David Suissa

Filming Jewish

Published on February 3, 2010

If you can tell a lot about a society by what it likes to watch, then something quite interesting must be happening in Israel, where one of the top-rated television shows is called “Srugim.” The show is an Israeli twist on the American hit “Friends,” and it follows the daily dramas of a group of single Jews living in modern-day Israel.

Step-Up Nation

Published on January 27, 2010

Yonatan Yagodovsky, director of the international desk at Magen David Adom (MDA) in Israel, remembers exactly where he was when he first heard about the earthquake in Haiti. It was 6 a.m., and he was in the bathroom of his home in Jerusalem, shaving. He immediately called Ohad Shaked, the MDA’s specialist in earthquake preparedness, who rushed to the Situation Room in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where, by 8 a.m., a group of experts from the humanitarian group ZAKA, El Al airlines, the MDA, the Israel Defense Forces, the Foreign Ministry and the Health Ministry were meeting to plan Israel’s response to the disaster.

On a Rainy Night, a New Zionism

Published on January 20, 2010

If I ever decide to make aliyah and move to Israel, I can blame it on Micah Goodman. On a chilly and wet Sunday night last week at The Mark — a reception hall on Pico Boulevard that used to house Mamash restaurant — Goodman spoke on “The Crash of Old Paradigms: Why the Left and the Right No Longer Exist in Israel.” Professor Goodman, who was hosted by the Israeli Consulate as part of their new speaker series for young professionals, is part of a new generation of young and bright Israelis who are seeking nothing less than a renewal of the Zionist idea.

Saturday Night Fever

Published on January 13, 2010

If you want to depress an Orthodox parent raising Orthodox kids, just remind them about the dark side of secular teenage life, things like drugs, sex and vulgar music. It’s no wonder many Orthodox parents send their kids to non-coed high schools like YULA — it’s their way of offering some kind of protection from the unpredictable ills of modern life.

Man From Delice

Published on January 6, 2010

Albert Suissa loves coffee. In the 1930s, growing up in Casablanca, he would have his coffee with his buddies at the Café Pietine, where he would also play pool for money. Suissa (probably a distant relative — we think my great-grandmother was his father’s niece) was part of the cultural trifecta of being Jewish in Morocco in the middle of the 20th century: equal doses of Jewish, Arab and French influences.

Year-End Buffet

Published on December 23, 2009

“What’s wrong with Judaism?” “Why do so many Jews disconnect from their faith?” “Why is it so hard to get them to go to shul?” “If Judaism is now a choice, why do so few Jews choose it?”

Fighting the PR War

Published on December 16, 2009

Is there a PR idea that can reverse Israel’s deteriorating image? I’ve been thinking a lot about this, and I can’t say it’s been too much fun. For one thing, being in PR mode doesn’t bring out the best in me. I get linear and think only of “winning the war” — not engaging in complex and nuanced conversation.

Ultra Unorthodox

Published on December 9, 2009

Rabbi Joel Landau is sitting on a gold mine, and he’s not sure how to promote it. This gold mine is something he believes can change the face of Israel — a way of building bridges between the ultra-Orthodox Charedi community and the secular community.

Pico and 42nd Street

Published on December 2, 2009

Of the many quirks of the Orthodox tradition, there are two that are especially quirky to the average onlooker. One of them is well known: having a mechitzah that separates men from women during prayer services.

Thankful for What?

Published on November 25, 2009

It’s one thing to know what to do; it’s another thing to be able to do it. We know we are supposed to be grateful for all of life’s blessings. We know that when hardship or tragedy strikes, we’re supposed to keep our chins up and try to transform tragedy into action — turn negatives into positives, move forward no matter what, and so on.

Peace in Arabic

Published on November 17, 2009

It’s not that I get tired of listening to Jewish speakers. More often than not, they motivate and inspire me. Whether I agree with them or not, there’s a familiarity, a connection. I learn from my people and I embrace their diversity.

Fighting for Peoplehood

Published on November 11, 2009

It’s not fun to hear bad news on Shabbat. The whole idea of Shabbat is to take a spiritual break from the rest of the week, to reconnect with the essential stuff of life and to do it all in a spirit of joy. The last thing we need is to have our spirits brought down by depressing reminders.

We Need ‘A Street,’ Not J Street

Published on November 5, 2009

I don’t quite get the brouhaha that is going on in the Jewish world about J Street. Some Jews are convinced that this new organization poses a threat to Israel’s interests, while others are equally passionate about the need for an organization that will counter AIPAC and critique Israeli policy for the sake of peace.

Child of Moses

Published on October 28, 2009

A thousand Jews were gathered for the Passover seder. There were no tables or chairs or haggadot. The matzot were handmade. No one had gone shopping at the local markets, since they had grown all the food themselves. The plates were brand new; each family had broken their old ones in a wild ceremony and made new ones by hand, as they did every year.

Holocaust Man

Published on October 20, 2009

I’ve always had a weird feeling about the whole notion of Holocaust studies. I mean, 6 million Jews were murdered — how much more do I need to know? I can read 100 books on the subject — analyzing the who, what, where, why and how of this unspeakable atrocity — and still, I don’t think anything I read will come close to equaling these five words: Six million Jews were murdered.

Can We Argue Without Fighting?

Published on October 14, 2009

If you want to ruin a Shabbat meal in my neighborhood of Pico-Robertson these days, just say one word: Obama. Within minutes, one of two things is likely to happen. If everyone around the table is anti-Obama, you’ll get a grown-up version of a verbal piñata, with people taking turns bopping the man who is “selling America and Israel down the river.”

Israel PR 2.0

Published on October 7, 2009

Over the past few days, several people who read my column last week (“Dayenu Moments”) have asked me what I think Israel should do to counteract its worsening image.

Dayenu Moments

Published on September 29, 2009

I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but it seems like there’s been an unusually high number of “dayenu moments” for the Jewish people over the past few months.

Chipping In

Published on September 23, 2009

A tragic death from cancer in the Jewish community last month made me reflect on a flaw in President Obama’s health care reform plan.

Happy New Book

Published on September 16, 2009

One thing that’s often bothered me about Rosh Hashanah is that so much of it is focused on the self. The way I see it, we’re already pretty obsessed with ourselves — do we really need more of that?

Soap Opera

Published on September 9, 2009

Carie Delmar was vacillating between two words: stain and shame. She couldn’t decide whether the city’s upcoming spring celebration of renowned composer and anti-Semite Richard Wagner (called Ring Festival LA) represents a “stain” on the festival or, worse, a mark of “shame” on the city and the festival’s organizers.

A minyan grows up (sort of)

Published on September 2, 2009

If I wanted to start a minyan, I think the last thing I’d call it would be a “happy minyan.” Seriously, how can you live up to that ideal every week? How can you not get exhausted by the constant pressure to deliver “happy”?

Face of a Crisis

Published on August 26, 2009

Rhoda Weisman never figured she’d be a victim of the economic crisis that has rocked the Jewish world over the past year. After all, her specialty was identifying and nurturing the kind of leaders who would thrive in such crises; who would, in her words, “create new paradigms.”

Stopping Iran

Published on August 18, 2009

There is no issue of greater concern to Israel supporters than the threat of a nuclear Iran that could destroy Israel “in a few minutes,” as Ambassador Michael Oren recently put it.

Rivka’s Special Need

Published on August 11, 2009

When I asked Michael Held what was “different” about Rivka Bracha Menkes, he had trouble answering. It wasn’t as severe as Down syndrome or autism or cerebral palsy, he said. It was more in the general category of “developmental disabilities,” or “special needs.”

Moving

Published on August 5, 2009

After three years of living in the ’hood, and with a mixture of sadness and excitement, I’m moving to the ’wood — Beverlywood, a more residential and quieter section on the “Upper West Side” of Pico-Robertson.

Cleaning Up

Published on July 29, 2009

Here in Pico-Robertson, I often come across people who dream of building things, like a new Jewish center, a new kosher restaurant, a new kind of shul and so on.

The Wall

Published on July 22, 2009

There are few places on earth that move Jews like the Western Wall in Jerusalem. After my visit this summer, I think I’ve discovered why this ancient structure has such a magical hold on us.

Chaos and Unity

Published on July 14, 2009

War and Peace

Published on July 8, 2009

For the first time in my life, I was surrounded by Jews and I felt fear. Not too much, mind you, but just enough to give me the chills.

Rembaum’s Unity

Published on July 1, 2009

I was raised Orthodox, I’m a member of several Orthodox communities and I’ve hung out with Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jews most of my adult life. Still, I’ve always had this love affair the Conservative movement.

Flight from Hell

Published on June 30, 2009

The Day I Sang for Michael Jackson

Published on June 25, 2009

Man of Agnon

Published on June 24, 2009

Can sarcasm, irony, surrealism, irreverence and Joycean wordplay with Talmudic references help bring us closer to Torah and to God? Can you turn the rabbinic tradition upside down and still honor it?

Speak Up, Bibi!

Published on June 21, 2009

One in a Million

Published on June 17, 2009

There are certain stories that are difficult for me to write about. I sit there on the phone, and I have no clue what to ask. I meet the person, and I small-talk nervously.

The 60-second Speech I Wish Bibi Would Have Given

Published on June 14, 2009

Found Tribe

Published on June 10, 2009

There was nothing Jewish on the streets of the neighborhood where I spent Shabbat last week. There were no kosher markets or pizza joints, no Jewish bookstores, no Jewish tailors, and certainly none of the throngs of Jews filling the streets that I’m used to seeing here in Pico-Robertson.

Dear President Obama

Published on June 3, 2009

Now that you have brought your can-do spirit and sense of optimism to that most intractable of conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians, I thought I’d share a few words of caution.

Miracle on Third Street

Published on May 27, 2009

This is the time of year, during the holiday of Shavuot, when Jews celebrate receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. But for a small tribe of Jews in West Hollywood, Shavuot will also be a time to pray for a last-minute miracle that will save their beloved 55-year-old shul, Mishkan Israel, from disappearing.

Exposing Hypocrisy

Published on May 20, 2009

Hillel Neuer is not your classic Jewish macher with a Florida tan who walks into a room and commands instant respect. He doesn’t speak with the savvy and calculated tone of the experienced operator whose main agenda is either fundraising or political survival.

The Torah of Potholes

Published on May 13, 2009

Scott Krieger wasn’t always an Orthodox Jew. Before getting “turned on” to Torah observance in the early 1980s — after attending a summer program run by Dennis Prager at Brandeis-Bardin Institute — he was your basic casual Jew who would attend synagogue two or three times a year.

Wolman of Valor

Published on May 6, 2009

Lesley Wolman was having trouble breathing.

Beyond Tolerance

Published on April 29, 2009

Over a 48-hour period last week, through a series of Jewish events, I discovered the limitations of tolerance.

The Missing Class

Published on April 22, 2009

I have an idea that I think could really improve Jewish education. It’s so simple and obvious that I wasn’t going to write about it, since I figure everyone’s already thought of it. The idea came to me after a rabbi told me about his dream of broadcasting, on the Internet, a weekly class on Judaism designed for the huge number of Jewish kids who aren’t getting a Jewish education.

Leaning Sideways

Published on April 15, 2009

I learned something new at our seder this year, and it had nothing to do with the story of the Exodus.

I was ready for a seder full of questions. I had done my homework, gone to classes, read essays and books. I prepared questions that I would ask the kids, questions that would encourage them to ask their own questions. Like my friend Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller impressed on us at one of our Torah salons, a seder is like a mini-Beit Midrash, a table of learning, debating and understanding.

Man With Seventy Children

Published on April 8, 2009

I can see why a Jewish day school would reject a Jewish child. It could be that the kid has special needs the school is not equipped to deal with, or the parents cannot afford the tuition, or the kid had poor grades in a previous school or simply has a bad attitude.

Bring a Suitcase to Seder

Published on April 2, 2009

I had no idea I would be attending a seder the other day when I went to The Jewish Federation building to hear Rabbi Ed Feinstein talk about “The Ethics of Exodus.”

Mind-State Solution

Published on March 25, 2009

I’m not sure, but I think I have a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or at least another way of looking at it. It hit me the other day after I broke bread at Pat’s Restaurant with some people connected to Americans for Peace Now, a leftist Jewish organization that actively promotes the two-state solution.

Music Man

Published on March 18, 2009

If you want to upset a Jewish musician who makes Jewish music, just call him a Jewish musician who makes Jewish music. Like it or not, the term “Jewish music” is not flattering to Jewish musicians. It’s got connotations of old-time schmaltz, of Zionist choirs singing “Heveinu Shalom Aleichem,” of fringe music written for a very specific — and very small — audience.