Inspired by Alaska

By Lisa Niver Rajna
Published on May 10, 2013

Flowers For Pesach: part 1

By Emily Stern
Published on March 20, 2013

Determinism & Freedom: Is One Punished for the Mistakes of One’s Parents

By Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz
Published on March 3, 2013

The Dark Side of Judaism

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on January 2, 2013

Netanyahu, Peres hail U.S. friendship, leadership on Independence Day

Published on July 4, 2012

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an Independence Day message that he "appreciate(s) deeply all that America has done for Israel."

Mister President

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on June 22, 2012

Journey to freedom: Reflecting on the King memorial

Published on August 31, 2011

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

This seder honors today’s Egyptians

Published on April 20, 2011

Jews have long celebrated freedom as part of the Passover seder, but any look at a newspaper these days provides a reminder that the topic is as relevant as ever.

A Time to Forgive

By Misha Henckel
Published on September 4, 2010

Choosing Happiness

By Misha Henckel
Published on March 30, 2010

Friendship and freedom at Adat Chaverim

By Tom Tugend
Published on September 25, 2008

Adat Chaverim is a small congregation of secular, Humanistic Jews, whose brochure proposes that "reason rather than faith is the source of truth, and human intelligence and experience are capable of guiding our lives."

VIDEO: History will be made in Beijing

Published on August 9, 2008

Director Oren Kaplan offers this 60-second 'commercial' for the 2008 Beijing Olympics

AUDIO: Iranian American Jews —Jimmy Delshad, former Mayor of Beverly Hills

By Karmel Melamed
Published on March 14, 2008

AUDIO: Iranian American Jews -- Jimmy Delshad, former Mayor of Beverly Hills

Chametz and matzah symbolize internal slavery struggle

By Reb Mimi Feigelson
Published on March 29, 2007

When my student Adam confronted me recently with this question "In a post-Freudian world, how can we trust the honesty of our intentions?" my response was, "Our conscious and subconscious can be likened to matzah and chametz."

Video: From slavery to freedom

By Rabbi Irwin Kula
Published on March 29, 2007

Teens can learn from Shoah survivors

By Jonathan Kuperberg
Published on March 1, 2007

For some of us, a "problem" is getting seven presents for Chanukah, not eight. However, 70 years ago, these so-called "problems" would have been luxuries for the millions of Jews and other minorities living, and dying, during the Holocaust.

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.

Let There Be Yiddish

By Jane Ulman
Published on July 6, 2006

Tonight is a Yiddish service, Zol Zahn Shabbes -- literally, we should have Shabbat -- and it's happening at Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC), founded in 1972 as the world's first synagogue for lesbian and gay Jews.

Abortion Doc’s Son Weighs Thorny Past

By Holly Lebowitz Rossi
Published on April 13, 2006

The release of "Absolute Convictions" could not be more auspiciously timed, given the recent passage in South Dakota of the most far-reaching anti-abortion legislation nationwide. That law, and proposed bills in other states, has reignited debate over the future of Roe vs. Wade. The case, decided in 1973, "would turn tens of thousands of Americans, some of them housewives, others previously disengaged evangelical Christians, into full-fledged crusaders," Press writes.

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: Don’t Be a Slave to Tradition

By Joel Haber
Published on April 6, 2006

Here was my dilemma when I came of age and began making my own seders: Should I maintain tradition even though I didn't have the same associations with these foods that my mother did? Since Passover celebrates freedom (another traditional name for the holiday is Zman Cheiruteinu, or The Time of Our Freedom), I wanted to express my freedom by making foods of my own choosing, rather than feeling bound by a menu that was "traditional" only due to its roots in Eastern European cuisine.

Let My People Watch TV

By Tom Tugend
Published on March 30, 2006

A new version of "The Ten Commandments," with its timeless themes of slavery and freedom, faith and doubt, adultery and fidelity, battles and miracles, has been shaped into a four-hour miniseries by ABC-TV.

Pupils Vote Yes on Democratic School

By Dina Kraft
Published on February 23, 2006

The Hadera Democratic School, which receives funding from both public and private sources, was the first of its kind in Israel. Since its founding in 1987 in this city about 60 kilometers north of Tel Aviv, 23 other schools have opened around the country based on its model of democratic education, in which student participation and choice is emphasized.

Moses and King

By Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater
Published on January 19, 2006

This week we meet Moses, our new leader and adviser. Moses is commanded to go to Egypt, gather the people and demand their freedom from Pharaoh.

Alito Protects Minority Rights

By Jeffrey N. Wasserstein
Published on January 12, 2006

It's axiomatic that Jews tend to view all news through the lens of "but is it good for the Jews?" It's therefore no surprise that this filter now is being brought to bear on my former boss and mentor, Judge Samuel Alito Jr., who has been nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Rosa Parks’ Message for Today

By Leonard Fein
Published on November 3, 2005

The moral -- these many years later -- is not immediately obvious. Yes, it's about what one person can do, but it is about much more than that. It's about leadership and about community organization

We Must Heal Divide Over Life Views

By Rabbi Eliyahu Stern
Published on September 29, 2005

As we stand at the dawn of the 21st century, a perhaps even more fundamental issue divides the American body politic. From stem cells, abortion and human cloning to the Schiavo case and physician-assisted suicides, the question of life has become this generation's great ideological battle ground.

Iranian Community Mourns Its ‘Anchor’

By Karmel Melamed
Published on September 22, 2005

More than 2,000 mourners packed the Nessah Cultural Center in Beverly Hills this summer to bid farewell to Hacham Yedidia Shofet

Formula Could Combat Campus Racism

By Judea Pearl
Published on June 9, 2005

Jewish students are currently subjected to an unprecedented assault on their identity as Jews. And we, the Jewish faculty on campus, have let those students down. We have failed to equip them with effective tools to fight back this assault.

We can reverse this trend.

Moving Forward Passover

By Rabbi Karen Deitsch
Published on April 28, 2005

I was sitting at lunch with my best friend the other day discussing life. This is her tsuris at the moment: she is involved with a guy who loves her very much, accepts her unconditionally, is cute, bright, Jewish, healthy, loyal.

Why Scapegoat?

By Rabbi Lisa Edwards
Published on April 21, 2005

In response to the three clerics who made the front page of The New York Times, in just one week several hundred clergy, mostly from the United States, signed on to a letter of support for WorldPride in Jerusalem, saying, among other things, that "Jerusalem, a living, holy city, a pilgrimage site for people of many faiths and many beliefs, increases in holiness when all are welcome within her walls."

Iran to L.A.—Hope, Hardship Mark Path

By Karmel Melamed
Published on April 14, 2005

Jahangir Javaheri lived a full life in Iran as a pharmaceutical retailer, complete with a nice car, large house and the esteem and satisfaction that came with being a leader within the nation's small but cohesive Jewish community.

After the Ashes

By Rabbi Elazar Muskin
Published on March 24, 2005

Natan Sharansky's attitude is as old as the Bible. This week's Torah portion began with a description of the olah, the obligatory burnt offering that was brought twice a day -- morning and afternoon -- to the Holy Temple.

High Court Hears Prison Religion Case

By Matthew E. Berger
Published on March 24, 2005

Though Jews make up a small proportion of the prison population, they often are discriminated against and denied religious materials, such as kosher meals and tefillin, advocates for Jewish prisoners say.

Yeladim

By Abby Gilad
Published on February 10, 2005

"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy." – Abraham Lincoln

Yeladim

By Abby Gilad
Published on January 13, 2005

In last week's Torah Portion, the Israelites sat back and watched as God brought seven plagues upon the Egyptians. This week, in Parshat Bo, we read of the last three plagues.

esedse

Published on September 30, 2004

The Tuesday after Labor Day found many kids returning to school from summer vacation. While those at Beverly High showed up in summer tan-revealing tanks and short shorts, at Milken Community High School, neither tank top, nor short shorts, nor T-shirt could be seen.

Dream Achievement

By Sandee Brawarsky
Published on September 30, 2004

A historical romance, "Songbird," is told through the voice of Mia; when the novel opens in 1939, she is a 17-year-old vacationing with her family at a resort called Krzemieniec, "the Polish Athens."

trde

Published on September 30, 2004

The Tuesday after Labor Day found many kids returning to school from summer vacation. While those at Beverly High showed up in summer tan-revealing tanks and short shorts, at Milken Community High School, neither tank top, nor short shorts, nor T-shirt could be seen.

Milken Dress Code

By Keren Engelberg
Published on September 30, 2004

The Tuesday after Labor Day found many kids returning to school from summer vacation. While those at Beverly High showed up in summer tan-revealing tanks and short shorts, at Milken Community High School, neither tank top, nor short shorts, nor T-shirt could be seen.

Q&A With Jamie Court

By Marc Ballon
Published on September 30, 2004

Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, worries that multinationals are systematically whittling away our privacy, freedoms and safety. Unless society can curb big business, Court thinks we risk living in a world where profits trump all else, including individual liberty and happiness.

AIPAC Gives Bush Standing Ovations

By Matthew E. Berger
Published on May 20, 2004

President Bush knew what he was doing when he took his case for staying the course in Iraq to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Failure to Elect Kerry Will Hurt Israel

By Daphna E. Ziman
Published on May 20, 2004

I am a sabra, a native Israeli. I am also an American. I grew up with the Israeli and American flags crisscrossing my wall. They symbolized freedom to me.

Shavuot: A Link to God

By Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson
Published on May 6, 2004

"Why is the festival of Shavuot called 'The time of the giving of our Torah' and not the time of the receiving of our Torah? Because the giving of the Torah happened at one specified time, but the receiving of the Torah happens at every time and in every generation. -- Rabbi Meir Alter of Ger"

"

Falsely Imprisoned Man Files Claims

By Adam Wills
Published on May 6, 2004

It took a Long Beach Superior Court judge two minutes to free Thomas Lee Goldstein on April 2, releasing him after almost a quarter century behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. The white-haired former Marine from Kansas mourned a lifetime of missed opportunities.

Russian Singer’s Star Shines Again

By Lea Silverman
Published on April 29, 2004

The waitress at Canter's Deli looks vaguely annoyed as Aida Vedischeva makes herself at home in a back booth, spreading her memorabilia across the table.

Iraq Situation: It’s Vietnam Deja Vu

By Gordon Livingston
Published on April 29, 2004

Determination is a virtue. Remember how determined we were in Vietnam?

Israel Needs Hope for Survival

By Ambassador Yuval Rotem
Published on April 29, 2004

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

Redemption!

By David Finnigan
Published on April 1, 2004

On an alcohol-free St. Patrick's Day in the tranquil, grassy courtyard of a Westside recovery house for Jewish drug addicts, a former addict displayed his battle scars from 17 years of relentless freebasing, mainlining, snorting, bingeing, shooting up and coming down. The ex-addict's arms are pocked with small, pink mounds of leathery flesh -- reminders, he said, of, "places where I've missed shooting heroin."

For Jewish addicts forever negotiating the psychological and physiological cliffs of recovery, sobriety especially can fulfill Passover's promise of redemption.

Passover Show Honors Oppressed

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on March 25, 2004

Overcoming oppression, both internal and external, will be the focus when Daniel Cacho and 20 other artists perform at Doikayt, produced by the Progressive Jewish Alliance (PJA) and AVADA, a Yiddishkayt Los Angeles project to engage people under 35.

The Network of Terror

By Micah D. Halpern
Published on March 18, 2004

The catastrophic simultaneous terror bombings that rocked Madrid and sent the United States, Israel and other freedom-loving and freedom-seeking countries reeling symbolized more than a small victory of evil over righteousness.

My Culture War

By Rob Eshman
Published on March 11, 2004

I understand that by many peoples' standards, Stern is indecent, but he has been so for a long, long time. The incident that prompted Clear Channel to dump him, and for which the FCC may levy fines, has been so commonplace on his program that it could have been mistaken for a promo spot.

Cherish and Respect

By Rabbi Haim Ovadia
Published on February 12, 2004

The Ten Commandments are one of the most fascinating documents in the history of mankind. Hundreds of books and thousands of articles and commentaries were written around them. They decorate, in different forms and media, almost every synagogue and public Jewish facility, and recently they were in the center of a fiery debate regarding the separation of church and state. But from all discussions and debates of commentators and scholars throughout the ages, one question stands out: What is the logic behind the division of the commandments on the Tablets of the Law?

Thanksgiving’s Sukkot Roots

By Linda Morel
Published on November 20, 2003

Did you know that Thanksgiving is really a Jewish holiday?

Why I Fast

By Nathan Gutman
Published on October 2, 2003

To fast on that Yom Kippur day was an act of defiance. It was to prove to myself that in spite of all the German atrocities, I still controlled at least one aspect of my life. They took away my family, they took away my freedom, but they could not take away the Yom Kippur fast.

Israel’s Year of Strength

By Yuval Rotem
Published on September 25, 2003

There are many ways to reflect on the year past and the year to come.

After the Cease-Fire What Comes Next?

By Leslie Susser
Published on July 3, 2003

As Israel and the Palestinians begin a long-awaited truce, both sides are holding their breath -- and wondering what the United States will do next to advance the "road map" peace plan.

Every American Deserves Health Care

By Zev Yaroslavsky
Published on June 26, 2003

Following is an abridged version of the address given by Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky at the UCLA College of Letters and Sciences commencement ceremony on June 13.

Kitaj the ‘Diasporist’

By Tom Teicholz
Published on June 19, 2003

R.B. Kitaj's show in Venice includes more than 20 works, paintings, drawings, even a few abstracts. Clearly, Kitaj's time in Los Angeles has been productive. But can a self-proclaimed "Diasporist" ever be truly at home?

Explosion of Love in Encino Defeats Hatred

By Michael Berenbaum
Published on May 29, 2003

Persecution is something that religious groups have known elsewhere. Religious freedom has allowed them to flourish in the United States -- religious freedom and tolerance.