StandWithUs Hosts Second Conference
April 24, 2003
When 14-year-olds Kobi Mandel and Yosef Ishran were found brutally stoned to death by Palestinian terrorists on May 9, 2001, Jews around the world mourned.
Rachel Brand
Healing the ‘wounds’
April 17, 2003
When rabbi and author Jan Goldstein was suddenly faced with the news that his 12-year marriage was ending — leaving him with primary custody of his three children — he felt his life was ruined, until he learned to make sense of his pain.
A Touch of Tomchei
April 17, 2003
It\’s 6:30 p.m. on a Thursday, and the modest storefront at 3531a N. La Brea Ave. is teeming with people. The shelves that were stocked with bottles of Rokeach grape juice, jars of Tzali\’s gefilte fish and cans of California chunk light tuna only a half hour ago, are now nearly empty.
Students Seek Identity in Israel
April 3, 2003
Rhonda Van Hassalt\’s concerned father offered her $1,000 not to go to Israel. Although the money would have been enough to send both Van Hassalt\’s and her boyfriend to Europe for winter break, it wasn\’t Europe that was tugging at her heart — it was Israel.
Birthright Continues Despite Setbacks
April 3, 2003
For much of his life, Lawrence Mudgett didn\’t need Judaism. He had football. But when the 6-foot-6, 250-pound sophomore was declared ineligible for the NCAA at the beginning of the school year, he began searching for another niche.
As a participant on Birthright Israel\’s 2002-2003 winter programs, Mudgett found what he was looking for.
\”Going to Israel changed me. It\’s opened up so many doors,\” said the UCSB sophomore. \”Just being part of the Jewish community and being involved in Hillel helps fill the void of not being on a team and not having that camaraderie.\”
Building the Future
April 3, 2003
When Jonathan Schulman went on a mission to Israel 1995, he said his life was forever changed, because he started getting involved. \”I got engaged because there were opportunities for me to build on that experience,\” said Schulman, director of the recently established Young Leadership Program of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.
Schulman, who is in his mid-30s, hoped that the other 61 Los Angeles young Jewish leaders would be similarly inspired at the United Jewish Community\’s (UJC) Young Leadership Regional Conference, which took place March 7-9 at San Francisco\’s Westin St. Francis Hotel.
Rich in Love
March 27, 2003
When Susan Samueli met her future husband, Henry, at a dance at Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles in 1979, she never could have anticipated how different her life would be today.
That was 24 years and three children ago, before Samueli became a household name in much of Southern California, as Henry co-founded Broadcom, the leading provider in broadband high-speed communications technology. It was way before Broadcom went public, and the Samuelis, with Henry serving as chief technical officer, became multimillionaires nearly overnight.
An Unorthodox Artist
February 27, 2003
When most people think of a spiritual awakening, they don\’t necessarily think of such a thing taking place at the GAP. But then again, artist Orit Arfa isn\’t really into conventionality.
While walking down the streets of Manhattan seven years ago, dressed in her ankle-length skirt and modest Orthodox clothing, Arfa caught a reflection of herself in a revolving door.
\”I felt I looked really shleppy, and it didn\’t really reflect who I was inside and what I was feeling,\” she said.
Arfa immediately marched straight to the GAP and into a new pair of jeans. \”I was jumping up and down! There was this freedom. This spiritual freedom. It seemed like the whole world opened up for me.\”
For Arfa, the experience was not only religiously liberating, it was creatively liberating.
\”I knew that part of my challenge was to break the stereotypes of the ideal Jewish woman, both for myself, and I wanted to paint the foremothers as sexual, sensual, beautiful, vibrant women,\” Arfa said.
‘JAM’-packed Campus Outreach
February 27, 2003
It\’s not unusual to see 60 students cramming into an nonairconditioned duplex on fraternity row on a Saturday night at UCLA — unless
those students happen to be surrounding a havdalah candle singing Hebrew songs.
Leader of the PAC
January 23, 2003
But ask San Franciscan Elliot Brandt about Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Jewish community, and you won\’t be able to put a stop to his praise.
Since the 34-year-old moved here in April to become the Western States director for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the pro-Israel lobby, Brandt expressed nothing but admiration. \”To see the potential that is represented by the size of this Jewish community, the dynamism and the passion of this community … it\’s amazing,\” Brandt said.
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