One Israeli Creation for the Weekend

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on April 5, 2013

One Israeli Creation for the Weekend

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on March 15, 2013

Drake wins first Grammy

Published on February 11, 2013

The Jewish Canadian singer Drake won a Grammy Award, his first, for Rap Album of the Year.

Hot Spot Tel-Aviv

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on August 8, 2012

A summer to remember

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on May 18, 2012

Sex Toys for Orthodox Jews? MAZEL TOV!!!

By Ilana Angel
Published on September 12, 2011

Not Your American Summer Camp…

By Julia Bendis
Published on December 1, 2010

I’ll try it!

By Caroline Cobrin
Published on October 5, 2006

The thing about reaching "I'll try it" is that you are daring to imagine that things can work out for the best, and that you can add another activity to the list of common likes.

So sorry, wrong numbers

By Debra L. Eckerling
Published on September 21, 2006

There are so many choices of singles events, but most of them don't seem to work for me: SpeedDating -- concept is interesting, but my age range and location
never seem to match my availability; outdoor sports -- not my thing, and it's not that I'm out of shape, I'm just a fair-skinned California girl who, in addition to not wanting to be burned to a crisp, has never shown much talent for volleyball or hiking; social dances -- I went to enough of those alone when I was in junior high. Enough said.

When Birthday Party Blowouts Blowup

By Sharon Duke Estroff
Published on September 7, 2006

Fortunately, it's perfectly possible to plan a kid-friendly birthday bash without compromising our values, sanity and pocketbook. All it takes is a little panning for gold.

Art With A Twist—It Inflates!

Published on July 13, 2006

He didn't know it at the time, but when Doron Gazit discovered twisty balloons while working as a camp counselor at a Jewish summer camp in Texas, it was the start of something big. The twisties served as the Israeli's inspiration for creating artwork out of large colorful air tubes made from a stronger plastic and supporting them with heavy duty high pressure blowers. Today, he produces tunnels, canopies and decorations galore using the tubes and highlights, air sculptures that inflate to specific shapes.

Scheduled Relaxation

By JoAnneh Nagler
Published on June 15, 2006

As the years have gone by, I realize I'd just as soon be alone than continue to go through cycles of head-spinning effort with someone in exchange for a couple of moments of grace. So I don't do that anymore. And though this kind of spiritual honesty has created an ease in my nervous system (and a welcome death to that horrible intimate uncertainty of giving myself where it's not appreciated), I have to stop and wonder, have I become overworked and underplayed?

The Hebrascope: Signs of the Jewdiac

By Jew Girl
Published on April 13, 2006

Horoscopes

Hip Cynics for Export

By Amy Klein
Published on April 6, 2006

In Israel, no one wants to be a friar -- a sucker, a patsy, a flunky, a tool.

It's the Israeli equivalent of the Chinese never wanting to lose face. And in Israel, this primary motivation explains much of the country's machismo -- and perhaps even its political situation.

yeLAdim

By Shoshana Lewin-Fischer
Published on February 23, 2006

yeLAdim

Singles - Imperfect One and Only

By Annie Korzen
Published on February 9, 2006

I have a friend who answered one of these "too-good-to-be-true" ads. They met for brunch and she knew right away it wasn't going to work out because he glanced at the menu and then said, "So, do you want to split an order of toast?"

Fit L.A. - Let’s Take a ‘J-Walk’ Around the Block

By Norma Zager
Published on January 19, 2006

After schlepping 40 years in the desert, it's hard to imagine a CD to exercise by coming from a people who have harbored a subconscious distrust of walking. But with my daughter's upcoming nuptials, my unending kvetch about fitting into the dress won out over my skepticism.

‘Love With Noodles’ Rife With Canoodles

By Dan Pine
Published on November 3, 2005

Narrated in the first person, present tense (always risky), "Love With Noodles" follows Gelder's canoodling with a string of women who enter his life just as he emerges from mourning his late beshert, Ellen. Gelder lives alone. His grown son, Eric, faces financial ruin. What's worse, Eric is planning to marry a non-Jew.

Hey Kids!

By Shoshana Lewin-Fischer
Published on October 27, 2005

Kids and Teens

Burton’s ‘Corpse’ Has Jewish Bones

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 15, 2005

This chilling Jewish folk tale hails from a cycle of stories about the great 16th-century mystic, Rabbi Isaac Luria of Safed, in what is now northern Israel, said Howard Schwartz, a top Jewish folklorist and professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Kids Page

By Abby Gilad
Published on July 14, 2005

Have you been having fun this summer?

Spectator - The Geffen’s Great Escape

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 19, 2005

Cunningly constructed, the play relates the adventures and misadventures of the Sycamore Family of New York, whose guiding motto is, do whatever turns you on, however eccentric, and you'll have lots of fun, avoid ulcers and enjoy a happy ending.

How to make a seder child’s play

By Sharon Duke Estroff
Published on April 21, 2005

For parents of squirmy kids, a Passover seder can seem longer than the 40 years our ancestors spent wandering through the desert. Fortunately, all it takes is a little forethought and creativity to keep the younger set from getting as jumpy as the frogs in Pharaoh's bed at the big event.

Afikomen, Afikomen Wherefore Art Thou?

By Shoshana Lewin-Fischer
Published on April 14, 2005

The afikomen: dessert or simply a ploy to keep children -- and some adults -- awake through most of the seder? Most people probably favor the latter, and tend to choose one of two techniques to make finding the half-piece of matzah interesting:

Holiday Frivolity for Young at Heart

By Jane Ulman
Published on March 24, 2005

At every age, we must be connected to life's fun side, and Purim, the boisterous and tumultuous holiday that begins this year at sundown on March 24 and celebrates the triumph of the Jews in ancient Persia over enemies determined to destroy them, gives us that opportunity.

Enemy Ties

By Orit Arfa
Published on March 24, 2005

I thought about the implications: I take this tie, and my hands are tied. I'd forever have to remember that one night a Palestinian gave me an expensive tie, and that he was nice to me. I'd have to question all my stereotypes and generalizations, and recognize that there are good, normal, generous Palestinians who just want peace, who just want to be my friend, who just want some fun.

The Great Camp Learning Curve

By Julie Brown
Published on March 17, 2005

I am a big fan of camp. Every summer from 1973 on, I packed my trunk and headed to Malibu. Camp Hess Kramer shaped my teen years and reinforced my Jewish identity. It was my second home from age 12 to 22, and to this day, whenever I catch a whiff of pancakes frying in hot oil on a griddle, I close my eyes and return to camp. My life revolved around those precious summer months. If somebody offered me a job at camp today, I'd roll up my sleeping bag and hop on the bus.

Yeladim

By Abby Gilad
Published on December 23, 2004

Yeladim

From the Mouths of Babes

By Joan G Friedman
Published on November 11, 2004

Marital advice from the under 11's.

Yeladim

By Abby Gilad
Published on November 4, 2004

On Sunday, Nov. 14, come to the second annual Jewish Children's Bookfest at the Triangle, Mount Sinai Memorial Park (6150 Mount Sinai Drive, Simi Valley, exit the 118 West at Yosemite).

I Love a Parade

By Rabbi Lawrence Goldmark
Published on September 2, 2004

What do we have in Judaism that comes closest to a military parade? It occurred to me that every Sabbath morning, when we take out the Torah and walk around the sanctuary, we are actually simulating a military parade. No guns, not tanks, no jet planes to impress onlookers.

Superflirt

By Carin Davis
Published on August 19, 2004

Faster than a benching rabbi. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall bachelors in a single bound. Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's SuperFlirt.

Frum Frenzy

By Anna Schneider-Mayerson
Published on August 12, 2004

Of course, it was only a matter of time before a class of frum frauds emerged on Craigslist. But if the missives from Orthodox neighborhoods are to be believed, where there are frum, there is desire.

Mel Brooks: Genius Behind ‘Producers’

By Tom Teicholz
Published on August 5, 2004

The irony is that by the turn of the millennium, Brooks had pretty much worn out his welcome in Hollywood. He had not had a hit in years, his humor seemed too old-fashioned and shticky and he had a maddening habit of inserting musical production numbers into his movies at a time when no one was interested in musicals. Go figure.

Shabbat in Jerusalem

By Laurel Sternberg
Published on August 5, 2004

Hospitality is the rule and guests are considered a blessing. I never lacked invitations for Shabbat dinners and lunches as a single person, but I also loved hosting.

For the Kids

By Abby Gilad
Published on April 22, 2004

Come to the Israeli Independence Day Festival on May 2,
10 a.m.-7 p.m. at Woodley Park (between Burbank Boulevard and Victory Boulevard adjacent to the 405).

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.

A Buffet Fit for Your Kings and Queens

By Judy Zeidler
Published on March 4, 2004

This year, the family is invited to an "after-the-Purim-carnival buffet" inspired by the elaborate banquets that were served in biblical days. One long table in the dining room will be set for all the guests, and our collection of Purim groggers (noisemakers) will be arranged at each place setting for everyone to use during the retelling of the Purim story.

For the Kids

Published on December 25, 2003

head over to Universal Studios Hollywood

Have a Holly Jolly Schmooz-fest

By Keren Engelberg
Published on December 18, 2003

Chinese-food-and-a-movie faces strong competition in our city once again this year.

Down to the Wire

By J.D. Smith
Published on August 14, 2003

I've had a good time being engaged. People are really nice to you. Strangers wish you "Congratulations!" and "Mazel tov!" Thank you, everyone. As the date has gotten closer, I noticed that people go a little bit insane when I tell them, "I'm getting married -- on Thursday." They all seem to think that I should be doing something. What, exactly, I don't know. Baking a cake, maybe.

Marlene Marks’ Spirit on the Web

By Beverly Gray
Published on June 5, 2003

Jana Rosenblatt's founding partners in Five Chicks Unlimited are four local businesswomen who have been touched by cancer. They bring expertise in finance, product research, Web design and customer service to the site.

Painted Clowns

By Teresa Strasser
Published on April 24, 2003

I'm drinking at a bar called the Dirty Horse on Hollywood Boulevard. Well, that's not the real name but I never got a look at the sign and that name seemed right.

7 Days In Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on April 17, 2003

7 Days in Arts

The Dayenu Diet

By Carin Davis
Published on April 10, 2003

We know you check out our top as we walk in, and our bottom as we walk out. Which is one reason why this Jew-Lo spends hours at the gym sculpting her curves. Pilates, spinning, weights and running. All in the name of a taut tuchis and a tiny waist.

Snooze-Proof Seder

By Andrea Adelson
Published on April 3, 2003

Guests at one of Heidi Kahn's Passover potlucks stepped into a desert oasis. That year, her Irvine tract home was transformed with a Bedouin makeover achieved by suspending a tent inside. Another year, guests, who always contribute to the feast, were also asked to bring household goods and were put to work assembling care packages for Jews trying to flee the former Soviet Union.

Typically, the amphibian plague, one of many inflicted on ancient Egypt in the biblical story of Exodus, gets a star turn at Kahn's seder. Plastic frogs croak unexpectedly at arriving guests, who can fold origami frogs while waiting for latecomers. Some guests even don frog masks.

"When you've sat through a lifetime of tedious seders and create your own tedious seders, and then go to Heidi's place and play, no seder will ever compare," said friend and past guest, Gail Shendelman, of Irvine. "I'm spoiled for life."

Purim Around the World

By Abby Gilad
Published on March 13, 2003

Kids Page

The Matzah Bull

By Carin Davis
Published on December 19, 2002

Christmas Eve 2001. Bing Crosby's on my radio, Jimmy Stewart's on my television and I'm on my couch.

Wingman Wanted

By Carin Davis
Published on November 14, 2002

Oh where, oh where did my single friends go? Seems the chicks in my clique are all dating, married or hauling around gargantuan diamonds.

Tisha B’Av

By Abby Gilad
Published on July 11, 2002

Kids Page

Star Power

By Journal Staff
Published on June 6, 2002

It all started with a void in the contemporary family.

"Our conversations with children are not deep enough," says psychiatrist Cece Feiler. "If you can't talk to your children, they grow up into adults who don't care.

"It forces you to slow down, to reflect and to interact in a meaningful way," Feiler says.

So together with actress Heidi Haddad, she created the Shabbat Box of Questions, whose Star of David-shaped question cards do inspire fun, even soul-searching moments.

Having Fun Is No Picnic

By Teresa Strasser
Published on March 4, 1999

It is Saturday night, and I'm determined to have a good time.

Seder Ceremonies

Published on June 18, 1998

When the Weber family invites the Wolfson familyfor seder, we are asked to prepare a presentation on some aspect ofthe seder ceremony. The presentation could be a d'rash, an explanation of whatthe Haggadah is trying to say. But, over the years, our presentationshave also been given as a play, a song, and a take-off on a gameshow.