Report: One-quarter of Israelis—and 37 percent of kids—live in poverty

Published on December 4, 2012

The numbers tell a consistent storyline: Nearly one in four Israelis lives in poverty.

Homes for homeless

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on November 20, 2012

Back in 2004, attorney Jerry Neuman was driving in Hollywood with his then-4-year-old son, Jake, when the boy noticed a disheveled homeless man on a bus bench beside a shopping cart of belongings. Jake asked his father where the man lived.

Blessings from Paris to San Francisco

By Ilana Angel
Published on October 26, 2012

Victim of police beating on video at N.Y. Chabad center has charges dropped

Published on October 23, 2012

All charges have been dropped against a homeless man shown on a video being beaten by New York police officers at a Chabad youth center in Brooklyn.

Without shelter on Pico

By Ryan Torok
Published on September 27, 2012

It’s a Wednesday in September. Brad Baker stands in front of Elat Market on Pico Boulevard, holding out his baseball cap. People exit the supermarket, pushing shopping carts and carrying bags with groceries. Some look at Baker. Some don’t. For Baker, this is just another day.

On Sukkot, honoring the homeless

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 27, 2012

From Rosh Hashanah in a tent to standing on my own two feet

Published on August 28, 2012

A growing number of once proud, working-class Israeli families are being transformed into the "working poor," as they've failed to keep up with increased taxes as well as rising food and gas prices. Without the assistance of outreach social service organizations such as Meir Panim, the Mirilashvili family might have endured more than one Rosh Hashanah on the streets of Israel. Instead, they are not only regaining their independence but are giving back to the community too.

From homelessness to the table tennis summit, Paralympian Tahl Leibovitz is London-bound

Published on August 21, 2012

Tahl Leibovitz spent much of his adolescence riding New York City’s subways – not for transportation or because of the trains’ allure.

UCLA homeless aid group headed to White House

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax
Published on March 8, 2012

A UCLA student group that supports the homeless is headed to the White House, one of five initiatives to win the White House’s Campus Champions of Change Challenge. The White House selected 15 finalists from hundreds of applicants, and online voters chose the top five.

UCLA Homeless Aid Group Has White House Hopes

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax
Published on March 1, 2012

Osmonds, Compliments & the Kindness of a Stranger

By Ilana Angel
Published on January 13, 2012

‘We’re here to make other people’s lives easier’

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax
Published on January 5, 2012

Many people avert their eyes when they walk by the homeless. Hanne Mintz opens her hand, her heart and her home.

Opinion: Not human enough to live

By Rabbi Yonah Bookstein
Published on November 22, 2011

The facts are horrific. Video captures the brutal attack on the side of a busy street. Onlookers and passers-by don’t come to the victim’s aid. Eventually, the bruised, bleeding half-dead body is attended to by medical personnel, but it is too late. The victim dies.

Walking into the raw reality of LA’s Skid Row

By Lia Mandelbaum
Published on August 11, 2011

My 4th of July Dinner Date

By Ilana Angel
Published on July 4, 2011

L.A.'s Top Ten Mensches: Our fourth-annual salute to big-hearted Angelenos

Published on December 31, 2008

The Jewish Journal created this list as a response to all those lists extolling fame, money, power and hotness. We honor these special ten because they are just people -- menschen, to use the proper Yiddish plural -- who understand the power and possibility of just one person.

Meet Gabriel Halimi, Kim Krowne, Manijeh Youabian, Andrew Wolfberg, Susan Corwin, Ari Moss, Richard Braun, Bracha Yael, Jack Matloff and Neil Sheff

Perfect storm for charities— contributions go down and requests go up

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on November 19, 2008

No one has gone unscathed by the convulsions of the global economy. Even the wealthy are losing money -- and if they cut their charitable giving, it is likely to ripple across the Jewish nonprofit sector

Rebuilding lives, one broken tile at a time

By Jane Ulman
Published on November 19, 2008

It was an elegant opening for a gallery exhibition. It was difficult to discern, on the surface, that the artists represented some of Los Angeles' most impoverished citizens, residents of Skid Row and South Los Angeles, who are actually using the broken bits of tile, stone and other rejected and recycled materials to rebuild their own lives.

Sukkot in the kishkes

By David Suissa
Published on October 15, 2008

After seven years of obsessing over security in the context of terrorism, we've all been blindsided by a more pervasive form of terror: sudden financial insecurity.

A lesson in listening

Published on October 10, 2008

I was partnered with a woman who, before she even really met me, thanked me for just showing up as a volunteer. She was homeless in San Francisco and felt that she had nowhere to turn before she found Project Homeless Connect. As I walked her to the housing information stand, she displayed thorough delight that somebody was beside her to hear all that she had to say. It seemed as if very few people, or none, had bothered to listen to her full story.

Sukkot on the streets—finding community amid temporary shelter

Published on October 10, 2008

Every night on Skid Row, 5,000 people pile onto shelter cots or erect their flimsy huts in the concrete desert of the city. Another 9,000 go to bed in the area's residency hotels, hoping to still have a roof over their heads the next day. In the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, year-round they share their sukkot with each other and remind us that we have failed to do the same for them.

Congregations help the homeless into homes—one family at a time

By Julie G Fax
Published on October 10, 2008

Imagine LA coordinators work with facility case managers and faith partners to determine the family's needs and set up a plan for independent living.

AUDIO: Iranian American Jews —reaching out to poor and homeless in the city

By Karmel Melamed
Published on April 29, 2008

Iranian American Jews -- reaching out to poor and homeless in the city

Podcast: Iranian Jews giving back to L.A.‘s homeless and needy

By Karmel Melamed
Published on April 27, 2008

Hanging with the homeless at shul

By David Suissa
Published on April 19, 2007

Helen was one of about 25 homeless people -- Jews and non-Jews -- who come once a month to have lunch and schmooze with members of the B'nai David Judea Congregation, located in the heart of the Pico-Robertson neighborhood. The program started a year and a half ago, and it has become so crowded that they now hand out tickets.

Eve Marcus: Soul of the Food Pantry

By Jane Ulman
Published on December 28, 2006

"Eve is the soul of the Food Pantry. She just knows that people cannot be hungry and we need to do whatever is necessary," said Joy Grau, a member of St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church in Studio City and a 15-year volunteer.

Yes on Measure H: a measure of humanity

By Rob Eshman
Published on November 2, 2006

Has anyone else noticed that the only difference between your local Starbucks and your local homeless shelter is the shelter has a faster turnover?

JFS Marks 150 Years of Help in L.A.

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on January 15, 2004

This month at the Skirball Cultural Center, JFS celebrates its 150th anniversary with a simple but moving exhibit, "Still Listening," which tells its story mostly through case histories like Miss N.

Have a Very Jewish Xmas

By Rabbi Daniel Greyber
Published on December 25, 2003

Jewish law requires that we publicize the miracle of Chanukah -- both when we light and where we light. We light the Chanukah candles after dark when they are most visible and we light in the early evening when most people are still out and about.

Q & A With David Grunwald

By Marc Ballon
Published on December 4, 2003

David Grunwald is agitated. The chief executive of L.A. Family Housing Corp. grows ever more upset as he details the indifference many Angelenos feel toward the population his nonprofit group serves: the homeless and those one or two paychecks away from being on the streets. From liberal Brentwood to conservative Pasadena, most Southern California residents don't want homeless shelters in their neighborhoods and oppose the construction of high-density, affordable housing that could help thousands of families. NIMBY is alive and well here.

Director, Neighbors Rescue ‘Collector’

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on May 8, 2003

In 1998, Alice Elliott received a disturbing call from Larry Selman, the remarkable man with developmental disabilities she was profiling in her Oscar-nominated short documentary, "The Collector of Bedford Street."

Taking It to the Streets

By Charlotte Hildebrand
Published on August 8, 2002

For years, an empty lot in Van Nuys was gathering garbage, used appliances, old furniture and was a "home" for the homeless and their shopping carts.

A Place to Call Home

By Orit Arfa
Published on October 25, 2001

On his first day of work in 1985 as executive director of the Hillel Foundation at the University of California at Santa Barbara, Rabbi Stephen Cohen received a telling welcome.

Cohen, a former New Yorker, stepped off the plane and took a cab straight to the University Religion Center (URC), where the offices of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life are housed. A social worker, prompted by the rabbi's forlorn and scruffy look, invited him to take part in that day's breakfast program for the homeless.

Cohen, 28 at the time, laughed and explained his position.

Hollywood Mitzvahs

By Mike Levy
Published on May 3, 2001

When one person helps another person, it's a mitzvah. When 1,500 people from 30 different organizations join together to help out in over 50 volunteering projects, it's Temple Israel of Hollywood's (TIOH) Mitzvah Day.

Earthquake Relief

By Jewish Journal Staff
Published on February 1, 2001

The death toll from the Jan. 26 earthquake in India may surpass 100,000, with thousands more left injured and homeless. To contribute toward disaster relief, you can send a contribution to Indian Earthquake Relief c/o Jewish Federation Accounting Office, 6505 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048.

‘Ferris’ Singer’s Day Off

By Michael Aushenker
Published on June 3, 1999

When Spectator caught up with Monique Powell, lead singer of the pop sensation Save Ferris, she was wandering around Anaheim, tired, displaced and searching for food.