Category
Commentary
Accord Allure
What I think about the Geneva accord is what generations of Jews have thought about getting a doctor\’s second opinion: it couldn\’t hurt.\n\nI was surprised at how many people this week asked me whether I thought the accord was good for Israel. Surprised, mainly, that they would think an independent peace initiative declared at a press conference in Switzerland could actually doom the Jewish State.
The Answer Isn’t…
Aliyah is the oat bran of the Jewish people. We know it\’s good for us. We know we should be having more of it. But truth is, we just find it hard to swallow. And we certainly don\’t like it shoved down our throats.\n\nWhile in Israel last week, I heard several Israeli officials, from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on down, proclaim that increased Jewish immigration to Israel is crucial to the country\’s long-term well-being. And each time I heard an Israeli or American Jewish leader say that, I thought: \”Uh-oh.\”
Newsstand Wisdom
If you want to know what\’s going on, talk to the guy who runs the newsstand.
That would be David Mallel, who owns the well-stocked newsstand at Fairfax and Oakwood avenues in the heart of the Fairfax District. He keeps attuned to the political feelings of his well-read clientele by seeing what they buy and mixing those observations with his own experiences as a lifelong member of the Los Angeles Jewish community.
Objecting to Guardian’s Anti-Israel Bias
As you might have heard, I\’m leaving The Guardian next year for The Times, having finally been convinced that my evil populist philistinism has no place in a publication read by so many all-round, top-drawer plaster saints. (Well, that and the massive wad they\’ve waved at me.)
Do We Have Anything Left to Give?
Do the Jews have anything left to give to America?\n\nThis question was on my mind recently, after I was on a panel at Brandeis-Bardin Institute to discuss the Jewish influence on American culture. The popular view on this subject is invariably, \”Just look at all the Jews who run Hollywood and the media; look at the humor, the attitude, the Yiddish terms, etc. Jews are everywhere.\”\n\nThis is true, but when you start to look beneath the surface, you see a more complicated picture, one that suggests the waning influence of Judaism and the need to re-examine the Jews\’ role in America as we begin the 21st century.
The Answer Isn’t…
Aliyah is the oat bran of the Jewish people. We know it\’s good for us. We know we should be having more of it. But truth is, we just find it hard to swallow. And we certainly don\’t like it shoved down our throats.
Jewish to the Core
Over a year ago, my friend Ammiel Hirsch, a prominent Reform rabbi, and I co-authored "One People, Two Worlds," a debate-in-print about the issues that divide us. In the time that has gone by since its publication, the two worlds have not drawn any closer, but at least in my case, the book has engendered a heightened sensitivity to the people on the other side.
Limits Needed to Set Path for Youths
A few weeks ago, three students at Milken Community Jewish High School in Los Angeles were expelled for making a sexually explicit video of themselves that was eventually seen by members of the student community. Many parents and teachers in the Jewish community have expressed confusion at how educated Jewish students at a school like Milken did what they did.
But to think that what happened at Milken is isolated to the particulars of the parent-child relationships of the families involved is myopic — and too easy. To be sure, such behavior is not widespread in our children\’s communities. But we can be relatively certain that for every incident brought to light, many more are hidden in the shadows.
Lessons From Israel
While most of the images of Israel presented to the American public are of military conflict, a recent mission to Israel sponsored by The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, which included City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, City Council President Alex Padilla, Cesar Chavez Foundation President Andres Irlando and myself, revealed something very different. We saw a multiethnic democracy full of citizens, with jaw-dropping stories of survival, demonstrating incredible resilience.
Halfway around the world, we encountered a small nation confronting many of the same challenges we face in Los Angeles and returned convinced that increased contact between Los Angeles and Israel can facilitate the solution of many complex problems at home.
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