On the same day former Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama’s choice for Defense Secretary, was being grilled in the Senate for having referred to pro-Israel advocates as the “Jewish lobby,” newly elected U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) said that he hadn’t been contacted by any advocates for the Jewish state in his first weeks on the job.
Young Israel-affiliated synagogues can now resign from the umbrella organization of Orthodox synagogues without fear of their assets being seized, thanks to an amendment to the National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) constitution adopted by its members on Jan. 29.
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has given a green light to a proposal for a dual-language charter elementary school to be located in Van Nuys offering classes in English and Hebrew.
Rabbi Sharon Brous of IKAR offered blessings on Jan. 22 at the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., which traditionally is held the day following the official inauguration.
When the Muslim part-owner of a Santa Monica boutique hotel was found guilty last year of discriminating against a group of Jewish patrons, the hotel announced it would host a party for a Jewish group as part of its efforts to repair its reputation.
In a speech about the relationship between Israel and the United States delivered in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening, Jan. 15, Michael Oren, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., drew on his expertise as a historian of the Middle East to illustrate the strength of the alliance between the two countries.
In court papers filed Jan. 7, attorneys for the Hotel Shangri-La in Santa Monica and its owner allege that of 12 members on the jury that unanimously found their clients guilty of discriminating in 2010 against a group of Jewish patrons, one juror concealed her own Jewishness during jury selection.
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