Travel Writing Contest: Free Entry, Cash Prizes!

By Lisa Niver Rajna
Published on January 2, 2013

Travel Writing Contest: Free Entry, Cash Prizes!

By Lisa Niver Rajna
Published on January 2, 2013

Iranians unlikely to compete against Israelis in Olympics

Published on July 24, 2012

Despite a statement from the head of the Iranian Olympic committee asserting that Iranian athletes can compete against Israelis in the London Olympic Games, it is unlikely to occur.

Israeli-built robots shoot for U.S. competition

Published on March 26, 2012

Forward Omri Casspi made the leap from Israel to the National Basketball Association in 2009, but the latest Israeli hoopsters seeking to compete on American soil aren’t human.

Lunch with the Enemy

By Ilana Angel
Published on January 11, 2012

Seth Godin’s Wisdom

By Samira Asemanfar
Published on November 21, 2011

Queens College group takes Jewish a cappella competition [VIDEO]

Published on April 7, 2011

A group from Queens College won the inaugural Jewish collegiate a cappella competition and its $1,500 prize. Tizmoret was named the best of the nine groups from seven U.S. campuses competing last weekend in the Kol HaOlam National Jewish Collegiate A Capella Competition in Washington, D.C. Along with the monetary prize, the New York group won a consultation with JDub Records.

Mock trial team wins merely by competing

Published on May 12, 2009

The record book will say that the Maimonides School finished 20th out of 40 teams at the National High School Mock Trial Championship in Atlanta, winning two trials and losing two.

The Making of ‘The Chosen Dish’

By Orit Arfa
Published on March 25, 2009

Prior to becoming a food writer and restaurant reviewer for The Jerusalem Post, I always thought of kosher food as limited and bland. But Israel demands competitive kosher cuisine — hotels generally adhere to kashrut laws; corporate lunch meetings must often accommodate observant clientele alongside secular counterparts who’d prefer a Tel Aviv bistro serving sautéed shrimp. This is true even though, at the same time, at the heart of Israeli culture are Jews who, no matter how much they like to think of themselves as the new Hebrews, still fondly recall their grandmother’s traditional kosher Jewish specialties.

Has Anyone in Israel Asked Why the Swedes Hate Us?

Published on March 17, 2009

Was it a coincidence? The day after Israel's Davis Cup tennis match in Sweden, played in a practically empty arena this week, a brief item appeared on the Haaretz Web site: Historians have discovered that Sweden, former tennis superpower, aided the Nazi war machine by extending credit to German industrial plants.

Counselors in demand as college applications soar

By Rachel Heller
Published on October 31, 2008

A growing number of families are turning to private consultants to allay the competition that marks modern college admissions, local consultants and school officials say.

Milken students win first high school X PRIZE

By Julie G Fax
Published on November 1, 2007

Milken Community High School students joined the space race this week when two seniors won the first-ever X PRIZE competition for high schoolers. On Sunday, Michael Hakimi and Talia Nour-Omid took home the first Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award for their concept of developing bio-monitoring sunglasses to keep space travelers healthy during civilian spaceflight.

IFF: Tinseltown opens arms and wallets to Israel counterparts

By Robert David Jaffee
Published on February 22, 2007

The upcoming Israel Film Festival represents the culmination of the consulate's developing ties with Hollywood.

Come dive with me—Israeli skydivers training in SoCal

Published on October 19, 2006

Sharon Har-noy and Adi Freid make up the only all-female Israeli skydive team in the advanced category, which includes just six teams.

Un-bee-lievable Spellings

By Shoshana Lewin-Fischer
Published on June 8, 2006

Of the viewers who watched ABC's broadcast of the 79th National Spelling Bee on June 1, how many would have spelled the word meaning "kosher approval" the way the judges did?

Songs of the South

By Keren Engelberg
Published on March 16, 2006

It appears Fox TV's "American Idol" has a Jewish contestant heading to the finals. Twenty-seven-year-old Elliott Yamin from Virginia, auditioned for the pop star search and singing competition in Boston, and has gone on to make it into the top 24, and then, on March 9, into the top 12.

Defy Gravity

By Rob Eshman
Published on July 21, 2005

Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld and I shook hands 20 minutes before we were to jump out of an airplane together at 12,500 feet. It would be my first solo jump. Dan has made some 23,000 -- he's stopped counting except by the thousands.

Nachas From Noggins

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on June 16, 2005

El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills has once again given Los Angeles something to kvell about. The school claimed top honors at this year's national Academic Decathlon, the annual contest of intellectual prowess.

Three of the nine team members generated special pride for the Jewish community: Lindsey Cohen and Linsday Gibbs are both affiliated with Shomrei Torah, while Kevin Rosenberg attends Temple Aliyah.

"I got enormous support from my parents, from my temple [Shomrei Torah] and from my friends," Gibbs said. "After we won state, the rabbi sent me a letter and the cantor called me.... They didn't know what I got on each test or how I did medal-wise, and yet, they were all so supportive and welcoming and congratulatory when I got back."

Yeladim

By Abby Gilad
Published on May 5, 2005

Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom HaShoah, fell this year on Thursday, May 5. Did your school honor the day? Quartz Hill High School, in the Antelope Valley, honors the Holocaust every year by putting on a competition for the best creative work.

Prices Too Low to Be Kosher

By Stanley David
Published on April 21, 2005

It happens every year, said Daryl Schwarz -- who opened this 100 percent-kosher market in 1989 -- only lately it's been getting worse. Large supermarket and discount chains are able to undersell kosher specialty markets on the very products that, traditionally, have been the Jewish stores' lifeblood.

Briefs

By Tom Tugend
Published on February 17, 2005

Briefs.

The ‘Boys’ at the Front

By Tom Tugend
Published on December 30, 2004

Angress was one of "The Ritchie Boys," a special Army unit made up mainly of young Jewish refugees from Germany, whose World War II exploits have been recorded for the first time in a documentary by German filmmaker Christian Bauer.

The German-Canadian co-production is one of 12 documentaries still in competition for Academy Award honors.

Iceberg Sinks ‘Race’ Menches

By Shoshana Lewin-Fischer
Published on November 18, 2004

Eleven teams. Thirty days. One-million dollars. Zero bagels. That is what 32-year-olds Avi Scheier and Joe Rashbaum tried to face as one of the teams on the sixth season of the around-the-world reality show "The Amazing Race."

"Race" teams are given clues telling them where to go and what tasks they must perform. At the end of each episode, the last team to reach the "pit stop" is eliminated -- the first team to cross the finish line at the end wins $1 million.

Twin Triathletes Go for the Gold

By Carin Davis
Published on September 9, 2004

Ran and Dan Alterman are Israel's reigning triathlon champions. For the past four years, they have dominated the sport in their native land. Now, they look to bring their success to the international arena.

Pico’s Familiar Slice

By Julie G Fax
Published on August 5, 2004

The new Kosher Nostra is a tiny storefront on Pico Boulevard east of La Cienega Boulevard, just a block or two outside the beaten path of kosher establishments on Pico.

Krayzelburg to Defend Record in Athens

By Tom Tugend
Published on July 22, 2004

Swimmer Lenny Krayzelburg will go to the Athens Olympic Games, thanks to placing second in his race during the U.S. qualifying trials, a feat greeted with greater acclaim and emotion than his three gold medals in Sydney four years ago.

Mayoral Evolution

By Raphael J. Sonenshein
Published on April 29, 2004

With former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg's entry into the 2005 mayoral race, the odds of a competitive battle for the city's top political job have increased.

A Triangle of ‘Talking’

By Tom Tugend
Published on April 29, 2004

At one point in the Taper Forum play "The Talking Cure," Sigmund Freud warns the young Carl Gustav Jung not to needlessly stir up the enemies of psychoanalytic theory.

Get Your Creative Jews Flowing

By Sharon Schatz Rosenthal
Published on December 4, 2003

Calling all creative kids. If you have a way with words or an aptitude for art, you can use your unique talents by entering the first annual Jews for Judaism Jewish Students' Creative Writing & Art Contest.

Working with the theme "I Love Judaism," future scribes and artists can express their feelings about their young Jewish lives by writing original poems, songs or short stories or creating a piece of artwork. The competition, which is divided into three age groups, is open to Southern California Jews in first through 12th grade.

The contest is sponsored by Jews for Judaism, an international organization that provides a wide variety of counseling services, along with education and outreach programs, that enable Jews of all ages to rediscover and strengthen their Jewish heritage. The group is also the Jewish community's leading response to the multimillion-dollar efforts of cults and Evangelical Christians who target Jews for conversion.

Where the End Justifies the Beans

By Gaby Wenig
Published on October 30, 2003

Businessman Allen Gochnour is a regular at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on La Cienega Boulevard, and like many of the people who wait in the line that often stretches out the door, he's not just there to grab a cup of java and run.

Kids Page

By Abby Gilad
Published on October 16, 2003

Kids Page

Slicing the Kosher Cheese Market

By Gaby Wenig
Published on July 3, 2003

Compton company Anderson International Foods (AIF) is trying to carve out a portion of the kosher cheese market for itself.

For the Kids

By Abbi Gilad
Published on June 26, 2003

For The Kids

A Cup of Irony

By Amy Klein
Published on May 29, 2003

Raised Conservative and a member of a Reform temple in Seattle, Howard Schultz said it was his first trip to Israel. "I was blown away. I had a sensory overload," he told me for a story in The Jerusalem Post.

Offbeat Austrian

By Rob Eshman
Published on February 6, 2003

Gebürtig, Austria's entry into the competition for Best Foreign Film in the upcoming Oscar race, is a clever and mostly engaging movie that goes after the big questions: Is the Holocaust best told as documentary or fiction?

Israeli Surfs New Turf

By Jewish Journal Staff
Published on December 26, 2002

"He has proved his great potential. He has the attributes of a champion," an ecstatic Gebhardt said Sunday of Friedman. "He has great technique and a strong character, but he needs some moral support to make him even better," he said.

Dog Days of Summer

By Journal Staff
Published on June 6, 2002

This year, Father's Day is time for hyper-fast food, as Nathan's Famous hot dogs hosts the second annual Los Angeles Hot Dog Eating Contest on June 16. The winner goes on to the big dance: the world championship Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating contest, July 4 at Coney Island.

CDs to Light Up Eight Nights

By Paul Wieder
Published on December 13, 2001

They are round, shiny and popular. But CDs don't melt like chocolate coins -- and they have fewer calories. To give the gelt without the guilt, try the gift of music.

Party Out of Bounds

By Sharon Schatz Rosenthal
Published on November 29, 1999

More than 100 guests sat in a sea of round banquet tables in a Studio City hotel, munching on fancy appetizers presented by waiters. A band warmed up. Kids crowded entertainment stations waiting for artists to personalize clothing and paint their faces.

I had been invited to a 1-year-old's birthday and was about to leave, convinced I'd accidentally entered a bar mitzvah reception. Then I saw David's mom, parading the sleepy birthday boy around in her arms.

From Worst to First

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on November 13, 1997

After the Yeshiva University High Schools of Los Angeles crosscountry team won the Westside League finals on Nov. 6, a competitorwas puzzled. "You guys were so bad last year," the rival asked RaphyHulkower, 15. "What happened?"

Cedars-Sinai Merges with Two Westside Hospitals

By Rob Eshman
Published on October 2, 1997

When Cedars-Sinai Medical Center announced last Monday that itplans to take over management of two smaller West Los Angeleshospitals, the headlines could easily have read, "Man Bites Dog."