Susan Rubin ExploresSpielberg’s Childhood
November 15, 2001
Steven Spielberg has inspired dozens of biographies, none of them written with the filmmaker\’s consent.
Beverly Gray
17 Years Ago: Day Schools Cope With Attack Aftermath
October 25, 2001
After Aug. 10, 1999, when a white supremacist went on
a shooting spree at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, Abraham J. Heschel Day School quickly beefed up security at its Northridge campus, installing a high-tech video scanner in the school parking lot and posting an armed guard at an entrance kiosk.
But the events of Sept. 11 have raised the bar yet higher in terms of campus security. Heschel director Shirley Levine has now hired an additional guard. And on all school-owned buses, the Heschel name has been replaced with cryptic initials \”AJH.\”
\”It is sad,\” says Joan Marks, principal of Heschel\’s elementary school. \”It just makes me sick.\”
Toxic Crusaders
October 18, 2001
When Sherman Oaks resident Robina Suwol drove her two sons to school in the Valley March 1998, she didn\’t know she was about to become a crusader. The events of that morning kicked off a chain of events resulting in the Los Angeles Unified School District\’s (LAUSD) new integrated pest control policy, now considered a model for school districts across the nation.
Torah Lover Beats Odds
September 13, 2001
Joey Schwartzman has a passion for clocks. He is also crazy about street addresses, dates and numbers of any kind. And he has one more enthusiasm not often seen in 15-year-old boys: he loves reading Torah and Haftorah at his synagogue, Westchester\’s B\’nai Tikvah Congregation.
What makes this truly remarkable is the fact that Joey has been diagnosed as autistic. A few years back, he was likely to disrupt services, or fall asleep on a couch outside the sanctuary. But he was fortunate to be part of a warm-hearted community that has known his family for three generations. As his bar mitzvah approached, a congregant with a background in psychological counseling devised a special Hebrew school curriculum for him and another boy with autism.
Kitchen Classroom
August 23, 2001
As he welcomed a group of home schoolers to an open house at the Slavin Family Children\’s Library of the Jewish Community Library, Dr. Gil Graff of the Bureau of Jewish Education cited an ancient Jewish precept: \”Each child should be educated according to that child\’s particular needs.\”
Togetherness Through Yachad
August 23, 2001
Some years ago, when Lauren Mayesh was a teenager, she rarely saw her classmates reach out to people who were different from them.
Shalom and G’Day, Mate
August 2, 2001
Last summer, when Sydney, Australia, burst onto my television screen as part of the coverage for the 2000 Olympic Games, the city struck me as an urban Disneyland, full of fanciful architecture and enchanting public gathering spots.
Art of Summer
July 5, 2001
Camp Ruach, also known as the Los Angeles Jewish Camp for Music and the Arts, debuted this summer on the grounds of Yeshivath Ohr Eliyahu Day School in Culver City.
Drastic Rule Change
June 28, 2001
This change has been devastating for the families of Jewish children with special needs.
An Educator Speaks
June 28, 2001
Eileen Horowitz, an elementary school teacher for two decades, taught general studies at Adat Ari El Day School for six years. She became principal of Temple Israel of Hollywood Day School in 1995.
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