- NEWS & COMMENTARY
Cleveland kidnappings: We must be our brother’s keeper
The exterior of the house where three women who had disappeared as teenagers approximately ten years ago were found alive on May 7 in Cleveland, Ohio. Photo by Pugliano/Getty Images
7 Rules for Perfect Hummus
When was the last time you opened a tub of hummus and swooned? When was the last time a restaurant put a plate of hummus in front of you, and you said, “Oh my God.” Most of the hummus recipes…
Palestinians mark Nakba with West Bank protests
Thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank marked the 65th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, which they call the “catastrophe,” with marches and protests.
- HOLLYWOOD
The Office’s best Jewish moment
Funny music, sad life
On an otherwise unremarkable day in 1938, a chubby but charming student at John Burroughs Junior High in Los Angeles “cracked the code of his comic gift and discovered his…
Filmmakers reveal magician’s secretive world
A British journalist recalls how she once sat down at a cafe with the legendary magician, author, historian, actor and, perhaps, the greatest sleight-of-hand artist on the planet in the documentary…
- LIFE & CULTURE
7 Rules for Perfect Hummus
When was the last time you opened a tub of hummus and swooned? When was the last time a restaurant put a plate of hummus in front of you, and…
Survivor: Irene Rosenberg
“Mommy, I’ll be right back.” Irene Rosenberg — then Irene Grunfeld — said as she was leaving the apartment of her cousin Mancy Weiss, where she and her mother were…
The Divine Wedding and Kiss - Parashat Naso
“O for your kiss! For your love / More enticing than wine, / For your scent and sweet name – For all this they love you. Take me away to…
- BLOGS
What would my Israeli grandmother think?
When I hear about the latest events in Israel – the air strikes on weapons facilities in Syria, the flare-ups over women donning prayer shawls at the Western Wall –…
A hot topic, a great panel, and chance to learn and discuss—immigration at issue
It's a critical time for immigration reform in this country. Washington is getting set to make major changes, the likes of which haven't been seen since the 1980's under President…
State 194: A Documentary About Palestine
Opening this weekend at Laemmle’s Music Hall 3 is a very hot-button new documentary called State 194, which follows the recent history of Palestine. Many will approach this film with…
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Apple to open third research center in Israel
Apple will open its third research and development center in Israel.
Aspirin for Cancer Prevention not Ready for Prime Time
Johannesburg, Ben Gurion universities to continue joint research
The University of Johannesburg has agreed to continue joint research on biotechnology and water purification with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
BIRD Foundation awards $8 million for U.S.-Israel research
A foundation that works to support industrial research and development to benefit the United States and Israel will invest more than $8 million in nine new projects.
Breast is Best - Give me a Break!
Cedars-Sinai studies liver transplants for HIV patients
Cedars-Sinai is one of only 11 hospitals in the country and two in the state participating in the study
The painful truth about teen mouth piercing
A pierced tongue may be the height of cool in some teen circles, but a new study by Israeli researchers suggests that skin piercings in the mouth may lead to an increased risk of oral health problems and even tooth loss
Donors push Bar-Ilan to head of the class
"I wish I had 10 percent of the success with the Israeli government as I have with private donors," sighed Moshe Kaveh, the president of Bar-Ilan University.
Researchers stop biological clock during chemo
Girls as young as 14 who are exposed to chemotherapy for treating breast cancer, Hodgkin's disease, and other non-malignant diseases such as lupus, put their reproductive system at risk. The chemotherapy can trigger premature menopause and leave women infertile.
Books: Why choosing rationally might not be so easy
Dan Ariely is an MIT professor who served beer in a brewery and dressed in a waiter's outfit as part of his research into decision making. A leading behavioral economist, Ariely has heightened abilities to observe what's going on around him, from tiny details to the big picture. His uncommon findings and their wider applications are presented in "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions".
Jewish researchers dispute some Pew religion survey data
American Jews are adopting and discarding their Jewish identities with increasing rapidity in a country that is becoming less white and less Christian, according to a new study of religious affiliation in the United States.But just hours after the study's publication Monday, Jewish demographers already were disputing some of the findings on Jews, contending that the sample is too small to draw meaningful conclusions.
Fund assists Israeli cancer researchers
Howard Cedar is among hundreds of Israeli scientists whose research has been supported by the Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF), a charitable organization funded predominately by North American Jews that aims to keep Israeli researchers in the country performing cutting-edge research instead of losing them in a "brain drain" to institutions abroad with more money and resources.
Briefs: Israeli team places second in international technology challenge, Jewish Community Foundatio
Community briefs.
Arava Institute boosts hopes of environmentalists in Middle East
The Arava Institute has about 40 students, including three Palestinians from the West Bank and 10 Jordanians. They all live and study at the kibbutz center on Kibbutz Ketura, about 25 miles north of Eilat. The institute is under construction to house up to 100 students in the near future. The 10-year-old institute has graduated more than 400 students from its yearlong program. It receives funding from the Jewish National Fund and other American Jewish groups and donors. Among the graduates is the son of Jordanian Prime Minister Ma'roof Al-Bakeet.
Unearthing mass graves in Ukraine unveils history
In May, Ukrainian workers laying a gas pipe in a southern village dug into a buried chamber of thousands of Jews killed during the Holocaust. That same month, a construction crew building a new office complex in western Ukraine burrowed into the corpses of several dozen more Jews. Stumbling upon such mass graves is not particularly unusual in Eastern Europe. Less well known is how many more "martyr sites" lie undiscovered and unmarked in fields and forests across the region -- wherever mobile Nazi killing units scorched the earth in the so-called "Holocaust of bullets." It seems momentum is growing in the search for such sites.
Science of floral scents and colors blooming in Israel
The greenhouses are only a small part of Professor Alexander Vainstein's work, however. Back in the lab, he and other researchers on the agricultural, food and environmental quality sciences faculty have discovered how to insert the scent of flowers into different foods, how to intensify the smell of perfumes and creams and how to create a natural scent with nothing more than a petri dish.
Funding shortage and ignorance hurt pancreatic cancer fight
About 95 percent of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will die within five years, the highest mortality rate of any cancer.
My December visit with ‘lady’
When I first started writing, I sat with Khanum for hours at a time, asking questions. I was 21 and on leave of absence from law school. I had no idea what I was going to do with my life, but I knew some stories from Iran, and had begun to write them. They were scattered pieces of people's lives, bits of conversations I had overheard through the years, rumors that had been whispered too many times and taken on a reality that may or may not have been deserved.
California Jewish voters maintain liberal reputation
Political scientist and Jewish Journal columnist Raphael Sonnenshein of Cal State Fullerton termed the national election results "the most colossal wave of change going back to 1980."
Jews join the quest for space commerce
Commercial space interests are now playing a critical role in the dawn of the second space age -- one built on business ventures and international cooperation. Instead of Hilton and Pan Am, the corporate names associated with the commercialization of space include Budget Suites and Virgin.
Israel, U.S. Act on Request for Renewable Energy
Under the proposed U.S.-Israel Energy Cooperation Act, scientists and engineers from both countries would focus on research, development and commercial use of renewable energy from solar, wind, hydrogen and biofuel sources.
Sky High Fundraiser
Marriage Conversion Rate Proves Low
Fewer than one-fifth of non-Jews who marry Jews convert to Judaism, according to a new study distributed by the American Jewish Committee.
O.C. Incidents Raise Anti-Semitism Fears
"There has been a significant rise in the past four years in anti-Semitism generally and on school campuses," said Dr. Kevin O'Grady, associate director of the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) Orange County/Long Beach Region. O'Grady's office recorded 43 cases of harassment and vandalism last year, nearly 50 percent more than in 2003; one-third of these involved public schools.
Wiesel’s Words of Hope for ‘Uprooted’
Wounds are plentiful in Eli Wiesel's "The Time of the Uprooted," an absorbing novel that moves back and forth in time, from 1940s Hungary to New York at the end of the 20th century, shifting points of view, with emotional intensity packed into memories and stories.
This Week - Mission Impossible
They say the people with the highest Q ratings on television are those who are most themselves in front of the camera. That explains the success Meir has had as the face of Israel on CNN, BBC, even al-Jazeera.
The Second American Jewish Revolution
Wars, the Holocaust, the creation of the State of Israel and the movement of Jews to countries of freedom and security shaped the first revolution in Jewish communal life. Now, individuals are able to re-invent the idea of "community" on their own terms.
The Shadows of Another Time
Anti-Semitism is thick here, and largely unexamined. Yes it's true that there's also been a recent surge of philo-Semitism, exemplified by the huge non-Jewish crowds at Krakow's annual Jewish Cultural Festival and a palpable interest in Judaism within Polish intellectual circles. Still, in Poland it can still be physically hazardous to declare oneself Jewish.
A Journey Back to the Shtetl
The Jews of Liudvinas were very much a part of the town. Their children attended school with Christian children. They were observant Jews, but dressed much as others did.
What Do Gen-Y Jews Want? Everything
The last few months have seen a flood of studies of Gen-Y Jews -- all trying to map their sense of Jewish identity, affiliation patterns, needs, hopes, beliefs and behaviors.
A Photojournalist’s Twist on Nazi Image
Following the Communist party line, Heartfield could lampoon the Social Democratic leaders of the Weimar Republic as viciously as he did the Nazis, sharpening the enmity between the two left-wing parties that paved the way for the Nazi takeover.
Botox Treatments Aid Stroke Survivors
Better known for cosmetic enhancement, Botox injections immobilize key muscles in stricken arms or legs, allowing physical therapy and exercise to extend range of motion and flexibility. Effects wear off, so the Botox is reinjected every three months for a year or more.
Nation & World Briefs
Briefs
The Circuit
Circuit
Library Collection of Judaica Stands Out
Many of Los Angeles County's 84 libraries carry Jewish-flavored works, but Culver City has the only stand-alone Judaica collection. Among other Southland public libraries, Agoura Hills Library has a Holocaust and Hebrew language collection, and the Los Angeles Central Library in downtown -- part of the city of Los Angeles' library system -- has a Yiddish collection with 3,000 books.
Bye Bye Diaspora, Hello ‘New Jews’
The authors propose a new map with "multiple homelands" that displaces Israel from "the center of the Jewish universe." They point out that since the mid-19th century, most Jewish religious innovation has originated in the United States, rather than in Europe or Israel. As of 2003, more people emigrated from Israel to Russia than vice versa, and New York is the communal and philanthropic center of Jewish life. Ultimately, the authors find, contemporary Jews are at home wherever they live. "New Jews," they argue, "connect emotionally and culturally with multiple places and traverse routes across national boundaries but are nonetheless rooted in a specific place they call home."
Wake Up and Smell the Fish
"Fish prices have tripled; fish form a significant part of our diet," Diamond told The Journal. "At the rate we're going, most of the world's major fisheries will be gone within a decade."
Many With Gaucher Unaware of Disease
Gaucher is sufficiently rare that many doctors weren't and still aren't aware of it. And when LaBelle was diagnosed, "they were just doing research, and there was not a glimmer of hope" for a treatment, she said
Synagogues Weigh Defibrillator Benefits
In the five years since Priddy's father passed away, portable defibrillators (also called automated external defibrillators) have become increasingly common in public venues.
Mental Workouts Keep Your Brain Fit
Teaching your brain new tricks is like a workout for the mind. It's never too early to start, and you don't have to ante up tuition to start your brain fitness program
Retiring Cal Tech Chief Reflects on Roots
During his nine-year tenure as Caltech president, 67-year old David Baltimore translated many of his family's principles into practice, on top of raising the university's already elite level of scientific research and education. He showed a keen interest in the quality of student life through improved housing and a multimillion dollar student activities fund, and raised the profile and number of women on the faculty and in the student body.
We Must Heal Divide Over Life Views
As we stand at the dawn of the 21st century, a perhaps even more fundamental issue divides the American body politic. From stem cells, abortion and human cloning to the Schiavo case and physician-assisted suicides, the question of life has become this generation's great ideological battle ground.
A Father’s Drive to Save His Daughter
George Smith hates to lose. A Harvard Business School graduate, Smith founded one of Southern California's largest, most prominent real estate investment banking firms and will receive an honorary doctorate from Tel Aviv University next week. Still, he smarts a little from a grievance endured at Hamilton High more than 50 years ago.
"I graduated second in my class to a home economics major," said the 70-year-old real estate guru and father of four. "She had one B in three years and I had two. My physics teacher graded me at a different level than anyone else because she knew I was going on to Cal Tech."
He holds no grudge. And this small injustice would help to fuel rather than blunt his drive to succeed, which has served Smith well in building a firm that exceeded $2 billion in commercial financing last year. He never imagined that he'd also apply this indomitable will another way: in a fight to save his daughter's life.
Becca Smith was 5 years old in 1983 when she was diagnosed with Ataxia Telangiectasia (A-T), a rare, progressively degenerative neurological disease for which there is no cure. Children with A-T have difficulty walking and with balance, and are more susceptible to infection and certain cancers. Smith and his wife, Pam, were told that Becca was unlikely to reach her 20th birthday.
A Reason to Give a Hoot
ity mouse, look out! A researcher on the other side of the globe thinks he can end Los Angeles' rodent problem for good -- by putting barn owls to work.
Israeli ornithologist Yossi Leshem says owls operate more safely and effectively than spraying poisons, which contaminate groundwater and are toxic to pets. The key, he says, is supplying the owls, a natural predator, with the right habitat.
Are Jews Smarter?
The mere mention of eugenics, which refers to a movement to improve humankind by controlling genetic factors through mating, is enough to ring bells that many Jews would rather not hear 60 years after the Allied defeat of the Nazis.
The Measure of a Jew
One of the signal contributions of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) over the many years has been its stream of publications reporting on and analyzing our community.
Does Autism Offer Special Gifts?
"Identify yourself," Seth says when meeting someone new.
When You Care Enough to Send Matzah Love
Picture our forefather Moses as a child, standing outside a swimming pool, waving to other children in the pool. They look confused because the pool waters have been parted.
New Study Breaks Down 2004 Election
"There's been some small movement in the Jewish community toward the Republicans, but nothing really dramatic," said Stuart Rothenberg, an independent political analyst.
Feldshuh Enjoys View From ‘Balcony’
"There are three female historical figures that I have wanted to play: Golda Meir, Indira Ghandi and Margaret Thatcher. And the last two haven't been offered to me."
Circuit
It was not dinner as usual at the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) Los Angeles Celebration on Dec. 18 at the Beverly Hilton. While keynote speaker attorney Alan Dershowitz gave a standard stump speech about why people should support the ADL, what was more poignant were six spoken-word vignettes, heard throughout the evening, that singled out an individual whose life was touched by the work of the ADL.
Bipartisan Victory in Proposition Wins
"If a cure helps one disease like diabetes, it will be a burden off our health-care system. Even if one treatment comes out of this, then we will have made a difference," said Temple Beth Am member Carol Eisner, whose 13-year-old daughter Emma Klatman has type-one diabetes.
Charity List Shows Fundraising Stability
Who's up and who's down in Jewish charities? While a recent snapshot of some of the largest Jewish charities reveals that Jewish fundraising generally is stable, nuances in the numbers reveal the viccissitudes -- and why.
Stem Cell Success a Prop. 71 Boost?
Researchers at the Technion Institute of Technology and Rambam Medical Center in Israel have transformed embryonic stem cells into heart cells.
Black Sheep
During my genealogy research I was surprised to learn that my great-grandfather was a real scoundrel. While it's impossible to know what was happening inside of his head, I've found clues that give me a better understanding of who he was.
Has the State Got a Proposition for You!
The wind grows colder, the days shorter and a 165-page, gray book of propositions arrives in everybody's mailbox. Welcome to the election season -- for Californians.
Thriller Infiltrates
Hurwitz's new page-turner, "The Program" reads like an expose of cult con artistry.
Briefs
Attorneys representing the Jewish teenager who has sued the Conejo Valley Unified School District (CSUSD) over alleged anti-Semitic behavior will meet on Oct. 22 in state court, while a lawyer for the boy's former coach meets next month in federal court over the same case.
Everything’s Relative
Simply named "Einstein," the nearly nine-month-long exhibit, the largest ever mounted by the Skirball Cultural Center, opens Sept. 14 and closes May 29, 2005.
Community Briefs
The historic Breed Street Shul will be holding an open house this Sunday, Aug. 22 at 247 Breed St. in Boyle Heights from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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