In the interior of British Columbia, nestled amidst the Selkirk Mountains and straddling Kootenay Lake, is one of North America\’s most charming and picturesque towns.
Alsace, a picture-perfect rural region of rich vineyards, farmlands, soft green mountains and rolling valleys, sits on France\’s northeast border, next to Germany. Around every bend along the narrow roads are charming villages with winding cobbled streets and neatly painted black and white timbered houses. In summer, pink and purple and scarlet geraniums blossom in gardens and window boxes. Though the region is only 20 miles wide and 100 miles long, its largest city, Strasbourg, has a population of more than 388,000, with a magnificent cathedral, and is home to the prestigious Council of Europe.
Here I was, literally, in the middle of nowhere, between nothing and nothing, feeling as if I had landed on the moon. Only I was the alien among a company of natives.
The scope of this year\’s initiative is a demonstration of a growing interest in European Jewish heritage and Jewish heritage sites that has developed markedly in the past decade.
Michael Weinberg\’s intent to discover the remnants of Judaism in the Far East was sparked by his interest in travel, birds and colonialism.
In 1927, William Wrigley Jr. prompted the Santa Catalina Island Company to invest in the creation of the Catalina Tile Factory after discovering clay deposits on the island. While the operation lasted only 10 years, it turned out tiles and decorative ware that were cherished by collectors.In 1997, 60 years after the factory closed its doors, Cynthia Seider brought back the art of tile painting to Avalon for a cause that she cherishes.
Catalina is only 22 miles across the sea from Los Angeles, but to many visitors it feels like a distant land. For one particular community of Sephardic Jews, it\’s that very feeling that has kept them coming back over the past 75 years.
Guide to eating and praying close to downtown Los Angeles.
The Journal asked Jerry Friedman-Habush, who runs regular tours of Jewish Los Angeles, to compile a self-guided one.
