The classic Szyk haggadah becomes a modern masterpiece of the digital age

By Tom Tugend
Published on April 17, 2008

There's a 1,000-year-old haggadah, there's an Internet haggadah, and now there is a new $15,000 Arthur Szyk Haggadah.

300 ways to make it a multi-cultural seder

By Amy Klein
Published on April 17, 2008

That means, "Why is this night different from all other nights," in Sranan.

But what's Sranan, you ask? Sranan is the primary language spoken in South America's Suriname, which has one of the oldest Jewish populations on the American continent. Is is also spoken in Aruba, Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles -- with a total of 426,400 speakers today.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of beautiful language

By Peter L. Rothholz
Published on December 20, 2007

For most of his 92 years, artist Sam Fink has been obsessed with the pursuit of freedom and the beauty of language. Even though he is a painter, he calls language "the highest form of art, higher even than painting and music."

L.A. Times in turmoil: is it good for the Jews?

By Bill Boyarsky
Published on October 12, 2006

Because of their intense activism, Jews have been among the paper's most devoted readers and fiercest critics. A substantial part of the paper's circulation base has long been in the broad Jewish belt extending from the Westside through the West Valley.

Read All About It

By Rob Eshman
Published on October 27, 2005

Alberto Senderey is a model Jewish professional, and not just because he invited me as one of five Americans included for the four-day symposium in beautiful Oxford. An energetic, optimistic burst of Argentine energy, he recognized that Jewish media have a unique and underappreciated perspective on Jewish communal life.

Singles - Guilt Trip for Two

By Lisa Rosen
Published on September 1, 2005

My parents have given me so much; it's now time to start giving back to them. I'm referring to guilt in this case. Specifically, guilt about not living up to one's potential, about not keeping up with the Joneses' children, about not providing ammunition for bragging rights over Shabbat dinner with friends.

Ha’am Hits Stands, Again

By Keren Engelberg
Published on July 1, 2004

UCLA's 32-year-old Jewish newsmagazine Ha'am has been struggling with growing pains over the past year. Last spring saw the release of their first print edition in five years, and the staff planned to make it a quarterly publication. That's still the goal, but their follow-up issue just recently hit the stands in time for, again, spring.

Artist Evokes Jewish Strength—Overtly

By Rachel Zuckerman
Published on February 19, 2004

Five years ago, veteran comic book artist Joe Kubert visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. He expected to be moved, but since he and his parents had escaped from Poland before the Nazi genocide began, he assumed his emotional reaction would be relatively contained. Then, he saw something that struck him profoundly: "Yzeran," the name of the shtetl where he had been born, etched on a wall filled with names of towns that had been completely obliterated in World War II.

This one word began a creative odyssey that found its completion this month, with the publication of "Yossel -- April 19, 1943," Kubert's graphic novel about Jewish resistance during the Holocaust -- artistic, as well as physical -- with the date in the subtitle referring to the start of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.

Objecting to Guardian’s Anti-Israel Bias

By Julie Burchill
Published on December 4, 2003

As you might have heard, I'm leaving The Guardian next year for The Times, having finally been convinced that my evil populist philistinism has no place in a publication read by so many all-round, top-drawer plaster saints. (Well, that and the massive wad they've waved at me.)

The Protocols Come to L.A.—in Russian

By Si Frumkin
Published on October 23, 2003

The "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" have come to Los Angeles.

Censoring Mr. Spock

By Joe Berkofsky
Published on October 31, 2002

Naked women covered in ... tallitot and tefillin? The black-and-white photographs in "Shekhina" (Umbrage Editions, $39.95) a new book by Leonard Nimoy -- a.k.a. "Star Trek's" Mr. Spock -- have ignited a debate in the Jewish community over art and censorship.

Local Victory

By Julie G Fax
Published on October 25, 2001

The publication of the "Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary" points to a significant achievement for the Los Angeles Jewish community. The Chumash is the first Torah and Haftarah commentary published by the Conservative movement.

"The Conservative movement doesn't begin and end in New York City," said Rabbi David Lieber, senior editor of "Etz Hayim" and president emeritus of the University of Judaism (UJ) in Los Angeles. "It is clear that we're dealing with a worldwide movement," says Lieber, who served as UJ's president for 29 years before he retired in 1993, and was the first West Coast president of the Rabbinical Assembly, the Conservative movement's rabbinic arm, from 1996-1998. He was also instrumental in the 1996 founding of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies -- the first place outside of New York to ordain Conservative rabbis.

Haggadot 2000

By Rita Berman Frischer
Published on April 6, 2000

A 1998 article about Chicago collector Stephen Durschslag's haggadah collection set the number of different haggadot on his shelves at 4,500, increasing almost daily.
It's probably impossible to know how many haggadot exist, but it's obvious that for every Jew, there should be a haggadah that fits like a glove.

New Year, New Changes

By Rob Eshman
Published on November 29, 1999

Last week I was driving to a family celebration at Leisure World in Laguna Hills when I noticed something very odd about the weather: Fall was in the air.

Haggadah

Published on October 21, 1999

A 1998 article about Chicago collector Stephen Durschslag's haggadah collection set the number of different haggadot on his shelves at 4,500, increasing almost daily.
It's probably impossible to know how many haggadot exist, but it's obvious that for every Jew, there should be a haggadah that fits like a glove.