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Tag: Education
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02Max puts a youthful spin on the gym scene
"Our goal is that by the time you graduate college you know how to eat properly, you know how to put an exercise program together," Jashinsky said.
Nazis and gangbangers
One-Day U
You have to go back to Spiro Agnew and his bullyboy ventriloquists, Pat Buchanan and William Safire, to find this kind of sneering contempt for educated people.
P. S. Tikkun Olam: Veteran Jewish educator opens charter school driven by vision of a community
"We want to nurture a diverse body of students who are passionate about learning, engaged in their community and have respect for themselves and others."
Public money for Jewish schools:
Free not-quite-but-sort-of Jewish education
Are Hebrew-language charter schools the answer to the tuition crisis, or a threat to both Jewish education and American values?
The teacher
Mickey Palmer is 87 years old and living in a cozy home by Elizabeth Lake, near Palmdale. She moved there 25 years ago when she retired from teaching sixth grade.
You can’t be too involved in supporting your child
Thirty years of research, much of it conducted by my co-author, Clark University psychologist Wendy Grolnick, has found that the more parents are involved with their children -- be they toddlers or teens -- the better it is for their kids. In fact, you can't be too involved with your child.
Briefs: Irvine school receives $10 million gift, Orthodox schools get federal funding
Tarbut V'Torah Community Day School (TVT) in Irvine received a $10 million gift from an anonymous donor to be used for student scholarships, beginning this fall.
Democratic platform sticks close to Jewish positions
When it comes to the Middle East and Sen. Barack Obama's Democratic Party platform, things are staying pretty much the same -- which, in this case, is the kind of change pro-Israel activists can believe in.
Former Muslim to lead Baptist college
Israeli study: As negotiators, man smart, woman smarter
Forget the men when it comes to business negotiations. Women may be more skilled than their masculine counterparts, according to a new study by an Israeli researcher.
VIDEO: Bar Mitzvah the Tradition
This video, an open source release of Mercer County Community College in New Jersey, gives a good, factual overview of the meaning and tradition of the Jewish coming-of-age ritual, the Bar Mitzvah.
Saudi textbooks: Faithful Muslims shoud hate Christians and Jews
Texas approves high school Bible course
Donors push Bar-Ilan to head of the class
"I wish I had 10 percent of the success with the Israeli government as I have with private donors," sighed Moshe Kaveh, the president of Bar-Ilan University.
A seminary dilemma of a different sort
The toughest subject for Christian students is Christianity
The changing role of pastors in the information age
Briefs: Jewish educators award scholarships, State accredits Jewish teacher training
New UCLA program puts spotlight on Mediterranean Jewish life
UCLA has established an academic program in Mediterranean Jewish Studies, focusing on the rich history of Jewish life and culture in Italy, as well as in France, Spain, the Balkans, Greece, North Africa, Egypt and aspects of Israel's past
California kids deserve better
The Governator's proposed education budget is inadequate
New generation has a new take on Israel
Earlier this spring, David Weiner, a 32-year-old social studies curriculum publisher from Los Angeles, went on an unlikely pairing of back-to-back missions to Israel.
Sub teacher fired for ‘wizardry’
Halacha is just a click away at online yeshiva
Like other virtual learning and videoconferencing, Web Yeshiva students see and hear each other and the instructor in the virtual classroom.
The fear of silence
It's estimated that 97 percent of Polish Jews died in the war. To this day, Geminder can't quite fathom how he ended up in the 3 percent that survived.
A closer look at Islamophobia
Truth in Storytelling
It's too bad, but I didn't know from Pesach until rabbinic school at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati.
New group for school and shul rabbis addresses shared issues
A new group of Orthodox day school principals and pulpit rabbis on Los Angeles' Westside began meeting a few months ago to work through issues that overlap the classroom and the synagogue.
Honey, you’re home!
Stop me if you've heard this one before.
Student gets into good university. Student obtains esteemed degree. Graduate flounders in unsteady job market; must confront the dreaded possibility of moving back in with her parents, Ima and Abba, whom I dearly love -- and come college, was all too ready to leave.
New UC president Yudof is part of a dynamic duo
Mark Yudof, chancellor of the University of Texas since 2002, is to be formally confirmed by the UC Regents within a week. As such, he will take the helm of the world's leading public research university, with 10 campuses, including Berkeley and UCLA, some 220,000 students and an $18-billion budget. Even more noteworthy for the Jewish community is the resumÃ(c) of his wife, Judy Yudof. She is the immediate past international president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, representing 760 synagogues, the first woman to hold the post in the organization's 89-year history.
Israel’s geriatrics study tour inspires professionals
Nearly a dozen eldercare professionals and paraprofessionals spent three days in January on a whirlwind tour of Jerusalem, Beersheva and Dimona, visiting day-care centers, sheltered housing arrangements and full-service facilities; listening to lecturers addressing such topics as how different ethnic groups care for their elderly and innovations in Alzheimer's care, and learning about new developments in aging-related services.
Briefs: Seeds of Peace extends past Summer; BBYO offers cash incentive for summer camps
Education briefs.
Key rule for teachers: Never, ever turn your back on a 6-year-old
Two years ago, my father came to watch me in action in my first-grade classroom at Emek Hebrew Academy Teichman Family Torah Center. After two hours, he turned to me and said, "I don't know how you do what you do!"
City Voice: Keep education in the spotlight
I write about education a lot because it's important for the Jewish community to have a strong public school system. Education is part of the Jewish culture. Many Jews can't afford private schools, and their kids deserve an education good enough to send them to college. Moreover, strong public schools are good for everybody, Jews and non-Jews.
Toward a better Federation
I believe that we can again make The Federation exciting and relevant to the Jewish community. I ask you to join with me in a new inclusive Jewish Federation; one that is especially welcoming to the young professional leaders in our lay community. If the challenge appeals to you, don't hesitate to contact me ... we'll find a meaningful position for you. The responsibility of Jewish continuity and the Jewish future and Klal Yisrael is not a job for a small group of elite Jews, but rather a job for all of us and I hope The Federation will be your door to fulfilling that responsibility.
French dislike president’s Holocaust curriculum
Briefs: Special needs kids program needs help; Singles and greening become Big Sunday specialties
A program for kids with emotional and behavioral disabilities is in danger of closing before the end of this school year if it does not come up with new sources of funding.
Big Sunday, the ever-expanding Southern California annual volunteer weekend, announced plans for Big Sunday '08 Thursday night at the Bel-Air Presbyterian Church.
German students handed Holocaust comic
ADL teacher-training class focuses on study of Shoah
The atrocities of the Holocaust are difficult enough to understand, let alone teach. But Melissa Mazzei was willing to tackle the challenge with her at-risk teens at West Adams Preparatory High School near downtown Los Angeles.
"Many of my students have unstable home lives, some of them living in cars or motels, are gang-affiliated and have parole officers," Mazzei said, adding that learning about the Holocaust might be the last thing on their minds.
UCLA Shoah class attracts large number of Asian students
"The Holocaust in Film and Literature" is one of many UCLA classes that draws in undergraduate students looking to fulfill general education requirements. German 59, as it's listed in the university catalog, has attracted 241 students this quarter.
The course demands are strenuous. Among the required readings are Elie Wiesel's "Night," Primo Levi's "Survival in Auschwitz" and "The Reader" by Bernhard Schlink. Additionally, students read selected works by authors such as Hannah Arendt and Nelly Sachs, as well as poetry, memoirs, encyclopedia entries and original documents. Assigned films include "Schindler's List," "Night and Fog" and several documentaries.
What to do when the high price of higher education keeps getting higher
As high school seniors scramble to finish college applications and anxiously await admission decisions, their parents may be more worried about how they're going to pay the bill.
The average annual cost for tuition, room and board, books and personal expenses at a UC campus is about $24,000. Many private colleges are twice as expensive. Tuition has been increasing faster than the rate of inflation and there is concern in the higher education community that only students from the most affluent families will be able to attend private colleges.
Before and after
While studying this Torah portion several years ago, I enjoyed one of those peculiar delights vouchsafed to those who learn to study great Jewish texts in the Hebrew original -- the discovery a great mistranslation. The concept is "ein mukdam u'm'uchar ba'Torah" -- usually mistranslated as "the Torah [often] is not written in chronological order," or more literally, "there is no before and after in the Torah."
Workmen’s Circle celebrates 100 years; Progressives fight for what’s Left
It's not every centenarian who can celebrate his birthday with full-throated songs and Yiddish jokes, but the Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring did just that in marking its 100th anniversary year in California with high good humor, leavened with a bit of nostalgia.
Briefs: UC ‘study in Israel’ program draws Sacramento attention; Gold officially the man at the Fede
The effort to reinstate the University of California's study in Israel program entered the state Legislature last week.
Passover scholastic debate conflict resolved, sort of
After months of contentious back and forth over the scheduling of the statewide high school debate tournament on the first night of Passover, Jewish leaders and tournament organizers have reached a half-hearted detente that will not change the date but will ensure such a scheduling snafu will not happen again.
Hebrew Union College considers expansion
From high above, the southeast corner of Hoover and 32nd streets near downtown would appear to be some of the only developable land between the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Staples Center -- a parking lot, a large field used by the USC women's soccer team and a 1970s-era academic building not nearly big enough for its occupant, the L.A. branch of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR).
Hey Karl Rove: What happened to two Jews, three opinions?
Teacher’s impact creates lasting memories and values
Morah Malka will understand.
She'll get that I am focusing on Alan Rosen because he was my teacher and not because she and the other recipients of the 18th annual Milken Family Foundation Jewish Educator Awards are any less worthy of notice than Alan, who also received the award last month.
Middle schools are a tough sell
The meeting at Daniel Webster Middle School, in the heart of the Westside, embodied all the difficulties of convincing parents that their children will be safe when they leave the cocoon of the public elementary school for the unknown world of middle school.
A summertime find—future Jewish leaders
As a camper, Max Kates was full of energy, soaking up everything Camp Ramah in Ojai offered. He loved sports, singing, his friends and Shabbat. When the summer arrived for him to join the staff, he immediately applied to participate in Ramah's counselor leadership-training program. In his first year as a counselor, Max was placed in a unit I supervised, and I watched with pride as he developed valuable skills in problem solving, public speaking, teamwork, program design and assessment.
Summer activities push camps to offer variety
Ruth Berkowitz, mother of five, has two manila folders stuffed with camp brochures, schedules and a pencil-drawn spreadsheet compiled of summer activities for her five children, including a column for each week.
Have laptop, will prosper
Last Shabbat at Sinai Temple Rabbi David Wolpe stood at the bimah to deliver his sermon -- and brought out a small, colorful laptop to push his congregants to participate in a remarkable, world-changing program called One Laptop per Child. One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is the name of a USA-based nonprofit launched in 2005 by Nicholas Negroponte and faculty members of the MIT Media Lab, with the goal of bringing computer technology to the children of the developing world.
Meet some extraordinary givers
Profiles of Jewish philanthropists.
The changing nature of Jewish philanthropy
The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles president and CEO Marvin I. Schotland sat down with The Jewish Journal recently to talk about the changing nature of Jewish philanthropy.
People of the Book Essay Contest
As part of the American Jewish University's Celebration of Jewish Books Festival, students in first through 12th grade submitted essays answering the question: "Jews are the people of the book. What does that mean to you today?" The editorial staff of The Jewish Journal selected four winners -- one from each age group -- to receive a $250 Borders gift card, as well as a $1,000 donation to their school. We received hundreds of submissions in the form of stories, poems and artwork. It was a difficult decision, and the four winning essays below represent just a small sampling of the great work submitted.
Volunteers drive eclectic learning at LimmudLA
Limmud was founded 25 years ago in England, where each December more than 2,000 people gather for a five-day conference. In the last six or seven years, the Limmud model has spread around the world, with conferences in Russia, France, Canada, Turkey, Israel, Germany, Australia and New York.The goal of LimmudLA, slated for Febrary during President's Day Weekend at the Costa Mesa Hilton, is to bring together the broad spectrum of Los Angeles Jewry to experience the richness of Judaism through intense days packed with the arts, shared meals and conversations, and a quirky and diverse offering of text studies, lectures and workshops. At Limmud, all the teachers are participants, and many of the participants are teachers, so everyone learns from each other.
When one parent thinks the other is going to Hell
‘HATE MUSLIMS? SO DO WE!!!’
Forget Passover—The Debate’s Over
The world of ‘classical Christian education’
The intersection of God and grades
Scary evangelicals?
We must teach about Israel—warts and all
The focus on and radical identification with Israel, the substitution of relationship with Israel for relationship with Judaism or Jewishness, has bequeathed to the American Jewish community a blind spot of our own.
Time has come to stress Islam’s positive side
We know nothing of Islam -- nothing. That is why we must educate our members, and we need your help. And we hope in doing so we will set an example for all Americans. Because the time has come to put aside what the media says is wrong with Islam and to hear from Muslims themselves what is right with Islam. The time has come to listen to our Muslim neighbors speak from their heart and in their own words about the spiritual power of Islam and their love for their religion.
Class notes: Students attend ‘Israel High;’ Boychik Scouts; Honors abound
Education
Summer and the start of school
With slight trepidation, the new year stands before us, calling us to dive in and embrace the fall.
The saga of Patrick Henry … College
Shopping for back to shul
Success in finding the perfect shul in Los Angeles for you and your family too often seems just one more visit away.
Does ritual meditation belong in schools?
Can we can the homework, please?
Educators these days are taking a new look at homework, attempting to measure its value and to re-examine the underlying assumptions about how kids learn, the pace of their development, family life and the role of work in our lives. Despite the complexity of the issue and a lack of consensus about the research, the battle lines in the debate have been redrawn.
Jews and Arabs working together
Why are terrorists so dumb?
Lecturer’s Shoah ‘revisionism’ angers Conejo residents
The way Jews in the Conejo Valley describe it, Joseph Goebbels would be proud of the propaganda proffered as academic discourse at the Goebel Senior Adult Center last month.
What makes a ‘real’ Jew?
When I started Milken Community High School's middle school after finishing the sixth grade at Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School, I further realized how unacquainted I was with my own feelings toward my religion. Although we had Judaic studies every year, I felt unable to drift away from my parents' beliefs and create my own.
Are magnet schools LAUSD’s last hope to keep Anglo kids in the system?
From the perspective of that child and his or her parents, they are being discriminated against because of the color of their skin. This was part of the context of the recent U.S. Supreme Court cases.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev reaches out to Bedouin women
Bedouin women are increasingly attending college. Here at Ben-Gurion University, there are 250 female Bedouin students.
Conservapedia: The wiki with a Fox News attitude
Religion safe at secular universities
Saluting the Alliance; Bully for Binah; Right on, Rifkinds!
Circuit.
Anti-Darwinist is national school board shoo-in
Religion aces college
Success of Jewish day schools breeds crisis
Observers estimate the average tenure of Jewish day school heads at between two and five years. Having labeled the problem a crisis, a consortium of organizations, including the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education and the Avichai Foundation, recently invited 50 participants to convene at a think tank consultation in New York.
Hey, hey! We’re the SqueeGees!
Kids page.
Pledge to survivors—we will carry the torch
The responsibility for transmitting the survivors' legacy of remembrance into the future must now increasingly shift to us -- their children and grandchildren.
Slavery lesson stirs Milken students to act
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.
BBI’s Linda Gross sees big upside in merger with UJ
When Linda Volpert Gross took on chairing the board at Brandeis-Bardin Institute (BBI), it seemed that she would have a simple tenure. The institute had just hired Rabbi Isaac Jeret as president, someone they hoped could lead BBI into a bright new future.
BBI and UJ join up to forge a home for pluralistic Judaism in landmark merger
The University of Judaism (UJ) and Brandeis-Bardin Institute (BBI), two Southern California institutions that for the last 60 years have educated and inspired Jews of all ages and affiliations -- and that have both at times struggled through financial and leadership troubles -- this week will announce that they have merged into one entity, to be known as the American Jewish University.
UJ’s Gady Levy excited and eager about Brandeis-Bardin programs
Gady Levy, vice president in charge of the Department of Continuing Education at the University of Judaism (UJ), likes to talk about how "all over the place" he is. It is true that as he talks about the new opportunities offered up by the merger between UJ and the Brandeis-Bardin Institute (BBI), he verbally skitters between programs and philosophies and a zillion new ideas he has. But it is also true that all of his scattered energy focuses in on one goal: enriching people's lives through Judaism.
Jews still have big role in changing L.A. political scene
Today, Jews remain a key constituency in Los Angeles politics and generate plenty of strong candidates. The dramatic rise of Latinos in local politics, though, has carved out another niche for minority candidates that once largely belonged to African Americans.
Stop sugarcoating intermarriage
Social scientists, myself included, have charted -- and implicitly celebrated -- the growing and exhilarating diversity of Jewish identities, communities and innovation.
How to choose an Israel summer program
After her USY trip last summer, Daniela Bernstein, 16, of Los Angeles is already thinking about returning. "The trip cultivated my love of Israel and the complete realization of how crucial Israel is to Judaism and the Jewish people," said Bernstein. "I am already planning my next visit."
The challenge of pluralistic day schools
Opening special-needs school would be a mitzvah
With the piecemeal services still failing so many children, it is time for our leaders and our community to take responsibility. The Jewish community of Los Angeles needs a Jewish special education school.
Loud and clear reasons for a cell phone-free Summer
Cell phones are an inherent part of our culture -- why fight that at camp?
StandWithUs offers Israel 101 guide to help students confront anti-Zionist rhetoric
More than a year in the making, "Israel 101" offers a short but comprehensive primer on Israel, addressing such subjects as the recent war in Lebanon, terrorism and the modern Zionist movement, said StandWithUs education research director Roberta Seid, who helped oversee the project.
Briefs: Hier scolds Carter, and vice versa; StandWithUs distributes “Israel 101”
Briefs
Educational programs help seniors fulfill postponed dreams
Regardless of age or physical condition, intellectually curious seniors have many opportunities in the Los Angeles area to participate in an educational program that fits their needs in an enriching, stimulating and affordable environment.
Fated to Meddle
In other words, if your take on our role in the Middle East is limited to just oil, or just freedom and democracy, or just imperialism -- Oren's meticulously researched and grippingly narrated book will school you.
Need for good schools should unite Jews and Latinos
In contrast to the 1960s, when the fabled and overblown black-Jewish alliance was obsessively chronicled and debated by Jewish academics, journalists, essayists and community leaders, the rise of the Latino population has not seemed to capture much Jewish interest, either pro or con. That is especially true now, when so many activist Jews are focused only on Israel.
Rebecca Levinson: Born to Be a Volunteer
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
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.
Kabbalah boom prompts meeting of mystical minds
Although all the presenters were united by their passion for the study and practice of Kabbalah, the most observable differences lay in their approaches as to how Judaism's most sacred and intimate teachings should be disseminated.
Camp Ramah marks 50 years
"Ramah is a place where campers and counselors have their first experience in not only participating in, but helping to form and lead the Jewish community in which they find themselves," said Camp Ramah of California Executive Director Rabbi Daniel Greyber.
Jump start Summer at Winter Expo; More help picking a Jewish summer camp
Jewish camping, particularly overnight camping, has been documented to be one of the most effective ways to build a lasting and active connection to Jewish living.
What do Dennis Prager, Jimmy Carter, Mel Gibson and General Motors have in common?
Letters to the Editor
Milken School head gets the surprise of her life
"I want to recognize and celebrate a person whose intelligence, whose leadership, whose commitment and compassion have made a profound difference in our community, a person who has positively impacted thousands of young people's lives," said Lowell Milken, chairman of the Milken Family Foundation, which gave the naming gift and maintains close ties to the high school.
B’nai Brith’s new chief visits L.A.; ‘Messenger’ unites local readers
Briefs
Class Notes: Camp Ramah celebrates Golden Anniversary
Education
Baltimore grant could set day school trend
Jewish day school officials are looking at a recent $15 million tuition-relief grant from the Baltimore-based Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore as a trend-setting move to alleviate one of the biggest challenges facing Jewish education.
Rabbi Pinto’s miracles
Today, one of the great Moroccan sages, Rabbi Chaim Pinto of the city of Mogador, has a living presence right here in our own hood, on Pico Boulevard, just east of Robertson. It's at a little shul called the Pinto Center.
Kashrut: The things we do for love
I have been passionate about Jewish education for two decades: When I worked in the public and private secular worlds of elementary education, I found myself searching for a more meaningful path to follow. I wanted to be able to talk to kids not only about being the best student they could be, but also about becoming the best people they could become.
Reform, Conservative, Orthodox leaders tell all
On Monday, the three heads of the leading Jewish seminaries tackled this question, as well as the challenges of teaching a new generation of Jews in an hourlong plenary session that stepped outside the overriding focus on Israel at the United Jewish Communities General Assembly.
Learning With the Learned; Virtual Hartman Institute; Jewish Law Course Offers CLE Credit
Briefs
Jewish Woman Is European Beauty Queen; Katsav Urged to Temporarily Quit
Briefs
Dumb Jews; Cluster bombs; Democrats and Republicans
THE JEWISH JOURNAL welcomes letters from all readers. Letters should be no more than 200 words and
‘Secular Yeshiva’ answers young Israelis’ questions
The goal is to give young, secular Israelis an education that will show them that they too have a rich culture to tap into and explore.
Battle of the sexes reaches Talmudic teachings—why can’t girls learn Gemara?
The question of whether Talmud is indeed part of Jewish learning for girls and women in traditional Orthodox education has come under debate in the last two decades in Orthodox circles.
‘Dumb Jews’ react, more politics, more Israel
Reaction to "Dumb Jews" cover story and other letters to the Editor
It’s hard to find good day school leaders these days
A dearth of leadership talent is wreaking havoc on the Jewish day school system as schools find it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain qualified heads.
Education in the synagogue should aim for enhanced Jewish living
Synagogue membership that is diverse in background, knowledge, experience and interest also challenges synagogue leadership to be teachers of Judaism. That teaching must be guided by the conviction that Jewish literacy is not simply about book learning but also Jewish heritage and life.
American Jews are learned in everything—except Jewish texts
The American Jewish community is one of the most learned and sophisticated communities in Jewish history - in everything except Jewish texts. As Jews, we are illiterate.
L.A. Times in turmoil: is it good for the Jews?
Because of their intense activism, Jews have been among the paper's most devoted readers and fiercest critics. A substantial part of the paper's circulation base has long been in the broad Jewish belt extending from the Westside through the West Valley.
Go West, young Torah-observant Jews!
The wait is finally over for members of Young Israel of Century City, who were eagerly anticipating the theme of the annual program "brochure," which was kept secret until its publication last week. It's ... Old West
Shoah lessons drive curriculum
Community Briefs.
The Trailblazer’s Toolbox: Programs That Grab
A brief rundown of the national synagogue revitalization programs that have arisen since the early 1990s.
Producer Turns to Web For Faith-Based Edutainment
A young man drives up to his garage and tries to open the door via remote, but it won't open. In the driveway next door, a Chasidic man blows a shofar, the long curly ram's horn, and -- presto! -- his garage door opens. "These High Holy Days, stick with what works," scrolls on the computer screen of the Internet film "Shofar, So Good." The short film closes with the young man blowing his own shofar to open his car's trunk.
College Students Find High Holidays’ Place in Higher Learning
Gone are the days when observant Jewish students suffered for their absences from class or exams on the High Holidays or Passover. The California Education Code fully protects students' rights to observe religious holidays free of academic penalty.
Promoting Jewish Learning
Billed as "Jewish Literacy: A Learned Community and a Community of Learners," CAJE 31 was a raw, messy, creative affair, with 20 sessions held every hour for five days on such wide-reaching topics as "God Shopping," "The Jews of Sing-Sing," "Assessing Our Relationship to Israel" and "Jews as Global Citizens."
Make An Oyful Noise
OySongs.com is the first music download site dedicated exclusively to Jewish music and, with the Web site about a month old, its founder, Joe Eglash, is still breathless from excitement.
Helping Kids Cope With Difficult Teachers
It's a scene straight out of the worst-case scenario parent handbook. Our child -- a normally happy student -- lands the "Teacher From the Black Lagoon." She's evil, he tells us shaking in his Air Jordans. Not to mention out to get him. How can he possibly be expected to learn when his teacher is the scholastic version of Attila the Hun?
Don’t Let Affirmative Action Fade
Why is the Louisville case so important? Why should we, as Jews, care about its outcome, especially if our children may not even attend public schools? Is affirmative action even relevant in 2006, in our schools, in our world? What are the benefits of diversity in education anyway?
Hebrew School Rocks Thanks to Radio Station
On Friday nights, when 13-year-old Michael Rothbart approaches Leo Baeck Temple for Shabbat services, he urges his parents to tune to 87.9 on their radio dial. He is hoping that Avram Mandell, Leo Baeck's educational director and the founding force behind the temple's very low-power radio station, has popped in some pre-recorded Jewish music.
After School Is Prime Game Time for Kids of All Needs
"I wanted to be a coach because I like sports," said Gaskin of her involvement with the Prime Time Games program.
The Pacific Palisades resident initially took on the responsibly to fulfill an outreach requirement for her bat mitzvah last spring. The experience has satisfied more than a ceremonial obligation.
"I feel good because I'm helping other people," Gaskin said.
More Jewish Parents Picking Secular Path to Camp
"Our images of Jewish camping are formed by people who are heavy Jewish campers, but there are lots of people who are light Jewish campers and campers at non-Jewish camps, and this study accessed their views on Jewish camping," Steven M. Cohen, the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion sociologist who authored the study, told The Jewish Journal. "I think we learned that there are diverse incentives and obstacles to participation in Jewish camping."
The Joys of Tutoring—and the Trials, Tribulations
Being a bar/bat mitzvah tutor can be a little dangerous. Parents expect you to be a wizard. The synagogues are suspicious if you want to fiddle with their "perfect bar mitzvah" product. And then there's the kids, who are becoming full-blown teenagers. It's not always emotionally easy -- in sometimes surprising ways.
A Mind-Opening Experience
Last fall, I started working with Franklin, a 7-year-old autistic boy. My job was to help shape the child's behavioral and social patterns, promoting ones healthy to his development, while curbing ones that hinder him.
Rite of Passage Bestows Bundle of Intangible Gifts
When we think of bar and bat mitzvah gifts, many things come to mind: fountain pens, cuff links, picture frames, checks. But the true gifts of this religious rite of passage extend far beyond the envelopes and boxes piled up at the party door.
Education Giant Simha Lainer, 100
From establishing funds through the Jewish Community Foundation in Los Angeles to starting the Simha and Sara Lainer Fund for Jewish Education through the BJE of Greater Los Angeles to supporting Israel, Lainer and Sara were key supporters of the Jewish community.
Krayzelburg Keeps Swim Program From Taking a Dive
Just a year ago, the Lenny Krayzelburg Swim School, headed by the four-time Olympic gold medalist, opened with fanfare and big ambitions at the Westside Jewish Community Center (JCC), a once lively place that in recent years has been seeking to reinvent itself. Living up to the center's dreams, as of late July, Krayzelburg now has 896 students on his roster.
Great Honors for Graff
Waiters could barely navigate their way through the schmoozing, kvelling crowd packed into Sephardic Temple for the Bureau of Jewish Education's (BJE) June dinner honoring its executive director, Gil Graff.
Students Draw on Movie for Tolerance Mural Inspiration
Gayle Gale started Kids for Peace after she returned to Los Angeles from a series of trips to Israel as a visiting artist at Ben-Gurion University, Beersheba in 1994 and 1995. With assistance from the local Israeli consulate and a grant obtained with help from the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity from the Jewish Community Foundation, she set out to teach youth about Israel through artistic means. In the years since, Gale has found herself doing much more.
Israelis Bring Situation Close to Home for Campers
Like most camps, Hess Kramer, has a staff of Israelis who work as counselors and educators. This summer, 1,400 Israelis, most of them between the ages of 19 and 22, are staffing 200 Jewish day and sleep-away camps, according the Jewish Agency, which coordinates the stays.
Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor
Power of Vows
Our ancestors understood that when we make a vow, promising to give something to God, or take an oath regarding our own actions, this was the highest and most serious endeavor, as the power of speech is what separates us most critically from the animal world. "Baruch She'amar V'hayah Ha'olam, God spoke and the world came into being."
Angelenos Help Abraham’s Vision Come True
Unity is a collaboration between Jewish and Muslim high schools and focuses on interfaith studies, taught by educators of both religions.
Class Notes
It’s Personal, It’s Family and It’s Me
Over the years, people have often asked me whether I've ever thought about working at a "real newspaper." The idea, I guess, is if I'm good enough why wouldn't I want to move up to the mainstream press? But for me that would be more of a move out than a move up.
Briefs
Community Briefs
Our First Cover: Bobbi Fiedler
Bobbi Fiedler, who rode an anti-school busing platform to political prominence, stood out as the potential vanguard for Jewish conservatives when The Jewish Journal profiled her as its first cover story in February 1986. The Journal recently caught up with the still-active Fiedler, 69, between civic activities.
20+ Ideas to Jump-Start Jewish L.A.
Jewish Journal of Los Angeles 20th Anniversary
Class Notes
Different Tack on Campus Challenge
Speeches about "holocaust in Israel." Academic boycotts. Divestiture campaigns. Professors who intimidate their students. Jewish speakers whose rhetoric is anti-Israel. These program initiatives and phenomena have certainly transformed the campus quad into a zone of controversy. Indeed, the above occurrences are undeniable, as are the vile expressions of Jewish bigotry at a select number of institutions of higher learning. However, Jews are actually experiencing a Golden Age at American universities and that the general atmosphere at the most prestigious schools is positive and supportive of Jewish interests.
Special Delivery - Jewish Lamaze Class Reunion
Jewish Lamaze was first sponsored by the Los Angeles Bureau of Jewish Education in the early 1980s and taught in various synagogues until the funding ran out toward the end of the decade.
And while it's no longer being offered in Los Angeles, as far as anyone knows, similar programs exist elsewhere.
Letters 06-16-2006
Letters to the Editor
Latin American Jews Create L.A. Oasis
Imagine that you live in Latin America and you're Jewish. Typically, you and your family would belong to a full-service Jewish club with cultural, recreational, educational and athletic activities for all ages. The club is reasonably priced, promotes Jewish identity in a secular manner and is the backbone of your social life.
School Risked Fiscal Peril for Its Students
Etz Jacob prides itself on accepting children who would not otherwise get a Jewish education. Rabbi Rubin Huttler of Congregation Etz Jacob founded the school in 1989 as a haven for new immigrants flooding into Los Angeles from Russia and Iran.
Schools Give Prum-Hess High Marks
Miriam Prum-Hess, an experienced and admired Federation executive, took on a new role working on behalf of day schools last year, an effort to increase the level of professionalism and efficiency in all nonacademic areas. She has become the central address for day schools looking for expertise on operational issues -- fundraising strategies, legal advice, business decisions, purchasing, and human resources.
Beware the Finkelstein Syndrome
It is well known that some children of Holocaust survivors carry severe scars and wounds that actually manifest in peculiar psychological behavior. For two decades, I worked as a licensed family therapist, and I believe that some day soon there will be a formal psychological syndrome that would account for self-hating Jews like Norman Finkelstein. Perhaps the syndrome will even be named after him: The Finkelstein Syndrome.
Seniors’ Deeds Pave Path for Future
Parents and pundits, you may breathe a sigh of relief. The Class of 2006 -- or at least The Jewish Journal's not-so-random sampling of the class of 2006 -- will put to rest any notion that this plugged in but wireless, overscheduled but doted upon and supersavvy but still so naive iPod generation is resting on a sense of inflated entitlement.
Middle-Class Squeeze
Families are feeling the squeeze of the upward crawl of day school tuition over the last several years, which has brought the average tuition for elementary and middle school to about $12,600 and for high school to as much as $20,000. Those numbers are about 30 percent above what a year of schooling cost four years ago and nearly double 10 years ago.
Mentor Sees Benefit in Villaraigosa Story
Herman Katz has begun to grow weary of hearing and seeing his own name. A humble 73-year-old who has taught and counseled in Los Angeles public schools since 1957, he has been living in the limelight since one of his former students, Antonio Villaraigosa, became mayor last year.
Pioneering Class of 2006
New Jew opened in 2002 at the Milken campus of The Jewish Federation/Valley Alliance, with 40 students in the ninth grade and Dr. Bruce Powell, veteran founder of successful Jewish high schools, at the helm. This year, 47 students who took the chance and dove head first into a new venture are graduating. The school was a risk that paid off.
Jews-by-Choice: A Look 10 Years Later
Ten years ago, I interviewed a dozen graduates of the Miller program who had followed through with conversion. Although Rabbi Neal Weinberg, who has long directed the program, tries hard to keep track of alumni, many slip out of his database. He was able to supply me with contact information for 10 Jews-by-Choice I had interviewed when I wrote my previous article.
O.C. Incidents Raise Anti-Semitism Fears
"There has been a significant rise in the past four years in anti-Semitism generally and on school campuses," said Dr. Kevin O'Grady, associate director of the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) Orange County/Long Beach Region. O'Grady's office recorded 43 cases of harassment and vandalism last year, nearly 50 percent more than in 2003; one-third of these involved public schools.
Should Model Congress Trump Shabbat?
Being raised Orthodox in the United States, I am often aware that my peers and I do things differently than others: We go to shul on Saturday instead of to the mall, we go to private schools, we dress differently and we recognize that there is a higher being above us. But we do not realize until a much later age, when we leave our sheltered community, just how different we really are and how these differences truly affect us.
UCLA Jews, Muslims Alter Protest Tactics
The Bruin Walk display was one of the events organized by Muslim, Arab and supporting students as part of the weeklong "Israel and Palestine: Obstacles to Peace" program.
School Violence Goes Extreme
Yaniv Berman's 2005 film "Even Kids Started Small," depicts the nightmarish takeover of a suburban junior high by the pupils
The Circuit
Circuit
John Fishel
"He's the James Brown of the Jewish community, the hardest-working man in L.A. Jewry," Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss said. "I see him everywhere."
Although in some ways, Fishel is everywhere but nowhere. A bearded, slender man with a direct gaze, the shy Fishel seems to prefer keeping his own counsel. He sometimes materializes at events in his well-tailored suits and then slips away after talking to but a handful of folks.
Jewish Studies Bug Bites Parents, Too
Eighteen months ago, when Lenard Cohen's 4-year-old daughter was enrolled in the family's congregational preschool, the Philadelphia-area father of three decided to go back to school himself.
Kids Learn Burial Rites From Barney
Michael Sachs remembers that he had initially thought that a program on death wasn't really important for people in their 40s.
"But, in fact," he now says, "I learned things I assumed I wouldn't need to think about for many years. I thought the program dealt with potentially distressing material in a nonthreatening, matter-of-fact fashion," he said.
Questions, Prayers and Shabbat Lights
Questions, Prayers and Shabbat Lights.
Community Briefs
Community Briefs
Letters
Letters to the Editor
First Person - In This Moment
My grandfather is my best friend. I have spent every Sunday with him since I was born -- going to restaurants, talking for hours and