Paulinda Schimmel Babbini: Raising ovarian cancer awareness

Published on January 3, 2013

Often, when someone is coping with an extraordinary loss, the feelings can be all-encompassing. When Paulinda Schimmel Babbini’s daughter, Robin, died of ovarian cancer at the age of 20, instead of letting the tragic death immobilize her, Babbini made it her mission that no one else should go through what she had.

Synagogue movements team to raise awareness on Iran

Published on September 8, 2009

Synagogue movements from across the denominational spectrum are jointly calling on American Jews to "make Iran a matter of the highest priority.”

Slavery lesson stirs Milken students to act

Published on March 29, 2007

That's why Rabbi Leah Kroll, who is also a rabbi at Stephen S. Wise Temple, founded "Dream Freedom" in 2001. Inspired by a former slave's book of the same name, which chronicles slavery in the Sudan, Kroll has conducted a monthlong project between Purim and Passover every other year to educate Milken's middle school students about the plight of slavery.

Darfur becomes part of Israeli vocabulary

By Jenny Hazan
Published on February 15, 2007

"In general people from the West are in a special position to do something very positive for Israel," Berrin said. "We can import some of our positive values and awareness. In this case, we want the average Israeli to know what's going on in Darfur and to care about it."

Reality radio goes kosher

By Orit Arfa
Published on February 1, 2007

"In religious communities, especially the Charedi communities, people don't have televisions at home. Whereas a secular person comes home after work and turns on the TV to watch news, a religious person comes home and turns on the radio," said Ido Lebovitz, CEO of Radio Kol Chai.

Teaching our kids how to give

By Amy Hirshberg Lederman
Published on January 25, 2007

Giving tzedakah is one way to achieve tikkun olam, or the Jewish obligation to repair what is broken and lacking in the world. Both affirm our responsibility to give a part of what we have to take care of others who are less fortunate. We do this because Judaism views individual wealth as neither a right nor a privilege but a form of stewardship for which we are charged to care for the world.

Awareness Center and other blogs draw praise and scorn

By Eugene L. Meyer
Published on January 11, 2007

There is no unabridged database of rabbinic sexual abusers. But there is the Awareness Center. It's not a physical place, but a Baltimore post office box, cellphone number and Web site.

How one Boston synagogue met the challenge of the cantor’s sexual abuse

By Richard Greenberg
Published on January 11, 2007

As an attorney representing several victims of sexually predatory Catholic priests, Mark Itzkowitz has witnessed the church's pedophilia scandal from an almost too-close-for-comfort vantage point. Not long ago, Itzkowitz's life took a surreal turn when he found himself confronting clergy sexual abuse from a different perspective: The problem had come home to roost in his own synagogue.

Run for Her: A new generation of awareness

By Rachel Keller
Published on January 4, 2007

You might think that getting up at 5 a.m. on a Sunday in November would be an impossible feat for a teenager, but when I arrived to volunteer at the second annual Run for Her 5K/3K Friendship Walk/Run for ovarian cancer awareness and research, I was surprised by the number of kids who came out for such a wonderful cause.

Rebecca Levinson: Born to Be a Volunteer

By Jane Ulman
Published on December 28, 2006

Rebecca Levinson grew up always doing things for the community.

"This is what you do," the 17-year-old junior at North Hollywood's Oakwood School, said matter of factly.

Marilyn Harran: A Modern Righteous Gentile

By Marc Ballon
Published on December 28, 2006

Looking forward, Harran dreams of establishing a visiting scholars' program at the university and growing the Holocaust library's small collection, although raising the needed money might prove difficult, she said, given her distaste for fundraising.

A Festival of Lights—lite

By Rachel Kantrowitz
Published on December 14, 2006

COEJL's Web site describes its three-pronged approach of "engaging the Jewish community in awareness, advocacy and concrete action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote energy conservation and sustainable legislation," in order to "change how American Jewry responds to ... daunting environmental problems."

It happened one weekend ... at the Sisterhood

By Shoshana Lewin-Fischer
Published on November 16, 2006

"Something happens," I was told across the "first timers" table Nov. 2 at BJ's Restaurant in Woodland Hills. "When these women get together. I can't explain it, but something happens."

Group hopes Gaucher becomes household name

By Lorelei Laird
Published on November 16, 2006

When Michael Margolis was 4, his doctor took his parents aside and told them he had a rare disorder called Type I Gaucher Disease. The disease, which strikes Ashkenazi Jews seven times more often than the general population, is a genetic disorder that robs patients of an enzyme that prevents a buildup of fatty tissues in the body.

Interfaith dialogue continues locally despite Hathout brouhaha; Sukkot huts inspires home building for homeless

Published on October 12, 2006

Community Briefs

Sky High Fundraiser

Published on August 10, 2006

Letters to the Editor 07-07-06

Published on July 6, 2006

Letters to the Editor

Jewish World Watch Eyes National Stage

By Tom Tugend
Published on June 15, 2006

As of now, the 3-year-old Darfur genocide is no longer unknown, but its horrors continue. Currently spreading from the Sudan to neighboring Chad, it has claimed 400,000 civilian dead and 4 million refugees, accompanied by mass rapes of women and starvation among children.

Iranian Colored Band Report Discredited

By Karmel Melamed
Published on May 25, 2006

Rumors of anti-Semitic laws in Iran have disturbed local Iranian Jews who have been increasingly concerned for the safety of roughly 25,000 Jews still living in Iran since Ahmadinejad denied the existence of the Holocaust and called for Israel to "wiped off the map" late last year.

Wandering Jew - A Relief to Laugh

By Robert David Jaffee
Published on February 9, 2006

Inside this cavernous barn with Persian rugs draped like curtains over the back walls of the elevated stage, there are no mobsters or secret cells from what we can tell. There are just ordinary citizens, but that doesn't stop the host, Jordan Elgrably, a svelte man in a black shirt, from saying, "All those who are working here for Homeland Security, please raise your hand."

How Green Is My Shul?

By Jane Ulman
Published on February 9, 2006

At Temple Beth Israel, the planting project, which is being done in phases with funding and physical assistance from a Jewish environmental group, has transformed congregants' preconceived notions of drab native plants.

Many With Gaucher Unaware of Disease

By Andrea Waxman
Published on December 1, 2005

Gaucher is sufficiently rare that many doctors weren't and still aren't aware of it. And when LaBelle was diagnosed, "they were just doing research, and there was not a glimmer of hope" for a treatment, she said

The Circuit

By Norma Zager
Published on October 27, 2005

The Circuit

Milken Teens Live, Learn on Skid Row

By Jane Ulman
Published on April 14, 2005

Keep passing. Keep passing." It's 6 a.m. on a Monday morning in March, and students from Milken Community High School, wearing hairnets, plastic aprons and gloves, are dishing out hot cereal, sugar, applesauce, milk and a muffin assembly-line style onto blue trays.

Israel Criticism Must Be Well-Founded

By Arthur Cohn
Published on March 17, 2005

What are the limits for criticizing Israel? Many condemn the Jewish community's refusal to listen to harsh criticism, while others object to the aggressiveness of the attacks against the Jewish state.

Charity, Going Once, Going Twice…

Published on March 17, 2005

Artist Joanie Rosenthal will exhibit her latest piece at an unexpected place: eBay.

Prince’s Nazi Uniform Spotlights Problem

Published on January 20, 2005

Prince Harry's Nazi uniform costume might have outraged the world, but most of his British peers can't see what all the fuss is about.

Opportunities Open

By Dina Kraft
Published on September 30, 2004

A recent day brought welcome news for a small group of young Bedouin women who weekly gathered in a tin shed in a corner of their windswept desert village of Kasr Alssr, Israel, to study.

Her Study of Death Gives Life Meaning

By Rabbi Lawrence Goldmark
Published on September 30, 2004

Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the psychiatrist who wrote the pioneering work, "On Death and Dying," in 1969, was not Jewish. But Jewish survival through the Holocaust provided the transformative idea that would establish the career of Kubler-Ross and would ultimately revolutionize medical care for the dying.

Opportunities Open

By Dina Kraft
Published on September 30, 2004

A recent day brought welcome news for a small group of young Bedouin women who weekly gathered in a tin shed in a corner of their windswept desert village of Kasr Alssr, Israel, to study.

Is Tomato Sauce a Vegetable?

By Jane Ulman
Published on August 5, 2004

"You shall not eat anything abhorrent," the Torah (Deuteronomy 14:3) tells us. And while the Torah is referring to camels, rabbits, badgers and pigs, I would today include foods that that are high in fat and sugar and low in nutritional value. Foods that have been injected with hormones and antibiotics or treated with pesticides. Foods with a shelf life longer than the average life span.

Elder Rage: What I Know Now

By Jacqueline Marcell
Published on August 5, 2004

For 11 years. I begged my obstinate elderly father to allow a caregiver to help him with my ailing mother, but he adamantly insisted on taking care of her himself. Every caregiver I hired to help him said, "Jacqueline, I just can't work with your father -- his temper is impossible to handle. I don't think you'll be able to get him to accept help until he's on his knees himself."

Jewish Writing: A Renaissance Awaits

By Dara Horn
Published on July 15, 2004

In fact, it could be said that in America today, we have a new definition of a Jewish writer: A Jewish writer is one who is asked to participate in a panel during which she will be asked the question, "Do you consider yourself a Jewish writer?"

Are Sex Abuse Guidelines Working?

By Joe Berkofsky
Published on June 17, 2004

A lengthy battle over how the Reform movement should handle a charge of sexual misconduct against a California rabbi is coming to a head.

Q & A With Robby Berman

By Julie G Fax
Published on March 18, 2004

Robby Berman was a journalist living in Israel writing about organ donation when he came across some alarming facts: Out of 200 people who were declared brain-stem dead in a given year, only 70 families agreed to organ donation -- giving Israel the lowest percentage of organ donors in the Western world.

Viva Vashti

By Jane Ulman
Published on March 4, 2004

Indeed, to appropriate a popular bumper sticker, if you're not outraged by Vashti's bad rap, you're not paying attention.

Nitty-Gritty Starts After You Say ‘I Do’

By Courtney Nathan
Published on January 8, 2004

Anyone who has been married knows the real truth that marriage is hard work and, while it might get easier over time, marriage always takes effort. This is the No. 1 thing I tell newly engaged couples in "I Do," a marriage preparation class.

Diversity Blooms in the Land of Roses

By Gaby Wenig
Published on September 18, 2003

Jews have had a presence in Pasadena since the late 1800s, yet many of the few thousand who lived there preferred to go unnoticed.

World Briefs

Published on May 22, 2003

Muslims should attack "Crusaders and Jews," an Al-Qaeda leader said on a new audiotape aired by Al-Jazeera.

Made in Israel

By Michael Aushenker
Published on March 27, 2003

The marketing campaign was launched earlier this month in a collaboration by the Southern California Israel Chamber of Commerce, The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the Government of Israel Economic Mission and the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute.

Is There Love After Marriage?

By Wendy Mogel
Published on February 13, 2003

Forty days before a child is born, a voice from heaven announces: "The daughter of this person is destined for [so-and-so]." --
Babylonian Talmud, Sotah

Spiritual Sounds

By Gaby Wenig
Published on February 6, 2003

Sam Glaser's music is considered contemporary spiritual. He started out as a rock 'n' roller in the '80s, touring nightclubs in Southern California, but, in 1991, Glaser started keeping Shabbat, and his music changed accordingly.

Muscular Disorder Won’t Stop Siblings

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on November 21, 2002

As young adults, brothers Babak and Daniel Darvish, born less than two years apart, were avid athletes, music lovers and medical students who planned to become surgeons.