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December 16, 2004

To Tree or Not to Tree

Seth Menachem December 16, 2004

For the first time in my adult life I\’m dating a Jewish girl.

Her father\’s Catholic — an Italian — but according to my

rabbi, \”She\’s all good.\”

(Maybe he didn\’t use those exact words, but something to that effect.)

Carrie and I bicker but never have any real fights; that is not until Christmastime. She was raised with Christmas in her house. Chanukah was a pool they may have dipped their toes into out of some traditional obligation, but it was Christmas that they jumped into cannonball style.

The Shame of Famine Is in Not Ending It

H. Eric Schockman December 16, 2004

This is a unique moment in history, when God has given us the means to dramatically reduce hunger and poverty.

The pangs of hunger can be

so painful and physiologically destructive, especially for children. Yet hunger also produces a more intangible pang — that of stigma and shame.

Marseille Program Curbs Anti-Semitism

Claire Berlinski December 16, 2004

The commencement of the second Palestinian intifada in late 2000 ignited the most extensive outbreak of anti-Semitic violence in France since

the Holocaust. The crimes have been perpetrated almost entirely by the beur — Arab immigrants.

The Vanishing Tree

Sharon Rosen December 16, 2004

The lush, fragrant green trees penned up in their Christmas tree lots waiting to be liberated, taken home, and decorated are like a

siren song to school kids everywhere. My daughters are no exception.

\”I wish we could have a tree in our house. They\’re so pretty,\” one of my daughters will invariably say this time of year.

My daughters\’ wishes for a picturesque, festive tree will remain just wishes. But for three prior generations of their Southern California Jewish family, Christmas trees were a reality — and they represented the American dream fulfilled.

False Promises in Berg’s ‘Becoming’

Rabbi David Wolpe December 16, 2004

I have never been to the Kabbalah Centre, never studied with one of their teachers, and cannot comment on their practices. My sole direct exposure was to watch a videotape produced by the center, \”The Power of Kabbalah: A Documentary,\” from 1996, in which they claim, among other things, credit for producing the Oslo accords — credit which they may be presently inclined to disavow. But no matter. I spent an infuriating hour reading \”Becoming Like God\” by Rabbi Michael Berg. If I can succeed in persuading one person not to buy this confused, contradictory, intellectually disreputable and Jewishly perverse volume it will be well worth the exasperation.

Kabbalist Theory of Everything

Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein December 16, 2004

Quietly studying a page of the Talmud on a crowded plane, the great Orthodox teacher and thinker Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik was interrupted by a passenger in the next seat.

Symphony to Debut Fiery ‘Soul’ Music

David Finnigan December 16, 2004

Wayne Hinton is a Methodist, and he understands what Jewish audiences will feel when they hear a performance by the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony.

\”It\’s like when you hear a Frenchman conducting French music,\” said Hinton, the symphony\’s executive director. \”It\’s akin to their soul.\”

The soul, or more specifically the soul aflame, will anchor the symphony\’s Dec. 19 performance at Temple Israel of Hollywood, where the shul\’s Nimoy Concert Series will host the West Coast premiere of \”Souls on Fire,\” an oratorio based on Elie Wiesel\’s book on centuries of Chasidic leaders.

Chabon Crusades for Fun Literature

Josh Lambert December 16, 2004

\”The Final Solution: A Story of Detection\” by Michael Chabon (Fourth Estate/HarperCollins, $16.95).

Depending on their authors\’ predilections, so-called \”literary\” novels are often unsettling, disturbing, enlightening or tragicomic. They are not, in the main, much fun. Fun is left to hacks, those genre writers who churn out the chick-lit blockbusters, weepy romances, thrillers, sci-fi fantasies and blood-and-guts horrors that dominate the best-seller lists.

Calendar

Keren Engelberg December 16, 2004

Operetta Archives: 8 p.m. \”Delights of Early Broadway!\”A tribute to Herbert, Kern and others. $25. Schoenberg Hall, UCLA Westwood Campus.

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