Once a shul, now a church that celebrates Judaism

By Roberto Loiederman
Published on June 6, 2013

Some months ago, L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky was “cruising Boyle Heights,” the neighborhood where he grew up and where a large portion of Los Angeles’ Jewish community once lived. Feeling nostalgic, he drove by B’nai Jacob Synagogue — once known as the Fairmont Street Shul — and recalled that some of his parents’ students had celebrated their bar mitzvahs there.

Mazel Tov, Israel; Shalom, Mayor Villaraigosa

By Ryan Torok
Published on April 18, 2013

Photographs of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa play on a large screen. In one photograph, he’s with Israeli President Shimon Peres. In others, he is visiting the Western Wall, walking at a kibbutz and greeting Israeli soldiers.

‘Because You Suffer…’

Published on March 7, 2013

There was a moment that took place last week in this community that, if you didn’t witness it, you need to hear about it.

Global soul: Zev Yaroslavsky

Published on March 5, 2013

When Cain killed Abel, the Bible recorded it as the first murder in history. But the rabbis commented, this is more than murder. Abel’s murder opened the jaws of genocide. For when Cain killed Abel, it wasn’t Abel alone that died.

Fairfax Legacy Gala a lion-sized success

Published on October 11, 2012

When theater producers Pierson Blaetz and Whitney Weston established Friends of Fairfax to help Fairfax High School in 1998, they came up with the Melrose Trading Post, a flea market held every weekend in the high school’s parking lot. But the annual $200,000 from the Trading Post has not been enough to help Fairfax High cover the shortfall it’s currently facing due to statewide cuts in education spending.

Fairfax Legacy Gala a Lion-Sized Success

Published on October 10, 2012

When theater producers Pierson Blaetz and Whitney Weston established Friends of Fairfax to help Fairfax High School in 1998, they came up with the Melrose Trading Post, a flea market held every weekend in the high school’s parking lot. But the annual $200,000 from the Trading Post has not been enough to help Fairfax High cover the shortfall it’s currently facing due to statewide cuts in education spending.

The absence of Zev

By David A. Lehrer
Published on September 5, 2012

The news is bittersweet. On the one hand a public servant who has dedicated nearly forty years of his life to the Los Angeles community will be unburdened from the demands of a public that wants him virtually every day and night of the week (whether it’s this group’s board meeting or that neighborhood council or the major donor who would like to “show him off” to friends), Zev Yaroslavsky has led a career of rarely saying no to his constituents. On the other hand, Los Angeles will be losing the chance to elect the one potential mayoral candidate that might have set our fiscal house in order.

Yaroslavsky reflects on decision to leave politics

Published on August 23, 2012

In an interview with The Journal on Thursday, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said that he hasn’t spent much time yet thinking specifically about what he’s going to devote his time and energy to after he leaves public office at the end of his term in 2014, but he said he will continue to work in the areas that have been priorities for him -- especially helping to address the needs of the homeless and providing healthcare to those who cannot afford insurance.

Zev Yaroslavsky to retire from politics, won’t run for mayor

By Ryan Torok
Published on August 23, 2012

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has announced that he will not enter the 2013 L.A. mayoral race, despite having entertained the possibility for many months, and will leave politics altogether once his term with the L.A. Board of Supervisors ends in 2014.

Residents make noise at Berman’s hearing to silence helicopters

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on August 7, 2012

L.A. leaders denounce IOC at Munich 11 commemoration [VIDEO+SLIDESHOW]

By Ryan Torok
Published on July 27, 2012

Community leaders gathered at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum today to observe a moment of silence for the 11 Israelis killed during the 1972 Olympics in Munich. The leaders also denounced the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for its refusal to hold a similar commemoration during the opening ceremonies of the London Olympic Games.

Jan Perry’s quest: Spirituality, pursuit of L.A.‘s well-being

By Bill Boyarsky
Published on July 25, 2012

I asked City Council member Jan Perry, a candidate for mayor of Los Angeles, if she was on a spiritual quest when she converted to Judaism. “Right,” she replied. “Your question is a good way to put it.”

In ’84, sans IOC, L.A. remembered Israeli athletes slain at Munich Olympics

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on July 19, 2012

Austin Beutner drops out of L.A. mayor’s race

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on May 8, 2012

Israel Festival: dancing with Eyal Golan

By Ryan Torok
Published on April 30, 2012

At the end of a long day of festivities Sunday, the crowd screamed as Israeli singer Eyal Golan wrapped an Israel flag around his body onstage at Rancho Park’s Cheviot Hills Recreation Center.

Opinion: Dance with who brung you

Published on September 28, 2011

That Zev Yaroslavsky is the most important local elected Jewish official is beyond dispute. For over three decades he has been a voice of reason and courage for, to and in the Jewish community.

The Berman v. Sherman race—so far

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on September 15, 2011

Garcetti declares candidacy for L.A. mayor; three Jews now in race (do I hear a fourth?)

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on September 8, 2011

Howard Berman Announces Five Endorsements

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on August 31, 2011

Zev Yaroslavsky discusses the 405 freeway closure [VIDEO]

By JewishJournal.com
Published on July 14, 2011

Yaroslavsky observes Nigeria’s democratic process

By Bill Boyarsky
Published on April 26, 2011

Zev Yaroslavsky’s latest nation-building assignment wasn’t easy. Dispatched to Nigeria as part of an international corps of election observers, he checked on polling places during elections this month in a nation better known for ethnic violence and corruption than orderly changes in government.

Mayor Zev Yaroslavsky?

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on February 17, 2011

Yaroslavsky goes out for the count [VIDEO]

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on February 2, 2011

A few minutes into the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count on the night of Jan. 27, Zev Yaroslavsky turned to the driver of the minivan carrying the Los Angeles County supervisor and two of his deputies and asked where the young man was originally from. Tomasz Babiszkiewicz, an outreach case manager with People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), told Yaroslavsky in lightly accented English that he had come to the United States from Poland seven years earlier to study at University of Southern California.

Webcast L.A. Officials Celebrate No Ruz at Westwood’s Persian Square

By Karmel Melamed
Published on April 19, 2010

L.A. county passes motion to divest from Iran

By Tom Tugend
Published on July 21, 2009

The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors passed a motion Tuesday morning requesting the county pension fund to divest itself of any assets or funds from any companies doing business with Iranian companies active in energy resource development.

Death to Fanatistan!

By Rob Eshman
Published on October 1, 2008

The gospel choir sang "God Bless America." If you weren't thinking of the Jewish immigrant Irving Berlin who wrote that song, you couldn't appreciate the beautiful irony of the moment.

City Voice: Yaroslavsky takes on developers in push for affordable housing

By Bill Boyarsky
Published on April 24, 2008

In defending middle-class neighborhoods, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is taking on an issue that reaches to the heart of Los Angeles' ethnic, political and class divide

ACLU Dispute Shows Tension Among Interfaith Friends

By Marc Ballon
Published on July 19, 2006

As local pro-Israeli and pro-Arab groups hold ever larger and more heated demonstrations, relations among Los Angeles Muslim and Jewish groups threaten to go into a deep freeze. In one reflection of the changing climate, a longtime Jewish member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has blasted the group's local chapter for planning to honor a Muslim activist whom he characterizes as an anti-Israeli propagandist.

Will He or Won’t He?

By Rob Eshman
Published on December 30, 1999

It happened one evening just outside the men's room at Valley Beth Shalom synagogue in Encino. A historic dialogue between Rabbi Harold Schulweis and Cardinal Roger Mahoney had concluded in the sanctuary, and County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky went to the restroom.