Poverty is not a disgrace, nor is it filthy.

By Maya Paley
Published on May 3, 2013

Need for genetic testing raised by new initiative GeneTestNow

By Rebecca Steinberger
Published on March 13, 2013

Significant advances in science enable us to no longer question what’s in our genes. This is especially important for Jews, who are far more likely to be carriers of genetic diseases than the general population.

Haredi Orthodox account for bulk of Jewish population growth in New York City

Published on January 22, 2013

Most of the growth of the Jewish community of New York over the past decade took place in two neighborhoods of Brooklyn, according to new data from a survey first published last year.

Study: Jewish population is booming in Brooklyn neighborhoods

Published on January 18, 2013

The Jewish population of greater New York City rose ten percent in the last decade, to 1.54 million, a study found.

Israel’s population rises to nearly 8 million

Published on September 12, 2012

Israel's population is nearing 8 million, up almost 100,000 from the end of 2011, according to data released on the eve of Rosh Hashanah.

West Bank settler population rises 4.5 percent to 350,000

Published on July 26, 2012

More than 350,000 Jews are living in West Bank settlements, a 4.5 percent increase over last year, according to the Israeli government.

Who knows who L.A.'s Jews are?

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax
Published on July 25, 2012

Susan Goldberg, rabbi of Temple Beth Israel of Highland Park and Eagle Rock, grew up in nearby Echo Park. “There were no Jewish families around when I was growing up,” Goldberg, 38, said. Now that these neighborhoods are being gentrified, and a young, creative crowd is moving in, the Jews are coming, too.

Rumors of mass Israeli emigration are much exaggerated

By Pini Herman
Published on April 25, 2012

Interviewing Israel’s President Shimon Peres in the April 4 issue of Time magazine, a correspondent quoted the often-cited number in suggesting that 1 million Israelis live outside their native country: “It’s not as if Jews are flocking there [to Israel]. What do these demographics say about Israel’s future?” Peres, without disputing the reporter’s figure, responded: “Maybe we are swimming against the stream.”

Chicago Jewish population sees 8 percent growth

Published on July 19, 2011

The Chicago Jewish community grew by 8 percent over the past decade, or more than 21,000 people, according to a new demographic study.

Amar: Non-Orthodox Jews taking over Israel

Published on August 12, 2010

Israel's Sephardic chief rabbi wrote that he is concerned that non-Orthodox Jews are taking over Israel.

Boosting Jewish populations in Arab neighborhoods stokes tensions

Published on August 25, 2009

It is said that there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the Galilee village of Peki'in since the days of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

New study finds 1 million more Jews in U.S.

By Jacob Berkman
Published on March 1, 2007

A new study gives fairly concrete evidence that the American Jewish population could be more than 1 million people larger than believed -- but if so, it means efforts to engage them may have been less successful than the community realized.

U.S. Jewish Population Rising; California and Israel Join in Tourism Pact

Published on December 14, 2006

Briefs

France’s Dangerous Cocktail

By Andre Glucksmann
Published on August 5, 2004

On July 18, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon festively proposed to "all the Jews of France" "to move to Israel immediately ... because in France today, one of the wildest forms of anti-Semitism is spreading."

Sharon is wrong -- not in his concern about a real rise in anti-Semitism in France, but because he explains it too simplistically.

Ten percent of the French population is of Muslim origin. Most are not fundamentalists who feel solidarity with the Hamas suicide bomb campaigns.

L.A. Embarks on a Baltic Journey

By Tom Tugend
Published on February 26, 2004

There is a country whose Jewish community involves nearly all its young people, elects its leaders by democratic vote on the basis of character rather than wealth and is not driven by political and religious divisions.

Aging: A Jewish Community Issue

By Molly Forrest
Published on January 29, 2004

When I first met Sarah, she was bent over her walker intently making her way through the gardens of the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging (JHA). While her steps were merely a shuffle, her brown eyes were lively.

I often walk through our Grancell Village and Eisenberg Village campuses to visit with our 800 residents. I frequently ask the question: "What makes the Jewish Home Jewish?"

Sarah had a ready answer.

Immigration Plan Poses Challenges

By Ira Mehlman
Published on January 22, 2004

President Bush's Jan. 7 proposal to dramatically expand immigration to the United States ignited a national debate about this highly emotional issue. While this is a critical policy that will profoundly affect all Americans, it is a policy that must be of particular concern to American Jews.

Settlements Plan Spotlights Dark Issues

By Leonard Fein
Published on August 7, 2003

The conventional explanation for Israel's more controversial measures, including, in particular, the security fence under construction and the new marriage law passed by the Knesset, is that these are responses to the ongoing conflict.

There’s More to Us

By Rob Eshman
Published on June 5, 2003

All this week there's been some strange goings-on at the intersection of Us and Them.

Why Be Jewish?

By Marisa N. Pickar
Published on January 2, 2003

The Los Angeles Times recently ran a story, "A Clouded View of U.S. Jews" (Oct. 9, 2002), which related the results of conflicting polls taken to determine Jewish population numbers in America. One study claimed numbers dipped slightly to 5.2 million, while a second poll claimed the Jewish population increased to 6.7 million.

Reactions to the Times' numbers were as diverse as the respondents. Some called for an increase in Jewish education and outreach, while others proposed we should increase our numbers by abandoning the traditional reticence to proselytizing and put more resources into embracing potential Jews. I couldn't disagree more.

The Ground Floor

By Rob Eshman
Published on December 12, 2002

A lot of the problems and promise of Los Angeles Jewish life were on display last Tuesday evening in Bob and Marcia Gold's living room.

Jewish Survey Missing Data

By Joe Berkofsky
Published on November 14, 2002

Stephen Hoffman said he only learned of the missing data Tuesday, one week before the information from the NJPS about Jewish identity and intermarriage was due to get released at the annual UJC gathering, which brings together much of the organized American Jewish world.

Findings Reveal Demographic Shift

By Joe Berkofsky
Published on October 10, 2002

This is the American Jewish world, by the numbers, as revealed in the just-released National Jewish Population Survey 2000-2001 (NJPS):

Surveying ‘America’s Jewish Freshmen’

By Rachel Brand
Published on August 22, 2002

When Adam Bergman researched colleges toward the end of his senior year at Milken High School, he looked very closely at the quality of their soccer teams and not so closely at the size of their Jewish populations.

California, Here They Come

By Tom Tugend
Published on June 20, 2002

Los Angeles, founded in 1781 as one of a string of Spanish settlements along the Pacific coast, was nearly 60 years old when Jacob Frankfort arrived, apparently the first Jewish resident.

Conquest by Birthrate

By Simon Carroll
Published on December 6, 2001

A leading Arab think tank is backing an old strategy -- to defeat the Jewish State from within by encouraging the growth of its Arab population.

Is Demography Destiny?

By Rob Eshman
Published on April 5, 2001

The new U.S. census figures have generated banner headlines this month, though no one seems to have a clue what those numbers portend. The big news, of course, is that America's Latino population has ballooned almost 60 percent in the past decade, surpassing 35 million. More than 43 percent of Californians younger than 18 are now Hispanic, compared with about 35 percent a decade ago. In both the city and county of Los Angeles, Latinos have replaced whites as the largest ethnic group.

Standing by the Data

By Pini Herman
Published on September 14, 2000

Demography is often not an easily understood topic.

Israeli Jews to Outnumber Those in U.S.

By Gustav Niebuhr
Published on September 14, 2000

Jews in Israel will outnumber Jews in the United States in two decades, part of a shift in Jewish population by which Israel will become home to a majority of the world's Jews by 2050, says a study in the new edition of the "American Jewish Year Book."

Flawed Methodology

By Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein
Published on September 14, 2000

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see why the Orthodox were seriously undercounted.

Setting the Record Straight

By Anthony Gordon
Published on September 7, 2000

The following outlines some of the fundamental flaws in the L.A. Jewish Population Survey of 1997 not reported by other respondents.

Growing or Shrinking?

By Julie G Fax
Published on July 6, 2000

Los Angeles demographics far from clear

The Jewish Future

By Marlene Adler Marks
Published on December 9, 1999

I have seen the Jewish future and, to my surprise, it still belongs to the Baby Boomers. By now I'd guess that Boomers would happily cede attention and civic responsibility to Gen Xers and Gen J but nothing doing. One in three Jews today are between ages 35-53, and the needs and demands of this group will dominate Jewish life well into the coming decades.

News of the Week

Published on May 20, 1999

Most of the people I know in Israel voted for Barak; a few preferred Netanyahu. But on the part of almost everyone, outcome aside, there was a tremendous sense of excitement, of participating in what felt like an intense moment of change.

A Drink from the Same Cup

By Orit Arfa
Published on July 16, 1998

If the pursuit of peace in the Middle East will not unite the parties concerned, then one life-sustaining element may. Israeli, Arab and American researchers and engineers have come together to find ways to produce more potable water for agricultural use, as demands for supplies of Middle Eastern and Californian freshwater continue to increase.

Up Front

Published on February 12, 1998

Up Front

The Results Are In

By Ruth Stroud
Published on January 29, 1998