SHAVUOT: 10 ways to celebrate

Published on May 24, 2012

President Obama’s Passover Message

By Shmuel Rosner
Published on April 8, 2012

Passover is important, so you might as well go to a Seder

By Shmuel Rosner
Published on April 6, 2012

Passover Rhapsody - A Jewish Rock Opera

By Shmuel Rosner
Published on April 5, 2012

Handy Hazzan is Hanukkah Hazzan - Making Dreydls Out of Clay Today!

By Cantor Harris Shore, The Handy Hazzan
Published on December 16, 2011

If your gut tells you something seems suspicious, report it

By Ryan Torok
Published on September 14, 2011

On Aug. 30, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) held its annual security meeting at its Los Angeles headquarters to advise local Jewish leaders on possible threats facing the community in advance of the High Holy Days.

Passover penis, the matzah challenge and 20 things to do with matzah

By Dikla Kadosh
Published on April 18, 2008

Purimpalooza 2008

By Danielle Berrin
Published on March 25, 2008

Briefs: City Council approves Weiss Iran divestment bill; UC puts Jewish High Holidays on calendar

Published on June 28, 2007

Community briefs.

Spy Kids’ Bar Mitzvah

By Amy Klein
Published on August 18, 2005

It's not easy for a kid to find out that his parents are spies, and that he and his sister have to rescue them from evildoers.

But it's not as hard as trying to learn Hebrew from scratch in six months for a bar mitzvah -- especially when the spy scenario is fictional and the bar mitzvah is real.

So it was for Daryl Sabara, the cherubic red-headed star of three "Spy Kids" films. He and his twin brother, Evan, also an actor who appeared in "Spy Kids," were bar mitzvahed at Chabad of Brentwood last month after studying with the synagogue's rabbi, Baruch Hecht, for half a year.

As professional actors, it would have been a cinch for the Sabaras to memorize their Torah portion phonetically, just like many kids who don't know Hebrew. But the twins really wanted to learn Hebrew -- and about their heritage.

Goodbye Shawn Green

By Peter Dreier
Published on January 20, 2005

The Los Angeles Dodgers have traded Shawn Green, the only Jew on the team, to the Arizona Diamondbacks. My 8-year-old twin

daughters are devastated. They don't know if they should continue to root for the hometown Dodgers or to switch allegiances to the Diamondbacks, so they can still root for Green, their favorite player.

I've told them they can do both, especially when the Diamondbacks come to Los Angeles to play against the Dodgers. But their disappointment is real, nonetheless.

7 Days in the Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on December 9, 2004

7 Days In The Arts

Yeladim

By Abby Gilad
Published on October 28, 2004

Yeladim

World Briefs

By JTA Staff
Published on March 25, 2004

World Briefs

Courageous Women and Cheese Latkes

By Lisa J. Solomon
Published on December 18, 2003

My 10-year-old daughter came home from school sad, her shoulders carrying the kind of weight that breaks a mother's heart. She faced a tough dilemma: friends who were no longer true friends, demanding her to compromise who she is or be alone. It's the kind of challenge we all meet many times in life, in different disguises. The fear of being alone versus the self-destruction of changing who you are so as not to be alone; the challenge of the mere one of us against the seeming might of the many of them; the overwhelming feeling of odds stacked against you, of being quietly different from the louder group but choosing anyway, to believe in yourself.

Literary Offerings to Harvest Your Brain

By Rita Berman Frischer
Published on October 9, 2003

As I write this article, Hurricane Isabel has come and gone; its destructive force headlined the news, offering a strange but appropriate counterpoint to writing about children's books on Sukkot and Simchat Torah. In today's world, these holidays, following on the heels of Yom Kippur, remind us of the swift changes life brings and underscore the fragile nature of our security. Through stories, we can find shelter in the joy of offering hospitality, in helping others, in relishing happiness when we can and in acknowledging human courage and endurance in the face of trouble. These are all themes to explore as you sit, rejoicing with your children and guests, in your sukkah.

Fasting for Peace

By Julie G Fax
Published on July 26, 2001

Tisha B'Av, the fast day commemorating the destructions of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem 2,500 and 2,000 years ago, respectively, doesn't rank up there with most celebrated Jewish holidays.