French board favors returning seven looted paintings

Published on February 14, 2013

A French restitution committee reportedly has recommended returning seven valuable paintings looted by the Nazis during the Holocaust from two Jewish families.

Chai Lifeline helps families facing life-threatening diseases

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on April 17, 2008

Last August, Lori Paulsen's 4-year-old son, Aaron, was diagnosed with Wilms' tumor, a rare form of kidney cancer. Soon afterward, a friend offered to call Chai Lifeline on her behalf.

Battling Board Backs Bond

By Howard Blume
Published on August 4, 2005

What a difference a day makes.

In 24 little hours, the L.A. school board journeyed last week from chaos to harmony; from nothing to a November ballot measure; from no new taxes to a bond measure that will ask voters to raise their property taxes for schools "one last time."

If voters go for it, these local school bonds would be the fourth in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) since 1997, and would raise $3.985 billion to pay for new and repaired schools. Part of the money is needed to make up for the feverishly rising cost of school construction; the rest would fund a program that has expanded to some $15.2 billion, perhaps the nation's largest ongoing public works project outside of Iraq.

Bishop Helps Save Silver Lake JCC

By Marc Ballon
Published on April 28, 2005

In the end, it wasn’t a Jewish organization that saved a valuable Jewish community center, but a forward-thinking Christian cleric.
Bishop J. Jon Bruno, head of Los Angeles’ Episcopal Diocese, has stepped in with the money needed to rescue the Silverlake Independent Jewish Community Center, which had faced an imminent shutdown and the sale of its property.

The Circuit

By Gaby Wenig
Published on May 6, 2004

The Circuit

The hidden benefits of Meshuggeneh relatives

By Leonard Felder
Published on April 1, 2004

The Passover seder is a wonderful chance to connect with certain relatives that you love, along with hearing again the inspiring account of moving out of enslavement and fear while moving toward freedom and compassion for all who are hungry or mistreated. But for the majority of Jewish families, it's also a stressful time when personality clashes and unresolved conflicts with a few particular relatives spring up once again.

Mission to Argentina

Published on June 12, 2003

Last month, seven Los Angeles rabbis and five community leaders traveled to Argentina for a whirlwind 72-hour trip. The mission, organized by The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, helped them gain firsthand knowledge of the crisis in Argentina. Upon their return to Los Angeles, the leaders have begun promoting the Federation's Lifeline to Argentina campaign, a $1 million challenge grant matching every dollar raised. Below are some of their thoughts and photos of the trip.

Circumcision Lite

By Susanna Crosby Perrin
Published on April 12, 2001

An undeniable physical reminder of a man's connection to Judaism, circumcision has been an important focus of the first days of a boy's life since before we received the Torah. However, for almost as long, there have been people who question the act of circumcision and those who have rallied for eliminating the practice.

Shalhevet’s Funeral

By Judy Lash Balint
Published on April 5, 2001

Have you ever been to the funeral of a 10-month-old? It has to be one of the most unnatural of human experiences. The burial of an infant who was deliberately murdered by terrorists is all the more tragic for the baseless hate it represents.