September 4, 2009 | 5:51 pm

Where to find cheap high holy day tickets [VIDEO]

Posted by Jay Firestone

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By Rebecca Steinberger, Multimedia Intern

Got New Year’s plans? Celebrating Rosh Hashanah this year might depend heavily on what services are within budget. The high cost of synagogue tickets will result in many people looking for alternative and affordable services. There are other options out there and it is only a matter of searching. Many places are requesting donations, but regardless won’t turn anyone away.

Rosh Hashanah encompasses the idea of community. In order to bring in the new year, one doesn’t have to be within the walls of the synagogue or regretting how much was spent on seats when there isn’t much sitting involved. Chabad requests donations anywhere between $100 to $200 to reserve a seat. For services at Hillel at UCLA tickets are $100 for those 35-years-old and under. JConnectLA is holding services and a meal for $25 and the West Valley JCC has services for $36 and under.

This year should be about finding your community. Happy New Year!

Video by Rebecca Steinberger, Multmedia Intern

September 4, 2009 | 4:16 pm

Rabbis and Guns - a Rosh Hashanah Safety Video

Posted by Jay Firestone

Don’t you dare fall asleep during these rabbis’ sermons…

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August 10, 2009 | 6:10 am

The Roast of Joan Rivers [VIDEO]

Posted by Jay Firestone

In case you missed it, here’s a clip from the Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers -a woman who’s had so much plastic surgery, she’s redeemable for 10 cents in Michigan…

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June 25, 2009 | 2:35 am

Video captures worldwide Iranian protests

Posted by Jay Firestone

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June 15, 2009 | 2:31 pm

God Talks…and answers

Posted by Jay Firestone

Why do bad things happen to good people? What’s the point of life? Why is the bible devote so many chapters to leprosy? 

In all my prayer and worship, the answers to these questions continue to elude me.  Thank God, the big man finally figured out how to use YouTube.  Check out these answers from The All Knowing.

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June 11, 2009 | 12:49 pm

Old Jews Telling Jokes - Season 2

Posted by Jay Firestone

Norman Stiles, “Sperm Bank”

Barnett Hoffman, “Questions for the Rabbi”

Producer, Editor, Director Sam Hoffman writes on his site:

Old Jews Telling Jokes: What’s This Thing All About?

Five months later, this site is still about the same thing: Old Jews Telling Jokes.

The good news is we’ve got some new old Jews. Many of this season’s participants responded to our first round and contacted us. We know better than to deny an old Jew with a burning desire to joke.

I wrote before that these jokes shed a light on a culture, but they also reveal much about their tellers. Like playing the piano, telling a joke requires craft, artistry and style. Does the teller have the patience for the set-up? Can he or she remember the details that make the characters familiar? Will he or she commit to the voices and the accents and keep them consistent? Is there that innate sense of timing?

See for yourself. We weren’t disappointed. All the tellers bring their own individual talents and at least sixty years of life experience to the material.

If the first season of Old Jews Telling Jokes was “friends and family” then let us present the next concentric ring, one degree-click out on the map of Jewish geography.

Old Jews Telling Jokes: Season 2.

—Sam Hoffman

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April 27, 2009 | 5:29 pm

[VIDEO] Jews On Jews: The Community Angles

Posted by Jay Firestone

With the help of fellow JewishJournal.com blogger Dikla Kadosh, Team VideoJew searched the streets of the Jewish community for one thing: answers.

Video by VideoJew Jay Firestone and Dikla Kadosh

What do you think of the Jewish community?
What would make it stronger?
Who is the leader of L.A. Jews?
What would you do if you were the king (or queen) of L.A. Jews?
What is your favorite Jewish thing to do in L.A.
If all of the Jews in L.A. got together to do one thing, what should that one thing be?

Think you’ve got a better answer? Post it on our reader forum.

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April 26, 2009 | 1:38 pm

LIVE VIDEO: ‘Weeds’ Creator Talks with JewishJournal.com’s Danielle Berrin [2pm]

Posted by Jay Firestone

UPDATE: This is replay of a live broadcast from Sunday, April 26, 2009

Tune in at 2:00pm for a JewishJournal.com LIVE broadcast from the Skirball Cultural Center, where Hollywood Jew reporter, Danielle Berrin leads an “Inside the Actor’s Studio” discussion with ‘Weeds’ creator, Jenji Kohan. Prior to the interview, please enjoy a brief performance by The Hebrew Mamita, Vanessa Hidary.

Broadcast to begin at 2:00pm
If you are having trouble viewing the player try refreshing the page.

Have a thought?  Talk about it in our Reader Forum

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April 23, 2009 | 1:14 pm

NFL Team Schedules Two Games on High Holidays - Player Speaks Out

Posted by Jay Firestone

The New York Jets have scheduled two of their home games (one of which is the home opener) on the High Holidays, causing uproar in the Jewish community.  I’m curious as to how many fans will actually skip the Jets games for synagogue.  Here’s my first NFL prediction of the year: Jewish ticket holders will go to at least one of those games.  I mean, with two days for Rosh Hashana and two days for Yom Kippur (if you think of Kol Nidre as a separate day), there’s really plenty of shul to go around. 

Jimmy Kimmel talks to Jewish NFL yid Shmuley Jackson in this bit.  (Was Hershel Walker not available?)

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March 27, 2009 | 1:46 pm

Rob Eshman a Hit on TV: His Views on the Anti-Semitic Cartoon

Posted by Jay Firestone

NBC 4 had a shining moment last night.

During the 6 o’clock evening news, The Jewish Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Rob Eshman discussed his feelings towards the recent controversial cartoon by Pat Oliphant. 

It must have been NBC’s highest rated segment since Seinfeld.

For more of Rob’s comments on the cartoon controversy, click here.

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March 20, 2009 | 2:45 pm

LIVE FROM THE TORAH SLAM: A Monday Night Special

Posted by Jay Firestone

[UPDATE] This is a recording of a LIVE broadcast.

For a full recap of the event, click here.

On Monday night, March 23 at 7:30pm JewishJournal.com streamed LIVE from our special event series, “Torah Slam 2,” a community dialogue with some of LA’s top religious leaders.  Tune in to hear a discussion on “What Is a Good Jew?”

IF YOU ARE HAVING DIFFICULTY VIEWING THIS VIDEO, PLEASE TRY REFRESHING THE PAGE

Have a comment?  Join the conversation here.

Visit this page tomorrow for complete coverage of the event.

Tonight’s guests include:
Rabbi Elazar Muskin (Young Israel of Century City)
Rabbi Ed Feinstein (Valley Beth Shalom)
Rabbi Sharon Brous (IKAR)
Rabbi Eli Herscher (Stephen S. Wise Temple)
Rabbi Daniel Bouskila (Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel)

Moderated by David Suissa (JewishJournal.com)

For information on last year’s Torah Slam, click here.

Sponsored by Akeena Solar.

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March 12, 2009 | 4:36 pm

LIVE VIDEO TONIGHT: A Dialogue with Roger Cohen and the Iranian Jewish Community

Posted by Jay Firestone

[UPDATE] This is a replay of LIVE broadcast from Thursday, March 12, 2009. 

JewishJournal.com presents a LIVE broadcast of a dialogue with Roger Cohen (New York Times) and the Los Angeles Iranian Jewish Community, moderated by Rabbi David Wolpe and hosted by Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.

For background information on this topic, click here.

If you are having difficulty viewing the video, try refreshing the page.

Have a comment? Join our conversation on our reader forum.

To be notified of other JewishJournal.com LIVE broadcasts, click here.
Follow complete coverage of this story at JewishJournal.com.

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March 11, 2009 | 1:31 pm

The Purim Hangover….A VideoJew Classic

Posted by Jay Firestone

This is an oldie from Season 1 of “VideoJew Plays His Hits.”

Unfortunately, I really didn’t do that much for Purim this year.  I heard the tail-end of the megilla reading…just in time for the hanging (my favorite part).  I also haven’t received any mishloach manot…what’s the deal with that? I’m a good person - I do good in the community - Don’t deserve a basket of junk I’ll never eat?

By the way, if you have any leftovers, feel free to send them to:

The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
ATTN: VideoJew Jay Firestone
Address here.

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March 9, 2009 | 9:27 pm

Old Jews Telling Jokes - Emissions

Posted by Jay Firestone

God, I love these videos.

Old Jewish Telling Jokes

If you liked that video, you might also like this story.

For more Old Jews, click here.

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March 9, 2009 | 3:25 am

Protest Outside AIPAC fundraiser

Posted by Jay Firestone

Christina Gonzalez of Fox News recently covered a protest outside an AIPAC fundraiser at the Universal Hilton. While Gonzalez labels the protestors, “peace activists,” she fails to mention that many of those featured in this report are actually members of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.  Danielle Berrin and I covered one of their other protests at the Israeli Consulate in January (to watch that video, click here - for Danielle’s story, click here). 

My only question: don’t these checkpoints help keep the peace?  I really think these “peace activists” are protesting on the wrong thing. Then again, I don’t think anyone would want to see a protest that simulates a rocket attack.

I also would have liked to have seen a stronger effort to hear an AIPAC or pro-Israel comment, whether it was in person or phoned in.  But I guess not everyone can cover a protest like VideoJew.

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March 5, 2009 | 2:55 pm

[VIDEO] Holocaust Survivor Identifies Herself in Museum Photo

Posted by Jay Firestone

It’s not so unusual to casually surf websites like Facebook and MySpace and find random photos of yourself on other people’s profiles.  But when it’s not a social networking site, but a Holocaust exhibit, it’s a little different. 

Video by Jay Firestone.  Interviews by Julie Gruenbaum Fax

Here’s an excerpt from the original article:

That’s how she explained the smile on her face in a photograph of herself some 65 years ago, just after she was selected for labor at Auschwitz. And that is probably why she snickered on a recent afternoon, as she pointed herself out in that same photograph, now hanging on the wall of the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, a beneficiary of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. more.

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