His message of love — hopeful, expansive, humane — inspired genuine moral progress. It fostered hope that humanity might ultimately converge toward those ideals. In too many parts of the world, that expectation collided with societies that did not share those assumptions.
AND THE WINNER IS…Lisa Niver for NAEJ Book Critic
Lisa Ellen Niver
Thank you National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards! I am honored to win 2nd place as BOOK CRITIC!
Thank you Los Angeles Press Club!
Thank you to my editors at Ms. Magazine: Roxy Szal and Carmen Rios. Thank you to Glennon Doyle for Untamed.
https://msmagazine.com/2020/05/03/glennon-doyle-untamed-book-review-brave-means-living-from-the-inside-out/
Thank you to my editor at Wharton Magazine: Richard Rys. Thank you Simon Sinek for The Infinite Game!
Thank you to The Pennsylvania Gazette for their tweet and Facebook congratulations:
See it on Facebook:
More of my Awards? CLICK HERE!
2021: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards Winner for Book Critic
2020: Southern California Journalism Awards Winner: Print Magazine Feature: Hemispheres Magazine for United Airlines, “Painter by the Numbers, Rembrandt” Finalist for: Online Journalist of the Year, Activism Journalism, Educational Reporting, Broadcast Lifestyle Feature
2019: National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards Winner: Soft News Feature for Film/TV: KTLA TV Oscars Countdown to Gold with Lisa Niver Finalist for: Soft News, Business/Music/Tech/Art
2019: Southern California Journalism Awards Finalist: Broadcast Television Lifestyle Segment: Ogden Ski Getaway
2018: Southern California Journalism Awards Finalist: Science/Technology Reporting, Travel Reporting, Personality Profile
2017: Southern California Journalism Awards Winner: Print Column “A journey to freedom over three Passovers” Finalist for: Travel Reporting.
https://www.wesaidgotravel.com/award-winner-for-southern-california-journalism-awards-thank-you/
Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.
Editor's Picks
Israel and the Internet Wars – A Professional Social Media Review
The Invisible Student: A Tale of Homelessness at UCLA and USC
What Ever Happened to the LA Times?
Who Are the Jews On Joe Biden’s Cabinet?
You’re Not a Bad Jewish Mom If Your Kid Wants Santa Claus to Come to Your House
No Labels: The Group Fighting for the Political Center
Latest Articles
✨ Sharing Brave-ish: Connection, Community, and Reinvention with Brandeis Tucson
The Holy See Who Won’t See
Rabbis of LA | For Rabbi Guzik, Being a Rabbi and a Therapist ‘Are the Same Thing’
Jay Ruderman: Meaningful Activism – Not Intimidation – Makes Change Possible
It’s Good to Be a Jew
Are We Ready for Human Connection Through Glasses?
The Israel Independence Day Test: Can You Rejoice That Israel Is?
Israel’s 78th Independence Day is an opportunity to defy this political moment and think eternally, existentially, and about your identity.
I Am the Afflicted – A poem for Parsha Tazria Metzora
Who am I who has never given birth
BagelFest West at Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Yom HaShoah at Pan Pacific Park
Notable people and events in the Jewish LA community.
A Bisl Torah — But It’s True!
Even if the information is true, one who speaks disparagingly about another is guilty of lashon hara, evil speech.
A Moment in Time: Rooted in Time
Pioneers of Jewish Alien Fire
Print Issue: We the Israelites | April 17, 2026
What will define the Jewish future is not antisemitism but how we respond to it. Embracing our Maccabean spirit would be a good start.
Cerf’s Up!
As the publisher and co-founder of Random House, Bennett Cerf was one of the most important figures in 20th-century culture and literature.
‘Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe’
As Matti Friedman demonstrates in his riveting new book, one of Israel’s greatest legends is also riddled with mysteries and open questions.
Family Ties Center ‘This Is Not About Us’
The book is not a single narrative but a novel of interconnected stories, each laced with irony, poignancy, and hilarity.
‘The Kid Officer’: Recalling an Extraordinary Life
Are We Still Comfortably Numb?
Forgiving someone on behalf of a community that is not yours is not forgiveness. It is opportunism dressed up as virtue.
Don’t Dismantle the Watchdogs — Pluralism Is Still Our Best Defense
Although institutional change can be slow, Jewish organizations fighting antisemitism have made progress…Critics may have some legitimate concerns about mission drift — but this is solved with accountability, not defunding.
A Sephardic Love Story–Eggplant Burekas
The transmission of these bureka recipes from generation to generation is a way of retaining heritage and history in Sephardic communities around the world.
National Picnic Day
There is nothing like spreading a soft blanket out in the shade and enjoying some delicious food with friends and family.
Table for Five: Tazria Metzora
Spiritual Purification
Israelis Are Winning Their War for Survival … But Are American Jews Losing It?
Israelis must become King David Jews, fighting when necessary while building a glittering Zion. Diaspora Jews must become Queen Esther Jews. Fit in. Prosper. Decipher your foreign lands’ cultural codes. But be literate, proud, brave Jews.
We, the Israelites: Embracing Our Maccabean Spirit
No one should underestimate the difficulty of the past few years. But what will define us is not the level or nature of the problem but how we deal with it.
Rosner’s Domain | Imagine There’s No Enemy …
Before Israel’s week of Remembrance and Independence, it is proper to reflect on the inherent tension between dreams and their realization.
John Lennon’s Dream – And Where It Fell Short
His message of love — hopeful, expansive, humane — inspired genuine moral progress. It fostered hope that humanity might ultimately converge toward those ideals. In too many parts of the world, that expectation collided with societies that did not share those assumptions.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.