Jewish Journal

If your side wins, don’t crow. If your side loses, don’t cry. Whatever you do, hate quietly. Our country is going through a divisive and traumatic period, but we’ve seen worse and we will muddle through.

Adherents to Faith-Based Diplomacy See Political Boost for Israel

The Media Line Staff - October 29, 20200

The Media Line: Josh Reinstein is the author of Titus, Trump and the Triumph of Israel, a new book just out on the power of...

60 Years of Voting, 60 Years of the American Way

Rochelle Ginsburg - October 29, 20200

This year marks the 17th presidential election in which my vote will be counted. The first was the year of Kennedy versus Nixon — 1960. It was a big year for me. I became a wife. I began my career as an educator. I turned 21. And I voted.

The Certainty of My Vote for Joe Biden

Michael Berenbaum - October 29, 20200

The American people are in a strange place this fall, days before election day. We are living through five crises simultaneously. A health crisis. An...

Columnists

David Suissa - October 28, 20200

I Did Something Really Weird Last Night: I Went Out

This is one way the quarantine year of 2020 has changed us: The most normal thing can feel like a big deal.

Sara Hershkowitz - October 19, 20200

The Fragility of Art During COVID-19

I'm sure most my singer colleagues will agree: to sing for a live audience is hushed and sacred in the best of times. In COVID...

Opinion

Dennis Prager - October 27, 20200

What Happened When a High School Offered a Conservative Video

As far as HuffPost and the rest of the American left are concerned, no non-left-wing idea should be allowed to enter an American school. Not even for five minutes.

Columnists

Dan Schnur - October 24, 20200

One Debate Line that Biden Would Like to Have Back

In politics, you don’t win a debate by actually winning a debate. Rather, you win a debate by producing a moment, some type of face-to-face encounter or memorable declaration that will be repeated in news coverage and in digital media.

Columnists

Tabby Refael - October 28, 20200

A Children’s Jewish Book that Addresses Parental Conversion

Midrash Tanhuma (Lech Lecha 6:32) states, “Dearer to God than all of the Israelites who stood at Mount Sinai is the convert. Had the...

Israel

A Glimpse Into a Second Trump Term

Michael J. Koplow - October 29, 2020 0

While we have a demonstrative four year record on Israel, the Palestinians, and the wider Middle East that will not shift course, there are a few elements of a second Trump term that will be different than the first, with the groundwork now beginning to be laid.

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Commentary

Helping you make sense of a changing world

The Simple Mindset Change That Would Transform the Israel-Diaspora Relationship

Dr. Noam Weissman - October 28, 20200

American and Israeli Jews have a sharp difference of opinion about President Trump, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and what it means to be Jewish....

Dueling Definitions: Philo-Semitism vs. Anti-Semitism

Rabbi Abraham Cooper and Harold Brackman - October 28, 20200

As Arab nations from the Persian Gulf to Sudan begin to collaborate with the Jewish people to replace hate with hope and mutual respect, some occupants in academic ivory towers have no intention of legitimizing the Jewish state or demanding accountability from students or faculty who abuse Jewish students and other Zionists.

Prop 14: “Don’t Stand Idly By”

Rabbi Sydney Mintz and Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback - October 27, 20200

At the very heart of our Biblical tradition is this commandment from the Book of Leviticus: “You shall not stand idly by the blood...

Biden Illuminates FDR’s Relationship with Nazis

Rafael Medoff - October 27, 20200

Regardless of the outcome of next week’s election, former Vice President Joe Biden will have the distinction of being the first American presidential candidate...

We Can’t Allow Zoom to Take Over Judaism: Why Leaders Must Think Out of the Digital Box

David Suissa - October 27, 20200

Rabbis and local leaders need to create multiple opportunities for people to meet safely and to stay connected to the very idea of human connection. As we continue riding our digital runaway train, we are getting further and further away from the real stuff of life that no Zoom call can ever replace.

PodcastsDavid Suissa - October 29, 20200

Pandemic Times Episode 100: Who’s Better for Israel, Trump or Biden?

New David Suissa Podcast Every Tuesday and Friday. A conversation with political editor Shmuel Rosner on the upcoming U.S election, a new survey on anti-Semitism...

PodcastsErin Ben-Moche and Esther D. Kustanowitz - October 30, 20200

Good Grief! It’s Our Bagelversary!

It's our first Bagelversary! The Bagels have been podcasting for a year now (check out last year's Halloween episode for our humble beginnings and...

PodcastsSalvador Litvak - October 27, 20200

Rabbi Reuven Wolf: Who Is The Jewish Messiah and When Is He Coming?

Rabbi Reuven Wolf of Maayon Yisroel Chassidic Center, takes us deep into Jewish mysticism as Sal and his rabbi explore some tough questions: Why...

PodcastsShmuel Rosner - October 27, 20200

Chuck Freilich: The future of the US Israel connection

Shmuel Rosner and Chuck Freilich discuss what moves the future president should make regarding America's relationship with Israel and more... Professor Chuck Freilich, a former...

PodcastsNaor Meningher and Eytan Weinstein - August 18, 20200

Black Flags And Pink Bandanas

Two months ago, against the backdrop of a global pandemic, a subsequent economic crisis and a prime minister accused of corruption, thousands of Israelis...

Rosner's DomainShmuel Rosner - October 29, 20200

Rosner’s Torah Talk: Lech Lecha with Dvir Cahana

Dvir Cahana is a rabbi in training at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and began performing Jewish hip hop with his high school group, Les Miz-R-Achim,...

JJ Bloggers

Neighbors – a poem for Torah portion Lech Lecha

Rick Lupert - October 29, 2020 0

Please let there be no quarrel between me and between you… Please part from me; if left, I will go right, and if ...

Armenia’s deadly attacks on Azerbaijani civilians must stop

Durdane Agayeva - October 29, 2020 0

It is difficult to put into words how I am feeling today, a day that follows several weeks of indiscriminate shelling of bullets and...

Birthday Wishes We Said Go Travel News Oct 2020

Lisa Ellen Niver - October 29, 2020 0

Oct News 2020 with We Said Go Travel: Due to COVID-19 pandemic, I have been in Los Angeles...

Home Shalom Monday Message #28

Naomi Ackerman - October 26, 2020 0

Home Shalom promotes healthy relationships and facilitates the creation of judgement free, safe spaces in the Jewish community. Home Shalom is a program of...

PLEASE VOTE NOW 2020

Lisa Ellen Niver - October 26, 2020 0

Make your voice count and be heard. VOTE NOW in the USA Presidential Election. It is...

'A Moment In Time'

A Moment in Time: The Ten Qualities I Expect in my President

Rabbi Zach Shapiro - October 23, 2020 0

Dear all, Earlier this week, Ron and I sat down to cast our votes in the upcoming election. While we poured over the many propositions...

Glaciers, Cats and Covid (Oh, My) – a poem for Torah Portion Noach

Rick Lupert - October 22, 2020 0

Everything that had the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils, of all that were on the dry land, died. I like a Torah...

Culture
Culture

Oscar Isaac to Play Jewish Superhero

Gerri Miller - October 29, 20200

Oscar Isaac, who portrayed an Israeli Mossad agent in “Operation Finale” in 2018, will star in the Disney+ series “Moon Knight” as a Jewish superhero, based on a Marvel...

Award-winning Documentary ‘The Last Sermon’ Set for Digital Release (with VIDEO)

The Media Line Staff - October 28, 2020 0

THE MEDIA LINE — The award-winning documentary film The Last Sermon is set to premiere on digital platforms on December 15, Gravitas Ventures, a...

Jon Stewart to Return to TV in Apple TV+ Series

Gerri Miller - October 27, 2020 0

Emmy-winning writer producer, director and “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart will return to television with a new one-hour, multi-season current affairs series for Apple...

Adam Sandler Goes to Space in Netflix Film

Gerri Miller - October 27, 2020 0

Adam Sandler, now starring in “Hubie Halloween” for Netflix, is going to space in his next movie for the streamer. He’ll play an troubled...

L.A. Stories

Armenian protest in Los Angeles equates Israel to Nazi Germany

Milikh Yevdayev - October 22, 2020 0

This week, Armenian Youth Federation - a youth wing of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation - staged a protest against Israel in front of the...

Traffic Lights – It’s A Dirty Job, But Somebody’s Gotta Do It

Boaz Hepner - October 20, 2020 0

Good news for people living in my neighborhood! The traffic light on Crescent Heights and Olympic has always been a bit of a Shabbat nightmare....

Los Angeles Teens Changing the World: Tikkun Olam

Lisa Ellen Niver - October 5, 2020 0

Last year, I was honored to participate as a mentor in The Julie Beren Platt Teen Innovation Grants which are part of...

Hollywood

Lawsuit Filed Over ‘Borat’ Sequel Synagogue Scene Dismissed

Gerri Miller - October 27, 2020 0

Sacha Baron Cohen’s hilarious “Borat Subsequent Movie Film” is a smash hit for Amazon, but not everyone is laughing, including unsuspecting civilians who were...

Jewish Celebrities and ‘Saturday Night Seder” Get Out the Young Vote for Biden

Erin Ben-Moche - October 26, 2020 0

Jewish celebrities and cast members from “Saturday Night Seder” are teaming up Oct. 26 with Young Jewish Americans for Biden to make sure everyone votes by Nov. 3.

Sacha Baron Cohen Exposes Anti-Semitism, Skewers Trump in ‘Borat Subsequent Movie Film’

Gerri Miller - October 26, 2020 0

Fourteen years since first punking unsuspecting Americans and exposing their prejudices in “Borat,” Sacha Baron Cohen returns to the role of Kazakh journalist Borat...

Table For Five

Judaism

Table for Five: Lech Lecha

Salvador Litvak - October 28, 20200

Edited by Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap from what is yours, so...

Judaism

Table for Five: Noach

Salvador Litvak - October 28, 20200

Edited by Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist And I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall enter the ark, with your sons, your...

Judaism

Table for Five: Bereshit

Salvador Litvak - October 16, 20200

One verse, five voices. Edited by Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist When God began to create heaven and earth — the earth being astonishingly empty,...

A Bisl Torah

Those Shtiebel Moments

Rabbi Nicole Guzik - October 27, 20200

A dear congregant gifted me a beautiful memoir about her father growing up in Poland during the Shoah. Prior to the onset of the...

A Bisl Torah

Taco Tuesday

Rabbi Nicole Guzik - October 17, 20200

Our family members went around the table to discuss their favorite Jewish holidays. I love Sukkot. Our older children gave solid explanations for Hanukkah...

A Bisl Torah

Is the Roof Falling In?

Rabbi Nicole Guzik - October 10, 20200

My husband, Rabbi Erez Sherman, and I developed a new routine upon entering and sitting in our sukkah. We look around, sideways and, eventually,...

Poetry
Poetry

Poem: Lech Lecha

Rick Lupert - October 28, 20200

Consider the very first Jew – Abraham. Not even his name when the whole thing started. Had a reputation. The kind of kid who would destroy the family business. out of principle. Married...

Voting is Holy: A Reflection and a Prayer

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson - October 23, 2020 0

A Reflection: Life's paradox and promise: continuity across time, minute modifications day by day, as living things reinvent themselves in a flow that shifts caterpillars into butterflies tadpoles into leaping frogs....

Poem: Noach

Rick Lupert - October 23, 2020 0

It’s not a good sign when already in chapter two everything gets destroyed. It’s the same way with my son and the instructions-less Lego sets. He builds and builds and...

Poem: Bereshit

Rick Lupert - October 16, 2020 0

In the beginning God made everything. According to scientists, the beginning took billions of years. I’ve taken to counting my ribs. I want there to be one less...