver Dies at 62

Israel’s Facebook Kids: ‘Unrestrained Monsters?’

Obituaries March 13, 2009

HOLY HADASSAH! France’s First Lady Honored by Women’s Group

Jewish Group: Long-Awaited Bashir Arrest Is a “Window of Opportunity”

Mah Jongg

Clinton: Palestinian Relief Aimed at Statehood

LIVE VIDEO: Diversity and LGBT Inclusion in the Jewish World

On Sunday night, March 1, JewishJournal.com will broadcast LIVE from the American Jewish University. Tune in at 7:10 p.m. to watch a panel discussion from the “Welcoming Synagogues Project: Strategic Convening.” Moderated by Dr. Caryn Aviv of Jewish Mosaic and University of Denver, the panel will discuss gender/sexual diversity and inclusion in the Jewish community, emphasizing success stories, challenges, and lessons learned.

JewishJournal.com LIVE: Survival of a Jewish Nonprofit

On Thursday morning, Feb. 19, JewishJournal.com will broadcast LIVE from the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. At around 8:40 am, tune in to watch “The Lean Years: Strategies for Survival,” a conference dedicated to creating a greater conversation about surviving the economic crisis as a Jewish nonprofit.

Breaking News: American Student Stabbed in Jerusalem

Upgrade to Holocaust 2.0

The ceasefire in Gaza seems to be holding, but on the streets of Los Angeles, Paris, London, Chicago –wherever Jews live – a new front has opened up. The battle against openly voiced hatred of the Jewish people and calls to annihilate us is just beginning.

Mayor Villaraigosa Welcomed at Shabbat Service

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was a surprise guest this month at Friday evening's Shabbat services at Stephen S. Wise Temple, after he had accepted an invitation from Rabbi Elie Herscher to allow the congregation to express its appreciation for the mayor's unwavering support for Israel.

Protesters Block Entrances to Israeli Consulate [VIDEO]

At 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, six people from the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network chained themselves together using piping chain-link to blockade the entrance to the Israeli Consulate building on Wilshire Boulevard on Los Angeles’ Westside.

Hamas reportedly accepts cease-fire proposal

Santa Monica Synagogue set its dreidels on a world record [VIDEO]

They came, they signed up, they spun

Hey, Hipster Jew—you probably think this book is about you

If you count yourself among the Heebsters and Sheebsters, you're proud to be a Jew and have no reservations when it comes to flaunting your J-bling. If this is all new to you, welcome to the world of hipster Jews.

VideoJew’s VideoGuide to L.A. #1—How to look like an Angeleno

VideoJew Jay Firestone reveals the most important aspects of visiting Los Angeles: fitting in

The Fall Season: VideoJew’s VideoGuide to Los Angeles

I've decided to offer help to others who feel as lost as I once did ... with my VideoGuide to Los Angeles, launching online today.

Man drowns in Lake Piru while rescuing daughter

Smolyansky had taken his 9-year-old son and 5- and 7-year-old daughters out on the lake Monday afternoon when the youngest daughter fell off the boat. All of the children were wearing life vests. Smolyansky immediately leapt into the water to rescue the girl.

Activists champion Darfur in pre-Olympic vigil at Chinese Consulate in Koreatown [VIDEO]

A day before the scheduled opening ceremonies in Beijing, Jewish World Watch (JWW) hosted at the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles

The costliest word in show business . . . the 'N-word' [VIDEO]

Jamie Masada of the Laugh Factory on Sunset says Jesse Jackson owes $50 to the Museum of Tolerance for using the 'N-word' on TV

The Hadassah convention - VideoJew style

The 94th annual Hadassah convention recently traveled to Los Angeles and JewishJournal.com VideoJew Jay Firestone was all over it, like jelly on gefilte fish.

VideoJew does Hadassah

Coming soon to a blog near you—VideoJew returns

My (early) ‘golden years’

My nursing home is my mattress, my "stories" are Sunday morning football and my "meals-on-wheels" program is a delivery of Buffalo wings. At 24 years old, this is my retirement -- from teaching religious school.

Balancing humor and current events in ‘Zohan’ proved to be a struggle for Smigel

A New York native, Robert Smigel said he never really planned to become a writer. After failing as a pre-dental student, Smigel moved on to writing and performing improv in Chicago for the Players Workshop of The Second City, where he met fellow "SNL" writers Conan O'Brien and Bob Odenkirk.

VideoJew gets shaved

VideoJew gets shaved

ALTTEXT
VideoJew Jay Firestone has been growing the traditional beard during the post-Passover Omer period. Until now

Secrets of their success

New book looks at what makes people successful

VideoJew discovers kosher water

VideoJew tries kosher water -- Mizmor -- fresh from the riparian office buildings of Pico-Robertson
VideoJew Jay

The matzah challenge…VideoJew’s blind taste test

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Big Sunday looks good in green

Environmentalism may be trendy, but expensive hybrid cars and solar paneling aren't the only ways of being fashionably green.

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Greenberg's View
Kristallnacht Then and Now

Kristallnacht Then and Now

Film
Oz Mines Country’s Past in Personal Narratives

Just as the first heavy rain of the season began to beat against the large red awning of the Marilyn Monroe Café in Ramat Aviv, an area in north Tel Aviv, Amos Oz stepped under the protected terrace, looked around and smiled as I stood to shake his hand. Punctual to the minute

Calendar
Picks and Clicks for Nov. 7– 13, 2009

Pioneering performance and interdisciplinary artist Rachel Rosenthal, who was honored by the city in 2000 as a “living cultural treasure of Los Angeles,” is the guest of honor at Rachel Rosenthal’s Birthday Bash 83. The evening will commemorate her new book, “The DbD

50 Plus
New Old Friends

I've recently become close with Abe and Frank, two older guys in my neighborhood. At 90 and 88 respectively, they’re not the typical age of my other friends. At first I wasn’t sure if it was friendship. Maybe they were just humoring me or passing the time. Why would old people want to be friends with me, a 35-year-old?