Mamie Currie Hughes and Today’s Civil Rights Struggle

By Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz
Published on February 14, 2013

Window into our minds?

By David A. Lehrer
Published on February 14, 2013

Jan 19–25, 2013

By Ryan Torok
Published on January 16, 2013

Schloss, the childhood friend and stepsister of Anne Frank, appears in person to give a firsthand account of the discovery and printing of Frank’s diary as well as provide insights into Frank’s life. Much like Frank, Schloss survived the Holocaust hidden in a Dutch home before being discovered by the Nazis. A Holocaust educator based in London, Schloss is a trustee with the Anne Frank Educational Trust, U.K., and has shared her experience in the books “Eva’s Story” and “The Promise.” Tue. 6:30 p.m. Free. USC University Park Campus, Bovard Auditorium, Los Angeles. (213) 748-5884. chabadusc.com/anne.

Step up for civil rights treaty for people with disabilities

Published on June 25, 2012

Several important Jewish organizations are standing behind a critical international treaty to support civil rights, dignity and hope for people with disabilities. However, grass-roots help is urgently needed to get it approved by the U.S. Senate before the political season overtakes the ability to get things done in Washington.

Opinion: If Dr. King had lived

Published on January 10, 2012

Martin Luther King Jr.’s relationship with the Jewish community is well known. Jewish leaders and rabbis filled the ranks of King’s closest advisors, collaborators, and confidantes. King’s tenure as leader of the Civil Rights movement was marked as the heyday of black-Jewish relations.

Journey to freedom: Reflecting on the King memorial

Published on August 31, 2011

Time affirms what heroism discerns. The dedication of a statue in memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is a belated yet significant tribute to a man who did so much to redefine the meaning of our democracy.

The Ninth Circuit Court issues a rare smack-down to a civil rights group

Published on March 11, 2011

Have the courts that have often been tolerant of questionable claims of racial discrimination finally begun to run out of patience? This may be the case. Recently the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals raised eyebrows by issuing a stinging rebuke to civil rights lawyers who brought a lawsuit that claimed their plaintiffs – poor and largely minority public bus riders in the San Francisco Bay Area – had been the victims of discrimination.

Jewish student suing UC Berkeley for civil rights infringement

Published on March 7, 2011

A student has brought a federal civil rights lawsuit against the University of California, Berkeley, saying the university did not protect her from being attacked because she is Jewish. Lawyers for Jessica Felber, 20, say the case, filed in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., on March 4 against the university, the regents of the University of California and their ranking officials, is the first of its kind.

Proposition 8 and ‘the will of the people’—an historical perspective

Published on November 26, 2008

A well-funded coalition of realtors and landlords, intent on protecting white neighborhoods and their attendant property values from feared black incursions, immediately mounted a campaign to amend the state Constitution and guarantee property owners' continued ability to deny minorities equal access to housing.

Where’s the struggle?

By David Suissa
Published on November 20, 2008

When I see the coarse arguments currently raging over the issue of same-sex marriage, I don't see any thoughtful or fascinating debates or any embracing of tension. I see two armies shooting at each other.

It can’t happen here

By Rob Eshman
Published on November 12, 2008

"People choose to remain gay, and people choose to remain Jewish," said an organizer. "Why should the majority of us be forced to honor that choice?"

Turning a page in the history books

By Steve Greenberg
Published on November 5, 2008

Religious “No!” to Proposition 8

Published on October 28, 2008

Proposition 8 is California ballot initiative that legally restricts marriage to only a relationship between a man and a woman, depriving gays and lesbians a state mandated constitutional civil right.  In opposing this ballot-measure, I know I am optimistically standing on firm religious ground. 

ANALYSIS: Obama worked hard to gain Jewish trust

By Ron Kampeas
Published on October 27, 2008

In response to a sustained GOP campaign to discredit him on Israel, Barack Obama has touted a growing roster of pro-Israel stalwarts who support him, repeatedly insisted that Israel's security is "sacrosanct," defended Israeli military maneuvers and vowed to do everything in his power to block Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons.

Ed Guthman leaves legacy of fighting injustice

By Bill Boyarsky
Published on September 25, 2008

When Ed Guthman died Aug. 30 at the age of 89, the Los Angeles Jewish community lost one of its most distinguished members

Before King, it was Prinz

By David Suissa
Published on September 3, 2008

Thus began the least-remembered great speech in American civil rights history, one that had the dubious fortune of being immediately followed by another speech: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, which America just celebrated on its 45th anniversary.

It was 45 years ago today

By The Web Guy
Published on August 28, 2008

Gay rabbis getting married—and marrying

By Amy Klein Religion Editor
Published on June 17, 2008

It is a momentous day for gay and lesbian couples -- but doubly meaningful for rabbis in same-sex relationships: Not only can they marry, but they can perform legal marriages for other same-sex couples, too.

Battle for gay marriage rights gains Jewish support

By Julie G Fax
Published on April 10, 2008

But even Robin Tyler, a well-seasoned activist -- she was one of the first openly gay comics, and she organized marches on Washington in 1979 and 2000 -- is glad to have a new ally: 100 rabbis who support Jews for Marriage Equality, an organization advocating for same-sex civil marriage.

Briefs: Three plead guilty in SoCal terror plot; Report says UCI acted properly

Published on December 20, 2007

Three members of an Islamic terrorist cell who were on the verge of attacking the Israeli consulate, an El Al ticket counter and two synagogues, face up to 20 to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to conspiring to levy war against the United States.

P. F. Sloan:  does he still believe we’re on the ‘Eve of Destruction’?

By Steven Rosen
Published on September 21, 2006

"Eve of Destruction" by P. F. Sloan.

Fight Against Campus Bias Gets Boost

By Morton A. Klein
Published on May 4, 2006

If you're a Jewish college student, you no longer have to tolerate anti-Semitism or Israel-bashing on your campus. You are protected under our federal civil rights laws. These were the landmark conclusions of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, an independent federal agency that analyzes information about discrimination and reports its findings and recommendations to the president and Congress.

Shlomo’s World

By Howard Blume
Published on February 23, 2006

Shlomo Wollins begins his narration well before we reach Hebron, a city on the very fault line of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His tour, by car and by foot, on this late January day is an entry into a worldview of The Chosen and The Other, in which Jews, God's Good Guys, are the victims of Arabs, but it's also a world in which Jews are victors over Arabs.

We Mourn ‘First Lady’ of Civil Rights

By Rabbi Marc Schneier
Published on February 9, 2006

Coretta Scott King understood that a people who fight for their own rights are only as honorable as when they fight for the rights of all people. In this spirit, she championed the legacy of her late husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., in strengthening black-Jewish relations, in fighting for the civil rights of Jews and in supporting the issues and concerns of the Jewish community with the State of Israel in particular. Coretta Scott King, who died Jan. 30 at the age of 78, was honored Tuesday in a tribute attended by four presidents and an estimated 10,000 mourners.

Libby, Judaism and the Leak Probe

By Ron Kampeas
Published on November 10, 2005

When Joshua Muravchik, perhaps the pre-eminent expert on the interventionist foreign policy that has become known as neo-conservatism, was looking for non-Jewish neo-cons to prove that the movement isn't pervasively Jewish, he naturally included Lewis Libby.

Jews Try to Sell Withdrawal Plan to Jews

By Ron Kampeas
Published on March 31, 2005

Many of the major Jewish religious streams, lobbying groups and civil rights groups are encouraging the Bush administration, lawmakers and opinion makers to maintain political support for Israel's July 20 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.

Civil Rights Goes Beyond Ethnic Lines

By Marc Ballon
Published on May 6, 2004

When the nation's largest and oldest Mexican American civil rights group selected a new leader recently, the committee that recruited her included the organization's chairman, a man who is neither a Mexican American nor an immigrant. Meet Joe Stern.

Israel Needs Hope for Survival

By Ambassador Yuval Rotem
Published on April 29, 2004

Nearly 60 years ago, out of the ashes of the Holocaust, thousands of Jews came with not much more than the shirts on their backs to a land recognizable only as a collective and distant memory.

Remembering King in an Age of Terrorism

By Rabbi Marc Schneier
Published on January 16, 2003

This weekend we remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the life he dedicated to the struggle for civil rights. As we still reel from the savage assault wrought upon our nation on Sept. 11, 2001, and as the people of Israel endure terror on an almost daily basis, the significance of King's life should be recognized anew. Under his leadership, the civil rights movement transcended political, theological and ideological differences. So, too, must our fight against terrorism.

King and Heschel Remembered

By Elliot Fein
Published on January 2, 2003

Abraham Joshua Heschel is marching in line with Martin Luther King Jr. and a number of other key civil rights demonstrators. At the end of the demonstration, a journalist asked Heschel to describe his feelings about marching with King. He answered: "My feet were praying."

Heschel was prominent as a scholar, teacher and theologian, and widely respected because of his numerous publications. He was also well known as a result of his participation in Vatican II. Vatican II was the gathering in the early 1960s during which the Catholic Church introduced many significant internal changes. One of the changes included a historical reckoning: a formal process was begun that would eventually lead to the public announcement by the Church that "the Jews" did not kill Christ. From his participation in Vatican II, Heschel received the nickname from Catholics throughout the world of "Father Abraham."

Capturing History and Hope on Film

By Rick Richman
Published on April 27, 2000

"History holds a magical power over me," says Laura Bialis, the 26-year-old producer of "Tak for Alt: Survival of a Human Spirit," the award-winning documentary that will be shown on KCET on Tues., May 2 at 10:30 p.m. and screened at the University of Judaism's Gindi Auditorium on Thurs., May 3, at 7 p.m.

Civil Rights Redux

By Marvin Caplan
Published on December 2, 1999

"Farther Along: A Civil Rights Memoir"

by Marvin Caplan.

Louisiana State University Press, $29.95

Black and white liberals, among them an inordinate number of Jews, who fought the civil rights battles of the 1940s, '50s and '60s, are now often seen as faintly archaic figures.

The Chief of Staff

By Diane Arieff
Published on January 22, 1998

Abraham Joshua Heschel said that he prayed for one thing: the gift of wonder. He prayed for astonishment, for the capacity to be surprised. As he wrote, "I try not to be stale. I try to remain young. I have one talent, and that is the capacity to be tremendouslysurprised at life and at ideas. This is to me the supreme Chassidic imperative."