The Los Angeles dollars—or shekels—spent may not have approached the amount Hollywood throws around for U.S. elections, but Jews in Los Angeles nevertheless managed to funnel about $175,000 into Israel’s party primaries this election cycle.
Janet Napolitano, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, met with leaders of the New York Jewish federation to discuss security for nonprofits in the wake of substantial funding cuts.
Germany will double its funding to the Central Council of Jews in Germany to about $13 millon.
Congress passed a procedural resolution that sustains government funding until March. The \”continuing resolution\” passed Tuesday includes the $2.75 billion in annual defense assistance for Israel. It passed 79-16 in the Senate and 193-165 in the U.S. House of Representatives. It maintains government funding at 2010 levels. Failure to pass it would have meant that the government would run out of money by midnight.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa\’s first state-of-the-city speech is likely to put bone and muscle on his school takeover pitch which, up till now, nearly a year into his term, has been theoretical and short on specifics. If Villaraigosa delivers what people all over town have been waiting for, a slew of interest groups will know where they stand and will begin to respond accordingly.
\”The Federation improved our lives,\” said Khananashvili, now a 48-year-old social worker and Beverly Hills resident. \”They gave us our start here and protected us under their shield. We\’re very grateful.\”
Major Jewish organizations have raised more than $30 million to house, feed, educate and relocate thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi.
This will be Camp JCA Shalom\’s first summer away from home. For the first time in its 54-year history, the Malibu camp is independent, having broken away from the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Los Angeles (JCCGLA) in January.
Life after the centers crisis hasn\’t been easy for The Shalom Institute: Camp and Conference Center, and now officials are learning how to raise the bulk of the camp\’s $2.3 million budget.
\”Everything is great but we need support,\” said Bill Kaplan, executive director of the Shalom Institute, which runs Camp JCA Shalom.
\”I don\’t get it,\” one of them told me. \”Here this popular governor is going to Israel at a time when Israel really needs all the friends it can get, and people are turning it into an issue. I\’ve had it with the Jews.\”
Getting funding for a project takes massive time, energy and, often, money. Many Jewish communities send representatives to Washington to make the pitch directly to their lawmakers, as well as members of congressional appropriations committees. Some hire Washington lobbyists to make the necessary introductions for them.
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