Desalination, Israeli-style

Published on February 13, 2013

The subsidiary of an Israeli company has been selected to design the largest seawater-desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere. Located in northern San Diego County, the plant will be designed and operated by IDE Americas, part of IDE Technologies, headquartered in Kadima.

Money saving ideas: For richer, not poorer

By Elyse Glickman
Published on January 16, 2013

Tying the knot doesn’t have to be synonymous with fastening a financial anchor around newlywed couples. It just requires great care, sufficient research and attention to detail.

B’nai B’rith rejects listing among insolvent charities

Published on December 19, 2012

B’nai B’rith International rejected as inaccurate its topping a well-known charity watchdog’s list of “charities in deep financial trouble.”

Avoiding the ‘Jewish fiscal cliff’

Published on November 28, 2012

The main Capitol Hill sport these days (after obsessive coverage of the Petraeus scandal) is how the government can avoid the impending “fiscal cliff.”

Israel’s middle class increasingly squeezed

Published on November 27, 2012

At Israeli weddings, gifts of china, silver and art are not welcome. Guests are expected to bring their checkbooks and contribute to a young couple’s purchase of their first home, often bought with substantial help from the newlyweds’ parents.

Tens of millions of hackers target Israel government Web sites

Published on November 18, 2012

More than 44 million hacking attempts have been made on Israeli government web sites since Wednesday when Israel began its Gaza air strikes, the government said on Sunday.

Israeli water power that doesn’t give a dam

Published on September 27, 2012

You don’t have to build dams to get hydroelectricity from water flowing through municipal pipes, says Dr. Daniel Farb, the Los Angeles immigrant who previously shook up the Israeli clean-tech power scene with his Leviathan Energy company’s award-winning Wind Tulip.

‘Like’ this Israeli site for jobs

Published on September 27, 2012

Here’s a dirty little secret in the job-recruiting business: All those Web sites that help employers and potential employees match up don’t really work that well. Despite all the bells and whistles, the automatic résumé builders and the ability to search on keywords for specific skills and expertise, the best way to find the right candidate hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years. Word of mouth is still king, especially when a cash reward is offered.

Clinton: U.S. will push to help Palestinians with financial crisis

Published on September 27, 2012

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Palestinian and Jordanian that Washington is 'looking at every means possible' to alleviate the Palestinian financial crisis.

Israel transfers money to PA to ease economic crisis

Published on September 12, 2012

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the transfer of some $63 million to the Palestinian Authority to help ease its economic crisis.

World Bank: PA economy not strong enough to support a state

Published on July 25, 2012

The Palestinian economy is not yet strong enough to support a sovereign state because of its heavy reliance on foreign aid, according to a World Bank report.

National Jewish Democratic Council removes Adelson petition

Published on July 12, 2012

The National Jewish Democratic Council, citing peace among Jewish groups, has taken down a petition calling on Republicans not to accept money from Sheldon Adelson.

Israel’s whiz kids

Published on July 11, 2012

Mickey Haslavsky of Holon is only 18, but he’s already on his second startup.

Sweet spot: The sugar rush of Dylan’s Candy Bar

Published on July 11, 2012

Retro lollipops and salt-water taffy have always had a thing for crazy swirls of color, just like Los Angeles. Now one big business is about to serve the City of Angels a whopping rainbow of 7,500 treats from around the world. New York-based Dylan’s Candy Bar, the namesake brainchild of Jewish billionaire fashion mogul Ralph Lauren’s daughter, Dylan, plans to unveil its first local branch in late August.

Madoff associate Merkin agrees to hand over $400 million

Published on June 25, 2012

Former money manager J. Ezra Merkin has agreed to turn over hundreds of millions of dollars to duped investors in Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

TV for dogs reaches prime time

Published on May 8, 2012

Bark if you love DogTV. The new made-in-Israel U.S. cable channel is scientifically programmed to keep pooches stimulated, happy and comforted when they’re home alone.

There’s more than one way to support the Jewish state

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on April 25, 2012

In the landscape of American Jewish organizations, The New Israel Fund (NIF) has long occupied a prominent place on the left side of the aisle. Back in 1979, almost three decades before the “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobby J Street was established, when Peter Beinart was still in elementary school, NIF began supporting Israeli-based non-profits that advanced the Jewish and democratic identity of Israel.

Chicago urges city workers’ pension fund to divest from Iran

Published on April 19, 2012

The Chicago City Council urged the city's largest employee pension fund to divest from Iran.

Crisis-hit Greek Jews fear for their future

Published on April 5, 2012

Patricia Alcalay, 24, has been unemployed since she finished her nursing degree in December 2010. Her father lost his job four months ago, a year shy of retirement. Her older sister, who was studying abroad, meanwhile, found work in the Netherlands and is not coming back to Greece anytime soon.

The Sacramento Chainsaw Massacre

By Steve Greenberg
Published on April 4, 2012

Sheldon Adelson on Newt: ‘He’s at the end of his line’

By Jay Firestone
Published on March 28, 2012

Sheldon Adelson, who with wife Miri, has given more than $15 million to the Newt Gingrich Super PAC Winning Our Future, said Monday he believes Gingrich is “at the end of his line” regarding the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Lawmakers query Obama officials on P.A. funding, statehood push

Published on March 20, 2012

Top Obama administration officials faced tough questions from lawmakers on funding for the Palestinian Authority and its efforts to seek statehood recognition.

Wall Street shock wave in rear-view mirror

Published on March 19, 2012

On the day after his op-ed piece appeared in The New York Times of March 14, 2012, Greg Smith, a midlevel executive in the London office of Goldman Sachs had generated 19 million entries on Google. By three days later, that number had risen to 134 million.

Goldman banker always stuck to principles, former teacher

Published on March 15, 2012

Greg Smith was a principled and competitive student, the kind of person whose strong sense of right and wrong probably pushed him to resign from Goldman Sachs in a scathing letter to an international newspaper, his former teacher and coach said.

Can't buy me love

By Douglas Bloomfield
Published on March 15, 2012

It feels like spring, but there's little love in the air for Mitt Romney. The GOP frontrunner expected to have his party's nomination sewn up by now so he could focus on sending Barack Obama back to Chicago. But too many Republicans just can't find it in their hearts to embrace the former Massachusetts governor and are still hoping someone will come along who can make them fall in love.

Did you transact your business honestly?

Published on March 14, 2012

The way one handles one's money is a sensitive barometer of the moral mettle of a person and hence the very first question we are asked.

How to get paid what you want

Published on February 16, 2012

Whether you’re looking for a new job or are a recent graduate, you might be so thrilled to get a job offer — any offer — that you settle for less than you should. Here are five strategies to get paid what you really want:

The high cost of how women relate to money

Published on February 16, 2012

There are a number of topics society has told us we aren’t supposed to discuss in mixed company. Religion, for example, has long been a forbidden subject between people of different faiths. Politics is mostly swept under the rug among people of different parties. Money, something that we all have feelings about, has never been a polite conversation piece.

Insights for investors from one who knows firsthand

Published on January 18, 2012

Rebecca Rothstein, a managing director at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Beverly Hills, focuses on helping high net worth and ultra-high net worth investors with estate, tax and financial planning. But she hasn’t always been a Barron’s top 100 financial advisor. A high-school dropout who went on to get her GED and an associate’s degree in design and merchandising, Rothstein started out as a buyer for the Robinson’s department store chain but left the job because it required too much time on the road away from her four young sons.

Can Reform Jews be politically conservative? Yes, say the ‘1 percent’

Published on December 19, 2011

It’s not easy being a political conservative in the most liberal of Jewish religious denominations.

Police and Los Angeles protesters skirmish, eviction delayed

Published on November 28, 2011

Police in riot gear held back on clearing out anti-Wall Street protesters who defied a deadline to abandon their 8-week-old encampment outside Los Angeles City Hall on Monday but opened streets for morning commuters before pulling back.

Social service agencies facing more complex needs

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax
Published on November 22, 2011

Two years ago, I did a series of interviews with Jewish community members hit hard by the recession. At that time, they were mostly optimistic that things would turn around soon, but when I checked back this month, I found that they’re all still struggling to find their footing in this unstable job market. Social service agencies I contacted say this is not surprising.

Buffett points the way

Published on November 17, 2011

Warren E. Buffett is the second-richest person in the United States (after Microsoft’s Bill Gates), so when he purchased an Israeli-based stock not long ago, investors throughout the world sat up and took notice. What made it more newsworthy is that it was Buffett’s first major foray into overseas investing. Up to that point, he said he could always find good stocks here at home.

Israel Bonds now available online

Published on October 5, 2011

Israel Bonds, which many synagogues pitch during the High Holidays, can now be purchased online.

Israel’s economic freedom ranking falls slightly

Published on September 20, 2011

Israel ranks 83rd in the world in economic freedom, down two spots from last year, according to a new report.

Putting the ‘Pop’ back into soda pop

Published on March 23, 2011

At the dawn of the 20th century, the British royals were privy to a spiffy new system for infusing drinking water with carbon dioxide bubbles. It would take 53 years for SodaStream to reach commoners, and another 42 until it was acquired by an Israeli distributor and transformed into an international DIY product called Soda Club.

Stanley Black: Businessman, philanthropist, collector

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on March 8, 2011

Moses may have brought the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai, but he only gave the Israelites one copy — and those stone tablets weren’t easy to lug around.

When good deals go bad

Published on March 8, 2011

So your good deal has gone bad. Perhaps your house is underwater. Maybe that great job, with the promise of valuable stock options, not only has not produced options “in the money,” but has itself disappeared. It could be that your business, once lucrative and full of promise, has gone south, and now you are not sure how to extricate yourself from it, particularly since your partners are your parents. It’s possible you are regretting withdrawing retirement savings to invest in the next sure bet, as “guaranteed” by your (perhaps now former) best friend. What do you do now?

Balancing the budget: Making the weak pay

Published on March 1, 2011

As a loyal Jewish Democrat and longtime advocate of social justice, she never thought she would find herself fighting Jerry Brown, a man she voted for three times for governor. Yet the 94-year-old is suddenly on the wrong side of Brown’s proposed budget cuts that would slash state spending by $12.5 billion, ripping a hole in numerous social service programs and eliminating others entirely.

Understanding Shariah finance and Islamic banking in American finance

Published on February 23, 2011

The Middle East, with its exotic tropical sirocco winds, is also now the haven and leader of a new form of finance that is enticing the world with the alluring scent of its petrodollars. Substantial profits are to be made, and gold plated Bentleys, mansions on the Palm Jumerah Island, and golf courses designed by Tiger Woods only add to the mystique behind the veils. However, more than Dubailand and dreams of riches lurk behind the Islamic ideologues who invented the concept of Islamic Finance, and they are ones who are promoting this form of "interest-free, Muslim friendly, ethical investment" worldwide.

Israeli economy surprises with pace of growth

Published on August 17, 2010

Israeli economic growth unexpectedly accelerated to its fastest pace in more than two years.

How to save on wedding costs without sacrificing

Published on December 12, 2008

Most brides want beauty and romance during their wedding -- an expression of their love in the form of a grandiose ceremony. But for many couples, a lavish wedding would require a major financial sacrifice at time when few can afford to do so.

Post-war belt-tightening: Israel could cut Falash Mura dreams in half

By Uriel Heilman
Published on September 14, 2006

Israel's Finance Ministry is proposing substantial cuts to Ethiopian immigration next year.

Study of UJC Merger Finds Unhappiness

By Tom Tugend
Published on February 3, 2005

American Jewish leaders who created the United Jewish Communities (UJC) umbrella organization out of three separate ones in 1999 are largely frustrated and disappointed by the outcome of their labor, with some scoring the missed chance to form a truly representative and forward-looking voice for American Jewry.

Foundation to Stop Funding Hate Groups

By Edwin Black
Published on November 27, 2003

In a stunning reversal, the Ford Foundation has admitted it erred in funding anti-Israeli Palestinian groups and has vowed to establish tough new guidelines to stop its funds from being used for anti-Semitic action anywhere in the world.

The foundation said it was "disgusted" by anti-Israel and anti-Semitic agitation action taken at the 2001 U.N. Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, which the foundation helped finance.

"We now recognize that we did not have a clear picture of the activities, organizations and people involved," conceded foundation President Susan Berresford in a letter this month to U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.).

Money Talks

By Lilla Zuckerman
Published on December 26, 2002

We live in the age of full disclosure. In this era of creepy stalkers, emotional maniacs and frightening venereal diseases, you can't be too careful, so singles have learned to utilize romantic phrases such as, "Have you been tested for AIDS lately?" as casually as one used to suggest, "Shall I pick you up at 8?"

Three JCCs to Gain Their Independence

By Marc Ballon
Published on December 26, 2002

The Jewish Community Centers of Greater Los Angeles (JCCGLA), which last year nearly drowned amid a sea of red ink and allegations of mismanagement, wants to get out of the business of running major community centers after 60 years.

Trading Up

By Melissa Minkin
Published on May 16, 2002

Investment banker Adlai Wertman was fed up with Wall Street -- so he moved to Los Angeles, took an 85 percent pay cut and got a job on Skid Row. Two years later, he says he's never been happier.

Caped Crusaders

By Ruth Andrew Ellenson
Published on May 16, 2002

The $114 million opening weekend for the release of "Spider-Man" on May 3 was not only a box office record breaker but a resounding triumph for two wily Israeli entrepreneurs.

Limiting Soft Money

By Sharon Samber
Published on April 5, 2001

The jury is still out on how the Senate's campaign finance reform bill would change the political influence of the Jewish community, but experts believe Jewish interests will remain well represented no matter what happens.

Time to Buy?

By Thomas M. Kostigen
Published on March 15, 2001

You're rich. You're eyeing that million-dollar dream house. Is now a good time to buy it?

Digital Divide

By David Wallis
Published on January 18, 2001

Though Israel boasts a burgeoning high-tech industry and a predominantly Net-savvy populace, many of the country's charedim (ultra-Orthodox Jews) view technology, especially the World Wide Web, as something of a mixed blessing. Sure, many charedim support their families by writing code, and several sites such as asktherabbi.com help Diaspora Jews answer questions about Jewish law, but earlier this year the Council of Torah Sages banned the Internet from its followers' homes. In a harshly worded edict, the panel of Talmudic scholars that represents the majority of charedi sects branded the Internet a "terrible danger" that's "1,000 times" more hazardous than television (which was cast out of ultra-Orthodox homes about 30 years ago). Some sects even declared personal computers in the home off-limits.

A High-Yield Investment

By Julie G Fax
Published on December 21, 2000

It's one of the longest-standing and most futile complaints in synagogue life: Why are they always schnorring for money?

Violence Harms Israeli Economy

By Avi Machlis
Published on December 14, 2000

With images of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip flashing across television screens around the world, it did not take long for Israel's tourism industry to start feeling the pinch.

Kosher Boom

By Julie G Fax
Published on November 16, 2000

Kosher Boom

East Ventura Bound

By Charlotte Hildebrand
Published on November 16, 2000

If you're looking to move into a new home in Los Angeles, good luck. Last month, the median sale price for an L.A. home jumped 10 percent to $213,000, setting an all-time record for L.A. County.

Why Synagogues Are Going Broke

By Wendy J. Madnick
Published on June 8, 2000

Unemployment hit a 30-year low in April and the economy is, if not booming, at least bouncing. So why is it that so many synagogues, even in wealthy areas, are struggling? Perhaps it is because members fail to understand that dues only go so far, according to Sylvia Moskovitz, executive director at Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills.

The Big Leagues

Published on February 17, 2000

Rather than being seen as a quasi-charity and feel-good gift for 13-year-olds, the organization wants to be considered a legitimate investment option.

Crisis of Confidence

Published on February 3, 2000

If Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak looks nervous these days, it's because his famous luck seems to be running out.

Credibility Gap

By David Landau
Published on February 3, 2000

Prime Minister Ehud Barak and his closest political allies have been scrambling to limit the damage to their government following a scathing report on the financing behind Barak's election campaign last year.