Did You See the movie \”Lord of the Rings\”? In it, Bilbo Baggins passes the ring on to his nephew, Frodo, who discovers that the ring makes the wearer powerful and evil. Now Frodo must return it to the evil place where it was created and throw it into the only fire that will destroy it.
It is Monday afternoon at Universal Studios, and the place is swarming with camera-toting tourists, screaming children, beleaguered adults and bored-looking park staff. Prison-garbed Beetlejuice is flashing his blackened teeth as he amuses tourists with his banter, and the cheerful strains of the Universal Studios theme music are being piped loudly through the sound system, camouflaging upsets and distress with ersatz melodic joy.
Michael Ozair is, by many accounts, charming, charismatic and an excellent teacher.
He is also in jail.
Instead of debating the finer points of the Oslo peace accords or discussing the impact of Sept. 11 on Jewish America, Democrats for Israel-Los Angeles (DFI-LA) will focus their attention instead on enjoying some kosher food and congenial conversation at their Summer Garden Party on Aug. 25 from 4-7 p.m.
Scrip. You can\’t join a synagogue or enroll your child in school without being hit up to buy it. Whether in the form of paper certificates, plastic gift cards or e-scrip online, this potent little fundraiser has become a major part of most nonprofit organizations\’ annual budgets.
Scrip first became popular in the late 1980s with grocery and department stores, and is now available for everything from gasoline to The Gap. Organizations buy the gift certificates in denominations like $10, $25 or $100 at a discount, either straight from the company or through a scrip broker. They then sell the scrip, charging the full face value of the certificate and making a profit of up to 25 percent, depending on the type of scrip sold.
When Joseph Dabby arrived in America from Iraq in 1972, and found his way to Kahal Joseph Congregation in Los Angeles, he was shocked. \”It was like being back in the Old Country,\” he said.
\”It was full of people who didn\’t even speak the same language; they were very far removed [from their roots] but they maintained everything the same — the same melodies and the same traditions,\” said Dabby, now 56 and president of the congregation.
This High Holy Day season, the congregation at Malibu Jewish Center & Synagogue has something to sing about, to the lively and devoted Marcelo Gindlin.
The signs on campus read, "Zionism equals Nazism" and "Why do Israelis love to kill Palestinian children?" One simply showed an Israeli flag dripping blood.
U.S. college students back Israel over the Palestinians by a 4-1 margin, according to a new survey.
The mid-July survey of 300 students found that 43 percent of respondents called themselves supporters of Israel, while only 11 percent backed the Palestinians. Another 29 percent did not take either side in the conflict, however, and 10 percent said the United States should stand behind both sides equally, according to the poll taken by Washington pollster Stanley Greenberg.
This year, 5763, Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbat, the weekly observance that Sen. Joseph Lieberman calls \”a sanctuary to put the outside world on hold and concentrate on what\’s really important — your faith and your family.\” And although Lieberman, who was the Democratic candidate for vice president in 2000, will experience the same joy he feels every Friday night as he takes off his watch and prepares to get into the Sabbath mood, during Rosh Hashana all activities are heightened — the prayers are longer, the conversation more intense, the urgency to evaluate the past year and make resolutions for a sweet New Year more palpable.
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