L.A.'s Top Ten Mensches: Our fourth-annual salute to big-hearted Angelenos

Published on December 31, 2008

The Jewish Journal created this list as a response to all those lists extolling fame, money, power and hotness. We honor these special ten because they are just people -- menschen, to use the proper Yiddish plural -- who understand the power and possibility of just one person.

Meet Gabriel Halimi, Kim Krowne, Manijeh Youabian, Andrew Wolfberg, Susan Corwin, Ari Moss, Richard Braun, Bracha Yael, Jack Matloff and Neil Sheff

Sephardic ‘Luck’

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on October 31, 2002

Neil Sheff was shocked to find himself something of a celebrity at a conference of North American Jewish film festival directors a couple years ago. Of the 75 festivals in the United States and Canada, his Los Angeles Sephardic Film Festival is the only one dedicated to showcasing the Sephardic experience. "I was literally surrounded by people who wanted to pick my brain," he said, incredulous.

The Forgotten Culture

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on November 1, 2001

He calls them the "other" Jews. That's because Neil Sheff is partly one of those "others" (i.e., Sephardic Jews). In promoting the fifth annual Los Angeles Sephardic Film Festival, Sheff, whose ancestors came from the island of Rhodes, promises that anyone who comes to the festival will learn much about a culture that is often forgotten.