The Rev. Billy Graham wrapped up his final L.A. appearance at the Rose Bowl, and the more than 80,000 people who came to hear him are going home. To hear KPCC\’s Rachel Myrow report it, they were going home moved, committed and fulfilled.
If you\’re the Jewish partner in an interfaith couple, you face the December Dilemma — how to send two sets of friends and relatives a greeting card that expresses both your wishes for a happy holiday season without offending any recipients. The answer is to send an interfaith greeting card. The cards are \”appealing to people because they express the magical quality of the two holidays,\” says Philip Okrend, co-founder of Mixed Blessing, a greeting card company.
When it comes to politics in Israel, left and right rarely agree. In a country where even sports teams are aligned with political parties, there is one issue that should unite Israelis and their American supporters from across the political spectrum: the need to foster opportunity and equality for Israel\’s 1.2 million Arab citizens.
The Israeli daily Ha\’aretz, a favorite of the intelligentsia in Israel and the West, and widely cited by the North American press, is frequently referred to as \”Israel\’s New York Times.\” But a New York Times it is not.
What books must every Jew read? What books are critical to informing your understanding of your faith, your culture, your people? With this issue, The Jewish Journal introduces a new weekly column: My Jewish Library.
I\’m almost fully pregnant. There\’s not much for me to do. We\’re about two weeks away from having a baby girl and I haven\’t gained a pound. I feel fine. Never better. Thanks for asking.
I am a woman of valor.
But nobody is singing my weekly praises. Oh no, that\’s saved for the same lucky women who get the
Pottery Barn registry, the rock on their hand and a man in their bed.
According to Jewish tradition, every Shabbat, a husband sings \”Eshet Chayil\” — \”A Woman of Valor\” (WOV) — to his wife. This Friday night, I listened as my friend, Dan, told his wife, Jen, \”Her price is far above rubies … she\’s robed in strength and dignity, and cheerfully faces whatever may come.\” All true.
Since 1968, when his novel \”My Michael\” — exquisitely narrated by a despairing young wife in Jerusalem — mesmerized thousands of readers, Amos Oz has been recognized as one of Israel\’s most gifted and prolific authors. He has produced 22 books — 11 novels, three collections of stories and novellas, one children\’s book, and seven books of articles and essays — that have been translated into 35 languages. His work is his autobiography, and until now Oz had been reticent about his own life.
I don\’t know how many times I\’ve been in a conversation with a Christian who suddenly out of nowhere asked, \”What do you think of Neusner?\” They don\’t even feel a need to mention the man\’s first name, which is Jacob, assuming that as a Jew I would obviously be familiar with the rabbi and scholar who, for non-Jews interested in Judaism, is the No. 1 go-to guy.
When a Christian wants to know something about Judaism, which lately more and more do, a typical first course of action is a visit to Barnes & Noble, to the Jacob Neusner section of the Judaica shelves. His singularity is worth pondering.
When the \”Coloreds Only\” sign disappeared from a water fountain at the train station in Tony Kushner\’s hometown of Lake Charles, La., one day in the early 1960s, it was a sign of the dawning civil rights movement, which had emerged elsewhere in the South but only subtly in Lake Charles.\n\nIn Kushner\’s liberal Jewish home, relatives spoke excitedly of the changes while an African American maid, Maudie, washed and ironed all day in the hot basement. In her starched white uniform, she toiled as black domestics had done for generations of white families in Lake Charles.
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