Why is this Trip Different than All Other Trips?

By Beit T'shuvah
Published on March 18, 2013

All about my IDF (part two)

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on December 26, 2012

A summer to remember

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on May 18, 2012

Should we ‘roll the dice’ on untested Obama?

Published on October 15, 2008

Voters confuse Obama stagecraft with vision. He is articulate and confident but also glib and cocky. This is not a humble man who knows what he doesn't know.

McCain for America—and Israel

Published on October 9, 2008

McCain, much like JFK, has pledged to fight for freedom around the world and not to retreat from our enemies. This is certainly what we need today, more than meaningless slogans like "change we can believe in" and "we are the ones we've been waiting for."

Yom Kippur Dilemma

By Gina Nahai
Published on October 1, 2008

We have more synagogues and more freedom to use them here in Los Angeles than we did in Iran, but that doesn't mean we're any closer to fulfilling the true purpose of gathering in a house of worship.

Can McCain fix his Palin problem?

By Raphael J. Sonenshein
Published on September 27, 2008

Props to Tiffany Shlain, honorary Hollywood Jew (from San Francisco) for ‘The Tribe’ [VIDEO]

By The Web Guy
Published on September 8, 2008

Life lessons from the trenches of cancer survival

By Roberto Loiederman
Published on September 4, 2008

The medical facility where I received treatment is one of the most prestigious in the world, but some staff members had a lousy bedside manner. One resident -- I thought of him as Dr. Worst-Case-Scenario -- would always give me his gloomiest predictions.

ANALYSIS: Sarah Palin . . . and the Jews

By Rob Eshman
Published on August 29, 2008

For Jews who are not necessarily Israel Firsters, she carries some positives and negatives. Positives: she is a crusader for good government and a fiscal conservative. She is smart and successful and patriotic. Jews like all these things.

Dems use speeches to hit GOP on Israel

Published on August 28, 2008

Speaker after speaker at the Democratic convention on Wednesday night in Denver argued that GOP recklessness had emboldened Israel's enemies

Are school trips worth the cost?

By Julie G Fax
Published on November 1, 2007

Discussion of the pro and cons of school trips.

Is everyone weird?

By JoAnneh Nagler
Published on December 28, 2006

It's my opinion that none of us who are single at 40 are rocket scientists at love (or we wouldn't be so uncomfortably solitary in the first place), so drawing the weird requires a little seaside introspection, a new charting of the waves and a definite refocusing of the ship's trajectory.

N.Y. or L.A.—which is better for dating?

By Teresa Strasser
Published on November 9, 2006

In my now perhaps exceedingly long life as a single woman, I've lived in both New York and Los Angeles.

Full circle

By Rabbi Steven Weil
Published on October 12, 2006

My daughter, the animal lover, has a father who isn't. A hamster is the biggest pet I've gotten talked into so far. It lives in her room, and basically I wouldn't even know it was there except for one thing -- it's nocturnal.

Life at 85: what a trip!

By Red Lachman
Published on October 12, 2006

We look back on the past because it was another era. In our youth and young years, life included activities you chose. Your responsibilities were minimal compared to those as you grew older. Being young and thinking young allowed you to exist in a world that is the start of the middle age.

God Was With Us That Night in the Negev

By Daniella Kaufman
Published on August 31, 2006

This was by far the most spiritual moment in my life. I gazed up at the stars as I chanted the V'Ahavta prayer with amazing new friends, standing around the same rocks that our people had wandered past thousands of years before. My eyes couldn't help but tear up as we moved on to the Mi Chamocha, the song of freedom. At that moment I felt as though God truly was with us.

The Key Is Rejoicing

By Rabbi Haim Ovadia
Published on August 17, 2006

If you are willing to inflict physical pain upon yourself as a service to your god, why not treat others to the same spiritual experience? Paradoxically, they will be killed or harmed because of your love for them.

After School Is Prime Game Time for Kids of All Needs

By Sharon Schatz Rosenthal
Published on August 17, 2006

"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

By Julie G Fax
Published on August 10, 2006

"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."

Gibson’s Defenders Aren’t Hearing Him Right

By Michael Tolkin
Published on August 10, 2006

Let Gibson beg for chastisement, let him call and beg to be told he's been a bad boy, a very bad boy, who needs to be stripped in public and whipped. I'll never give in.

The Bittersweet Meaning of Mud

By Natalie Katz
Published on August 3, 2006

There is one program in particular that embodies all of the emotionalism and meaning of machon summer: Tza'adah. Tza'adah is a five-day, four-night overnight trip that takes campers far from the boundaries of camp and into the nature of Northern California, where we bond with friends, while experiencing the outdoors.

The IDF and Civilians:  A Personal Account

By Rabbi Daniel Bouskila
Published on July 27, 2006

It was July 12, 1984, my first day on the Ketziot basic training base, my new "home" as an IDF soldier in the Givati Infantry Brigade. One by one, we were issued what was then the standard IDF infantry weapon, the Israeli-made Galil rifle.

Summer Tours to Israel Rerouted, But Not By Much

Published on July 19, 2006

"All of us that have kids in Israel are trying to make the best of the situation," said Jules Gutin, international director for USY, the youth arm of the Conservative movement, which has about 50 California teens in Israel this summer. "We want the experience to be worthwhile and positive, as well as safe."

Life vs. Death

By Tom Teicholz
Published on July 19, 2006

Phillip Roth's "Everyman," (Houghton Mifflin) is a short, and in some respects, slight work. Clocking in at around 200 pages, it recounts the life of one man through his medical history. As an organizing principle, this one's as valid as any, even if in this instance, it doesn't necessarily yield the most compelling, multidimensional portrait.

Performers Go It Alone and Like It That Way

By Robert David Jaffee
Published on July 6, 2006

While each show follows its own trajectory, Chaiken points out that many Jewish-themed plays explore the issue of legacy. These performers describe conflicted feelings about their parents and the aspirations held out for them. As clichéd as such scenarios may seem, they speak to the pain and humor of family, a commonality that usually resonates with audiences.

Sderot Attack Interrupts Villaraigosa’s Call

By Marc Ballon
Published on July 6, 2006

"This experience shook all of us to our core," Villaraigosa said in a statement. "I have tremendous respect for Mayor Moyal and the people of Sderot, who live their lives in the shadow of terror. It makes you grateful for the peace and safety that we have here in Los Angeles."

The Making of a Jewish Teen

Published on July 6, 2006

Special Delivery - When Baby Brings More Than Expected

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on June 22, 2006

Women suffering from PPD often fail to receive help for a number of reasons. They might be ashamed of their feelings, or they simply might not know where to turn. And not all obstetricians and pediatricians are as attuned to the condition as Berger was.

Visit to Ethiopia Changes His Life

By Marc Ballon
Published on May 25, 2006

"John has given real leadership to the issue of Ethiopian Jewry," said Barry Shrage, president of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, who earlier this year went to Ethiopia with Fishel and 100 American Jewish federation members. "He's always been the first one to speak up and stir the conscience of the federation movement."

Wandering Jew - The Hit Parade

By Wildman Weiner
Published on May 25, 2006

Here it is: 5,000 years after Moses wandered the Sinai, his people have finally found a home in Reseda, no less, at the Jewish Home for the Aging, the largest continuing residential care facility for the elderly in the Western United States. Yet while these Jews are no longer wandering, they are today wondering when the big simchah begins.

Kids Learn Burial Rites From Barney

By Naomi Glauberman
Published on May 4, 2006

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.

9/11 Museum Head Uses Shoah Lessons

By Matthew E. Berger
Published on April 27, 2006

For more than two decades, Alice Greenwald has been helping to give people a palpable understanding of the Holocaust through her work with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

‘Steins’ Skewers Simcha Rivalry

By Tom Tugend
Published on April 27, 2006

"Keeping Up With the Steins" proves that you don't have to be Jewish to make a funny, insider Jewish film, or that if you grow up in the Bronx or went to school in North Hollywood, you become a Jew by osmosis.

Some ‘New’ Shoah Books Not So New

By Sandee Brawarsky
Published on April 20, 2006

If there's an overriding theme among the newest books related to the Holocaust, it's one of concealment and discovery, whether in the writer's own wartime experience or invented on the page. Sometimes it's a case of lost books being rediscovered.

First Person - A Coming Out (of Egypt) Story

By Jeff Bernhardt
Published on April 13, 2006

Sixteen years ago this month; Jeff Bernhardt came out of the closet to his family, to free himself from the bondage of keeping this huge and personal part of him from them.

PASSOVER: Try to Avoid Asking the Fifth Question

By Rabbi Stewart L. Vogel
Published on April 6, 2006

While there are only four questions posed in the haggadah, most seders struggle with the unasked fifth question, "When are we going to eat?" It is asked, not only by hungry children, but also by adults who feel disconnected to the rituals of their ancestors.

PASSOVER: Myriad Ways to Tell an Ancient Tale

By Sandee Brawarsky
Published on April 6, 2006

Every haggadah has a story, its own story, beyond that of the exodus from Egypt. Depending on illustrations, design, typesetting, additions, where the edition is printed and who commissioned its creation, each version is a marker of Jewish history.

‘Voodoo’ Jew Finds Love, Truth in Haiti

By Sandee Brawarsky
Published on April 6, 2006

The title, "Madame Dread: A Tale of Love, Voodoo and Civil Strife in Haiti," comes from the nickname given to her by the kids in her Port-au-Prince neighborhood. In Haitian tradition, women take on the first names of their husbands; in her case she was named for the dreadlocks of her boyfriend (who later became her husband). She also refers to herself as a "Voodoo Jew."

Humor in ‘Eat’ an Acquired Taste

By Sarah Price Brown
Published on April 6, 2006

"When Do We Eat?" centers on the Stuckman family, which includes grandfather Artur (Jack Klugman); father Ira (Michael Lerner), who tries to lead "the world's fastest seder"; his neglected wife, Peggy (Lesley Ann Warren); and their children.

Numb? Never Again

By Reina Slutske
Published on March 30, 2006

When I was 11, on the verge of adolescence, the world developed Holocaust frenzy. It was 1993, the year Steven Spielberg released "Schindler's List," considered by many to be one of the definitive movies about the Holocaust. That same year, the Washington Holocaust museum opened.

Hineni

By Rabbi Anne Brener
Published on March 23, 2006

I expected to be dealing with an empty nest when my daughter started college. I projected my availability to friends who had yielded my attention during my childrearing years. I dragged writing projects onto my computer's desktop to await the plane ride from NYU to the rest of my life. Instead, the levees broke in my hometown. I spent the next three months as a relief worker with the Red Cross and the New Orleans Jewish agencies in service to those displaced and/or traumatized by Katrina.

What a Difference a ‘Gap Year’ Makes

By Jane Ulman
Published on February 23, 2006

MASA, Hebrew for journey, started funding students who qualified on a need-basis in 2004-05, subsidizing more than 100 approved five- to 10-month Israel programs that assist 18- to 30-year-olds in building a solid connection to Israel. This year, MASA is helping to send 7,000 young adults worldwide to Israel, with hopes of sending 20,000 a year by decade's end.

Requests Swamp Israel Trip Program

By Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Published on February 23, 2006

Birthright Israel has received many more applications for its upcoming trips than it has spaces available. Approximately 14,000 young Jews applied for 8,000 spots in the program's spring/summer trips this year in just the first 12 hours of registration Feb. 8.

A Dying Language Comes to Life

By Jane Ulman
Published on February 23, 2006

The Yiddish words flew -- sometimes fluently, sometimes haltingly and occasionally "shreklich" or awful as the seniors reached for a word long forgotten or the students for a word they had not yet learned. They raised their voices, gesturing with their hands as they spoke.

Home Pampering Easy as 1, 2, Ahhhhh

By Beth Gilbert
Published on February 16, 2006

No one deserves a spa experience more than you do. Just picture it -- warm tubs scented with essential oils, invigorating body scrubs, refreshing botanical blend face masks smoothed on in soothing circular massaging motions and misty showers with luscious gels.

Cowboy Cupid Bares His Horse Sense

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on February 9, 2006

Filmmaker Michele Ohayon's career previously highlighted serious (and politically correct) subjects, such as oppressed Palestinians and homeless women. She won a 1997 Oscar nomination for "Colors Straight Up," her profile of urban youth in the aftermath of the L.A. riots.

Spectator - Fiddle Dee Dee and Oy Vey!

By Gaby Friedman
Published on February 2, 2006

"Truthfully, my grandfather really was the catalyst for the journey," Brian Bain said in a phone conversation from Dallas, where he relocated after his New Orleans home was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. He was referring to Leonard Bain, a retired traveling hat salesman and silent film editor who was 99, in 2002, when the film was made. The elder Bain has since died at the age of 101.

Wisdom of the Ages

By Rabbi Lisa Edwards
Published on January 26, 2006

Amazingly, two-thirds of all the people who have ever lived past the age of 65 in the history of the world are alive today, according to Ken Dychtwald, author of "The Power Years: A User's Guide to the Rest of Your Life." This suggests that our way-beyond octogenarians in the Bible were the exception, not the rule.

Where the Boys Aren’t

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on January 26, 2006

"Looking at what's happening locally and nationally, we've found that fewer teen boys enroll in informal Jewish activities than they did in previous years," said Lori Harrison Port, senior associate director for planning and allocations at The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.

Vienna Glories in Past and Present

By Carvin Knowles
Published on January 19, 2006

The best way to discover Mozart here might be a night at the Vienna Opera. I was lucky enough to attend a performance of "The Magic Flute" during my visit, which was sponsored by Austria Tourism. This was classical Mozart through and through in terms of the music, but the performance was strikingly modern.

The Hebrascope: Signs of the Jewdiac

By Jew Girl
Published on January 12, 2006

Hebrascope

Bonding Over Torah

By Jane Ulman
Published on January 12, 2006

Generally taught once a year, with 10 to 20 girls enrolled per class, the program affords mothers and daughters special time together. It also introduces the girls to peers from other schools, allowing them to view bat mitzvah as a more universal experience.

Jennifer Chadorchi: The Hunger to Help

By Karmel Melamed
Published on January 5, 2006

For the last eight years, Chadorchi, a Beverly Hills resident in her 20s, has become a rare jewel in the Persian Jewish community, quietly mobilizing a small army of friends, family members and local students to respond to the plight of the homeless in Los Angeles.

Put Tzedakah on Your Shopping List

By Lisa Alcalay Klug
Published on December 22, 2005

Sometimes the best gift is a non-gift.

Families, Singles Get Ready to Set Sail

By Lisa Alcalay Klug
Published on December 15, 2005

The leaves have turned, the days are shorter and Chanukah, the holiday of lights, glimmers ahead. With the winter looming, juicy possibilities await, with plenty of exotic, warm weather options. So go ahead and plan your first big escape of 2006. Or surprise a loved one by booking a post-Chanukah adventure. This might just be the trip of a lifetime.

Nathan Takes a Bite Out of Boring Fare

By Keren Engelberg
Published on December 8, 2005

"I never think of food as something that's stationary," Nathan said on a recent book tour stop in Los Angeles. "Things change, neighborhoods change, food changes, we get new ingredients, people get ideas. And when you come to a country you adapt what you knew to that country."

The Cost of Marriage

By Jonathan Udren
Published on December 8, 2005

I knew that the normal adjustments from bachelorhood were inevitable, such as putting down the toilet seat and washing linens more frequently than every six months. But I never imagined that marriage would force me to re-experience the entire immigration process.

A Manifesto for the Future

By Rabbi David Wolpe
Published on December 1, 2005

In early November, I spoke at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. The topic was "The Future of Conservative Judaism." I prepared for the talk by asking colleagues, friends and congregants to define Conservative Judaism in one sentence. It was a dispiriting experience.

Pipes Bring More Than Water

By Marit Pearlman Shapiro
Published on December 1, 2005

We volunteered with the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), a nonprofit organization devoted to ending poverty by furthering sustainable development and promoting international human rights.