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April 16, 2009
A Journey Revisited
My father, Allen Sokoler, never spoke about the first nine years of his life, when he lived in Germany. My two brothers and I knew instinctively not to ask, not to mention the country’s name in his presence. We avoided bringing German-made goods into our home — not even German chocolate would cross our threshold.
Federation Campaign Seeks to Feed L.A. County’s Hungry
The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles has never organized a campaign quite like this. Size, scale, vision, ambition — it’s all uncharted territory, and not just for Los Angeles’ umbrella organization for local Jewish social service agencies, but for federations like it across the country.
COMMUNITY BRIEFS: Child Abuse, Christian University Jewish Program, Lee Baca
In the last several months, reports from around the country have been confirming what child welfare experts feared: Economic hard times bring a drastic increase in child abuse and domestic violence. Newspapers nationally are reporting 30 percent to 50 percent increases in some regions of the country; in Los Angeles, both Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services and Jewish Family Service (JFS) report spikes in their clientele.
Widow to Appeal Ruling on Torah Scrolls Ownership
North Hollywood widow Rita Pauker plans to appeal a recent L.A. Superior Court decision that would bar her from reclaiming a set of Torah scrolls her late husband, Rabbi Norman Pauker, left in the care of his former colleague, Rabbi Samuel Ohana, when Pauker retired in the mid-1990s.
Hezbollah Ring Shared Concern for Egypt, Israel
The discovery of a Hezbollah terrorist network in Egypt and reports of an Iranian plot to assassinate President Hosni Mubarak have left already strained relations between Egypt and Iran in tatters.\n\nThe developments have far-reaching implications for the region and for Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
Saving Shanghai’s Jewish Past Via Headstones
In Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Western philanthropists and volunteers are restoring dozens of historic Jewish cemeteries.\n\nBut in Shanghai, there are none to restore.
NATION/WORLD BRIEFS: Durban Changes, Iran Strategy, Clinton to Speak
The United States commended changes in the draft document for “Durban II” but said more was needed to entice it into joining the anti-racism conference.\n\nJewish groups had welcomed the U.S. decision earlier this year not to attend the event reviewing the original U.N. conference in Durban in 2001. The South Africa parley had devolved into an anti-Israel and anti-Jewish free-for-all, and the review conference April 20-24 in Geneva promised more of the same. Earlier versions of the “draft outcome document” singled out Israel and called for measures against “defamation of religion,” seen as a nod to Islamist extremists who seek to marginalize their critics.
‘Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg’ — Come See the Picture Shows
Some 30 feature and short movies will explore the Jewish experience, across time and space, at the fourth Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, April 23-30, at Beverly Hills, Westside, Encino, Pasadena and West Hills theaters.
Immigrant’s Magic Touch Brought ‘Gold’ to Southland
Through Frances Dinkelspiel’s literary blog, Ghost Word (francesdinkelspiel.blogspot.com), I kept up with the progress of her biography of Isaias Hellman, a Jewish immigrant who arrived in California in 1859 from Bavaria. As with many immigrants, Hellman had very little money; however, by the end of his life, he had transformed Los Angeles into a modern city and helped California become an economic power.
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