- NEWS & COMMENTARY
Syria fires on Israeli military vehicle, Israel returns fire
Syria fired on and damaged an Israeli army jeep, and Israel retaliated with a missile attack, the Israeli military said.
ZOA regains tax-exempt status
After 15 months, the nonprofit pro-Israel Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has regained its tax-exempt status.
Hezbollah in big Syria battle, Obama ‘concerned’
Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas have fought their biggest battle yet for Syria's beleaguered president, prompting international alarm that the civil war may spread and an urgent call for restraint from the United States.
- HOLLYWOOD
Mel Brooks’ top 10 Jewy Jewish scenes [VIDEO]
Monday night marks the national premier broadcast of the American Masters installment on Mel Brooks. To mark the occasion, we’ve put together a collection of Brooks’ best Jewish clips.
Alan Dershowitz sends ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ episode to Netanyahu
Comedian Larry David has been called a lot of things over the course of his long and successful career, but we’re pretty sure “peace maker” has never been one of…
James Franco paints ad for ‘This is The End’
Proving once again that there isn’t anything he doesn’t do, James Franco has created marketing material for his upcoming film “This is The End.” The actor/artist/Ph.D. candidate was spotted in…
- 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
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…
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…
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Valley congregation debuts Russian-language program
Congregation Beth Meier will debut a religious school program in Russian for children ages 6 to 8 at its Studio City campus starting Sept. 9.
Mike Wallace: A dissent
Praise for Mike Wallace as a probing investigative reporter saturated news media immediately after his death April 7 at age 93. Virtually all tributes omitted the fact that when it came to anti-Israeli tyrants, terrorists and oppressors of Jewish minorities, Wallace son of Russian Jewish immigrants usually pitched softballs and parroted propaganda.
Homs shelled as Syria demands ‘neutral’ U.N. mission
Syria challenged the United Nations chief over the size and scope of a U.N. truce monitoring mission on Wednesday, resisting a larger presence as its army shelled targets in the city of Homs in violation of the ceasefire.
Israeli lawmaker suspended for throwing water at colleague
An Israeli lawmaker has been suspended from the Knesset for a month for throwing water at a colleague during an argument.
New approach in effort to bring Russian-speaking U.S. Jews into the fold
When David Weinstein went to summer camp many years ago, the Jewish world was animated by the campaign to free Soviet Jewry.
Grandma and My Poor Kitten…
Tooth Fairy money and other useless artifacts of choice…
Supermarket Memories…
Voicemail and My Father’s Outgoing Message…
Soviet Dentists and My Anxiety…
Oh Sarah Palin, what nonsense fell out of your mouth now…
What’s an Expiration Date?
Jury Duty!
U.S. airs concerns on Chabad-Russia feud over texts
American officials have weighed in for the first time on a Chabad court victory over the ownership of Chasidic texts, reportedly saying it could jeopardize Russia-U.S. cultural ties. The Associated Press reported that the U.S. Justice Department's response Monday to the Chabad-Lubavitch victory about the dangers to cultural relations between the two countries underlines the importance attached to the case by the government.
Angelina Jolie’s Tattoos.
Report: Iran nuclear plant fully operational within weeks
Iran's Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant will be fully operational within weeks, local news agencies quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying on Thursday.
When Everybody Didn’t Love Phil: “Exporting Raymond” [VIDEO]
A Soviet Passover…
Everyone is Suddenly Irish on March 17th!
Chicken nuggets vs. my kids school lunches, Oye Vay…
Hiding in Beverly Hills
Why would a wealthy Russian businessman with ties to his country’s notorious ultranationalist party known for its anti-American and anti-Semitic positions flee to Beverly Hills? Ashot Egiazaryan, the fugitive Russian who can afford to go just about anywhere, isn’t talking.
Joys of growing up in Communist Soviet Union, and other tales of my Family.
My Interview with the Department of Homeland Security!
I speak Latin, therefore I speak English
31 dead, 130 hurt in suicide bomb at Moscow’s busiest airport
At least 31 people were killed and 130 wounded Monday in a suicide blast at Domodedovo airport in Moscow, Russian Health Ministry officials said.
Schwarzenegger making play dates with Medvedev
Ohio sports and my Marriage vows
Russian president nixes Israel visit over strike
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev canceled a planned visit to Israel due to a strike by Foreign Ministry employees. The striking workers had threatened to embarrass the Russian leader during his visit, which was scheduled for the middle of January. The workers gave interviews in Israel's Russian-language media, closely monitored by the Russian government, saying that they would not assist in preparations for the visit, Haaretz reported. The visit, scheduled several months ago, was to include a delegation of 500 people, including businesspeople, lawmakers and senior officials, according to Ynet.
The Foreign Ministry workers are protesting low wages.
Not a Ralphs fan in the least
Abolish Jackson-Vanik, Russian Jews urge Congress
Representatives of the Russian Jewish Congress asked the U.S. Congress to repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment. The appeal was addressed to the U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Beyrly, during a meeting Monday in Moscow that took place on the 36th anniversary of the amendment's adoption. The amendment restricts Russian trade with the United States. “The viewpoint of the Jewish community on the problem is that the amendment affects the community negatively now, being a stumbling block in the development of U.S.- Russia relations," Russian Jewish Congress President Yuri Kanner said in a statement.
How Poor Jews Come to America, meaning my parents!
Madoff scheme deals new hit to FSU Jews
The Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard Madoff is the latest in a string of financial blows to Jewish aid programs in the former Soviet Union, wiping out a major foundation that was the primary funder of Jewish higher education in Russia
Melancholy Russian soul flourishing in immigrants
In an interview, the Moscow-born author, who immigrated to the United States at the age of 7, admits that she, too, has a lingering Russian soul. Her well-written and very enjoyable first novel recasts Tolstoy, as its title suggests, observing immigrants from the former Soviet Union, body and soul.
From the people who brought you the Iraq war comes . . . The ALL NEW Cold War
Israeli women gymnasts train long and hard for Beijing games
On one side of a cavernous gym in Netanya, halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa, six members of Israel's first Olympic rhythmic gymnastics team warm up in a circle, chatting softly in a mix of Russian and Hebrew while stretching their legs in effortless splits on the mat
Paper pieces for peace
An ancient Japanese legend holds that anyone who folds 1,000 origami cranes will be granted a wish. If three L.A.-area day schools were to get one, it might be for peace and understanding.
Ghost of holocaust haunts visitor exploring Germany
It took me more than a year to buy my ticket. My sister was living in Berlin, and I was supposed to visit her. What she didn't know each time she asked me to come see her was how present the Holocaust was for me in my work.
‘Pieces’ fall into place for Israeli actress
"I long for the loss of memory," grieves Jakob, the central character in "Fugitive Pieces," a sensitive, at times wrenching, film based on the best-selling novel by Canadian poet Anne Michaels and directed by her countryman, Jeremy Podeswa, the son of Holocaust survivors.
Israeli invention could pave way for hydrogen cars
Everyone's heard that old story about the scientist who invents a "magic pill" that turns water into gasoline -- with the invention eventually getting into the hands of the oil companies that bury it, fearing they will be driven out of business when word gets out about their competition
Briefs: Governator opens new Saban Free Clinic, Weisenthal Center pressures Swiss on Iran deal
News Briefs
Books: Leaving Russia behind—somewhat
When Perestroika came in 1985, anti-Jewish feeling in Russia became even more overt than it had been during the Soviet era.
‘Non-Jewish’ Jews endure challenges living in Israel
In Israel, the "non-Jewish Jews," as some Israelis call them, are everywhere. They drive buses, teach university classes, patrol in army jeeps and follow the latest Israeli reality TV shows as avidly as their Jewish counterparts. For these people -- mostly immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are not Jews according to Israeli law -- the question of where they fit into the Jewish state remains unanswered nearly two decades after they began coming to Israel.
Americans don’t forget Eastern Europe’s survivors
Galina's renewed sense of hope for her future -- for the chance to relax and to read and memorize her beloved poems about Victory Day -- comes as a result of the work of comedy director/producer Zane Buzby and the Survivor Mitzvah Project, a nonprofit humanitarian organization that brings direct financial assistance to about 700 elderly and ill Holocaust survivors in Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and Lithuania.
Israeli, Iranian and Russian immigrants learn the American way of giving
Indeed, immigrant communities often struggle with loyalties to the social mores of their old country and their new one. In the world of philanthropy and volunteerism, many Jewish leaders have learned that immigrant Jewish communities also have attitudes different from their American-born Jewish brothers and sisters. Those attitudes stem from the political systems and types of communities from which they came and what was expected of them in their native lands.
Jews laud Boris Yeltsin’s legacy
Russian Jewish leaders agree that the community should remember Boris Yeltsin, who died Monday at age 76, primarily as the man who ended decades of state-sanctioned anti-Semitism in Russia.
Israelis fear anti-Semitism imported from Russia
n recent years, sporadic acts of anti-Semitism have hit Israel, most of them carried out by disaffected immigrant youths from the former Soviet Union (FSU). Although the youths came to Israel under the Law of Return, they are among those who identify not as Jews but as ethnic Russians. Under Israel's Law of Return, a cornerstone of Israel's identity as a haven for all Jews, anyone with a Jewish parent or grandparent is permitted to immigrate and be granted citizenship.
Swingin’ Chanukah with Kenny Ellis; The Klezmatics at the Disney; Three More Tenors
Picks and Clicks
The Subbotniks: an Armenian community on the fringe of extinction
A community of rural residents in the former Soviet Union, descended from Russian peasants who converted to Judaism two centuries ago, may soon be consigned to the dustbin of history.
Russian Singer Goes From Defector to Cantor
Ever since she was a little girl, Portnyansky dreamed of coming to the United States. "My parents used to get a magazine called Amerika. It had photos and articles about the U.S. In my mind I was already there, from the first grade." The opportunity came in 1991, during the last throes of the Soviet Union: She received an invitation from the U.S government to do a concert tour.
Lawsuit Filed in Granada Hills Jewish Community Center Shooting
World News; Lawsuit Filed in Granada Hills Jewish Community Center Shooting; Young Quits After 'Hurtful' Remarks; Olmert Pressed on War Inquiry; Diaspora Money Heads North; Israeli Officials Face Sexual-Harassment Charges; Israeli Children Anxious After War; Major Israeli Writer Dies; Israel: Hezbollah Used Russian Weapons; Jewish-Owned Market in Moscow Bombed; Restaurant in India Named After Hitler; Annan Chides Iran on Holocaust Cartoons.
Gunter Grass Admits to SS Past
Grass, 78, whose autobiography is due out this fall, told the Frankfurter Allegmeine Zeitung in an interview published last Friday that he was drafted into the Waffen SS in the final months of World War II.
Evangelicals Slate Pro-Israel Lobbying
CUFI's purpose, according to its official brochure, is "to provide a national association through which every pro-Israel church, parachurch organization, ministry or individual in America can speak and act with one voice in support of Israel in matters related to biblical issues."
Latin American Jews Create L.A. Oasis
Imagine that you live in Latin America and you're Jewish. Typically, you and your family would belong to a full-service Jewish club with cultural, recreational, educational and athletic activities for all ages. The club is reasonably priced, promotes Jewish identity in a secular manner and is the backbone of your social life.
Tehran Jews Talk of Future in Iran
The trip was a rare group visit abroad by Iranian Jews, who live in an Islamic community whose government is virulently opposed to the State of Israel. The Iranians -- ages 14 to 30 -- came to Russia thanks to diplomatic efforts by Arkady Gaidamak, a Russian Jewish leader and businessman, who helped obtain a special permit from Iranian authorities.
Food for Thought
Scientists will tell you that the senses of smell and taste are most strongly associated with memory. I think eating resembles what learning the Passover story should be -- we allow something from outside of ourselves to enter us; we "digest it" and change it (it is we who must tell the story so that our children can hear it) and it changes us and nourishes us and stays with us forever.
Tommywood - Grossman Revealed
Vasily Grossman's stories helped him gain admittance to the Soviet Writer's Union. As a successful writer, the state treated him well: He was paid handsomely, had good housing (an apartment in the center of Moscow) and was invited (and allowed) to take his family on vacation to a dacha on the Black Sea.
The New Face of the Israeli Right
Avigdor Lieberman's party, Yisrael Beiteinu, became the fourth-largest party in Israeli politics Tuesday, winning seats in the next Knesset from a strong base of Russian-speaking voters as well as tens of thousands of veteran Israelis.
L’Chaim to Kitsch!
In a dark spotlight-lit stage, a man in a long, black suit; yarmulke; and tallit slung over one shoulder fervently sings into a microphone, while a dance troupe in similar -- but sexier -- garb twirls behind him.
He's not a cantor. He's not a rabbi. He's not even religious. He is Evgeni Valevich, a performer whose repertoire includes a program of Russian Jewish music in the genre called Estrada. Estrada may be a genre unknown to Westerners, but to Russians, the term is immediately recognizable.
Hamas Rises as Kadima Declines
After a visit to Moscow, Hamas leaders claim "the wall" of diplomatic isolation Israel is trying to build around the newly empowered organization is collapsing.
But Israeli government officials say they are still confident that the international community will cut off funds to a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority and back Israeli moves for a second unilateral pullback from Palestinian territory.
Scholar Discovers Hidden Russian Gem
"The Five" is a novel set in Odessa at the dawn of the 20th century, unfolding the story of a colorful upper-middle-class Jewish family and its path of assimilation. An autobiographical tale, it's also a romantic portrait of the cosmopolitan city Jabotinsky loved and a life that is no more.
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