Yehuda Lev

Keeping the peace

Published on December 20, 2007

In the 30 years that the author and his wife have been together, he has yet to be the target of a wielded tire iron, but says marriage to a political activist does require a certain flexibility of thought and dexterity of movement.

My second childhood

Published on May 3, 2007

It took eight decades, but at last I know what is meant by "second childhood."

B’nai Mitzvah: War, politics, bonds enliven a basement rite-of-passage

Published on November 16, 2006

This is a report on a bar mitzvah, although you may not recognize it as such.

Publishing Perils

Published on June 29, 2006

Say what you will about journalism as a profession, you are never unemployed. Instead, you are "between assignments," a condition I found myself in during the early 1980s at the same time that The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles was preparing to launch its new Jewish Journal. The two situations dovetailed nicely, and for the first 11 years of The Journal's existence, I was its associate editor, until I retired in 1993.

Father of the Bride: No Job, Just Smile

Published on February 9, 2006

Recently, I told some friends that I was going to accompany my younger daughter while she tried on wedding dresses. Their reactions were as follows: From the women: "How very sweet"; "How lovely to bond with your daughter"; "I'm sure you'll enjoy it."
From the men: "Bring your checkbook

Buck Stops at Prisoner Torture

Published on May 27, 2004

Defining Family

Published on November 20, 2003

A few months ago, in these pages, I described a brief visit to Los Angeles to attend the wedding of my daughter, Dafna, 42, and

her fiancé, Scott, 36 ("Father of the Bride," July 11). It was a first marriage for both and celebrated without benefit of clergy -- Scott being Christian and Dafna, Jewish.

This drew some criticism from readers who felt that I was amiss in not discouraging my daughter from marrying a non-Jew. One, in fact, reminded me that some Jews sit shiva when such a marriage takes place and regard the offending child as dead. It seemed to me that is a bit strong. There was also a time when adulterers were stoned, but we seem to have progressed beyond that. (More to the point perhaps, how does one tell a 42-year-old daughter whom she should marry?)

Father of the Bride

Published on July 10, 2003

Other than paying his share of the bills, the father of the bride has two principal responsibilities when his daughter marries.

My Generation

Published on March 6, 2003

n 1944, when I was 17 and a freshman at Cornell University, I introduced my mother to my new college girlfriend.

When the young lady left, my mother asked me how we met.

"We were sitting at the same table in the cafeteria and started to talk."

Her eyes opened wide. "You what? You mean you were not formally introduced?"

Brotherly Love

Published on October 3, 2002

Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, in the early afternoon, I visit my younger brother at his nursing home, a mile from my home in Providence, R.I.

‘Mother’ of the Month

Published on July 11, 2002

Many years ago, when my youngest child was still a toddler, the marquee of the Valley Cities Jewish Community Center in Van Nuys sported, for a brief time, this bold announcement: "Mother of the Month," followed by my name.

Birth of a Jewish Nation

Published on April 11, 2002

I have been asked by the Hillel Foundation at Dartmouth College to meet with them on the occasion of Israel's 54th birthday. There aren't too many of us still around who were there at its birth, and they would like to hear, from the perspective of a participant, what made it possible for the Jewish state to survive while the Palestinian state, also created by the United Nations, crashed in flames.

‘Elderhostile’ Nightmare

Published on August 2, 2001

I have a recurring nightmare, one which I am certain is shared by many Elderhostel instructors.

Her Side of the Mountain

Published on August 10, 2000

Letter to an Expecting Parent

Published on December 16, 1999

Dear Mr. Prime Minister;

By now you have certainly received thousands of congratulatory messages celebrating the good news that you and your wife, Cherie, are expecting a baby next summer.

Hanging In

Published on October 7, 1999

Thirty or so members of Generation X and I are taking a course at Brandeis University titled Politics and the Media.

Separate And Unequal

Published on June 10, 1999

Sooner or later, inevitably if uncomfortably, anyone who is concerned about Israel's future has to come to terms with the future of Jerusalem.

My Brother’s Keeper

Published on May 27, 1999

My brother, who at 70 is younger than me by two years, has a world-class collection of the mysteries of Agatha Christie and a complete set of the novels of Anthony Trollope. They are being joined, gradually, by the Greek historians and Galsworthy's Forsythe Saga.

Glorifying DiMaggio, but Not His Times

Published on March 11, 1999

By the time you read these words, the death of Joe DiMaggio will be old news.

From Violins to Violence

Published on November 12, 1998

My mother, whose family came from Lithuania, used to claim of my father's family, which migrated from Galicia, that in the Old Country they had earned their living as horse thieves.

The Truth About the Media and Jews

Published on February 12, 1998

Jonathan Tobin edits a Jewish newspaper inConnecticut, and his editorial opinions occasionally appear in TheJewish Journal. One such effort, "Distinguishing Fact from FictionIsn't Getting Easier," was published on Jan. 23. Herewith some factto counter Tobin's fiction.

Since the Partition

Published on November 27, 1997

Fifty years ago this week, on Nov. 29, 1947, the General Assembly ofthe United Nations voted to partition British-held Palestine into aJewish state, an Arab state, and a corpus separatum, comprisingJerusalem and Bethlehem, to remain under the control of the UnitedNations.

End of Conversation

Published on August 28, 1997

I visited Los Angeles recently and learned thattwo of those dialogues, in which I had been active, had expiredwithout ceremony. The Cousin's Club, which survived eight years oftension, argument and even, on occasion, genuine dialogue, was nomore. And the Arab-Jewish Speakers Bureau, born of the famoushandshake joining Rabin and Arafat in the White House Rose Garden,has likewise departed from the scene.

Mastering the Skills of President

Published on May 8, 1997

It has taken me 49 years of Israel-watching to find the answer to a question that puzzles us all, and I am pleased to inform you that the search has ended.