What really happened at the Reform biennial in Toronto

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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Life and Times of Amos Oz Traced in New Anthology

By Rabbi Daniel Bouskila

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

New Rabbis Face Tough Job Market

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax

Joe Hample left his career as a systems analyst at Wells Fargo five years ago to become a rabbi, hoping to make a difference in people’s lives.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Don’t Do Well — Do Good

By Rabbi Dov Fischer

This week’s Torah portion lays out a comprehensive array of divinely ordained commandments that define the range of Judaism’s unique values.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Temple Akiba buzz grows with Culver City popularity

By Jane Ulman

With its iconic angular form tucked between a ramshackle limousine company to the north and a feed and pet supply store to the south, Temple Akiba rises behind a black tarp-lined security fence on a well-traveled stretch of Sepulveda Boulevard.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

LimmudLA gears up for second conference

By Julie G Fax

LimmudLA is hoping that about 800 Southern Californians will sign up to attend the second annual weekendlong event, scheduled to take place Feb. 13-16 at the Costa Mesa Hilton

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Jewish troops in Iraq can practice their faith, thanks to Navy rabbi

By Lilly Fowler

A short distance from the area where many historians believe the Talmud was written, Rabbi Jon Cutler leads one of the only functioning synagogues left in Iraq.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The Rebbe’s army soldiers on

By Sue Fishkoff

Chabad has become so ubiquitous that Jewish travelers around the world, no matter how far they stray, have come to expect a Shabbat meal, a holiday celebration and a warm welcome from one of these Chasidic couples, no questions asked. All that's required is a knock on the door.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Obama's cousin-in-law Rabbi Capers Funnye battles to open the gates of Judaism [VIDEO]

By Julie G Fax

Funnye, 56, has dedicated his life to chiseling away at the conventional, but increasingly inaccurate, conception of who is a Jew.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Angeleno pushes effort on recognizing conversions

By Julie G Fax

When Lorin Fife converted to Judaism some 30 years ago, his experience with the Orthodox rabbis who presided over his year of study and conversion ceremony was one of warmth and acceptance.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Rabbi Funnye reaps nachas over his cousin-in-law Barack

By Julie G Fax

Capers Funnye has a lot in common with his cousin-in-law, Barack Obama: They have both shattered longstanding barriers and are both committed to reaching across traditional divides.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Facing God, and the challenge of individual conscience

By Rabbi David Wolpe

Monday, November 24, 2008

Postville Jewish community struggles to survive after raid

By Ben Harris

After former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin was arrested earlier this month, Rashi Raices joined several dozen members of this town's Jewish community in volunteering the equity on their homes to guarantee his return to face trial.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Agriprocessors closed—now where’s the beef?

By Ben Harris

The kosher meat market is in a tailspin as production at the Agriprocessors' meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, which had been operating at a fraction of its normal capacity since May, finally ground to a halt this week. The company, whose meat was sold under the labels Rubashkin's and Aaron's Best, among others, filed for bankruptcy Nov. 4.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

A Moderate Proposal

By Rob Eshman

The start of the event was running late -- did I mention it was a Jewish event? -- and midway through our green room conversation, Hitchens pulled out a small bottle of Johnnie Walker Black. He emptied it into a 16-ounce clear-plastic cup and drizzled in some Crystal Geyser spring water. And he began sipping.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Passage of Prop. 8 reveals rift between denominations

By Rachel Heller

Jewish voices had joined both sides of the bitter and costly Proposition 8 debate leading up to Election Day. Reform and Conservative leaders largely condemned the stripping of civil rights from a fellow minority population, while Orthodox officials praised constitutional protection for the biblical definition of marriage.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

VIDEO: Sukkot services with the Happy Minyan

The spirited, eclectic Happy Minyan of L.A. davening Hoshana Rabba concluding Sukkot. Guest chazans, New York's Yehuda Green and Lazar Wax, lead and deliver the cantillation.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

‘The Longing’ documents crypto-Jews caught between two worlds

By Naomi Pfefferman

When Gabriela Böhm set out to create her documentary, "The Longing: The Forgotten Jews of South America," several years ago, she hoped to profile an as-yet-undiscovered secret community of Crypto Jews -- descendants of Jews forced to flee the Spanish Inquisition who continued practicing rituals covertly.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Troubles at meat plants prompt increased fear of kosher beef shortages

By Ben Harris

With the kosher meat producer Agriprocessors facing mounting financial problems, and a fire-related shutdown at another major kosher producer, industry insiders say major supply disruptions are inevitable and kosher consumers should brace themselves for some rough times

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Rubashkin son arrested, Agriprocessors fined $10 million in kosher slaughterhouse probe

Sholom Rubashkin. son of Agriprocessors founder Aaron Rubashkin, was arrested by immigration officials and was due to appear in federal court today.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

If you stream Kol Nidre, they will watch

By Tom Tugend

When Rabbi Naomi Levy conducted Kol Nidre services this year, her congregation numbered 200,000, stretching from Canada to Colombia and from Japan to Norway

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

We were intended by God—we’re not afterthoughts

By Rabbi David Wolpe

Belief is not a static illusion to be knocked down at the introduction of a new scientific hypothesis or discovery. Faith is an orientation of soul, a posture toward God's universe that finds expression in many religious traditions.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Religion: The ‘first and worst’ explanation

Christopher Hitchens

It belongs to the terrified childhood of our species, before we knew about germs or could account for earthquakes. It belongs to our childhood, too, in the less charming sense of demanding a tyrannical authority: a protective parent who demands compulsory love even as he exacts a tithe of fear.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Searching for the soul

By Gary Wexler

In my new capacity as the son of an Alzheimer's victim, I have many questions. Some of them are Jewish questions. One kept me up for hours the other night, leading me to my bookshelf at 3 a.m., combing through volumes to see what insights I might glean. What happens to the soul during Alzheimer's?

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

L.A. Orthodox rabbis want business ethics to be kosher, too

By Julie G Fax

Seeking to accentuate Jewish traditions that place a premium on ethical integrity, Los Angeles Orthodox rabbis are encouraging local businesses to sign up for a new seal of certification that ensures employers are treating workers fairly and humanely