Years ago, Rabbi Ed Feinstein of Valley Beth Shalom would run up and down the Hebrew school carpool line handing out cassette tapes of his and Rabbi Harold Schulweis\’ sermons.
\”If you\’re not going to come inside, at least listen to this,\” he\’d tell parents.
After spending the summer at Lishma, an intensive yeshiva-style program for young adults at Camp Ramah in Ojai, sisters Olga and Anna Dramchuk expected to be teaching Torah to fellow university students at Hillel in Novosibirsk, Siberia. Instead, they\’re back in Los Angeles in search of more Jewish life and learning.
\”Lishma was one of the best experiences we ever had as Jews, but it was only the beginning,\” said Anna Dramchuk, 18.
Andrea Hodos cuts a sprightly figure directing 14-year-old Sophie Porter-Zasada, dancing the biblical story of Sarah laughing as she hears of her pregnancy with Isaac.
\”The Godfather\’s\” Michael Corleone has taken a crack at Shylock. Oscar-winner Al Pacino — always a daring actor — steps into the shoes of Shakespeare\’s notorious moneylender in the latest big-screen version of the Bard\’s classic, \”The Merchant of Venice.\”
When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces its Oscar finalists on Jan. 25, millions of Americans will be tuning in to learn who has been nominated for best actor, actress, director and picture.
Last week, I pulled out a big, unsorted folder from my desk filled with material I had used for my Jewish Journal columns.
As he outran the toxic cloud of the dying World Trade Center, Art Spiegelman heard the voice of his father, the Holocaust survivor: \”The world is treacherous. Keep your bags packed.\”
Concern is growing among circles of Iranian nationals and expatriates that European countries are turning a blind eye to the regime\’s human rights atrocities in exchange for trade benefits.
Late last year, the U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution criticizing Iran for human rights violations. It cited new restrictions on freedom of expression and the persecution of political and religious dissenters.
Standing in the Muqata, Yasser Arafat\’s compound in Ramallah, on his funeral day made me believe that we Palestinians must overcome a hurdle if we are to move forward.
Our youth face uncertainty, our people feel lost and beaten and our elders are sad to think that their children and grandchildren will share their same destiny — never to live in peace in an independent Palestinian state.
Let\’s go live to my blind date at a West Hollywood Restaurant. The merlot is great, the gnocchi is inspired and the waiter taught me to say fork in Italian. The guy? Not for me. Marc is a rare blond Jew, but there was no click between us, no fireworks, no cell phone call from the bathroom stall to tell my girls I\’d met my husband. Not that I\’ve ever made that call or am looking for a husband. I don\’t even know how to spell husband. Or say it in Italian.
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