Time to come down from ‘The Hills’

By Jeremy Lowe, Tribe Contributor
Published on January 5, 2009

Hollywood is not heaven. People give up their lives to move to Hollywood and try to make it big, and 99 percent of them fail.

Capturing the ‘Real World’ transition for Israeli teens

By Celia Soudry
Published on June 12, 2008

"I like to challenge people and show them a side of Israel not everybody sees," the now full-time filmmaker said. "Everyone brings different things to the table and as a result people get different things out of it."

The seminar of a lifetime

By Chelsea and Hayley Golub
Published on May 1, 2008

Who knew that 20 teenagers from Los Angeles could help make a difference in the world?

‘Teenism’ gives young adults an undeserved rep

By Justin Morris
Published on May 1, 2008

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are more than 20.2 million people in America aged 15 to 19, and they are 7 percent of the population. So be careful what statements you make, or what biases you might allow yourself to believe.

Stop the presses: Jews have Jewish names!

By JewishJournal.com
Published on August 8, 2007

Attention Israelis: Please stop kvetching

By Larry Derfner
Published on March 1, 2007

Could it be that Israelis just need to kvetch about whoever's in the headlines?

Uri Geller bends self into Israel ‘reality TV’ stardom

By Orit Arfa
Published on December 21, 2006

Geller is most famous for bending spoons "with his mind," a feat that commonly figures into legends, jokes and parodies about him, although the contestants perform more sophisticated stunts on the show.

And nothing but the truth

By Marilyn Anderson
Published on December 14, 2006

Internet dating -- everyone does it, and everyone complains about it. Why? The guys think the girls lie, and the girls think the guys lie. And the truth is: everybody lies.

An open letter to the rabbis at the Jewish Theological Seminary

By Pamela Witt
Published on December 14, 2006

In elementary school I realized I was different. I had no vocabulary for it, but all the books, movies and relationships I saw led me to believe that my feelings were not normal and needed to be suppressed.

Helping the Congo, person by person

By David Brinn
Published on November 30, 2006

Gila Garaway says that the vision for her organization, Moriah Africa, came to her as she was lying in a hospital bed in Nigeria in 2001.

Trading in happy meals for real happiness

By Rocky Salomon
Published on November 2, 2006

Living a life of dual identity is no simple task. On one hand, my peers and I are told to live up to the expectations of being Modern Orthodox teens, but on the other side of the spectrum we are tempted by the culture of the secular world on an everyday basis.

Dear Mr. Sensitive

By Diane Saltzberg
Published on August 17, 2006

I'll be 50 soon, which I'm not afraid to admit in print. Not many men seem willing to date women their own age.

Advice and Reality Face a Moment of Truth in Israel

By Susan Freudenheim
Published on July 13, 2006

My first instinct in any new city is to mingle. I like to walk the streets, stop into ordinary shops -- grocery stores and electronic shops, not just the Judaica stores or Dead Sea skin care outlets for tourists. I like to take public transportation.

Seven-Year Switch

By Rabbi Haim Ovadia
Published on May 18, 2006

The benefits of the seven-year cycle are immeasurable. First, the land recovers the trace minerals it needs without using ammonium-nitrate-based fertilizers, which endangers the aquatic ecosystems. Second, the social structure is corrected every seven years; the differences between the classes are eroded and a sense of unity and togetherness takes over. Lastly, the seventh year provides an opportunity to stop the insane race for provisions, power and glory. It allows people to reconnect to the precious gifts of their family and their inner self.

Dr. Freud at 150

By Dr. Frank Heynick
Published on May 4, 2006

Freud famously called dreams "the royal road to knowledge of the unconscious." And his own dreams and their analysis revealed to him a whirl of conflicts around his Jewish identity.

Invitation to a Ritual

By Rabbi Anne Brener
Published on April 27, 2006

I have spent my career making visible things that are often carried silently inside. To wear a wig, so that the world would not know that I have cancer and to protect those who see me from the reality of my illness, would betray my work and my values.

Situation Improves for Argentine Jews

By Marc B. Haefele
Published on March 30, 2006

The idea that Jews in Argentina are passing through on their way from Russia (or other place of origin) to Israel -- a voyage that might last several generations -- was hardwired into the Jewish educational system. Many have made aliyah out of necessity, especially during the Dirty War and subsequent economic downturns.

Relationships 101

By Mark Miller
Published on March 2, 2006

Geography of Romance: A course dealing with the best places to meet your romantic partner. Certain locales lend themselves to greater relationship success -- churches and temples, the homes of friends and relatives, bookstores, supermarkets, restaurants, parks and beaches. Other places tend to be riskier -- prison, tattoo parlors, methamphetamine labs, mosh pits, wife-swapping parties, Chuck E. Cheese restaurants, gatherings of arms dealers.

‘Gates’ Hold Key to Palestinians’ Pain

By Gabriel Meyer
Published on February 23, 2006

"Gate of the Sun," was originally published in Beirut in 1998 to great acclaim. Subsequently, translations appeared in French and Hebrew, and an epic four-and-a-half-hour film version, "The Gate of the Sun," directed by Egyptian film director Yousry Nasrallah, was released in 2004. The just-released English edition was translated from the Arabic by Humphrey Davies for Archipelago Books.

Keeping the SAT Drama to a Minimum

By Julie Brown
Published on February 23, 2006

Applying to college was not this complicated 25(ish) years ago. I think I took a PSAT. I know I took the SAT. I took it one time. I did relatively well. I got into UCLA. But times have changed. If I packaged up my high school transcripts and SAT score today, UCLA probably would laugh my application right out of the admissions building.

Where Streets Were Paved With Sorrow

By Holly Lebowitz Rossi
Published on January 19, 2006

Vincent introduces us to three women who illuminate three very different aspects of the shameful reality of white slavery that existed in Latin America between 1860 and 1939.

Moses and King

By Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater
Published on January 19, 2006

This week we meet Moses, our new leader and adviser. Moses is commanded to go to Egypt, gather the people and demand their freedom from Pharaoh.

Two Dark Tales Illuminated at Sundance

By Robert David Jaffee
Published on January 12, 2006

Martin Scorsese has famously influenced a whole generation of American filmmakers, from Abel Ferrara and Quentin Tarantino to Rob Weiss and Nick Gomez. But his influence is not limited to filmmakers in this country.

Our first annual big list o’ mensches

By Photographs by Kevin Scanlon
Published on January 5, 2006

To its detractors, Los Angeles seems very much like a modern-day Sodom or Gomorrah -- besotting civilization with a trash culture of celebrity murder trials, reality TV and movies that trade on violence and superficiality.

U.S. Studios Court Israeli Programmers

By Orit Arfa
Published on December 22, 2005

Hollywood exports are a big business, and U.S. studios sometimes rake in more from international licensing than domestic. Even though Israeli acquisitions account for only 2 percent of overseas television exports, Stern thinks Israel gets special attention.

Out of the Shadows

By Rabbi Karen Deitsch
Published on December 15, 2005

Darkness is frightening. It is the realm of uncertainty, with everything enveloped in a state of unified oblivion. The world we call "real" -- based on substance, physical existence and visible actuality -- is nullified by the blackness of night.

Tommywood - Tale Still Compelling

By Tom Teicholz
Published on November 24, 2005

Forty years ago this Oct. 15, Houghton Mifflin published "The Painted Bird" by Jerzy Kosinski. The book was immediately acclaimed as a must-read text on the Holocaust and the nature of human cruelty.

Chemistry and the Torah: The Limits of Understanding

By Alison Silver
Published on November 3, 2005

Judaism is a simple religion containing many complexities. No one could realistically hope to understand everything. It is important to question and to learn. But when we don't understand something, or don't agree with something, we need to remember that it doesn't give us license to not follow halacha or to not keep the Torah.

Tax Cuts Bring Shameful Silence

By James D. Besser
Published on November 3, 2005

This month House Republicans will try to wrap up work on proposals aimed at slowing the hemorrhage of red ink from federal budget ledgers while finding a way to pay for hundreds of billions of dollars of hurricane relief and for two wars that don't seem about to end anytime soon.

Wiesenthal Larger Than Life on Screen

By Robert David Jaffee
Published on October 6, 2005

While some admirers have envisioned Wiesenthal as a Jewish John Wayne or James Bond, the diminutive Kingsley, who has played numerous Jewish characters in his film career, including Meyer Lansky in "Bugsy" and Fagin in the current "Oliver Twist," depicts him as a much more modest man, frail after the camps, dedicated to his work, not given to swagger or seduction.

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.

A Historic Event

By Chanan Tigay
Published on September 22, 2005

"I would never have imagined that a Muslim, a president of Pakistan and, more than that, a man in uniform would ever get such a warm reception from the Jewish community," Musharraf said as he ascended the platform to excited applause.

525,600 Minutes

By Wendy Jaffe
Published on September 22, 2005

What is the best way to move toward a new year? The Jewish method that calls for an intense review of the past year, or the American approach of entering each new year with a sort of reckless optimism oblivious to what has come before? It seems that the answer depends on whether or not one is a parent.

Never Been Mugged

By Helen Schary Motro
Published on September 22, 2005

In the door pocket of my car I have one road atlas of Israel, one map of the streets of Tel Aviv, one map of the Galilee and, at last count, no fewer than five of Jerusalem. I am always apprehensive of taking the wrong road, and winding up where I might be perceived as an unwelcome intruder.

Goodbye Morag

By Yaakov Katz
Published on August 18, 2005

An Israeli army officer gives an evacuation order to Yuval and Michal Unterman and their 5-year-old daughter, Aviel, at the Morag settlement in the Gaza Strip.

Ambassador for a Year

By Amy Klein
Published on July 14, 2005

Eytan Schwartz is the ambassador to Israel. He's not the real ambassador, of course, not this 31-year-old whose spiky black hair nestles hip aviator sunglasses, and whose purple oxford is untucked over trendy deep blue jeans with snaps and pockets in all the right places.

‘Monster’ Maven Tames Wild Homes

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on June 23, 2005

"Monster House," which dubs itself "a home show on steroids," capitalizes on viewers' hunger for prickly reality TV shows. On each episode, Schwartz and five builders -- all strangers to each other -- have five days to transform a house into a family's dream theme -- with absolutely no peeking by homeowners. Tempers flare as the team crashes spaceships through ceilings, turns fireplaces into fire-breathing Tiki gods and bursts the Three Stooges through living room walls.

Mensch Seeks Shayna Maideleh

By Dina Kraft
Published on June 9, 2005

A team of scouts is scouring the Diaspora for the ideal single Jewish man for a new Israeli reality television show. Once selected, the bachelor, who according to producers preferably will be good looking and "financially secure," will come to Israel for the summer, when 15 young Israeli women will compete to capture his heart.

"We all grow up in Jewish houses and we know the dream of Jewish mothers is that their son finds a nice Jewish girl," said Gadi Veinrib, a producer for the show, to be called -- what else? -- "A Nice Jewish Boy."

A Numbers Game

By Dan Jacobs
Published on December 30, 2004

A few months ago, I scribbled out a Web site, bought a camera, hired a director, raised $42,000 and embarked on a journey across

the United States.

"I'm looking for true love," I told my father, "even if she's husking corn in Iowa."

Insta-Love

By Elizabeth Much
Published on December 23, 2004

We had already been together for seven months. Seven perfect months, untouched by reality of modern life. For me, at least. That was until I promised to buy the new mattress he wanted, thinking it would be a good investment for our future. But this led to his chilling reply: "Honey, I don't have a crystal ball into our future."

Cancer Fight Ties in With Holiday Liturgy

By Zvi Volk
Published on September 9, 2004

The introspection involved in the High Holidays always makes them poignant. Last year, though, they were almost unbearably so for my family.

Frum Frenzy

By Anna Schneider-Mayerson
Published on August 12, 2004

Of course, it was only a matter of time before a class of frum frauds emerged on Craigslist. But if the missives from Orthodox neighborhoods are to be believed, where there are frum, there is desire.

Bar Mitzvah Cheer—Without Cheerleaders

By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Published on August 12, 2004

"Did you book the Lakers cheerleaders?" asked Rabbi Steven Leder, referring to a notorious bar mitzvah party in Los Angeles, where he is rabbi of Wilshire Boulevard Temple.

The Kid Still Stays in the Picture

By Tom Teicholz
Published on July 1, 2004

Producer Robert Evans' best-selling autobiography, "The Kid Stays in the Picture," was chosen by the Library of Congress as a required text for every branch. The audio version of "The Kid" voiced by Evans has become a cult sensation, passed from hand to hand, making Evans an idol to a new generation.

Your Letters

Published on June 24, 2004

Your Letters

Pullman Stars on the Drive Home

By Gaby Wenig
Published on March 25, 2004

"I am very proud of my Jewish heritage," Jason Pullman said, talking to The Journal from the Clear Channel offices (Star's parent company). "I used to use stage names, but then as of four or five years ago [I decided] I am myself, and that is only person that I want to be."

Reality Doesn’t Bite

By Leora Alhadeff
Published on March 11, 2004

Even though 20 million people saw Adam Mesh take the walk of shame and ride the lonely bus home on the final episode of the first season of "Average Joe, " post reality show breakup, Mesh seems to be picking up the pieces very well.

Missing Family

By Jonathan Udren
Published on February 26, 2004

I'm so caught up in my dreams of being the first in my family to replant our roots back in Israel that I almost forgot that I'm making this journey alone, without any family at all.

Gibson Film Doesn’t Star Anti-Semitism

By David Klinghoffer
Published on February 26, 2004

The fact that "The Passion" isn't anti-Semitic doesn't make it an effective piece of filmmaking. The bad news is that Gibson's motion picture manages to be sadistically violent and somewhat boring at the same time.

Geneva Initiative Is Merely a Dream

By Micah D. Halpern
Published on December 11, 2003

The Geneva initiative is a dream. It's unrealistic; it's hoopla. I suppose people need diversions in their lives.

That it was a private Israeli citizen and members of the opposition party who drafted the initiative is fine in my book. That's not a crime in Israel. There is no Logan Act forbidding ex-officio personalities from engaging in foreign negotiations. Israel actually has a history of similar actions.

The plan lays out borders that nearly approximate a return of Israel to pre-1967 borders. But it was the prerogative of those who composed the plan to put in it whatever they saw fit. So that, too, is OK with me.

What bothers me is that those who drafted the initiative and those who applaud the initiative don't realize that it is only a dream. They think of it as a reality.

Just the Facts

By David A. Lehrer
Published on September 25, 2003

Jews in America are more favorably regarded than Catholics, barely less well liked than Protestants and far more highly viewed than Evangelical Christians.

A New Model for Jewish Identity

By Rabbi Tsvi Blanchard
Published on September 11, 2003

Economically and socially successful insiders, Jews are part of a pluralist society in which the primary factor determining ethnic and religious identity is individual choice. We need a new, more helpful descriptive model that recognizes the vital role that personal decisions play in Jewish American identity construction.

A Mitzvah for Ayelet

By Vered Kashani
Published on August 7, 2003

Last year on the seventh of Av, my cousin, Ayelet, was traveling on bus No. 189 from B'nei B'rak to Emanuel with her 10-month-old twin daughters, her 2-year-old son and her mother.

The Uris Inspiration

By Aviva Kempner
Published on July 10, 2003

I was saddened to hear author Leon Uris died.

Simcha Stress and Bridal Blues

By Elisa Albert
Published on July 10, 2003

Planning and executing a wedding, the implication suggests, are psychologically only slightly less taxing than death or divorce.

Rebels and Leaders

By Rabbi Allen I. Freehling
Published on July 3, 2003

Korah forces us to examine the motives of those who are either appointed or elected officials. Furthermore, we're encouraged to probe the reasons why some people attempt to become self-appointed leaders.

Your Letters

Published on May 22, 2003

Your Letters

Israel: Independence and Remembrance

By Andrea Adelson
Published on May 1, 2003

Events remembering Israel's fallen soldiers, on May 6, and celebrating the nation's founding, officially May 7, include two local benefits to address gaping needs of Israelis.

Health Care Requires Resuscitation

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on April 24, 2003

"We have a continuing crisis in this country of millions of Americans without health insurance, and that's just plain wrong," said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles), who will speak Friday, April 25 at Leo Baeck Temple as part of a series on health care.

Humanist Approach a Must in Medicine

By Dr. Arnold P. Gold
Published on April 24, 2003

Research examining the attitudes of 3,500 entering medical students from across the nation concluded that most were indeed empathetic and humanistic when they began their studies. Clearly, some time during medical school and the end of the residency experience, many caring young doctors change. Why do some students maintain a humanistic orientation while others lose it?