Shavuot inspires dairy recipes
Shavuot

By Judy Zeidler

Shavuot celebrates the receiving of the Ten Commandments and the arrival of the spring harvest. But, for food lovers, it is noted for the array of dairy foods that are served — delicious combinations of cheese, sour cream, milk and eggs. Also in abundance are “stuffed” foods, such as blintzes with cheese fillings.

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Syrian wake-up
Rob Eshman

By Rob Eshman

Yes, America, we’ve heard: You’re war-weary. It’s at least something our divided country can agree upon: Americans across party lines oppose sending troops, weapons or air support to the rebel fighters in Syria.

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A mitzvah called shmooze
David Suissa

By David Suissa

In a crummy economy, people are always looking for good investments — a promising stock, a real estate opportunity, a star mutual fund. It’s really not that different in the “mitzvah economy”— donors and do-gooders are also looking to squeeze the maximum amount of goodness out of every charity investment.

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Jews and Christians
Dennis Prager

By Dennis Prager

I have spent much of my adult life working to bring Jews and Christians together. In particular, I have tried to explain to fellow Jews that traditional Christians are our best friends in the world today.

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7 Quick Comments on Israel’s Syria Bombings

By Shmuel Rosner

Some notes on Israel, Syria, airstrikes, IDF intelligence, the US, and messages to Iran.

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Burying Tamerlan Tsarnaev

By Susan Esther Barnes

Every cemetery that refuses the body is adding to the pain of innocents.

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Fake medicine
Opinion

By Norman Lavin, M.D, PhD., UCLA Medical School

Caveat emptor means “buyer beware.” Fake medicines are now a multibillion-dollar industry affecting people in virtually every country in the world, and the problem is getting worse. It has been estimated that up to 15 percent of drugs sold worldwide are counterfeit, and in parts of Africa and Asia it can surpass 50 percent. We are also vulnerable in the United States even though we have a better-regulated pharmaceutical system.

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AB 241: Human Dignity MUST Start at the Front Doorstep

By Lia Mandelbaum

I have had the wonderful opportunity of being a Jeremiah Fellow with Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice. A major driving force of the organization is the mission to do Tikkun Olam, which is a Hebrew phrase that means "repairing the world." I am proud of how Judaism places such great importance in being proactive in fighting for social justice.

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Silencer
Greenberg's View

By Steve Greenberg

Editorial cartoon

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Letters to the Editor: Monty Hall, Anne Frank, Boston Hero, Syria
Letters to the Editor

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Crossword Puzzle: May 10, 2013
Crossword

by David Benkof

Can you solve this?

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Q&A with Rabbi Ed Feinstein
Religion

By Susan Freudenheim

On May 11, Rabbi Ed Feinstein, senior rabbi at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, will be feted for his two decades of service to the synagogue. He talks in this edited version of an interview about changes in synagogue life, his theology and what he prays for.

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Syrians angry at Israel
Live from the Arab Spring

by Michel Stors, The Media Line

Khalil Sharif wants everyone to stay out of his country’s business.

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Syria attacks suggest Israel can act with impunity
Israel

JTA

Twice in three days, Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace and fired on suspected weapons caches bound for Hezbollah -- and nothing has happened in response.

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Grace in the wilderness: Parashat Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1-4:20)
Torah Portion

by Rabbi Mike Comins

The book of Bamidbar, literally “in the desert” or “in the wilderness,” is a hard book to read. Over and over, plagues break out and thousands are killed. The reason, we are told, is a pronounced lack of faith in God. I found the repeated spilling of Israelite blood difficult, to say the least, until Bible scholar Adriane Leveen put it into mythic perspective for me.

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Mother’s Day: The gift of responsibility
Lifestyle

by Monica Osborne, Contributing Writer

On Mother’s Day last year, I was already a couple of months into my pregnancy.

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Math skills add up to success for day schools
Los Angeles

by Kylie Jane Wakefield, Contributing Writer

Day schools are typically known for their comprehensive approach to Jewish studies, but not as much for the secular education they offer. Now, a few Jewish day schools in Los Angeles have proven that they’re just as strong at academics as they are in religious curriculum.

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Restoring Mount Zion Cemetery
Los Angeles

by Jared Sichel, Staff Writer

The headstone of Isabel Janken’s father, Henry Morhar, lies flat on the ground at Mount Zion Cemetery, knocked from its ledger. It’s an elegant headstone, weighing more than 1,000 pounds. A few feet below, an engraved picture showing a handsome Morhar is inscribed in capital letters, “Gone But Not Forgotten.”

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The ‘light’-er side of Temple Israel of Hollywood
Culture

by Jared Sichel, Staff Writer

Temple Israel of Hollywood (TIOH) lived up to its name on April 28 when it threw a free biblically themed matinee musical, “Let There Be Light,” on Lag B’Omer featuring numerous celebrities.

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Big Sunday Weekend goes beyond community service
Los Angeles

By Ryan Torok

Phil Rosenthal, creator and executive producer of the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond,” was leading a game of Bingo in the annex dining room at Canter’s Deli on the morning of May 5 — not a bad way to spend Big Sunday Weekend, the annual festival of community service that featured more than 150 projects this year.

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Destination Kauai
Travel

by Lisa Alcalay Klug

When it comes to honeymoons, nothing is more romantic than a tropical island. From Los Angeles, the most tempting include the Hawaiian archipelago. The oldest — and by far the greenest — of them all is Kauai.

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Moving and Shaking: Board of Rabbis SoCal president named, Sephardic Temple childhood center opens
Los Angeles

By Ryan Torok

Rabbi Jonathan Bernhard named Board of Rabbis SoCal president, Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel is opening early childhood center, Harry Corre and Janice Kamenir-Reznik honored

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You breathed it into me
Poetry

by Eve Grubin

I fail. Every morning shade drawn,

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Love, Birthright style
Lifestyle

by Gil Shefler, JTA

Now entering its 13th year, Taglit-Birthright Israel’s goal is to strengthen the Jewish identity of its participants and their connection to Israel. Yet the popular program also has provided a platform for untold numbers of young singles to form lasting, loving partnerships.

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Daniel Rolnik: ‘The world’s most adorable art critic’
Culture

by Jonathan Maseng, Contributing Writer

Daniel Rolnik bills himself as “The World’s Most Adorable Art Critic,” and if you speak to him for even a minute, it’s easy to see why. Animated, passionate, whimsical and delightfully upbeat, Rolnik, 24, has made it his mission to introduce people to new and exciting artists, and more recently, to Judaism as well.

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The mishegoss of mom, shmaltz-free
Culture

by Evan Henerson, Contributing Writer

Anybody who has trod the boards knows that little blitz of stage fright that can flood through an actor when a member of the family is in the audience.

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Tales from a mother: The Jewish wedding
Opinion

By Annie Korzen

Every time my son, Jonathan, left for school, for camp, for college, I felt a heartbreaking sense of loss. That’s because your main instinct as a mother is to keep your child as close to you as possible. But your main job as a mother is to prepare your kids to separate. It’s the cruel catch-22 of parenting.

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Calendar Picks and Clicks: May 11–17, 2013
Picks and Clicks

May 11–17

Known as “The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook,” the five-time Grammy-nominated Feinstein covers classics from musical theater as well as the songs of Frank Sinatra and other standards. $40-$85. 8 p.m. California State University, Northridge, Valley Performing Arts Center, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. (818) 677-8800. valleyperformingartscenter.org.

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Obituaries
Obituaries

Bernard Brown died March 25 at 89. Survived by wife Sylvia; daughters Wendy (Zack) Gugenheim, Darlene (Paul) Solotkin, Pamela (Daniel) Vancott; 5 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren. Mount Sinai

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