Bin Laden's killing raises immediate questions of security

Published on May 2, 2011

For years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, many Americans waited in fear for the next strike by al-Qaida on U.S. soil. But the ensuing decade has seen no more major terrorist attacks in the United States. Now, with the news that Osama bin Laden has been killed in Pakistan by U.S. forces, the question many American Jews are considering is whether the liquidation of al-Qaida’s leader makes a follow-up attack more or less likely, and whether Jews could be a target.

Celebrate Israel Closer to Home

By Donna Gordon Blankinship
Published on May 5, 2005

Here are my top 10 tips for celebrating Israel Independence Day:

Roll It, Pat It and Mark It With a ‘B’

By Gabriella Gershenson
Published on April 7, 2005

For the birthdays of each of her grandchildren, Babulinka used to bake a krendel, a traditional Latvian cake in the shape of a B. The classic shape was really a figure eight; it just looked like a B to Babulinka's youngest grandchild, and so it became "the B cake."

The cake isn't what most children might imagine for a birthday cake. After all, it has no frosting, no layers, and no candles. Krendel (pronounced kryen-dzel) is low and yeasty with a streusel topping, more like coffee cake or a babka.

Briefs

By Kelly Hartog
Published on March 3, 2005

Briefs.

Chrismukkah Web site

By Amy Klein
Published on December 9, 2004

A menorah is topped with candy canes, a mini Christmas tree adorned with a Jewish star and a spinning dreidel pictures Frosty the Snowman on one side and the tree on another: These are just some of the "interfaith" pictures featured on the mugs on the gift section of the Chrismukkah Web site (www.chrismukkah.com). Other images – which also adorn T-shirts and holiday cards – include a reindeer with a menorah for antlers, a zayde-slash-santa and other cute combo sayings like "Oy Joy" and "Merry Mazeltov," which get across the sentiment of both Judaism and Christianity.

For the Kids

By Abby Gilad
Published on May 6, 2004

For The Kids

Q & A With Dr. Michael A. Friedman

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on May 6, 2004

Last May, Dr. Michael A. Friedman took the helm of City of Hope as its CEO. A federally designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, the 112-acre biomedical research and treatment center in Duarte got its start in 1914 when members of the Jewish Consumptive Relief Association set up two tents as a haven for those stricken with

tuberculosis.

Friedman, an oncologist and clinical researcher, also has experience in public policy and commercial drug development. He served as the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration under President Bill Clinton and as associate director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). He got his start as a clinical oncologist and professor at UC San Francisco Medical Center and most recently worked in the pharmaceutical industry.

The Jewish Journal spoke with Friedman as City of Hope celebrates its 90th anniversary, Friedman marks his first year with the institution and a state-of-the-art Helford Clinical Research Hospital, scheduled to open this fall, nears completion:

Have a Holly Jolly Schmooz-fest

By Keren Engelberg
Published on December 18, 2003

Chinese-food-and-a-movie faces strong competition in our city once again this year.

My Yiddishe Mamma Day

By Annabelle Stevens
Published on May 8, 2003

Yesterday, I got three messages from my mother, a long distance Jewish mother joke from my brother in London ("A homeless man approaches a Jewish mother on the street. 'Lady, I haven't eaten in three days,' he said. 'Force yourself,' she replied.") and the last was from the Loews Hotel confirming my reservation for Mother's Day brunch.

A New Home for Hillel

By Julie G Fax
Published on November 14, 2002

Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller walks out of his office at the University Religious Conference, locking the door on its matted and stained rust-colored carpet, which for years has been covered with stacks of books and journals. On his way out, he doesn't bother to glance into the musty student lounge because he knows students don't hang out there. As he emerges onto Hilgard Avenue, he lets the glass-and-steel door swing shut on the building where UCLA Hillel has been housed since the 1950s.

Harmonic Convergence

By Ellen Jaffe-Gill
Published on August 1, 2002

Singers and lovers of Jewish music will gather in Sepulveda Pass this week for a festival celebrating Jewish choral music of the past and present.

Silver Lining for Silverlake

By Michael Aushenker
Published on July 18, 2002

At the onset of 2002, it looked like curtains for the Silverlake-Los Feliz Jewish Community Center (JCC). The JCC, located at Sunset Boulevard and Bates Avenue, was one of five sites originally slated to be shut down and sold so that parent organization Jewish Community Centers of Greater Los Angeles (JCCGLA) could repay a $3 million debt.

Passionate About Passover

By Robin Siegal
Published on March 14, 2002

Each year I search for ways to make the entire week of Passover come alive for my family -- not just the seders. I get excited about the holiday, always finding a surprise experience to create for my children, depending on their ages and stages. I passionately search the library and Internet, looking for new meanings to the holiday. Each year there is something old and something new at our family seders. I also look for experiences before Passover begins, as well as during the week.

Calendar & Singles

By Solange Borna
Published on December 6, 2001

Barnes & Noble: 2 p.m. Author Peter J. Levinson discusses and signs "September in the Rain: The Life of Nelson Riddle," a book about the famous band leader.

Shanghai Shuls 2nd Wind

By Amy Sara Clark
Published on December 6, 2001

Shanghai resident Seth Kaplan got tired of celebrating the High Holy days in rented hotel spaces while the city's oldest intact synagogue sat empty, deteriorating just a few miles away.

Turkish Delight

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 8, 2001

In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the first joint Turkish-Jewish gala in Los Angeles went ahead almost as planned.

Celebrating the “Torah cycle”

By Abby Gilad
Published on October 4, 2001

The eighth day of the holiday of Sukkot is actually a separate holiday called Shemini Atzeret. It means "the eighth day of the assembly."

And Many More

By Marlene Adler Marks
Published on August 9, 2001

There's nothing like completing chemotherapy to spice up a birthday party. Last weekend, 40 of my dearest friends performed a commemorative Havdalah ceremony to mark a really great CT scan and year 53. My "re-birthday" celebration was just the ticket, restorative not only for me but also for the extended community that has seen me through my struggle with lung cancer.

Hollywood Legend Turns 75

By Julie G Fax
Published on May 31, 2001

Like most legends in Hollywood, Temple Israel of Hollywood has undergone a few makeovers to stay fresh since it was founded in 1926. Maybe that's why even as it celebrates its 75th anniversary, the Reform synagogue is even more bustling than it was in its heyday when it was billed as "Filmland's House of Worship."

Shabbat on the Boulevard

By Adam Wills
Published on May 31, 2001

After the candles were lit, the wine blessed and the bread broken, Jimmy Gamliel and Yosi Levy, standing on a small stage in front of patrons at Tempo Restaurant in Encino, broke into traditional Shabbat songs from Israel. The crowd, nearly 110 strong, sang and clapped along with the band. Some mothers stood, holding their children, and swayed to the music. Other patrons, moved either by memories or the melodies, joined Gamliel and Levy onstage to dance.

Valley Jewish Festival Goes Green

By Wendy J. Madnick
Published on May 31, 2001

If anyone knows how to have fun, it's singer/songwriter Craig Taubman. Known to thousands of kids and former kids for tunes such as "Shabababat Shalom" and the "Chanukah Rap," Taubman, the musical force behind Sinai Temple's popular Friday Night Live and Adat Ari El's One Saturday Morning services, is about to bring his special brand of ruach (spirit) to the Valley Jewish community's biggest event of the year.

Opting In

By Marlene Adler Marks
Published on January 6, 2000

We lit the candles Friday night in honor of the new millennium.
I know it should not have been done that way. Observant Jews insisted right up until the Waterford ball dropped in Times Square that the millennium had nothing to do with them, that on Friday night it was Shabbat, not 2,000 years after Jesus that they were celebrating.