- NEWS & COMMENTARY
Oklahoma tornado: How you can help
Jewish groups are joining the effort to help those displaced by the tornado in suburban Oklahoma City.
A prayer for Oklahoma
Lord our God, we stood before You just a week ago to receive the Ten Statements of Your Torah. We stood, as though with our ancestors, and listened to the Torah reader chant descriptions of the smoking mountain, the thunderous…
Chabad center taking in Oklahomans displaced by deadly tornado
A Chabad center in Oklahoma City opened its building as a shelter for those displaced by a deadly tornado.
- HOLLYWOOD
Justin Timberlake and Coen brothers answer Jewish questions at Cannes
Using his preternatural smoothness, Justin Timberlake saved the Coen brothers from some serious awkwardness at a Cannes press conference for their folk singer film “Inside Llewyn Davis” on Sunday. “Jewish…
Sean Penn lobbies for Charedi man imprisoned in Bolivia
Actor Sean Penn urged a congressional hearing to pressure Bolivia to release a haredi Orthodox father of five under house arrest in the country.
Mel Brooks’ top 10 Jewy Jewish scenes [VIDEO]
Monday night marks the national premier broadcast of the American Masters installment on Mel Brooks. To mark the occasion, we’ve put together a collection of Brooks’ best Jewish clips.
- LIFE & CULTURE
Sarah Silverman sings about staying home in ‘Perfect Night’
For your listening pleasure, “Perfect Night,” in which Sarah Silverman recounts the benefits of skipping the club for the couch. Because this is a Silverman production you can expect references…
Maccabi Tel Aviv back on top but coach future uncertain
Champions Maccabi Tel Aviv have reasserted their dominance of Israeli soccer but media reports on Tuesday suggested they might have to continue their revival without coach Oscar Garcia.
7 Rules for Perfect Hummus
When was the last time you opened a tub of hummus and swooned? When was the last time a restaurant put a plate of hummus in front of you, and…
- BLOGS
State 194: A Documentary About Palestine
Opening this weekend at Laemmle’s Music Hall 3 is a very hot-button new documentary called State 194, which follows the recent history of Palestine. Many will approach this film with…
7 Rules for Perfect Hummus
When was the last time you opened a tub of hummus and swooned? When was the last time a restaurant put a plate of hummus in front of you, and…
What would my Israeli grandmother think?
When I hear about the latest events in Israel – the air strikes on weapons facilities in Syria, the flare-ups over women donning prayer shawls at the Western Wall –…
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Be a Rescuer – Not a Bystander
For California mountain man, road to God runs through kosher wine
Producing wine atop a tranquil mountain in a remote area of northern California is quite a way to make a living. For Benyamin Cantz, whose one-man operation in the hills of Santa Cruz produces kosher wine from organic grapes, it's also a calling.
In praise of pastrami
You know you’re getting old when every meal starts and ends with an admonition about how food will kill you.
Why isn’t L.A. up to haute kosher?
During lunch at the Golden State restaurant on Fairfax, in between making sure my kids’ locavore-friendly food stays on plates and haranguing them to eat a few Persian cucumber slices, my eyes often linger on the hulking building across the street. In just a couple of seconds I’m filled with the mild sting of betrayal and guilt.
Rabbi explores grief in new memoir, ‘Faith Unravels’
With “Faith Unravels: A Rabbi’s Struggle With Grief and God,” Rabbi Daniel Greyber, former executive director of Camp Ramah in California, has written a memoir that explores the unique grieving process of a clergyman.
Editorial Cartoon: Quicksand deficit
L.A. activist attending Obama's inauguration finds Jewish values in week's festivities
The chill in the DC air, never seems to diminish the warmth and excitement from a Presidential inauguration. 2013 was no different, but it also felt uniquely, Jewish.
Orthodox woman, a first
In a groundbreaking appointment, the Academy for Jewish Religion, California (AJR,CA), has selected Tamar Frankiel as its new president, making her the first Orthodox woman to lead an American rabbinical school. Frankiel, 66, is a professor of comparative religion and an expert on Jewish mysticism.
Priorities, personalities shape city attorney race
In his three-and-a-half years as Los Angeles’ City Attorney, Carmen Trutanich has made headlines — and more than a few enemies — by directing some of his office’s 450 lawyers to prosecute ticket scalpers and Occupy L.A. protesters, as well as by drafting controversial city ordinances governing storefront marijuana dispensaries and vigorously pursuing people who put up illegal billboards.
Frank Nikbakht: Unflinching voice for Jews in Iran
Nearly 13 years ago, 13 Jews living in the Iranian city of Shiraz were arrested on trumped-up charges of spying for Israel and were facing execution by the clerics who ruled Iran.
Hail, Caesarstone!
As California’s real estate market continues its recovery and spring remodeling season is poised to start, many homeowners are once again looking for enduring ways to rejuvenate their living spaces and add value to their homes.
Senior service providers wary as New Year approaches
They’ve weathered five years of economic crisis, relentless state budget cuts and growing demand for their services. Now, social service providers for seniors in the Los Angeles area are bracing for a new slew of challenges in 2013.
The Age of Feelings
In the Pacific Coast waters off the Northern California city of Eureka on Nov. 10, a mother, a father and their teenage son all died.
Camp Alonim receives grant from JCamp180
JCamp180, a project of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation that aims to enhance long-term effectiveness in Jewish nonprofit overnight camps, has announced that it will begin working with Camp Alonim, one of Southern California’s largest Jewish overnight camps.
Does the Jewish vote still matter?
Does the Jewish vote still matter and if so, how? Exit polls indicate that 70 percent of Jews voted for President Obama, compared to roughly 39 percent of white voters overall. However, with California and New York, which have large Jewish populations, guaranteed to go Democratic, the Jewish vote may have mattered only in Florida.
Five Jewish takeaways from the 2012 election
One of the most significant losers of Election Day was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who openly opposed President Barack Obama from the very beginning of his administration, first on settlements and then on the question of Iran.
Carmen Warschaw, Democratic activist, philanthropist, 95
Carmen H. Warschaw, passionate political activist, strategist, financial backer and “Jewish mother” to generations of Democratic office holders, died — fittingly — on Election Day, Nov. 6, after watching the television prognostications on the presidential race. She was 95.
Union workers celebrate at Dodger Stadium
LAX workers were the first to begin the cheers. “Obama! Obama! Obama!” It didn’t take long for others to follow when the news broke out at Dodger Stadium on election night that Barack Obama had been re-elected president.
Pro-Sherman mailer labeled 'despicable' may have ties to former Sherman staffer
A pro-Brad Sherman mailer sent out in October to Republican voters in the San Fernando Valley’s new 30th Congressional district features a shadowy and ominous-looking image of Rep. Howard Berman, Sherman’s Democratic opponent for Congress, shown alongside Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).
Why we support Prop. 30
There are those who say California doesn’t have seasons. But sadly, when it comes to California’s chronic budget deficit, each fiscal year brings yet another dreary forecast calling for drastic cuts to services for our state’s most vulnerable residents.
$5,000 to be awarded to social justice educator
Humanities educators from secondary schools across the globe — from California to North Carolina, Ohio to South Africa — are competing to win $5,000 in a contest sponsored by Facing History and Ourselves, an organization dedicated to bringing lessons about the Holocaust and other genocides to classrooms everywhere.
Jews push for Prop. 30
With recent polls showing that support has fallen below 50 percent for Proposition 30 — Gov. Jerry Brown’s temporary tax hike initiative that would help fund education across California — Jewish organizers working on behalf of the measure are working hard to convince Californians to approve the measure.
Prop 32 – The final piece of election reform
The voters of California have put in place two elements of major reform to our election process. The first was taking the redistricting process out of the hands of special interests and career politicians.
Editorial Cartoon: California's death penalty by the numbers
CON PROP. 30: Is it crucial for higher education?
On Nov. 6, California taxpayers will once again be asked to bail out Sacramento. As the Orange County Register points out, years of fiscal mismanagement means these “will be the 12th, 13th and 14th times over the past decade that Californians are being asked to increase their taxes.”
PRO PROP. 30: Is it Crucial for Higher Education?
We’re worried. That’s what we Jews do, of course. Often, for good reason. While we’re pleased to see California voters currently favor Gov. Jerry Brown’s Proposition 30 initiative to restore a measure of fiscal stability to the state, polls show that support is precarious.
Brown signs law targeting insurance industry ties with Iran
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law a bill aimed at dissuading California-based insurance companies from making indirect investments in Iran.
Sept. 29 - Oct. 5
West Hollywood’s celebration of the written word features more than 220 authors and artists. Speakers include “Saturday Night Live” alum Rachel Dratch (“Girl Walks Into a Bar”) and comedy writer David Misch (“Funny: The Book”); Journal columnist Bill Boyarsky (“Inventing L.A.”); political commentators Robert Scheer (“The Great American Stickup”) and Nancy L. Cohen (“Delirium”); novelists David Brin (“Existence”), Seth Greenland (“The Angry Buddhist”), Tod Goldberg (“Living Dead Girl”), Gregg Hurwitz (“The Survivor”), Stephen Jay Schwartz (“Beat”) and Jerry Stahl (“Pain Killers”); and children’s writers Amy Goldman Koss (“Side Effects”) and Eugene Yelchin (“Breaking Stalin’s Nose”).
Actress sues California man behind anti-Muslim film
An actress in an anti-Islam film that triggered violent protests across the Muslim world sued a California man linked to its production on Wednesday for fraud and slander, saying she had received death threats after the video was posted on YouTube.
Ariela’s legacy gives others direction, purpose
Aviva Dese believes that without the Ariela Foundation, she’d probably be back in Nazareth Ilit, the factory town in the Galilee where she grew up, maybe with a low-paying assembly-line job, or maybe still wondering, like so many of her friends, what to do with her life.
Ninth hantavirus case linked to Yosemite
As protests rage over anti-Muslim movie, the cast claims it was misled by script
Protests over an anti-Muslim film continued outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, while in Yemen security guards fired at demonstrators who stormed the U.S. Embassy gates.
Calif. Assembly approves anti-Semitism resolution for colleges
The California State Assembly approved a resolution calling on colleges and universities in the state to combat anti-Semitism.
Diller Foundation takes teen awards nationwide
The California-based Helen Diller Family Foundation has announced it will expand its Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards from a statewide to nationwide program and will double the number of annual awards to 10, with five of the awards reserved exclusively for Californians. The Foundation formally announced the expansion at an Aug. 20 ceremony in San Francisco honoring this year’s recipients, which included three Angelenos — Zak Kukoff, Adam Weinstein and Celine Yousefzadeh.
The story behind the Hotel Shangri-La anti-Semitism trial
It was late in the afternoon on Aug. 15, a Wednesday, when the jury delivered its verdict to a Santa Monica courtroom.
Romney, Ryan and Florida Jews
In 1992, Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts mounted a strong campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. The pundits considered him a brainy guy who was willing to take on the sacred cows of Social Security and Medicare. Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas, by contrast, seemed like a flawed candidate. Tsongas stung Clinton by calling him “pander bear.”
Natalie Portman married in Jewish ceremony
Actress Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied reportedly were married in a Jewish ceremony.
Matchmaking Woes…
Pelosi and Cantor spar over Republican Jewish outreach
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, said that Republicans exploit Jewish voters for political gain.
Calif. Supreme Court upholds lawsuit against Jewish cemetery firm
The California Supreme Court upheld class-action status for a lawsuit alleging gross misconduct by a Jewish funeral services provider that had paid a $100 million settlement over similar misconduct.
Three L.A. teens win Tikkun Olam awards
Three Los Angeles-area teens each were awarded $36,000 grants from The Helen Diller Family Foundation as part of the annual Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards.
Camp Newman Generates Jewish Joy
Why I voted against the tobacco tax
A few weeks ago, California voters narrowly rejected another tax increase not only on cigarettes, but also on those mass murderers — cigar and pipe smokers. As expected, proponents of Proposition 29 blame its defeat on all the money tobacco companies spent on ads against the proposition. Whenever a candidate or vote supported by progressives is defeated, the loss is attributed to money. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was not recalled?
AJR-CA graduates 10th class of transdenominational rabbis
The Academy for Jewish Religion, California (AJR-CA), graduated its 10th class of rabbinic and cantorial ordinees last month. The transdenominational seminary has graduated close to 90 rabbis, cantors and chaplains since 2003, and nearly all have found work in Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and non-denominational synagogues, as well as in schools, hospitals and other institutions.
How kosher is your milk?
On our wedding day last year, my wife and I decided that, due to our Jewish convictions, we would no longer drink milk or consume any dairy products. This is a vow we have remained deeply committed to, but we never expected it to become mainstream.
The buck stops here
Can California be saved?
We Californians love to use direct democracy to perform amateur surgery on our state government. As heirs to a century-old tradition of progressive reform, we believe that if we tinker with the rules, we will get much better outcomes.
California’s Alameda County drops ‘Palestinian Cultural Day’ proclamation
A proclamation to declare June 5 “Palestinian Cultural Day” in California's Alameda County was pulled off the agenda that same day.
Editorial Cartoon: Term Limits
Calif.‘s oldest female vet, 102, reaches out with compassion
This Memorial Day, World War II Veteran Bea Abrams Cohen will be attending ceremonies at Los Angeles National Cemetery, paying tribute to all the men and women who have died fighting while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
American Jews fight for Israel
20 years after the L.A. Riots
On April 29, 1992, the acquittal of four white Los Angeles police officers involved in the beating of Rodney King, an African-American man, triggered riots in Los Angeles that resulted in more than 50 dead, thousands injured and some $1 billion in property damage.
This week in power: Romney, Gunter Grass, Connecticut politics, Passover message
My war on drugs
When medical marijuana became legal in the state of California, I went out and got some. I say this not because I am cool, or like to get stoned — I’m not, and I don’t.
Home movies reveal cultural history of SoCal Jews
Home movies have long played an important role in the lives of American Jews. Backyard barbecues, baby namings, bar mitzvahs — few are the events that haven’t been captured on film by the Jewish parent or grandparent.
Can Democrats govern California?
Facing the likelihood of conflicting tax initiatives on the November ballot, Gov. Jerry Brown last week reached agreement with the California Federation of Teachers (CFT) on a compromise, unified measure.
This week in power: Obama, Romney, Florida legislature, Jew Pond
How Hollywood’s biggest politicos leaned right, not left
Ronald Reagan, Shirley Temple, Sony Bono, George Murphy and Arnold Schwarzenegger are all entertainers who launched their political careers in California, and they are all Republicans. Indeed, aside from Al Franken, no prominent Democratic officeholder on the scene today started out in the entertainment industry.
Peres ends Calif. tour with meeting with Hispanic leaders
Israeli President Shimon Peres ended a weeklong visit to California with a wide-ranging discussion with Latino leaders.
I Don’t Believe in Gay Marriage
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