U.S.

October 9, 2008

Could economic slump—which means less giving— kill Jewish community innovation?

By Jacob Berkman

According to a survey taken in late September by the private wealth research firm, Prince & Associates, the cuts have arrived. Fifty-one percent said they planned on giving less next year than they did this past year -- and only 16 percent said they planned on giving more.

Featured

Thursday, October 9, 2008

I hear you knocking

By Steve Greenberg

Was this SNL skit a sign that there will be anti-Semitic backlash after the financial crisis?Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Will Wall Street crisis spur anti-Semitism?

By Ben Harris

Will the crisis on Wall Street, where so many Jews work, spur hostility toward Jews? Some Jews certainly seem anxious about it.

Latest

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

James Baker says Bush’s Syria policy is ‘ridiculous’; Sobell finally gives it up

The Bush administration's refusal to deal with Syria is "ridiculous," said James Baker, a former U.S. secretary of state.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

UJC seeks donations for hurricane victims

United Jewish Communities has set up donation drive for hurricane victims

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Abramoff receives new four-year sentence, Phoenix community leader murdered

Jewish lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced to four years in prison. Abramoff had pleaded guilty to corruption and tax offenses related to influence peddling involving Republican congressmen and midlevel Bush administration officials, some of whom were convicted.

Rabbi Capers FunnyeTuesday, September 2, 2008

Michele Obama’s cousin’s cousin is a rabbi; Abbas met with Kuntar

A cousin of the wife of Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, is a cousin of this country's most prominent black rabbi, according to a report in The Forward.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Agriprocessors rebukes Obama, Israel sends flood aid to Ukraine

Nathan Lewin, who is representing the largest kosher meat producer in the United States, in a statement released early Tuesday wondered whether Barack Obama had weighed the evidence in the case or considered the company's repeated denials.

Barack Obama in Wisconsin on Aug. 24, 2008Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Obama camp to raise domestic issues in bid for Jewish vote

By Eric Fingerhut

Obama aides say they will be increasingly pushing the idea that Barack Obama, and not John McCain, is in line with Jewish voters on economic policy, reproductive rights, church-state separation and the Supreme Court.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Let the games begin: GOP plays ‘Iran card’ against Democrats Obama and Biden

By Ron Kampeas

Republicans are hoping to score points on Barack Obama and Joe Biden's opposition to specific Iran-related measures. But in a bit of political jujitsu, Democrats are painting their candidates as tougher -- and smarter -- on Iran.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

VIDEO: Jewish Dems nosh and schmooze at Zaydees Deli in Denver

Jewish Democratic event at Zaydees in downtown Denver

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama campaigns with his newly named running mate, U.S. Joe Biden, on Aug. 23, 2008 in Springfield, Ill., Obama campaign photo.Saturday, August 23, 2008

Biden and the Jews: Strong ties and friendly disagreements

By Ron Kampeas and Eric Fingerhut

Before he announced his vice presidential pick, Barack Obama said he wanted someone to spar with but who ultimately would be loyal enough to create a comfortable working relationship. No one knew then that he had picked Joe Biden, but his ISO ad fit Biden's relationship with the Jewish community perfectly

Saturday, August 23, 2008

VIDEO: Joe Biden tells ShalomTV ‘I am a Zionist’

In an April 2007 interview, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) declares "I am a Zionist' and discusses his support for Israel.

Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, will deliver the invocation at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Aug. 28, 2008.Wednesday, August 20, 2008

With seven rabbis and counting, Dem parley reaches out to the faithful

By Ron Kampeas

Jewish voters and organizations are often among the first to object when Republicans and Christian conservatives attempt to inject religion into politics. But this year the Democrats are jumping into the religion game -- and looking to rabbis for help.

Justice Arthur Goldberg Image courtesy wikipedia.comFriday, August 15, 2008

Justice Arthur Goldberg, baseball’s Joe Berg spied for U.S. during WWII

Several prominent Jews spied for the United States during World War II, newly released documents show

Congressman Eric Cantor, R-Va.Tuesday, August 5, 2008

McCain campaign checks out sole Jewish Republican Congressman as possible VP

By Ron Kampeas

As recently as May, the only Jewish Republican in the House discounted suggestions that he would place on the ticket, giggling as he told JTA that such speculation was "ridiculous."

Rami Zur of Team USA in action during his K1 500m semifinal heat during the Canoe World Championship 2007. Photo by Getty ImagesWednesday, July 30, 2008

Olympics 2008: Swimmers lead U.S. Jewish contingent

By Marc Brodsky

The athletes who make up the U.S. Jewish contingent headed to China, a mix of veterans and newcomers, have a decent chance of winning a medal or two.

Adam SterlingWednesday, July 30, 2008

Don’t just sit there—do something

By Laura Donney

Among the candidates for the $100,000 Teen Choice prize is Adam Sterling, a UCLA graduate raised in Oak Park who is now director of the Sudan Divestment Task Force

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Earthquake rattles San Gabriel, Pomona synagogues, Israeli consulate evacuated

An earthquake felt throughout the Southern California area Tuesday morning caused no visible damage to synagogues close to the epicenter in the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys. but the Israeli Consulate on Wilshire was evacuated

U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren convened a hearing in Washington on July 24, 2008 to consider the government's role in the Agriprocessors raidMonday, July 28, 2008

Agriprocessors raid slammed at Congressional hearings

By Ben Harris

Witnesses at recent congressional hearings described the federal immigration raid on the country's largest kosher plant as a travesty of justice, a national disgrace and an ambush

Carbon Beach, MalibuWednesday, July 23, 2008

Malibu tango on Carbon Beach

By Susan Freudenheim

It is not a secret that many beachfront homeowners in Malibu have a disproportionate sense of ownership of the surf and turf that fronts their properties. They pay millions for the illusion that they own the beach. It's also not a secret that they don't.

Joey Lutz hiking in Malibu, July 2007Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Briefs: Body of Santa Monica teacher found in Panama, campers leave the mountains to heal the bay

Joey Lutz, an English teacher at Santa Monica High School and a central leader in a Muslim-Jewish dialogue, was found dead Sunday in Panama

Kafi, Nia and Robert J. Blumenfield. Photo courtesy Robert J. BlumenfieldWednesday, July 23, 2008

State Assembly hopeful is a political and personal bridge builder

By Tom Tugend

If elected, one of his top priorities will be California's "quality of life," especially in upgrading the state's infrastructure. "Every one dollar invested in infrastructure adds seven times that amount to the general economy," he said

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Obama’s support lags previous Dems, poll finds

By Ami Eden

But the surveys had bad news for Obama: If the U.S. presidential election were held today, American Jews would support the Illinois senator at a significantly lower level than they did his most recent Democratic predecessors.

Sherry Lansing Photo by S.Smith Patrick Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Sherry Lansing’s epiphany

By Danielle Berrin

"Suddenly, I cared less about a hit movie or making money than I did about giving back. That was the legacy that I wanted," Lansing said.

An interfaith rally in Postville, Iowa, will demonstrate against poor working conditions at the Agriprocessors plant there on July 27, 2008. JTA photo.Monday, July 21, 2008

Agriprocessors raid fallout continues: Jewish liberals plan rally in Postville

By Ben Harris

An interfaith coalition -- organized by a Jewish group -- is planning to demonstrate next week in Postville, Iowa, in support of justice for workers and comprehensive immigration reform.

Eric, Judy, Wayne and Jenny MeyerFriday, July 18, 2008

Parents cash in on kids’ Birthright

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax

Jenny Meyer was feeling guilty, and she was willing to use that guilt to get what she wanted -- a free trip to Israel for her parents

Community Calendar

10/12/08 8:30 am
Mar Vista Farmers’ Market

10/12/08 10:00 am
Writing with Light

10/12/08 10:00 am
Picturing the Process: Landscape Through Time and Space

10/12/08 10:00 am
A Literacy of Images: Nancy Newhall and the Art of Photography

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Candlelighting

10/17 5:58 p.m. PDT


Featured Stories

Tommywood
Steven Spielberg dreams anew

What does it mean that Spielberg's other founding partners, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg, are no longer with the company?

Theater
Emily Stern—Howard Stern’s daughter—on stage and off

As a child, Emily first performed in the choir at her Reform temple in Roslyn, N.Y., where she sang at children's services and Jewish camp. She continued to perform in high school; but studying acting at New York University did not mesh well with her intuitive approach to theater, she said.

Israel
Briefs: Peace process proceeeds, says Livni; Bush waives Palestinian aid rules

Tzipi Livni said the peace process will move forward and that Israel will be able to face challenges better with a stable government.

Green
Menorah lights hope for second oil miracle

From Iran to Venezuela, petrodictators are using billions of our dollars to fund terrorism and propaganda against the United States and Israel, noted Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Wiesenthal Center.

Los Angeles
VideoJew’s VideoGuide to L.A. #2—Driving from here to there

VideoJew Jay Firestone is back with the second 'volume' in his VideoGuide to L.A. This week -- driving around town

World
Anne Frank diary resonates with Cambodians

The famed Holocaust memoir, translated into Khmer, strikes an all-too-familiar theme for a people who felt the genocidal wrath of a despotic regime.

Films
Habonim spirit influences work of director Mike Leigh in ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’

Leigh's physician father and midwife mother met through Habonim, the Labor Zionist youth movement, in 1936. Mike Leigh, in turn, became a Habonim leader and traveled with the group to Israel on a ship as a teenager. The experience had a dramatic effect on his future work as an artist: "The atmosphere was one of chevrah, of sharing, openness and coming together -- of making things happen by colluding -- which describes the spirit of how I work with actors and the atmosphere of my rehearsals."

Elections
Wall Street, Main Street, Jew Street

If only those nasty money changers and culture vultures in the seething cities below would just let them sow their wheat and do their books and raise their children up good.

Music
MUSIC: ‘That Yemenite Kid’ Diwon makes a mix tape—in Yiddish

Courtesy of Diwon, the artist formerly known as DJ Handler and otherwise known as the executive director of Modular Moods and Shemspeed.com, comes this fresh mix of pop, hip-hop, electronica and . . . Yiddish?

Calendar
Calendar Girls Picks and Clicks Oct. 11-17: Mr. Maus in the haus, Yiddishkayt, Sita Sings the Blues

Singles
True confessions of an online dating addict #10: Dating more than one person at a time

Torah Portion
Restoring Moses

Parshat Ha'azinu (Deuteronomy 32:1-32:52) It isn't nice to say, but if I were hanging out in the desert with my friends -- all excited about moving in to a land of milk, honey and great falafel -- and an old man with a stutter insisted on "speaking into our ears" a weird doom

Weddings
Personalize your ketubah without breaking the law

Although the Orthodox community is committed to the existing ketubah document, whose language comes from the Mishnah, Blau said he has no problem with a bride and a groom making additional agreements and commitments, as long as they do not controvert Jewish law.

Opinion
Wall Street, Main Street, Jew Street

If only those nasty money changers and culture vultures in the seething cities below would just let them sow their wheat and do their books and raise their children up good.