Jewish Journal Staff

PBS: ‘Los Angeles—Dream of A Different City’

Published on January 11, 2007

The segment begins with host Jimmy Smits providing a quick overview of a familiar litany of problems besetting Los Angeles. There are traffic-choked interchanges, vast tracts of unchecked development, a trickle of water to slake a thirsty city and brownish air.

Israel-Lebanon Strife Reverberates Locally

Published on July 16, 2006

Mellow Israel Fest Draws 42,000

Published on May 11, 2006

Maybe it was the relatively cool weather on Sunday. Or maybe it was the stepped-up participation

... And We Wouldn’t Mind $100 Million

Published on April 6, 2006

Lakers' basketball star Kobe Bryant "wouldn't mind being Jewish." Bryant, who is Catholic, reportedly told a handful of reporters in Boston last month that, "I wouldn't mind. Really." Well, why not? It's fine by us.

Holy Moly! Robertson Apologizes

Published on January 19, 2006

Last week, The Rev. Pat Robertson apparently decided that he'd better have the government of Israel on his side, too, especially if he wants to build a sprawling evangelical center on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Not All Wish Sharon Well

Published on January 12, 2006

An Israeli commission of inquiry held Sharon, who was Israel's defense minister at the time, indirectly responsible for not anticipating the carnage. Sharon was forced to resign, which, at the time, seemed to end his political career.

Love ‘n’ Bloomers

Published on January 5, 2006

Israel's Maariv newspaper reports that authorities have collected around 400 pairs of knickers and bras from the grilles of the tomb's window and on nearby trees.

The Baby Food for Grown-ups

Published on December 22, 2005

Along with the wave of ergonomically correct strollers and SAT flashcards for the 5-month-old comes Homemade Baby.

Bibi Up,  Sharon Down —for Now

Published on December 22, 2005

Former prime minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is back in control of Israel's Conservative Likud Party as his onetime ally and current rival, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, recovers from a mild stroke.

Jews Who Can Hit

Published on December 1, 2005

The 2006 edition of Jewish baseball cards features "newly discovered" Jewish players and Jewish players from the 1940s women's league. The set of 55 also includes cards for the 13 Jews who played last year in the major leagues

Hatches and Matches

Published on November 10, 2005

Your news weekly about Jewish life now has an easy, free way to share your Jewish life with others.

Get Enraptured With the Central Coast

Published on November 3, 2005

Hava Flashback

Published on November 3, 2005

Authors Roger Bennett, Jules Shell and Nick Kroll discovered in one long B.S. session that nothing quite engaged their friends, Jew and non-Jew alike, as a trip back down memory lane to the day of their or their friends' bar or bat mitzvah.

Dueling Ukranian Rabbis

Published on October 27, 2005

Wine, Women, Song

Published on October 6, 2005

Judd's parents, Art and Bunnie, have been making wine in Napa Valley for 25 years, first creating the Whitehall Lane label, then Judd's Hill.

Nazi Hunter Wiesenthal Dies at 96

Published on September 19, 2005

Simon Wiesenthal, a Holocaust-survivor-turned-Nazi hunter who always spoke of justice, not vengeance, is dead at 96.

Wiesenthal died in his sleep at his home in Vienna, his office announced Tuesday. Working with a small staff from his cramped three-room office, Wiesenthal sifted through tens of thousands of documents and followed countless leads, compiling archives that helped bring some 1,100 Nazi criminals to justice.

But Will Shawn Green Fast?

Published on September 23, 2004

When the Dodgers face the San Francisco Giants this weekend in a three-game series beginning in San Francisco this weekend, most Jews will be in synagogue for the holiest day of the year.

Music Man Silenced at 82

Published on August 26, 2004

Film composer Elmer Bernstein, who died last week at the age of 82, was born in New York, the son of immigrants from Ukraine and the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Love and Loyalty

Published on July 29, 2004

More out of ethnic loyalty than any expectation of a great match, The Journal stayed late at the 78th annual Mercedes Benz Cup men's tennis tournament on July 17 at UCLA to watch a doubles semifinal between two Israelis and two Americans. The Americans, Bob and Mike Bryan, were the tournament's top-seeded doubles team, handsome identical twins from Camarillo who have been unstoppable lately. The Israelis' record was spottier. Yonatan Ehrlich, 28, is a native of Buenos Aries, Argentina, and a resident of Haifa. His partner, Andy Ram, 24, is from Jerusalem by way of Montevideo, Uruguay. They also are strikingly handsome -- they prepped for the match by running shirtless around a practice court, kicking a tennis ball as if it were a soccer ball.

Both are sports heroes in Israel, according to Hagai Ben Zvi, who covers tennis for the Israeli press. Their international careers were set back by three years (each) of army service, but both made the semifinals at Wimbledon last year and both have been invited to the Olympics in Athens.

Big Sunday, Big Turnout

Published on May 6, 2004

Big Sunday, Big Turnout

Bus Girl

Published on April 15, 2004

The fictional Carrie Bradshaw saw her image on a bus placard because she wrote a popular sex column. But Carol Taubman sees her image go by each day on the side of MTA buses for a very different reason.

Delegates at UJC Assembly Show Solidarity

Published on November 20, 2003

Waving Israeli, American and Canadian flags and hoisting signs naming their hometowns, thousands of delegates at the Jewish federation system's General Assembly (GA) wound their way through the back alleys, markets and main streets of Jerusalem, vowing to stand by Israel.

An Afro Judeo Beat

Published on November 13, 2003

Tired of the same old synagogue music? Want to put a little lift in your liturgy? Then give your cantor the gift of Ugandan Jewish music, Say what?

Yes, Smithsonian Folkways has just released a singular CD titled, "Abayudaya: The Music of the Jews of Uganda."

This is a sometimes lilting, often haunting and always fascinating collection of African Jewish music in which the rhythms and harmonies of Africa blend with Jewish celebration and traditional Hebrew prayer.

Time for Something Sweet

Published on September 4, 2003

Platters of apple slivers prepared for dunking in honey are a holiday ritual symbolizing hope for a sweet New Year.

Fed Campaign Ends on High Note

Published on September 4, 2003

In June, the Journal incorrectly reported the 2003 results as slightly down based on incomplete figures that did not reflect the final campaign push.

You Gotta Be in it to Win it

Published on September 4, 2003

Synagogues and Jewish institutions will help sell tickets, which can be purchased via credit card through The Jewish Federation of Orange County.

Applause for Cause

Published on September 4, 2003

The Los Angeles recording artist and producer composes and reinterprets Jewish melodies with accessible, contemporary riffs. Taubman's popularity shifted to high gear since debuting a joyful "Friday Night Live" Shabbat service in 1998 at Los Angeles' Sinai Temple, which he performed in June in Orange County.

Helpful Hints for Dad

Published on June 12, 2003

"Words That Shook the World: 100 Years of Unforgettable Speeches and Events," by Richard Greene, offers the annotated text of modern history's most memorable spoken words.

It Beats a Button

Published on January 30, 2003

Who says politics and religion don't mix? Modern Orthodox Jews eager to capitalize and promote the campaign are selling yarmulkes that say "Lieberman 2004 President."

Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve

Published on January 23, 2003

Tired of wearing designer clothes and lining the pockets of fashionistas? These days, clothing companies are banking on Jewish pride and charity as the impetus for their labels.

Israeli Surfs New Turf

Published on December 26, 2002

"He has proved his great potential. He has the attributes of a champion," an ecstatic Gebhardt said Sunday of Friedman. "He has great technique and a strong character, but he needs some moral support to make him even better," he said.

Marvin Mirisch

Published on November 28, 2002

Marvin Mirisch, one of three brothers who formed the Mirisch Co. motion picture production company, died on Nov. 17 of undisclosed causes at UCLA Medical Center.

Eye-Popping Tale

Published on October 31, 2002

"The Golden Land: The Story of Jewish Immigration to America" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin (Harmony Books, $29.95).

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin begins this clever, coffee-table tome by noting that only three days after Spain's pious rulers, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, expelled their 200,000 Jewish subjects in 1492 for no reason other than their stubborn insistence on worshipping God, Columbus set sail for India. However, Columbus and his three ships and crew (90 members, five of whom were Marannos, or secret Jews) arrived in the New World, part of which, the United States, "would come to house the largest, most prosperous and most successful Jewish community in Diaspora history."

Leonard Green

Published on October 31, 2002

Leonard I. Green, founding partner of the West Coast's largest leveraged buyout firm and board chairman of the Los Angeles Opera, died on Oct. 25 following complications from heart surgery in Venice, Italy, where he was vacationing. He was 68.

Political Prophylactics

Published on October 10, 2002

It was an ominous warning affixed to the plastic-covered condom, which was glued on a rust-colored postcard with pictures of dirty mattresses: "Practice Safe Politics."

Community Briefs

Published on October 10, 2002

Community Briefs

Eulogies:Jonathan “J.J.” Greenberg

Published on September 19, 2002

Jonathan "J.J." Greenberg, the executive director of the Jewish Life Network, died Saturday in Israel after his bicycle was struck by a car a day earlier.

Let Them Eat Cake

Published on August 1, 2002

While so much of daily life in Israel has changed -- or stopped -- due to the security situation, life does go on: children celebrate birthdays, teenagers become b'nei mitzvah and couples marry.

L.A. Mourns Loss of Two Leaders

Published on June 20, 2002

Isadore Familian, an industrialist and longtime supporter of Jewish institutions such as the University of Judaism and City of Hope, died on June 13. He was 90.

Dr. Max Vorspan, a rabbi, professor and senior administrator at the University of Judaism (UJ), founder of the Pacific Southwest Region of the United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism and co-author of "The History of the Jews of Los Angeles," died June 13 at the age of 86.

Community Briefs

Published on May 2, 2002

Community Briefs

Passover Briefs

Published on March 21, 2002

Passover Briefs

Community Briefs

Published on March 21, 2002

Community Briefs

Community Briefs

Published on March 14, 2002

Community Briefs.

Community Briefs

Published on February 28, 2002

Community Briefs

Community Briefs

Published on February 21, 2002

Community Briefs

The Almanac

Published on February 21, 2002

The Almanac

Community Briefs

Published on February 7, 2002

Community Briefs

Skiing With a Purpose

Published on January 31, 2002

As people shoosh down the California mountains, one group will be getting more than just snow: Torah.

Clinton in Tel Aviv

Published on January 24, 2002

Despite his administration's failure to bring peace to the Middle East, former President Bill Clinton still enjoys rock star-like popularity in Israel. That was amply demonstrated last Sunday night when Clinton received an honorary doctorate at Tel Aviv University from university President Hamar Rabinovich.

Community Briefs

Published on January 24, 2002

Community Briefs