Rags To Righteousness
Jay Firestone, JewishJournal.com video and fashion maven, covers the sweat-shop free fashion show
An assortment of sweatshop-free clothing made its way down the runway Sunday night, Nov. 4, at the Writers Boot Camp in Santa Monica. Sponsored by IKAR and the Progressive Jewish Alliance (PJA), in cooperation with the Garment Workers Center, “Rags to Righteousness” strutted its awareness for sweatshop-free clothing through a hip and stylish fashion show.
With more than 200 people in attendance, clothing vendors set up shop, as community members modeled the clothing for the evening’s guests.
Kippot, scarves, T-shirts, hats, shorts and jewelry were all on display by the various vendors.
PJA program associate Zachary Lazarus described the event as “creating space for the people to buy sweatshop-free clothes, so we can raise concern and act justly as a community in the world.”
While all the items were “kosher,” they were also surprisingly fashionable.
Participating vendors included Justice Clothing, No Sweat Apparel, Mayaworks, Global Goods Partners, Ethix Ventures, Nueva Vida Sewing Coop, Chiapas Project and Union Jeans and Apparel.
For video and more information, visit For more information, please visit
www.globalexchange.org/sweatshops
— Jay Firestone, Contributing writer
From The Blog
Laughter is not only the best medicine, it’s also the best fundraiser.
Comedians + Hollywood venue + food + worthy cause + young Jewish professionals = a really successful benefit.
The Jewish Federation’s Entertainment Division put this tried-but-true formula to work for Laugh Out Loud 2 on Thursday, Nov. 1, at the Laugh Factory, and the result was predictably fabulous. It raised nearly $50,000 to send inner-city kids to Camp Max Straus, which is operated by Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters.
More than 250 professionals employed in the entertainment industry, from CBS, NBC, Creative Artists Agency, United Talent Agency and 3 Arts Entertainment shelled out $150 a ticket for a night of shmoozing, noshing and chuckling.
The Federation managed to line up an impressive group of entertainers — Jeff Garlin, Chelsea Handler, Bill Bellamy and David Spade. Chris Kattan filled in for Jerry O’Connell as the night’s host.
Elan Gold rocked the house. The up-and-coming cutie bounded onto the stage with his energetic, edgy Jewish humor.
To top off the night with a little insanity, bad boy Dov Davidoff’s hyper routine had the crowd doubled over with laughter.
In addition to the evening’s fun, 1,000 underprivileged kids are going to have next summer at a camp geared specifically to their needs.
— Dikla Kadosh, Contributing Writer
Bill Bellamy, Chris Kattan and Federation Entertainment Division Chair Michael Rotenberg.
Charlie Rose brought his roundtable discussion to Los Angeles, but not a single member of the press was invited to listen. Only serious bigwigs in media and technology attended an exclusive event at Pacific Design Center to launch a $350 million endowment campaign to expand biomedical research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, William Gates Sr. and Vera Guerin joined the incomparable television host for an intimate and candid conversation before the medical center’s “most generous donors” as a gesture of gratitude on behalf of Cedars-Sinai.
Rosalie Wise Sharp wondered how it came to pass that she’d be traveling in private jets as the wife of Four Seasons hotelier Isadore Sharp, when both husband and wife were raised in families that emigrated from Polish shtetls with no indoor plumbing. She revisits her childhood and family history in a new book, “Rifke: An Improbable Life,” and recently appeared in Los Angeles at the Four Seasons for a luncheon to discuss her memoir.
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