May 19, 2009 | 1:44 pm

Fiesta Shalom in Photos

Posted by JewishJournal.com

Photos by JewishJournal.com

A couple stands inside the historic Breed Street Shul.
JewishJournal.com

A tour of the synagogue.
JewishJournal.com

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Consul General Yaakov Dayan.
JewishJournal.com

Festival speakers
JewishJournal.com

A community mural is painted using thumbprints.
JewishJournal.com

JewishJournal.com

Ms. Boyle Heights
JewishJournal.comi>

A klezmer band plays in the street.
JewishJournal.com

May 18, 2009 | 3:26 pm

Thought for the Day

Posted by Joel Chasnoff

Everybody loves a winner. Unless the winner happens to be your younger brother.

0 Comments — Leave your comment

May 18, 2009 | 12:55 pm

Fiesta Shalom: Why One Band Refused to Play [AUDIO]

Posted by JewishJournal.com

From FSRN.org

“A few weeks ago, the band Quetzal was asked to play at Fiesta Shalom, an event aimed at building relations between the Jewish and Chicano community. The band, which has long worked in community building exercises and projects, saw the invitation as a great opportunity – but when it came time to sign the contract, they realized the event was sponsored by the Israeli Consulate.” Click here to listen.

0 Comments — Leave your comment

May 15, 2009 | 10:56 am

The Pillar of American Democracy…at 40 Bucks a Day

Posted by Joel Chasnoff

Just finished a day-long stint of jury duty. After deferring four times in two years, I finally decided to suck it up and go. Part of it had to with my sincere belief in the trial-by-jury system. I find it in nothing less than incredible that American citizen has the right to have his case heard by not one, but 12, fellow citizens, not one of whom, but all 12 of whom, have to agree he’s guilty before he can be punished. That said, jury duty is an enormous pain in the ass - which brings me to the other reason I finally decided to serve: to get the jury duty people off my back. It’s kind of like my sophomore year of high school, when I liked this girl - let’s call her Chritstie - and for a couple weeks straight I called her every night, and pestered her friends about how I could get her to go out with me, until, finally, she let me take her for ice cream - and the whole date, she just sat there, didn’t order a thing, pretty much ignored me the entire time, for no other reason to get me off her back. And it worked. I never called her again.

That’s what jury duty is: the pimply underclassman you go out with once to shut him up.

What struck me most about jury duty was how from the minute we were ushered into the waiting room, all anyone could talk about was how to get out of it. We traded excuses, asked one another for advice, shared past stories about avoiding jury service. It didn’t help that we were only getting paid $40 a day. If you’re gonna call it a pillar of our democracy (as they did on the summons), you’ve got to pay people more than 40 bucks a day, and provide a snack.

But the moment I was called into the courtroom, and I saw the defendant sitting there with his lawyer, it all changed. It occurred to me that as annoying as jury duty was for us normal people, for the defendant, this was the biggest day of his life.

First, the judge the charges. I won’t go into details, but it was pretty sick. I’d done jury duty once before, in my hometown of Chicago - that time, the case was a traffic accident with minor injuries and a nothing but money at stake. The charges in my current case, though, could send him to prison for life. Just thinking I might be the one making that decision turned my stomach.

Almost as disturbing as the charges was the length of the case. The judge said he expected the trial to last 6-8 weeks. So I told him the truth: that I had a couple business engagements out of town between now and mid-July, and that if I missed those, I’d have no income whatsoever until August and be forced to file for unemployment. The judge excused me on the spot.

As I walked out of the courtroom, I felt a mixture of glee and disappointment. On the one hand, I was thrilled it had been that easy. Now the jury people would leave me alone for five years.

But at the same time, a small piece of me was disappointed. Something tells me I’d just missed out on an incredible adventure. And you can’t put a price tag on adventure - though in this case, the price tag was 40 dollars a day.

1 Comments — Leave your comment

May 14, 2009 | 11:06 am

What makes Kobe so L.A.?

Posted by Joel Chasnoff

Saw this sign at Los Angeles International Airpot, and I’m still trying to figure out what it means. Just what, exactly, is “so L.A.” about Kobe Bryant? Is it his talent? His competitive drive? His being accused of a felony only to have all charges mysteriously dropped?

0 Comments — Leave your comment

May 11, 2009 | 3:54 pm

Anti-Israel activists urge Leonard Cohen to nix T.A. show

Posted by JewishJournal.com

From HAARETZ.com

Anti-Israel activists are stepping up efforts to dissuade Leonard Cohen from performing in Israel in September.

The activists urge supporters to “apply pressure during his tour by local groups along his path,” in their most recent appeal, which was circulated on Monday in various pro-Palestinian mailing lists. Read the full story at HAARETZ.com.

3 Comments — Leave your comment

May 11, 2009 | 3:40 pm

New Endangered Species: Israeli Sperm

Posted by Jay Firestone

The end of Seinfeld? The Bush administration? Global warming?

All possible reasons for what you are about to read…

From HAARETZ.com:

The quality of Israeli sperm has declined alarmingly in the last decade, according to recent research conducted at Jerusalem’s Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus.

The cause for the decline is not known, but it’s believed by some researchers to be connected to the exposure of children and pregnant women to hormones and other contaminants in food and water.  Read the full story at HAARETZ.com.

0 Comments — Leave your comment

May 11, 2009 | 2:03 pm

Pope Visits Yad Vashem

Posted by JewishJournal.com

From Haaretz.com:

Pope Benedict XVI visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Monday as part of his tour of Israel and the Middle East, where he lamented the suffering of the victims of the Holocaust.

“As we stand here in silence, their cry still echoes in our hearts. It is a cry raised against every act of injustice and violence. It is a perpetual reproach against the spilling of innocent blood,” said the pope in his address. To read the full story, visit Haaretz.com.

2 Comments — Leave your comment