Obituaries: Oct. 26 - Nov. 1, 2012

Published on October 24, 2012

Mina Bear died Sept. 18 at 88. Survived by daughter Moraye (John Hall); brothers Nate, Leo Rosen. Hillside

The Meaning of Memory: A Yizkor Reflection

Published on September 19, 2012

I grew up in a home filled with food and love and laughter and music and Yiddishkayt and stories. I was the youngest of four kids and we were part of a tribe in Boro Park, Brooklyn, with my uncle Nat’s family living on the floor above us, my uncle Ruby’s family living next door to us, and my grandparents living above them. Nobody ever knocked on the door and nobody ever needed a key, everybody was always barging into everybody else’s home.

The Art of a Shiva Minyan

By Susan Esther Barnes
Published on August 8, 2012

Purim’s Gift

By Rav Yosef Kanefsky
Published on March 6, 2012

Obituaries: Nov. 4-10 2011

Published on November 1, 2011

Obituaries

The mourning after

Published on October 20, 2011

Each culture has rituals and customs surrounding death, and Judaism is no exception. Jewish tradition and the Jewish community provide mourners with structure and direction during the grieving process.

24 Hours in Tel Aviv

By Masa Israel Journey
Published on September 20, 2011

Obituaries: Sept. 16-22, 2011

Published on September 13, 2011

Ethel Baron died Aug. 25 at 90. Survived by daughter Carol; sons Howard, Jack (Rhonda), Mitchell (Miyuki); 3 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren. Mount Sinai

Half a world away, Los Angeles mourns

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on December 4, 2008

The overwhelming majority of mourners had never met the Holtzbergs. But that didn't matter. They have become, for Americans, the public face of this tragedy.

Trendy, traditional and taboo:
An incomplete guide to Jewish funerals and burial

By Jane Ulman
Published on August 7, 2008

While not everyone is jumping on the 'I gotta be me' funeral bandwagon, a funny thing is happening on the way to the mortuary. When it comes to thinking about the end of life, be it in the business of funeral homes or in the minds of Jews everywhere, the world is changing.

A beautiful shiva

By William Goldstein
Published on May 8, 2008

My mother, Sylvia Goldstein, Sura Malka bas Yeshiya, passed away on March 11, the fourth of Adar II. She was 92 and had the full use of her mind and wit all of her years.We moved on to the week of shiva.

Obituaries

Published on March 27, 2008

Obituaries

Only the best go there

By Susan Freudenheim
Published on March 10, 2008

There are moments when half a world away seems right around the corner. At Young Israel of Century City (YICC) on Sunday afternoon, Israel's pain at the murder of eight young yeshiva students burned through the Los Angeles Jewish community, just as it has in Jerusalem, where the boys lived, and as it has through Jewish communities throughout the world. The death of eight innocent boys studying Torah at Yeshiva Mercaz Harav shrunk the world.

Jerusalem killing hits home for local yeshiva students

By Julie G Fax
Published on March 10, 2008

"You hear about tragedies in Israel, but it hits so close to home because this is us next year. Next year we're going to yeshiva," said Chaim Gamzo, a 17-year-old senior. "These guys had their whole lives ahead of them -- like me. I hope to go to yeshiva, to go to college, to have a normal successful life, but they didn't have the opportunity to do that."

Thousands mourn as yeshiva terrror attack victims are buried

By Roy Eitan
Published on March 6, 2008

Thousands of mourners turned out Friday for the funerals of the eight students, aged 15 to 26, killed in Thursday's attack at a prominent yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Mom’s last day

By Rabbi Mike Comins
Published on November 1, 2007

Remembrance of a mother's last day.

Farewell, my beloved Mom

By Lewis Groner
Published on April 26, 2007

Finally, I'm grateful to the Almighty for having given me such a remarkable mother who, by example, taught her many offspring about the beauty of Judaism, how to lead meaningful lives and how important it is to do chesed for others. May her memory be a blessing.

Turn Memory Into Blessing

By Rabbi Anne Brener
Published on April 5, 2007

Holidays bring up feelings and memories about people who have died. They also offer opportunities to address unresolved issues. The four Yizkor services and the themes of their days correspond to different tasks of mourning.

Sitting relationship shiva

By Shep Koster
Published on February 15, 2007

In Judaism, we sit shiva after a death. We grieve, confront and try to accept. It's an ancient process, and it helps.

The great (non) depression

By Rabbi Anne Brener
Published on November 30, 2006

Depression is a word that has been cheapened. We forget that it is a diagnosis for a bona fide disease. It becomes a catch phrase for the weighty feelings we experience as we come to terms with life's challenges and honor the process of change.

Who Is A Jew?

By Rob Eshman
Published on August 10, 2006

For a great many of us, there is an instant and easy identification with the Jewish state. They are not they, they are we. The heat of battle forges them into us. Whether we've spent much time there, whether we have blood relatives there, we feel ourselves as one, we are they.

Not Supposed to Be This Way

By Caroline Cobrin
Published on April 6, 2006

"I really loved your story," Tante Mina said to me in a nearly inaudible gasp. She looked at me and it gave me hope, for her eyes still held that sparkle, that fight, that desire to live. As I walked out of the critical care unit of the hospital to let the next family member into the room, I had no way of knowing that those would be the last words I would hear her speak.

Mourning Abed

By Glenn Yago
Published on December 29, 2005

Earlier this month, three California Jews -- all of us strong supporters of Israel -- established a scholarship fund to honor a Palestinian patriot. He was murdered in the terrorist attack in Amman, Jordan, in November, since which time we've been joined by many other prominent members of the local Jewish community. A lot of people have asked me why I was one of the founders. Here's why.

Happy Non-Anniversary

By Michael Rose
Published on September 29, 2005

On the day our wedding was to have been, I was intensely aware of the time when we would have been standing under the chuppah, without seeing a clock or watch. My breath stopped, and I stood still, feeling the growing ache in my chest. I spent the day alone, and I cried. And I thought about cosmic meaning and why this was happening to me. And then everything was fine.

KIDS PAGE

By Abby Gilad
Published on July 28, 2005

We have now entered the period Jews call "The Three Weeks."

Saying Goodbye to an Angel in Sin City

By Teresa Strasser
Published on December 30, 2004

It's Davidson, as in Ronald Davidson, my stepfather. He died yesterday at 62 and that's why I'm at a funeral home out on Charleston Boulevard in Las Vegas. My mom is here, too, and though there are copious boxes of proper tissue in the place, she is clinging to the roll of toilet paper she's had by her side since returning from the hospital with nothing but a bag of Ron's stuff: slippers, a stack of Louis L'Amour paperbacks, his watch.

Can One Imagine Another Herzl Arising?

By Leonard Fein
Published on December 23, 2004

The funeral took place in Vienna on July 7, 1904. The stunning announcement had come on the 4th: Theodore Herzl, dead at age 44.

Here is Stefan Zweig's description of the day:

Your Letters

Published on September 16, 2004

Your Letters

Israel Buries Beersheba Bombing Victims

By Dina Kraft
Published on September 2, 2004

Again Israel turns to mourning the dead, but this time the list of those killed has been slow in coming. As the bombs used in suicide bombings become more sophisticated, producing deadlier and deadlier blasts, it takes more time to identify the remains of the dead.

How to Approach   a Grieving Jew

By Michal Lemberger
Published on August 12, 2004

Grief erases all regular rules. All the logic that has ever seemed to govern one's life suddenly seems useless. More than useless, it seems pointless.

by Abby Gilad

Published on March 4, 2004

For the Kids

Yeladim

By Abby Gilad
Published on May 1, 2003

Yeladim

Kids Page

By Abby Gilad
Published on April 30, 2003

Kids Page

Ramon Memorialized Across America

By Rachel Pomerance
Published on February 6, 2003

The groundswell of emotion in response to Ilan Ramon's death has not only been a great inspiration for American Jews, it also has helped strengthen the bond Americans feel for Israel.

"It's a state of mourning for the whole nation. Our school is no different," said Joseph "J.P." Schwarcz, 18, a Yeshiva University freshmanin New York.

At the same time, Schwarcz was quick to note the distinct status of Israel's representative on board, Ramon, as a role model for Jews.

"Throughout the whole week, our deans have come into our class and discussed with us how we should be just like Ilan Ramon," he said.

In mourning the tragic flight of the whole Columbia crew, Jews across America are especially touched by the loss of Ramon. Whether Jews saw him as pioneer or peacemaker, most saw him as the best of the Jewish people.

Sadness and Joy Mix on Mitzvah Day

By Julie Brown
Published on February 6, 2003

It was supposed to have been a happy day. Strangely enough, it was.

Death Stalks Family

By Tom Tugend
Published on December 5, 2002

A local American Israeli family, which lost a daughter in an airport shooting rampage last July 4, is in renewed mourning for a son who died Nov. 26 following a car accident.

Families Mourn Loss

By Tom Tugend
Published on July 11, 2002

The Israeli community, joined by the city's mayor and Jewish leaders, bade a grief-stricken farewell Sunday to a man and woman killed by an Egyptian-born gunman at Los Angeles International Airport July 4.

For These Things, I Do Weep

By Amy Klein
Published on July 4, 2002

This coming week begins "the nine days," the period of intense mourning leading up to Tisha B'av, the fast of Av, which takes place on the following Thursday, July 18.

Rallying Support

By Tom Tugend
Published on June 7, 2001

Two dozen colorfully dressed fourth- and fifth-graders from the Pressman Academy, waving small Israeli flags, welcomed Israel's President Moshe Katsav and his wife Gila with Hebrew songs as they arrived Monday evening at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

History in the Making

By Naomi Segal
Published on March 23, 2000

By the time the transplant team approached Doris Ullendorf and Ken Gorfinkle, they had already talked about donating the organs of their first-born son.

Still Dead

By Marlene Adler Marks
Published on May 7, 1998

My friend Jane and I met for dinner last week andhad a good laugh about death. California's political campaign seasonis just commencing, and we were discussing, in an offhand way, whatmy husband, an attorney, might have made of an upcoming ballotproposition were he still among us.

"It's amazing that he's still dead," I said,without quite knowing what I meant. Simultaneously, Jane and I letout a roar, a "yipes!" of astonishment, as people do when they touchsomething hot, or come too close to the sitra atra, what kabbalists call"the other side."

The Only Holiday Hallmark Hasn’t Designed a Card For

Published on September 11, 1997

Tisha B'Av, the day of mourning in commemoration of the destruction of the two Temples, is notable for at least two reasons. For one, it may be the only holiday that Hallmark hasn't designed a card for. And it seems to be the one holiday that most Jews have heard of, but few seem to know much about. As with quarks and RNA and Rothko, we can drop "Tisha B'Av" into a conversation, hoping all the while that we won't be asked to actually explain it.