David Suissa

How we fight

Published on December 31, 2008

Did Israel actually trick our terrorist enemy into complacency before catching it off guard? Did we use the six-month cease-fire with Hamas to beef up our intelligence and plan a blitzkrieg counterattack in response to the incessant bombing of Israeli civilians?

Madoff’s Redemption

Published on December 23, 2008

It's like a quadruple shot of cheap vodka that you drink quickly on an empty stomach. You feel disgusted and drunk at the same time.

The quiet tailor

Published on December 17, 2008

Paul's shop has been a fixture in the neighborhood for 28 years. When you enter his shop, which sits adjacent to the Pico Glatt market a block east of Beverly Drive, you half expect to see trolley cars and '56 Chevys going by outside. His sewing machines are more than 50 years old.

Man of Joy

Published on December 10, 2008

Craig Taubman is a very happy guy, but on Yom HaAtzmaut last spring, as Jewish communities around the world were celebrating Israel's 60th anniversary, he
wasn't a happy camper

Starving the murderers

Published on December 3, 2008

As we mourn and pray silently for the victims of Mumbai, maybe we ought to consider a quieter, more lethal approach to fighting the multi-headed serpent of Islamic terrorism, one that doesn't play to the movement's craving for high drama and worldwide media exposure

No money, no cry

Published on November 26, 2008

If your organization is having trouble raising funds for a building or a major physical expansion, now might be a good time to consider more creative and less costly ways of fulfilling your mission.

Where’s the struggle?

Published on November 19, 2008

When I see the coarse arguments currently raging over the issue of same-sex marriage, I don't see any thoughtful or fascinating debates or any embracing of tension. I see two armies shooting at each other.

Warrior mom

Published on November 12, 2008

Back in 2002, when the Second Intifada was raging, she would regularly put on a hijab and attend Islamic conferences all over Southern California. She was there to document the hateful venom that often permeated these events, reporting her findings to private investigators of radical Islam in America.

Yes, I can

Published on November 5, 2008

I have a wish that our eloquent new president will have the audacity to tell the nation that, for most of us, 99 percent of our happiness is in our own hands.

It’s their turn

Published on October 28, 2008

If we conservatives believe in fairness, it's only fair that Democrats should get their turn at the wheel. We've had our turn for eight long years -- and we should fess up to the obvious: America has veered off course, and it's a lot worse off today than it was eight years ago

They never run out of patients

Published on October 22, 2008

A young boy with a serious illness was a big football fan. So Grossman, Usdan and the staff made some calls and found someone to donate two Super Bowl tickets, and someone else to sponsor the trip. When the boy found out about the trip, his parents said it was "the first time he smiled since getting his diagnosis."

Sukkot in the kishkes

Published on October 15, 2008

After seven years of obsessing over security in the context of terrorism, we've all been blindsided by a more pervasive form of terror: sudden financial insecurity.

Sermon of the Year

Published on October 9, 2008

Film directors call this end-of-day light the "golden light." It's not the bright, naked light of the mid-day, nor the dramatic darkness of the night. It's the light that bridges those two worlds. Spiritually, it's the time when the past and the future caress each other -- the day is still fresh in our mind, but we can feel the breath of the approaching night.

Holiday Heartburn

Published on October 1, 2008

"Not eating is not suffering," he said, "it's elevating ourselves to a state of transcendence. The fast, on Yom Kippur, reminds us how little material we really need; that we can do with less meat, with less bread, with less of everything."

Got forgiveness?

Published on September 24, 2008

Most of us neglect what is arguably the most difficult and meaningful ritual at this time of year: Going to the people we've hurt, recognizing our hurtful actions and asking for their forgiveness

Shooting Sarah Palin

Published on September 17, 2008

Earlier this year, he called the office of the governor of Alaska to ask permission to shoot Sarah Palin for his new film, a documentary about powerful women of the world. Because he had spent a lot of time in Alaska, he'd heard about the feisty Palin and thought she'd be a natural.

Fields of Dreams

Published on September 10, 2008

I used to think that between the time of the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D., and the birth of Israel in 1948, there was no such thing as an


exclusively Jewish city. Sure, there were plenty of Jewish ghettos and neighborhoods scattered throughout the globe, but a city with only Jews in it? I never imagined it.

Before King, it was Prinz

Published on September 3, 2008

Thus began the least-remembered great speech in American civil rights history, one that had the dubious fortune of being immediately followed by another speech: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, which America just celebrated on its 45th anniversary.

A school with attitude

Published on August 27, 2008

If Barack Obama and John McCain wanted to elevate the level of discourse of their presidential campaigns, they could do worse than check out the last election campaign at Shalhevet High School

Strange Love

Published on August 20, 2008

It was clear where the conversation was headed when Luke, speaking over melodic chants that included words like "Lord" and "heaven," asked if I had any "spiritual leanings."

Dear Condoleeza Rice:

Published on August 13, 2008

Last Saturday, on the Jewish Sabbath, I was attending prayer services at one of the big synagogues in Los Angeles, Beth Jacob Congregation, when something unusual happened that made me think of writing you this letter.

Lebhar’s Dream

Published on August 5, 2008

Our Moroccan ancestors, the rabbi explained, were Torah romantics. They were so in love with Shabbat that they didn't want it to end

For a few good laughs

Published on July 30, 2008

"I think I have an interesting activity for us," my sister said. "There's a guy out there who's got this laughter yoga thing going on."


How does anyone say no to a "laughter yoga thing"?

Candidate Adeena

Published on July 23, 2008

If you want to really annoy Adeena Bleich, just ask her what it feels like to be a young Orthodox woman running for City Council. I know, because when we sat
down recently for lunch at Shiloh's, the first thing I asked her is what it felt like to be a young Orthodox woman running for City Council.

Yossi and Dror

Published on July 16, 2008

A quiet hero

Published on July 9, 2008

When Libby was not around, the young women of Shalva often had to be coaxed in order to reveal their insecurities or to talk about sensitive issues. But with Libby, it was the opposite.

From Pico to Sheba

Published on July 3, 2008

I'm dying to tell you about a fascinating afternoon I spent with an Israeli scientist at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer, but first, I want to tell you how I ended up there

Thriving on the edge

Published on June 26, 2008

Is there any hope for peace in Israel? Are things getting better or worse? Does war and conflict dominate Israeli consciousness? After spending a week in the Holy Land with very little sleep and lots of Turkish coffee, talking to bright people from the left to the right, I can report with absolute certainty that I have no idea.

Eva’s prayer

Published on June 19, 2008

He wasn't the only one who helped Eva fight through the pain. For years, Eva has had an extended family down the street at Maimonides Academy. The head of the school, Rabbi Boruch Kupfer, often came to visit. One day, knowing what Eva was going through, he asked her what they could bring. Eva wasn't shy: Food, she said, and lots of soup.

A Persian tragedy

Published on June 12, 2008

The most important thing I can say to all my Persian friends is that before we are anything, we are all Jews. What binds us together is not just our humanity, but the collective Jewish identity we forged at Sinai some 3,300 years ago.

Shavuot 5768: Midrash love

Published on June 5, 2008

When I think of Torah, the first thing that comes to mind is a divine, rigorous system of laws that guides an ethical and holy way of life. The last thing I think about is whimsy and romance

Paris with a Jewish accent

Published on May 29, 2008

Israel fest or Jewish fest?

Published on May 21, 2008

David Suissa refects on the Israel Festival at Woodley Park

A birthday gift

Published on May 15, 2008

Here we are, Jews in every corner of the world, awash in a frenzy of celebrations for Israel -- all because of a birthday. And not just any birthday, mind you, but one that ends in a zero.

Museum of too much tolerance?

Published on May 8, 2008

Should the Museum of Tolerance tolerate parties and simchas in a place that commemorates the death of 6 million Jews?

The fear of silence

Published on May 1, 2008

It's estimated that 97 percent of Polish Jews died in the war. To this day, Geminder can't quite fathom how he ended up in the 3 percent that survived.

The other refugees

Published on April 24, 2008

Is there a more loaded word in the Arab-Israeli conflict than "refugee"

Where’s the Passover story?

Published on April 17, 2008

It's one of the great mysteries of the Jewish tradition. Every year, Jews around the world gather around a seder table to retell the story of our people's liberation from slavery. You can read a thousand articles, talk to a thousand rabbis, and they'll all say the same thing: At the Passover seder, we retell the story of the Exodus.

There's only one problem with this statement: It's not really true.

We plan, Sherre laughs

Published on April 10, 2008

The conversation was joyful and funny, but something was bothering me. I couldn't stop thinking about the poached eggs.

We had all ordered our breakfasts at the same time. I got my Irish oatmeal, my daughter got her bagel and cream cheese, but the poached eggs? It seemed like they would never come. Every time a server would come near our table, I would arch my neck to see if they were carrying the poached eggs. Waiter after waiter walked by, only to deliver food to other patrons.

Letter to Obama

Published on April 3, 2008

If anybody will ever earn the respect of the warring parties of the Middle East and of the rest of the world, it will be a black American president with a Muslim name, a sense of universal fairness, and the courage to speak the truth as he sees it. As someone who is deeply pained by how the world continues to malign the state of Israel, I have the audacity to hope that such a change will be good for the Jews.

Purim with the cows

Published on March 27, 2008

What blew me away about the synagogue wasn't the painting on the wall of the old Moroccan rebbe Meier Baal Ness, which I had never seen anywhere else -- not even in Sephardic synagogues -- and which brought back memories of going on pilgrimages with my family as a child in Morocco.

Rays of light

Published on March 20, 2008

It was a week to be reminded that miracles do happen, in foxholes, baseball dugouts and even synagogues.

Why Israel must kvetch

Published on March 13, 2008

If there's one question I've heard a thousand times from Jews all over, it is this: Why is Israel so bad at PR? I know that when Jews ask me that question, they're also saying, "Suissa, you're in the business, can't you do something?"

Food fight

Published on March 7, 2008

At peace with conflict

Published on February 28, 2008

One of the bonuses of living in exile is that you can see Israeli society more clearly, one lunch, party, speech or cappuccino at a time. When I'm in the Holy Land, I lose myself in a noisy, beautiful, hectic, joyful and soulful blur.It's as if I'm inside a boat in a stormy sea. Here in the Diaspora, Israel comes at you in neat little waves. Over the past month, I've had encounters with four passionate Israelis, and each, in their own way, has helped me make sense of the craziness of what it is to live the Zionist dream.

Did we need blood?

Published on February 21, 2008

A fascinating debate has broken out among certain members of the community regarding the appropriateness of publicizing people's personal e-mails. A week ago, this paper went public with some incendiary e-mails from a rabbi who was trying to discourage women -- who were considered non-Jewish according to the Orthodox tradition -- from crashing his singles parties and dating Jewish men.

Who is Roger Diamond?

Published on February 14, 2008

I got to know a quirky, passionate Los Angeles native who never dreamed he'd become a counsel to skin merchants nationwide and the reviled bête noir of neighborhood groups everywhere.

Detail of the week

Published on February 7, 2008

In one of the oldest synagogues in Los Angeles, Congregation Mogen David, located on the western edge of the Pico-Robertson neighborhood, the rabbis have created their own version of "Saturday Night Live."

During the winter months, from 7-8 p.m. every Saturday night, children and their fathers are invited to learn Torah together. Small rectangular tables are arranged in a large hall, and on many of those tables you will see a father learning with his child. I was one of those fathers recently, and I was there to learn with my 8-year-old son Noah.

Rebbe Road

Published on January 31, 2008

If the great Maimonides ever came back to life and found himself in Los Angeles, chances are he'd look for a house on a small street called Detroit, between Oakwood Avenue and Beverly Boulevard, one block west of La Brea Avenue. There are no holier streets in Los Angeles.

This little discovery happened thanks to my 10-year-old daughter, Mia, who informed me recently that she had volunteered me to be a driver for her upcoming class outing. Little did I know what kind of class outing it would be: a minitour of a very Jewish neighborhood -- not my neighborhood of Pico-Robertson, but the neighborhood of Hancock Park.

L.A. woman

Published on January 24, 2008

Ruthie Rotenberg is the executive director of Limmud in Los Angeles. The idea behind Limmud is to gather Jews of all denominations to celebrate the kaleidoscope of the Jewish experience. For the conference on Presidents' Day Weekend, there will be up to 14 different classes from which to choose. They have almost 400 reservations from Jews of all denominations, and they have maxed out on presenters.