Tribute and Legacy: Being Present

By Lisa Niver Rajna
Published on December 30, 2012

Stamp of Approval

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 19, 2005

A picture may be worth 1,000 words -- but it will only cost you 37 cents. This month the U.S. Postal Service is issuing American Scientists commemorative stamps honoring two of the keenest Jewish minds of the 20th century: physicist Richard P. Feynman and mathematician John von Neumann.

High Marks for Jewish Swimmers

By Tom Tugend
Published on March 31, 2005

"Watermarks" is a life-affirming documentary that celebrates the constancy of courage and grace, from youth to old age.

Its setting is the waltz-loving Austria of the 1920s and '30s, where the lithe young swimmers of the fabled Hakoah ("the strength") Vienna sports club are beating their "Aryan" rival clubs year after year.

Freestyler Judith Deutsch alone breaks 12 national records in 1935 and is the toast of the town, until she refuses to compete for Austria at Hitler's 1936 Olympic Games. As punishment, she is barred from competition for life and all her marks are erased from the official record books.

After the Reich's takeover of Austria in 1938, the swimmers scatter to Palestine, the United States and England, marry and establish professional careers.

Some 65 years later, Israeli director Yaron Zilberman decided to track down eight of the swimmers, now in their 80s, in their adopted countries.

Just One Voice

By Rob Eshman
Published on October 21, 2004

It's nice to honor Righteous Gentiles when they're dead. It's even nicer to acknowledge them while they're still alive.

A 5765 Resolution

By Maurice J. Elias
Published on September 30, 2004

In 1990, the late psychologist and author Julius Segal wrote an article of exceptional depth, wisdom and practicality for Parents Magazine.

Remembrance

By Abby Gilad
Published on September 16, 2004

Remembrance

Good Kids,  Bad Revenge

By David Finnigan
Published on August 19, 2004

At the Humanitas Prize awards luncheon in Universal City earlier this summer, Jacob Aaron Estes picked up a $10,000 cash prize honoring the screenplay for his Paramount Classics film, "Mean Creek," which opens this weekend.

When asked what he would do with the money, the Chicago-bred writer/director told The Journal, "Pay rent."

The "Mean Creek" script depicts what happens when a teenage prank goes horribly wrong on a rafting trip. Such unexpected cruelty, Estes said, is based on "a whole accumulation of childhood experiences that I borrowed from."

The Circuit

By Gaby Wenig
Published on April 1, 2004

The Circuit

7 Days In Arts

Published on October 9, 2003

7 Days In The Arts

Big-Hearted Giver’s Crowning Moment

By Andrea Adelson
Published on September 4, 2003

Paul Goldenberg avoided playgrounds and sports while he was growing up, because he lacked athletic prowess. He spent hours in the cool darkness of a movie house.

The Jewish Side of…

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 8, 2001

There was no red carpet or Hollywood glitz, but the first Jewish Image Awards, honoring outstanding work reflecting Jewish heritage in film and television, proved a lot shorter and funnier than the more celebrated Oscar ceremonies.

Veteran director Arthur Hiller ("Love Story," "Plaza Suite," "The Man in the Glass Booth") received the Tisch Lifetime Achievement Award. It was presented by the multitalented Carl Reiner, who spent most of the introduction pointing out why Hiller didn't deserve the award.

Wonder Women

By Michael Aushenker
Published on July 26, 2001

Last year Hollywood unleashed woman of action Erin Brockovich, and won the Academy Award for its star, Julia Roberts.

Favorite Son

By Michael Aushenker
Published on June 14, 2001

It was a proud moment for Sam Kermanian when his West Hollywood-based organization, the Iranian-American Jewish Federation (IAJF), welcomed Israel's President Moshe Katzav last week.

Leading With His Left

By Ellen Jaffe-Gill
Published on April 26, 2001

Rabbi Leonard I. Beerman's art-filled home on a quiet, verdant Brentwood street is a world away from the gritty industrial world in which he lived as a child during the Depression and again as a young man on the cusp of World War II. But it's his experiences in that world of assembly-line workers that led him to the rabbinate and to his 52 years in Los Angeles.

‘Neighbors’

By Ruth E. Gruber
Published on March 15, 2001

Responding to widespread debate over Poles' participation in a 1941 massacre of Jews, Poland's political and religious leaders are calling on Polish citizens to confront their past.

Jewish Journalism

By Gene Lichtenstein
Published on June 29, 2000

Jewish Journalism

New Israel Fund Honors Rabbi Susan Laemmle

By Michael Aushenker
Published on May 27, 1999

Last week, Rabbi Richard Levy, executive director of the Los Angeles Hillel Council, introduced to the Central Conference of American Rabbis in Pittsburgh a new Reform movement manifesto. And according to Rabbi Susan Laemmle, that's not his only contribution to Reform. For without Rabbi Levy -- her mentor and former superior -- there may never have been a Rabbi Laemmle.

Young Israel Matures

By Julie G Fax
Published on March 4, 1999

Had Elazar Muskin not locked himself out of his uncle's house while on his honeymoon here 13 years ago, he might not today be rabbi of one of Los Angeles' most vibrant Orthodox shuls.

Honor Bestowed

By Beverly Gray
Published on September 3, 1998

Joel Grishaver, everybody's favorite hip Jewish uncle, had been up half the night, schmoozing with a rabbi's son who was visiting from England. So when Grishaver answered the phone at 6:30 a.m., he was hardly prepared for the voice that said, "You and I have a date for lunch in Washington on Sept. 15. You've just won the Covenant Award."

Singing the Composer’s Praises

By Michael Aushenker
Published on June 4, 1998

"Air Force One." "Basic Instinct." "Poltergeist." "Planet of the Apes."
Just a sampling of the more than 175 motion pictures bearing the distinctive imprimatur of master film composer Jerry Goldsmith, (left) who was recently honored by the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce. The Regent Beverly Wilshire reception was part of the Chamber's 75th-anniversary Diamond Jubilee.

Vienna Opens

By Tom Tugend
Published on March 26, 1998

With a week-long celebration to mark theopening of the Arnold Schoenberg Center, Vienna heaped honors on theseminal composer of 20th-century music, while visibly agonizing overthe sins of its Nazi past.