\”Everything Is Illuminated\” by Jonathan Safran Foer (Houghton Mifflin, $24).
Jonathan Safran Foer\’s new book, \”Everything Is Illuminated\” has garnered rave reviews everywhere, from The New York Times to Esquire, with front jacket quotes by Russell Banks, Nathan Englander and mentor Joyce Carol Oates; it has even been optioned for a movie by actor Liev Schrieber\’s prodction company.
By the time you read this, it\’s probably too late for me. To repent, I mean.
When she came to Los Angeles two years ago, Meirav Eilon Shahar thought that the immediate task before her as Israeli consul for communications and public affairs would be dealing with the follow up to the presidential election. She came to Los Angeles from a three-year posting in Nairobi, and her work seemed cut out for her: to promote the peace process and follow Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak\’s government line, and learn about the Jewish community in Los Angeles. Responsible for public relations, the media and academia, she looked forward to the job of working under Consul General of Israel Yuval Rotem, covering six amd a half states: Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and Hawaii.
I don\’t want to give away any secrets here, but guess what? America may be planning a surprise attack on Iraq — in fact, even as you read this, the "secret" war plans might have gone into effect.
This coming week begins \”the nine days,\” the period of intense mourning leading up to Tisha B\’av, the fast of Av, which takes place on the following Thursday, July 18.
Dr. Robert Khorhramian had never been to Israel before. Since he moved to Los Angeles from Iran in the late 1970s, the 46-year-old foot and ankle surgeon had planned many times to visit, yet something came up every time. But last month at Sinai Temple, he heard about the 48-hour medical and support mission, and he knew nothing would stop him this time: not a full surgery schedule, not a concerned wife, nothing.
\”For me, this trip is an absolute miracle,\” Khorhramian told The Journal from the Toronto stopover on the way to Tel Aviv. As a child he had suffered anti-Semitism, getting pinched, hit and kicked in prep school for being Jewish, and it made him dream about Israel. Now, he feels like he would do \”anything\” for the country he feels is home, even though he\’s never been there. \”As a Jew, I have to go,\” he said.
Have you ever been in love? Really in love, I mean, the warts-and-all kind that lasts beyond initial infatuation, the kind that lifts your heart nearly all the time, despite everything.
For me, at age 18, I think it was more like an arranged marriage than love at first sight. When I came to Israel for the first time — they shipped us straight from the plane to the Western Wall — I didn\’t feel it. I didn\’t know right away, the way people often say they do in hindsight. The country grew on me over time, but it was like an old friend I felt I had always known, even though we had never even met. It seemed that all my life I had been prepped for loving Israel: Zionist Hebrew school coupled with an American patriotic sense of duty instilled in me the sense that I was slated for a higher purpose in life — something to fight for, believe in — something I hadn\’t come across until Jerusalem.
Oscar Goodman sure likes his Beefeater. So much so that this Las Vegas mayor had proposed to become a spokesman for the gin company for $100,000. The money, Goodman promised, would go to the city coffers.
Jonathan Safran Foer\’s new book, \”Everything Is Illuminated\” has garnered rave reviews everywhere, from The New York Times to Esquire, with front jacket quotes by Russell Banks, Nathan Englander and mentor Joyce Carol Oates; it has even been optioned for a movie by actor Liev Schrieber\’s prodction company.
The struggle for peace in Israel may take years or even generations, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak told a crowd of over 6,200 people at the Universal Amphitheater on April 21. Barak was the final speaker in the University of Judaism\’s (UJ) department of continuing education lecture series, which featured Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright and James Carville. The sold-out series, organized by the dean of UJ\’s continuing education department, Gady Levy, has brought much money and prestige to the university, and will be continued next year, Levy said.
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