Current Edition: Volume 24, Number 38

November 5, 2009

Tough Guys

I arrived in Israel in 1984. I didn’t speak or understand Hebrew, didn’t have a job and didn’t have a friend. In my pocket I had the name of the one person I knew in the entire country: a middle-aged Israeli American woman I had heard lecture on contemporary Hebrew literature at an Orthodox synagogue in Berkeley. After her talk, I mentioned to her that I would soon be moving to Jerusalem. She scribbled down her address and told me to come by for Shabbat.

Featured Stories

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Kristallnacht Then and Now

Kristallnacht Then and Now

Thursday, November 5, 2009

LETTERS: November 6-12, 2009


I am troubled by Rabbi Isaac Jeret’s “Key to Peace” d’var Torah in the Oct. 30 Journal.

Much as we are continually informed and taught by our Torah, its blessings and its commandments, I am reluctant to base international political decisions on biblical promises — be they Hebrew or Christian — or anyone else’s scriptural promises for that matter. That the land of Israel has been (continuously) inhabited by Jews does not negate the fact that it has also been (continuously) inhabited by others. “An honest accounting of history” often rests in the eyes of the beholder, and in the end what stands out in my mind is that the current relationship between Israel and her neighbors is not working well for them, nor for the rest of the world.

Latest Stories

Thursday, November 5, 2009

We Need ‘A Street,’ Not J Street

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.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

How to Rescue the Resort

Have you noticed how the people who work in luxury hotels never actually use the word “hotel” to refer to the place? They call it “The Property,” or “The Resort,” or sometimes even “The Estate,” which, I imagine, is supposed to describe something much grander, more awe-inspiring and worthy of one’s hard-earned money than a mere “hotel.”

Thursday, November 5, 2009

L.A. Unity Trip: Statements from the Rabbis

Statements from the Rabbis.

From left:  Rabbi Laura Geller, Rabbi Robert Wexler, Rabbi Sharon Brous and Rabbi Isaac Jeret peel potatoes at Hazon Yeshaya soup kitchen in Jerusalem.Thursday, November 5, 2009

The Unity Trip

Israeli Consul General of Los Angeles Jacob Dayan personally invited the 18 L.A. rabbis from Orthodox, Reform and Conservative streams of Judaism to come to Israel for 58 hours last week, but the consulate’s mission to transmit a message of solidarity with Israel had other results too. By the end of the short trip, many of the rabbis expressed a deeper understanding of the important social problems facing Israel today, as well as a renewed hope for peace and a rejuvenated passion for the thriving Zionist dream.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Belzberg Projects Honored

Hagy Belzberg, the principal of Belzberg Architects, was honored recently with two awards.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Shooting, Graffiti Unsettle Area Synagogues

The L.A. Jewish community remained on alert this week as police continued their hunt for a gunman who shot and wounded two congregants at a Sephardic synagogue the San Fernando Valley.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Jewish Home’s Annenberg School Graduates 18 Nurses

After being laid off from her job as a network-programming engineer, Jennifer Imbag asked God what she should do with her life. One night soon afterward, she dreamed she was in a white coat in a white room. Not yet understanding what the dream meant, she continued on the search for her next step, only to have the message made clearer by a fortune cookie that read, “You could prosper in the field of medicine.”

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

FBI Notified of UCI Muslim Group’s Fundraising

Administrators at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), have sent information to the FBI alleging that members of the university’s Muslim Student Union (MSU) collected money at a campus event, which was given to an organization that provided funds to Hamas.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Battle Over Jerusalem Heats Up

As part of an intensifying struggle over Jerusalem, Arab leaders are keeping up a relentless barrage of criticism of Jewish construction in the city and alleged violations of the status quo on the Temple Mount.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Three More Israeli Deaths From H1N1

Three more Israelis died from the swine flu, as the country’s health system began its inoculation campaign against the virus.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Israel to Deport Children of Foreign Workers

Children of foreign workers in Israel illegally will be deported at the end of the school year.

Amos OzWednesday, November 4, 2009

Oz Mines Country’s Past in Personal Narratives

Just as the first heavy rain of the season began to beat against the large red awning of the Marilyn Monroe Café in Ramat Aviv, an area in north Tel Aviv, Amos Oz stepped under the protected terrace, looked around and smiled as I stood to shake his hand. Punctual to the minute at his preferred meeting place, he arrived unfettered by either a cell phone or an umbrella.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Goldhagen, Hirsi Ali and Fenton Bring New Works to L.A.

November is a splendid month for Angelenos who like to keep up with new books and meet the people who write them.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Picks and Clicks for Nov. 7– 13, 2009

Pioneering performance and interdisciplinary artist Rachel Rosenthal, who was honored by the city in 2000 as a “living cultural treasure of Los Angeles,” is the guest of honor at Rachel Rosenthal’s Birthday Bash 83. The evening will commemorate her new book, “The DbD Experience: Chance Knows What It’s Doing!” (Routledge), and the Rachel Rosenthal Company’s new TOHUBOHU! Extreme Theatre Ensemble. Come enjoy live music, as well as an exhibition and silent auction of 83 artists’ works. Sat. 7-11 p.m. $25. Track 16 Gallery, Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Building C1, Santa Monica. (310) 264-4678.

Photo by Peter HalmagyiWednesday, November 4, 2009

Israeli ‘Poison’ Wraps Up Fashion Show

When the Israeli electro-rock-pop band Terry Poison strutted onto the stage at the Hollywood Playhouse as the headliner act of the after-party for Israel’s debut at LA Fashion week on Oct. 14, most audience members — largely Israeli ex-pats — got up to dance, though some stayed behind to scratch their heads. The band wore metallic spandex bodysuits and wild makeup and played synth-based instruments to songs with English lyrics that sometimes sounded like an esoteric robotic language. It was a performance that could easily have been taken for an avant-garde art installation.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Shalhevet Choir, International Performers Share Stage at Concert Honoring Pearl

The Shalhevet High School Choir was one of eight groups performing Sunday, Oct. 25, at the eighth annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days festival concert at the Ikeda Auditorium in Santa Monica. Also on the program were the American Victory Orchestra, the Buddhist-affiliated ensemble group that organizes the concert, conducted by Patrick Scott; a Cambodian girls dance troupe in traditional costume; the world champion acrobatic dancing duo Realis; sopranos Alise Richel and Connie Smith; and jazz saxophonist Bernie Maupin of Herbie Hancock fame, who closed the concert accompanied by the orchestra.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

JFS Program Gives Students New School Supplies

Jewish Family Service (JFS) of Los Angeles supplied 1,100 disadvantaged children in the Los Angeles Unified School District with new backpacks filled with school supplies through its Tools for Schools program.

From the top: Rabbi Dov Goldman; Shelley Lawrence; Rabbi Markus and Richard Sandler; Melanie BerkeyWednesday, November 4, 2009

Jewish Educators Honored With Awards

Four Jewish educators were surprised with $15,000 Milken Family Foundation Jewish Educator Awards on Oct. 13. Foundation Executive Vice President Richard Sandler recognized this year’s recipients, Shelley Lawrence, Melanie Berkey, Rabbi Mitchel Malkus and Rabbi Dov Goldman, at surprise assemblies at their respective schools. Also participating in the ceremonies were Gil Graff and Aviva Kadosh of the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles, which has co-administered the award since it was established in 1990.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Science Summer in IsraelYields Lessons Beyond the Lab

I am a Jew, a Marlborough graduate, a Pacific Palisadian and now a freshman Yalie. Last summer, I was also a participant in the Dr. Bessie F. Lawrence International Summer Science Institute (ISSI) at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, and I guess I could also be considered a “science nerd.”

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

First Jewish Sports Specialty Camp Opens

Young athletes will combine core sports training with a Jewish summer camp experience for the first time when the 6 Points Sports Academy opens its doors in June 2010 at American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro, N.C.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Pluralistic Boarding School Combines Rigor With Community

When it came to choosing a high school, you could say that Sabrina Livne-Kennedy did her homework.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The Challenge of Keeping Kids in Day Schools

Claudine and Ira Unterman pulled one of their four children out of Orthodox day school a couple of years ago, when they concluded the school could not provide the special resources their daughter needed. But when they pulled a second child out, and then a third, it was because they had come to believe that the education at the local public school was better than what their children were getting at day school, enough so that they were willing to sacrifice the benefits of an intensive Jewish day school education and atmosphere.

Rabbi Laurence ScheindlinWednesday, November 4, 2009

Joy, Discipline and Achievement:The Importance of Social-Emotional Learning

Play dates are overrated. By the end of June make sure your mom has signed you up for next year’s after-school activities. That way you can fill every afternoon with the ones you want.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Truth and Consequences

“Just tell the truth. If you tell the truth, nothing bad will happen to you.” I heard that a lot as a kid. That was code for “you won’t get in trouble.” Now, as a parent, teaching my second-graders about telling the truth is a constant struggle. Children are prone to seeing the world as black and white, right and wrong.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Obituaries: November 6-12, 2009

Obituaries dating from May 7, 2009- September 11, 2009

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

After report, Yemen operation is happily out in the open

After months of stressing the need for silence, two major Jewish organizations and a former Bush administration official are embracing publicity about their roles in bringing Yemenite Jews to the United States.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Israeli general: Hamas rocket can reach Tel Aviv

Hamas has a missile that can reach Tel Aviv, an Israeli army official said.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Concessions on settlements fall short, Clinton says

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Israel's concessions on settlement building fall short of Washington's expectations.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Ex-employee of family arrested in their murders

The man arrested for the murder of three generations of an Israeli family was fired from the family's restaurant.

Workers constructing the memorial to be dedicated Nov. 15, 2009 in Grossburgwedel, Germany. (Courtesy of the town of Burgwedel)Monday, November 2, 2009

New German memorial honors Nazis, ignores Jews

A controversy has erupted in a German town over a new memorial that critics say honors SS soldiers and ignores Jewish Holocaust victims.

Top: The destruction of the Munich main synagogue, 1938, on Duke Max road. Bottom: A projection of the destruction on the side of the department store building that is now present there.Monday, November 2, 2009

Kristallnacht in Munich, then and now

Kristallnacht, the “Night of Shattered Glass” that unmistakably signaled Hitler’s determination to eliminate European Jewry, came early to Munich’s 12,000 Jews.

Stanford University Hillel students enjoying a meal in their sukkah in October 2009, despite vandalism. (Stanford University Hillel)Monday, November 2, 2009

Hillel groups responding to hate acts by bringing together campus communities

Stanford University’s Jewish community celebrated the first night of Sukkot eating the traditional festive meal inside the sukkah they put up every year.

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11/6 4:39 pm