A self-respecting Jew in Hollywood

By Danielle Berrin
Published on September 9, 2009

Rob Kutner is a veteran comedy writer for “The Daily Show” and author of the tongue-in-cheek “Apocalypse How” (Running Press, 2008). Having just returned to Los Angeles to work for “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien,” he talks about being an observant Jew in Hollywood, why George W. Bush is more fun to write about than President Obama and why he doesn’t believe you ever really “make it” in Hollywood.

Pop music’s leader of the pack, Ellie Greenwich, dies at 68

HAARETZ.com via The Associated Press
Published on August 26, 2009

Ellie Greenwich, who co-wrote some of pop music's most enduring songs, including Chapel of Love, Be My Baby and Leader of the Pack, died Wednesday, according to her niece. She was 68.

One Day

By Rob Eshman
Published on July 1, 2009

I have seen the Jewish future — it’s loud, and hypnotic, and it reeks of pot.

The Sentencing of Bernie Madoff

By JewishJournal.com
Published on June 29, 2009

Help Honor Stephen Tyrone Johns

By Rob Eshman
Published on June 12, 2009

Stodgy Jews

By Joel Chasnoff
Published on June 1, 2009

Microsoft Word: Anti-Semitic?

By Joel Chasnoff
Published on May 19, 2009

“Jew” Graffiti Confounds Experts

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax
Published on May 12, 2009

Brazilian Jews Rally Against Intolerance

Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Published on April 27, 2009

Thousands of Brazilian Jews rallied to protest next month's scheduled visit to their country by Iran's president and to remember the Holocaust.

The Real Madoff Scandal: Charitable Hoarding

Noam Neusner
Published on March 18, 2009

Of all the shocks of the Bernie Madoff heist, perhaps none was more stunning than the list of victims. Among them were several Jewish foundations and many of our community’s most prominent nonprofits. The losses were staggering, and in some cases crippling.

‘West Wing’ Actor Ron Silver Dies at 62

By Jay Firestone
Published on March 15, 2009

Move over Madoff, L.A. gets its own indicted philanthropist

By Adam Wills
Published on March 5, 2009

National Hug a Jew Day!!!

By Jay Firestone
Published on February 3, 2009

Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s pick for Chief of Staff, is tough, direct and wedded to his Jewish roots

Published on November 6, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama’s pick of Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) will put a tough, proven political operator at the center of a new Administration. It also raises the profile of a Chicago Jewish family firmly rooted in the worlds of Hollywood, medicine, politics . . . and Judaism.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Studs Terkel dead at 96

Published on October 31, 2008

" . . . My mother came from Bialystock, near the Russo-Polish border, a very cosmopolitan town decimated by the Nazis. My father came from a suburb [and was] a tailor. Chicago is the biggest Polish population of any city outside of Warsaw . . . "

Republican David Zucker makes stand with ‘American Carol’

By The Web Guy
Published on October 3, 2008

Paul Newman—Hollywood’s most famous half-Jew—dies at 83 [VIDEO]

By Tom Tugend
Published on September 28, 2008

My VideoGuide to Los Angeles

By Jay Firestone
Published on September 25, 2008

Bloggers expose neocon secret: Sarah Palin is a ‘Jewess’

By The Web Guy
Published on September 22, 2008

Not your average ‘schlub’—a memoir

By Marissa Brostoff
Published on September 3, 2008

Max Gross, by his own admission, used to be your average schlub: He sported an unkempt Jewfro, the bottoms of his jeans were tattered and he'd gamely put a good burger before a diet.

Allies and foes scrape through Palin bio for Jewish material

By Ron Kampeas
Published on September 2, 2008

Palin is likeable enough that she got props from Ethan Berkowitz, the Jewish former minority leader in the Alaska House of Representatives who appears poised to become the first Democrat to represent Alaska in the U.S. House of Representatives since Nick Begich disappeared in a snowstorm in 1972.

Natalie Portman honored at Venice Film Festival for humanitarian work

By The Web Guy
Published on September 1, 2008

VIDEO: JTA’s Wednesday Convention Summary

Published on August 27, 2008

Eric Fingerhut and Ron Kampeas summarize the jewish events of the day at the election, while attending a jstreet function in downtown Denver.

Democratic platform sticks close to Jewish positions

By Ron Kampeas
Published on August 26, 2008

When it comes to the Middle East and Sen. Barack Obama's Democratic Party platform, things are staying pretty much the same -- which, in this case, is the kind of change pro-Israel activists can believe in.

Obama camp to raise domestic issues in bid for Jewish vote

By Eric Fingerhut
Published on August 26, 2008

Obama aides say they will be increasingly pushing the idea that Barack Obama, and not John McCain, is in line with Jewish voters on economic policy, reproductive rights, church-state separation and the Supreme Court.

VIDEO: Heeb Olympics 2008—Gefilte Fish Wrestling

Published on August 21, 2008

Four modern-day gladiators do battle for the gold (a lifetime supply of Gold's mustard) in the Heeb Olympics

Mark Spitz: Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympic athlete ever

by Dennis Wilen
Published on August 16, 2008

Former record-holder is gracious as Phelps grabs the glory

Lindsay Lohan converting to Judaism?

By Danielle Berrin
Published on August 15, 2008

Newspaper: ‘Two Jews and a black man ...’

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on August 13, 2008

Say it ain’t Jew, Joe

By Marty Kaplan
Published on August 12, 2008

Jew, not a Jew, again

By The Web Guy
Published on August 11, 2008

Exclusive VIDEO - Vigil at Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles

By Jay Firestone
Published on August 7, 2008

The matzah challenge…VideoJew’s blind taste test

By Jay Firestone
Published on April 10, 2008

Orit in Israel:  Just say ‘no’ to the Jewish state

By JewishJournal.com
Published on February 8, 2008

Powerful Jewish women are verboten at Ms. Magazine

By The Web Guy
Published on January 11, 2008

Stories and essays and pictures illuminate holiday

By Sandee Brawarsky
Published on November 29, 2007

Books about Chanukah.

Jews and Palestinians talk peace under NorCal pines

By Alexandra J. Wall
Published on November 1, 2007

The fifth annual Oseh Shalom-Sanea al-Salam Peacemakers Camp is an outgrowth of the Bay Area's many Jewish-Palestinian dialogue groups founded by Len and Libby Traubman of San Mateo. It was held Oct. 5-8, this year with an emphasis on youth and those already working in numerous peace and coexistence organizations. Groups like Combatants for Peace sent representatives, as did the village Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, which consists of equal numbers of Arabs and Jews.

Jewish monster ‘The Golem’ arises from the mists, with new music!

By JewishJournal.com
Published on October 30, 2007

Birthright Britney—come to Israel! (new video from Orit in Israel)

By Orit Arfa
Published on October 26, 2007

What makes a ‘real’ Jew?

By Rebecca Suchov
Published on July 5, 2007

When I started Milken Community High School's middle school after finishing the sixth grade at Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School, I further realized how unacquainted I was with my own feelings toward my religion. Although we had Judaic studies every year, I felt unable to drift away from my parents' beliefs and create my own.

Books: Seeds of peace revealed in early coexistence of Jews, Christians and Muslims

By Rabbi David Wolpe
Published on June 28, 2007

Zachary Karabell offers a different perspective on the question of Islamic rule in his history, "Peace Be Upon You: Fourteen Centuries of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Coexistence in the Middle East" (Knopf, 2007).

Books: Mailer scrutinizes evil in form of young Hitler

By Gene Lichtenstein
Published on March 8, 2007

Power, politics and sex. War and violence. What more could he write about, you might well ask. Now, just turned 84, he has published "The Castle in the Forest," which attempts to engage and scrutinize the nature of evil personified in the life of the young Adolf Hitler. He -- Hitler as a youth -- ostensibly is the subject of the novel.

Pluralistic rabbinical court seeks new funding; InterfaithFamily.com marks 200th issue

By Amy Klein
Published on January 11, 2007

Updates. Pluralistic Rabbinical Court Seeks New Funding. InterfaithFamily.com Celebrates 200th Issue. OU Offers $20,000 Award for Best Unaffiliated Outreach.

‘Zorro’s Bar Mitzvah’ documents the real rite of passage

By Dinah Spritzer
Published on January 11, 2007

In the new Austrian film, "Zorro's Bar Mitzvah," Jewish party documenter Andre describes the addictive nature of his video extravaganzas.

Preminger retrospective to showcase his cinematic art

By George Robinson
Published on January 10, 2007

Preminger retrospective to showcase his cinematic art.

Matisyahu gets a new spiritual groove

By Debra Nussbaum Cohen
Published on January 10, 2007

It is only a few miles from Crown Heights to Greenpoint, Brooklyn, but in some respects, the asphalt avenues linking them bridge entirely disparate worlds.

Matisyahu Miller -- known to his legions of fans by his first name, and to his friends simply as Matis -- makes the trip almost daily. He bikes from the Crown Heights apartment he shares with his wife and two young sons to the loft space he's just rented in the old industrial neighborhood, giving him a place to write and rehearse his next album.

Boycott Borat?

By Adam Deutsch
Published on January 4, 2007

Does comedy nullify hatred? Does comedy grant allowance to bigotry, racism and, most of all, anti-Semitism?

Nov. 3 began the opening weekend of the acclaimed "most hilarious movie ever": "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Khazakstan." After rushing to the movie theater on Saturday night, I was greatly displeased to find the show was sold out.

Mel Gibson’s address to the General Assembly

By Jonathan Kesselman
Published on November 9, 2006

Ladies, Gentlemen, and Jews:

Welcome to beautiful Los Angeles! I write to you from the set of my new Ismar Schorsch biopic starring Danny Glover as Mordecai Kaplan and Jim Caviezel as Ismar Schorsch himself!

Choice of a Jew generation

Published on October 26, 2006

"Jewtopia: The Chosen Book for the Chosen People"

Fate of Santa Monica apartment building embroils rabbi and residents in legal battle

By Jane Ulman
Published on October 26, 2006

Rabbi Hertzel Illulian, a rabbi active in the Los Angeles Persian community, is embroiled in a revolt. It's taking place in the normally laid-back city of Santa Monica and concerns the future of the Teriton apartment building.

Music lovers get presents for composer Reich’s birthday

By George Robinson
Published on October 5, 2006

Steve Reich, composer, turns 70 and wonders what all the fuss is about.

Pico-Robertson Live in the ‘hood: Little sukkahs, on the hillside, little huts made of ...

By David Suissa
Published on October 5, 2006

One of the great rituals of Jewish life: The sukkah.

Sheinkin Street meets superhighway

By Orit Arfa
Published on October 5, 2006

Michael Simkin, CEO of C-Do Networks, believes that Sheinkin still retains enough of its eccentricity and bustle to perpetuate its mythic status.

Surprise lesson lurks in show of painters’ works

By Morris Newman
Published on October 5, 2006

The paintings of Philip Guston and Giorgio de Chirico.

Sukkot: the beauty of fragility

By Rabbi Daniel Greyber
Published on October 5, 2006

On Sukkot, the time tradition tells us is zman simchateinu, the season of our joy, we dwell in a fragile hut, open to the winds and rain and cold of the world, to remind ourselves that our joy is enriched, is deepened, when we glimpse, if only for a moment, how weak and fragile we are.

A Jew,  a Catholic and a film crew walk into a born-again summer camp

By Jean Oppenheimer
Published on September 28, 2006

"Jesus Camp," a documentary about a summer program at which evangelical children are taught to "take back America for Christ."

Everyone’s Jewish—until proven otherwise

By Charles Krauthammer
Published on September 28, 2006

Krauthammer's Law: Everyone is Jewish until proven otherwise.

Su temple es mi casa

By Anita K. Kantrowitz
Published on September 21, 2006

Non-Jews are common at many Jewish facilities, ensuring the smooth operation of our institutions -- understanding and anticipating the needs of members, meeting the standards of our practices. But Guerrero's story is more than the tale of someone "other" who happens to work among "us." To hear Guerrero tell it, he has learned both the most fundamental and profound of life's lessons by being among Jews.

Grown-up Ringwald gets ‘Sweet’ again—thanks to Fosse

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 14, 2006

Molly Ringwald will play Charity Hope Valentine, a nice but tarnished rent-a-girl who remains optimistic despite a series of humiliating misadventures.
"It's, um, not exactly the kind of thing I'm most associated with."

Tranforming the Synagogue—A Scorecard

By Richard Greenberg
Published on August 31, 2006

Synagogue transformation programs exude good intentions, but do they actually work?