Pan Pacific Park draws generations for Yom HaShoah

By Ryan Torok
Published on April 10, 2013

As Holocaust survivor Robert Geminder led a walking tour in Pan Pacific Park on April 7, pre-arranged memory markers — labeled “ghettos,” “camps,” “resistance” and “rescue” — transformed an outdoor path into a historical timeline.

Opinion: An appreciation to summers spent in paradise

Published on January 26, 2012

In the classic male-bonding film “Stand By Me,” based on a Stephen King novella, there is a line of dialogue at the end that I have never forgotten: “I never had friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12 … does anyone?”

Shorter summer challenges camps

By Rachel Heller
Published on January 26, 2012

“Early-start” is finally starting. After delaying implementation of a new, earlier school calendar last year, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) will begin classes three weeks sooner this fall for the majority of students.

Foundations Mentor Support Camps

Published on June 28, 2011

Many California overnight camps have philanthropies to thank for their success as enrollment and interest in Jewish camp increases. Programs such as One Happy Camper and the Grinspoon Institute are helping send first-time campers to camp and offering free consulting to the camps, respectively.

Not Your American Summer Camp…

By Julia Bendis
Published on December 1, 2010

More Than Just Fun in the Sun

Published on May 27, 2010

Hiking at Camp Alonim

Now that it’s June, most parents have made their children’s summer plans. If your kids are enrolled in a Jewish summer camp, you probably have reasons for selecting a particular facility. But how much do you really know about what your children will experience during their session? What types of Jewish activities happen each week? What is the level of observance? What do kids really take away from their time at camp?

To find out, we checked in with participants and leaders at some local Jewish sleep-away camps:

Local Jewish Camps Face Down Swine Flu

Published on June 30, 2009

Why ‘peace camps’ do not make peace

By Judea Pearl
Published on June 14, 2007

Camps Spotlight Double Standard

By Michael J. Jordan
Published on March 16, 2006

Armed gunmen roamed freely in U.N. refugee camps. They stockpiled weapons, recruited refugees and launched cross-border attacks. In response, opposing forces attacked the camps, aiming for the gunmen -- but sometimes cutting down civilians in the process.

The Treasures on Top of the Mountain

By Lisa Alcalay Klug
Published on November 17, 2005

Masada, which represents a stronghold of Jewish courage and defiance, is among Israel's most visited sites. Located in the Judean Desert, adjacent to the Dead Sea, King Herod the Great built Masada 2,100 years ago as both his winter palace and a place where he would retreat in times of crisis.

Tommywood - Wiesenthal the Collector

By Tom Teicholz
Published on October 6, 2005

Simon Wiesenthal died last month at 96 in his sleep at his home in Vienna.

Hit Biblical Jackpot at Timna’s Mines

By Lisa Alcalay Klug
Published on July 14, 2005

When you ascend the rose red pillars towering over the Arava desert, you hardly expect to look down upon the biblical Mishkan.

Letters

Published on June 30, 2005

Letters

‘Almost’ a Beginning in Paris

By Tom Tugend
Published on September 16, 2004

It's a bit like that with Holocaust films: The protagonists are either killed or liberated, but if they survive, we do not see how they get back to "normalcy" and cope anew with everyday life.

The modest, low-key French import "Almost Peaceful" ("Un Monde Presque Paisible") remedies this omission.

You Gotta Be in it to Win it

By Jewish Journal Staff
Published on September 4, 2003

Synagogues and Jewish institutions will help sell tickets, which can be purchased via credit card through The Jewish Federation of Orange County.

Holocaust Exploited

By Joe Berkofsky
Published on March 6, 2003

An emaciated death camp survivor stares blankly alongside a gaunt steer.

Lifeline for Kids

By Gaby Wenig
Published on October 10, 2002

Talia Hill, 11, was born with cerebral palsy, epilepsy and bone deformities. She is hearing impaired, speech impaired, mobility impaired, fine-motor impaired and neither her two arms nor her two legs are the same length. In her short life, she has had multiple surgeries, a hearing aid and has had to take several kinds of medication on a regular basis.

Berlin’s Open Wounds

By Rachel Brand
Published on September 19, 2002

A bombed-out building transformed into a discothèque; the central section of an apartment building that is bizarrely absent -- these are just some of the visual images that preserve the memory of Berlin's complex and turbulent past.

U.N., Refugee Camps and Our Money

By Rabbi Dov Fischer
Published on June 27, 2002

Why is the United Nations running refugee camps like Jenin, for people who claim to be living in their own land?

Even Bullies Go to Summer Camp

By Sonja Hyams
Published on November 29, 1999

Directors at three of California's Jewish sleep-over camps describe them as nurturing environments where every child is made to feel safe and part of a caring community. Campers, they say, generally meet the high expectations for mensch-like behavior.

But despite everyone's best intentions, camps occasionally see aggressive or exclusionary behavior, and each camp has a policy to firmly and fairly discourage bullying.

The Scent of Controversy

Published on January 14, 1999

Ronald Lauder, the billionaire cosmetics heir, philanthropist and conservative political activist, has been unanimously selected by a nominating committee to become the next chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Wiesenthal Report:

By Tom Tugend
Published on January 15, 1998

Jewish refugees fortunate enough to make it into Switzerland during World War II, were, in most cases, interned in forced-labor camps, required to perform hard physical labor under primitive living conditions, and separated from their families.