Joel Kotkin

The Diaspora may be moving, but it isn’t going away any time soon

Published on November 10, 2006

The changes in the Diaspora community.

Hooray for Holy-wood

Published on December 8, 2005

But perhaps a better reflection of Los Angeles' overall civic health might be to look at Temple Israel in Hollywood. There, a $20 million new building program -- this being Los Angeles, an expanding parking lot is one centerpiece -- will soon be tearing down aging adjacent apartments to make way for an expanded campus, including a new education complex and chapel.

U.S. Left May Be Turning Against Israel

Published on August 18, 2005

For years, American Jews, including liberals, have watched in astonishment as Europe's left-wing media, academic and political elites have turned decisively against Israel and, to some extent, Jews, as well.

‘Little Flower’ Could Help Antonio Bloom

Published on May 26, 2005

I imagine you are enjoying the hoopla surrounding your election. As the first Latino chief executive in more than 130 years, it may be tempting to bask in the warmth of a great ethnic triumph.

But don't enjoy it too much. Los Angeles does not need a symbol or an icon; it needs a mayor, one who can be both decisive and effective. We need less rah-rah and more Fiorello La Guardia.

When Jews Lose

Published on March 17, 2005

The narrow defeat of mayoral candidate Robert Hertzberg marked a signal defeat not only for Los Angeles but for the future of Jewish influence in Los Angeles.

Vote May Be First to Blur Ethnic Lines

Published on February 24, 2005

For more than a generation, racial and ethnic politics have dominated Los Angeles' mayoral elections. That is, perhaps, until this year, which might be the first election of Los Angeles' emerging post-ethnic era.

Lighten Up on Christmas and Christians

Published on December 23, 2004

Even in relatively tolerant and officially secular America, Jews long have had to do a dance around the holidays of the majority population. There's a national party going on and, let's face it, we are not invited.

Bush or Kerry?

Published on March 25, 2004

America's Jews face a difficult choice in this year's election. For many, the Bush administration symbolizes the kind of yahoo Republicanism -- shaped by evangelical Christianity and the South -- that grates on the sensibilities of a highly urbanized and socially liberal community.

Out of Sight, Out of Power?

Published on October 30, 2003

The forced retirement of Gov. Gray Davis, and the shattering of the Democratic one-party government in California, marks a major turning point in the political evolution of the state's Jews.

The Cost of Latinization

Published on October 2, 2003

For the most part, Jewish leadership in Los Angeles and elsewhere can be expected to oppose the recall of longtime "ally" Gov. Gray Davis and, in a pinch, support his Mini-Me proposed replacement, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante (see page 12). "Go along to get along" expediency and Pavlovian liberal sympathies provide much of the explanation.

Yet, as is all too often the case, the more pressing, long-term issues will be lost. Not only has Davis presided over a disastrous decline in the state's finances and an unprecedented debasing of its political culture. Now he has become handmaiden to the undermining of our most precious principles, the sanctity of citizenship.

GOP Missing Chance to Attract Jews

Published on July 24, 2003

An Israeli diplomat once remarked famously that the Palestinians "never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity" to make peace. Much the same, it appears, is true in the efforts of the Republican Party, particularly here in California, to reach out to the Jewish community.

War Marks Defining Moment for Jews

Published on April 3, 2003

The current war with Iraq marks a defining moment in the lives of American Jews and their lives in this country. For generations, Jews have lived, for the most part, on the left-wing edge of the American commonwealth.

They have been -- in Hollywood, in the political world, academia and the media -- generally hostile to the idea of the projection of American power and the idea of a new American empire.

This may soon be changing. Although initially somewhat less supportive of the Iraq invasion than other Americans, Jews are far more behind the projection of American power, arguably, than at any time since World War II. Over half of Jews strongly supported the Bush policy before the outbreak of hostility, according to the Pew Research Center; that percentage has likely increased more recently, as has occurred in the rest of the population.

Memories of Iraq

Published on February 27, 2003

"When I left Baghdad in 1951," Naji Harkham recalled of the day he left for Israel, "I left with tears in my eyes. To me, Baghdad was good. I had so many Muslim friends who didn't want me to leave."

Jews Stick to Their Turf

Published on January 2, 2003

Conventional wisdom holds that the well-heeled population is spearheading this out-migration and that this sprawling out is continuing, particularly among the better-heeled population. By rights, Jews should be joining them; they are considerably wealthier, better educated and more likely to be homeowners than most Angelenos.

Yet, unlike most white Angelenos, or middle-class minorities, for that matter, Jews are sticking to their turf, not only in Los Angeles but in other key urban centers. Today's Jewish population in L.A. County, unlike the white population, which dropped by over a million, actually grew slightly from 503,000 to around 520,000.

When Shepherds Desert Their Flocks

Published on October 31, 2002

The conflict over Valley secession reflects the growing gap between rabbis and the actual reality their flocks experience.

Hahn’s Most Important Choice

Published on September 19, 2002

The Hahn administration, whose tenure has been marked by an often unnecessarily divisive campaign against secession, now faces a far more important decision: the choice of a new police chief.

Is France Anti-Semitic?

Published on August 8, 2002

It has become something of a cliché among Jews here in America, and in Israel as well, that Europe is now experiencing a virulent new wave of anti-Semitism.

Can Bob Hertzberg Save L.A.?

Published on July 11, 2002

On a drizzly morning, with the city just opening its eyes, Bob Hertzberg is sitting at Solley's Delicatessen in Sherman Oaks. Even before having his coffee, he seems animated, even agitated, by his great new project: how to save Los Angeles.

The Christian Right, Conservatism and the Jews

Published on June 6, 2002

For generations, Jews have viewed religious conservatives with a combination of fear and disdain. Yet the recent events in the Middle East -- and the steadfast support given Israel by religious conservatives -- has gone a long way to correcting many often exaggerated, if not misplaced, assumptions about this large, and politically significant, group.

Breaking the Media Monopoly

Published on May 16, 2002

Jews aren't the only Angelenos dissatisfied with the Los Angeles Times. Indeed, for the first time in a generation, that dissatisfaction may actually produce something akin to competition for the most dominant newspaper west of Chicago.

Ten Years After: The Jews Remain

Published on April 25, 2002

Recent events in the Middle East have been enough to make anyone pessimistic about the future of ethnic relations. But the situation here in Los Angeles -- 10 years after the disastrous riots of April 1992 -- gives some hope that racial reconciliation still has a future.

The First Jewish Governor?

Published on March 7, 2002

Gray Davis is, on paper, a Catholic, but his political career has been shaped, and largely financed -- as much as any statewide politician including our two Jewish women senators -- by the Los Angeles Jewish community.

Religion, Rabbis and Reform

Published on February 28, 2002

The San Fernando Valley secession movement faces almost total opposition from Los Angeles' political, civic, academic and media establishments. But over the coming weeks, it is likely to be taking flak from the city's religious elite, too.

The L.A. Image

Published on January 17, 2002

The best thing about David Lehrer's firing as head of the local Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has been the local reaction, which has done more to awaken Los Angeles' Jewish leadership than anything in recent memory. The worst thing about Lehrer's firing: That the ADL's New York leadership thought it could get away with it, and, sadly, it probably will.

What’s Ahead for L.A.‘s Jewish Economy?

Published on November 22, 2001

Southern California's economy already has withstood the past year's downturn -- and the cataclysmic events of Sept. 11 -- better than many competing regions.

A New Reality for Jews

Published on October 11, 2001

The launching of a retaliatory war for the twin destruction of the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon marks a watershed event for all Americans, but for none more than the Jewish community.

A New World View

Published on September 20, 2001

Much of what has been said about the twin disasters in New York and Washington, D.C, last week holds validity. Spiritual revival, national unity and steely resolve are all, in themselves, excellent responses to the recent disturbances.

A City of No Rules

Published on June 7, 2001

After decades of politics dominated by racial and ideological coalitions, the city's new politics reflect a growing diversity not only between groups but among them.

Shape of Things

Published on April 19, 2001

The media, Jewish or liberal -- and frequently both -- have been beside themselves with glee that so many Jews supported leftish Antonio Villaraigosa for mayor. Yet a review of the exit polls show that barely one in four actually cast ballots for the charismatic former Assembly speaker.

Linking Up Our Community

Published on November 19, 1998

For much of their history, Jews have been the masters of networking. Even before the destruction of the Second Temple, far-flung Jewish communities, usually through itinerant traders traveling precariously across the Mediterranean and land routes, maintained sophisticated communications networks with each other in a diaspora that extended from Palestine to Spain, in the West, and Persia, in the East.

Opinion

Published on August 27, 1998

Arthur Hertzberg, arguably one of America's most prominent rabbis and Jewish intellectuals, has been a familiar guest at every White House since Lyndon Johnson. Yet this lifelong Democrat and former president of the liberal American Jewish Congress, has refused to enter the inner sanctum of the White House -- he did attend the lawnside ceremony for the Middle East peace accords -- since Bill Clinton became president.

Jewish Vocational Service

Published on July 30, 1998

"Many people our age aren't familiar with the computer," she said. "I have friends who are afraid of it, and that's a big drawback when you're going for a job today."

Cover Story

Published on June 18, 1998

The recent revelations about the South OrangeCounty Community College District's desire to offer a course that, inpart, blames the Mossad and the Anti-Defamation League for theassassination of President John F. Kennedy read something like a badclipping from the area's far-right past.

Opinion

Published on May 28, 1998

It's likely no statewide candidate today, including California's two Jewish Senators and gubernatorial rival Jane Harman, has culivated more ties to LA's Jewish elites than Davis.

The Racialization of

Published on May 7, 1998

Last week, President Clinton diverted himself from fending off scandal and defaming his accusers to denounce the Unzinitiative, Proposition 227, which is designed to end the currentsystem of bilingual education. In the process, he may have contributed to the growing, and potentially debilitating, racialization of Los Angeles' political scene.

L.A.‘s Ultimate Power Broker

Published on December 11, 1997

For most of this century, Los Angeles has been a city of two elites -- one predominately WASPish, the other predominately Jewish. Although they occasionally collaborated on projects such as the MusicCenter, the two worlds remained largely separate and indifferent to each other, living in a ruling-class version of institutional apartheid.

A Stitch in Time May Save Jobs

Published on November 6, 1997

For generations of my own family, and many Jewish families, thegarment industry long has been a source of employment andentrepreneurial opportunity. Yet, in recent weeks, some local Jewishactivists, led by the American Jewish Congress, have been making theshmatte business and its workers once again the object oftheir heartfelt intentions.

Jewish Survival

Published on October 23, 1997

Even here in Los Angeles, where the Jewishpopulation mushroomed over the last five decades to over 600,000,demographers tell us our numbers are stagnating -- and likely wouldhave dropped -- had it not been for the infusion of newcomers fromIran, the former Soviet Union, both Northern and Southern Africa and,ironically, Israel itself.

Beyond the Orange Curtain

Published on September 11, 1997

The recent revelations about the South OrangeCounty Community College District's desire to offer a course that, inpart, blames the Mossad and the Anti-Defamation League for theassassination of President John F. Kennedy read something like a badclipping from the area's far-right past.

Revitalizing Our Past and Future in Pico-Union

Published on August 21, 1997

Among these earlier settlers were many Jewish families, who, notinterested in joining the growing ersatz shtetl up in Boyle Heights,built their graceful homes in the tony new district.

Disney, Boycotts and the Hollywood Elite

Published on July 24, 1997

It's hard to feel sorry for the Walt Disney Company, a multi billion-dollar mouse-forged empire that seems to own a part of most children's hearts, including that of my own 2 1/2-year-old. Yet, in recent weeks, the venerable Burbank entertainment giant has been subjected to two major boycotts, one from the right-leaning Southern Baptists and the other from Latino media activists.

Bilingual Blues

Published on June 19, 1997

Here we go again. For the third time in four years, Californians are about to be treated to another racially tinged slugfest, this time over bilingual education.