The $114 million opening weekend for the release of \”Spider-Man\” on May 3 was not only a box office record breaker but a resounding triumph for two wily Israeli entrepreneurs.
Investment banker Adlai Wertman was fed up with Wall Street — so he moved to Los Angeles, took an 85 percent pay cut and got a job on Skid Row. Two years later, he says he\’s never been happier.
The North American Jewish federation system has designated five priority areas for allocating funds from its Israel emergency campaign.
Seven-hundred-and-fifty-thousand dollars will pay for three medical trauma units at Tel Aviv\’s Sourasky Medical Center, which has treated 500 casualties of terrorist attacks, including those from the Passover massacre in Netanya. One-million dollars buys bulletproof vests for 1,000 volunteer civil guards, who protect their own neighborhoods and often are the first on the scene of a terrorist attack.
\nI\’m feeling a little used this week. Not have-to-take-a-shower used, but more like three-card-monte used.\n\nFormer Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to Los Angeles two weeks ago and, in the name of Jewish unity, urged and inspired L.A. Jews to support Israel in this time of crisis.
This was not your typical banquet gala fundrasier. The setting was not some posh hotel, but the Cohens\’ backyard, for a parlor meeting.
As Reza Pahlavi, son of the former shah of Iran, took the stage, the overflow audience of Iranian Jews rose as one. They waved Iranian, American and Israeli flags, broke into rhythmic clapping, and shouted in Farsi, \”Long live the shah\” and \”We love you.\”
Early in May, the Pentagon received a list with the names and backgrounds of 138 Jewish war veterans, with the single thickest file documenting the exploits of Tibor Rubin.
Jewish ire over a recent spate of anti-Semitic attacks in France may spread to a new battleground — the film industry. Concerned by the attacks, the American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) is urging Hollywood stars and studios to consider France\’s current and past anti-Semitism before attending the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, scheduled to run May 15-26.
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