Category
April 13, 2006
Hancock Park Infighting Escalates
Smoldering tensions between the Orthodox community and other Hancock Park residents, many of them also Jewish, are heating up anew, as a battle over neighborhood architecture has divided along lines of religious affiliation.
The Unsettling Struggle
Who is responsible for Israel\’s settlements in the territories? Gershom Gorenberg\’s just released history, \”The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977,\” explores in gripping narrative the original interweave of political ambition, religious entitlement and military strategy that led to today\’s continuing conflicts with both the settlers and the Palestinians.
‘Empire’ Conquers Monstrous Task
It is not accidental that Gershom Gorenberg limited his substantial study, \”The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977,\” to the first decade of the settler movement, for by 1977, when Menachem Begin and the right gained power for the first time in Israeli history, 80 settlements housing more than 11,000 Israelis already dotted the territories captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Nation & World Briefs
With Conservative Judaism at a crossroads, the movement\’s flagship institution has chosen a scholar of American Jewry to guide it. The new leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), announced this week, is Arnold Eisen, a Jewish studies professor and chairman of Stanford University\’s religious studies department.
‘State Department for Jews’ Hits 100
In a meeting room with gold silk curtains and tiled walls, a delegation from the American Jewish Committee (AJC) takes their seats at a long, glass-topped table facing Tunisia\’s foreign minister and his aides. Soon the questions begin: When will Tunisia resume official relations with Israel? What is the country\’s stance on Iran?
France Honors Quiet Diplomacy of Rabbi
Quiet diplomacy rarely makes headlines, but one example of the art received public recognition this month when France bestowed one of its highest honors on Rabbi Gary Greenebaum.
Filming on Babi Yar Genocide Underway
A new Holocaust documentary, co-produced by the Los Angeles-based Shoah Foundation, is being filmed in Ukraine and targeted mainly toward a Ukranian and Russian audience. The film should be completed by September, in time for the 65th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre.
Shopping for Jews? Clean Up on Aisle 5
Margie Pomerantz and her fellow volunteers from Congregation Beth David, a nearby Conservative synagogue, were out looking for Jews. In a supermarket. Unaffiliated Jews, if possible, but they weren\’t being picky.
The Circuit
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Israeli Ambassador Daniel Ayal met recently and placed a call to congratulate new Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. They, along with Ayal\’s wife, Anne, extended congratulations on the Kadima Party victory.
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