fbpx

GET HOME DELIVERY! CLICK HERE »

ADVERTISE
pick up locations
HOME DELIVERY
donate

Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

March 2, 2010

High school tuition help still available

Leave a Comment / Education /

Nearly 250 middle-income families considering a Jewish high school education for their teens have applied for tuition help from Builders of Jewish Education (BJE), and the application period is still open for the 2010-2011 school year. BJE is administering a $12.7 million grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation that aims to enable more students to afford an education at five Jewish high schools in Los Angeles.

$7.5 million of the Jim Joseph High School Affordability Initiative, a six-year grant now in its second year, is going toward scholarships, and the schools are using the remaining $5.2 million to shore up their own development and fundraising programs, in order to meet the grant’s stipulation that they collectively raise millions toward their own endowments.

More than 70 students received $594,000 in grants last year to attend Milken Community High School, New Community Jewish High School, Shalhevet School, and the YULA boys and girls high schools. With more publicity this year, coordinators are expecting to give out $895,000. The Web site has received more than 2,000 hits.

The money is aimed at families who are middle income, taking home healthy six-figure salaries but still struggling to pay the $25,000 to $30,000 in tuition. Parents who need more than 40 percent of tuition covered are channeled to the schools’ regular scholarship fund. The grant requires schools to maintain the regular scholarship fund separate from the Jim Joseph money.

For more information, visit High school tuition help still available Read More »

Young Entrepreneur Pays It Forward

Leave a Comment / Community /

2009 was a tough year for Cameron Cohen. In March, the Brentwood 11-year-old had a benign tumor surgically removed from his leg and spent many months out of school and mostly off his feet — first in a cast, then in a full-leg brace. But the tech-savvy young entrepreneur used his recovery time to write a popular program for the iPhone — an “app” that lets users draw on the screen using their fingers — and he plans to donate a significant portion of the proceeds from its sales to the hospital where he was treated.

When he first thought about developing an app, Cohen started by reinventing the original video game: Pong. “It was just for fun and really easy to make,” he said.

But the market for iPhone Pong was saturated — “there are like a million Pongs already” — so Cohen looked for other opportunities and soon settled on drawing applications. “I had a few free ones, and one $1 app. And
I didn’t like them.” There were better programs available, Cohen knew, but “they were all either $3 or $5, and I didn’t really want to pay that for a little drawing program.”

So, after a few months of programming, iSketch hit the App Store in December— priced at 99 cents. Though Cohen won’t say exactly how many times it has been downloaded, iSketch was, at one point, among the 50 top-selling apps in the store. (There are more than 100,000 to choose from.)

Cohen plans to donate a good chunk of the money back to the pediatrics unit at the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital.

“I had really good care at the hospital — but I [also] had my iPod Touch and my computer,” Cohen says. “I know there are so many kids at the hospital that don’t have those things, and they’re probably either bored, or they don’t have as many things to do. I wanted to be able to donate so that everyone there could have the opportunity to have fun and feel better.”

Cohen is now working on updates to iSketch, and is developing a new game for the iPhone — which, he acknowledged, will probably take him longer than it took to create iSketch. That’s because Cohen is back on the basketball court; at 5-foot-3, he’s one of the tallest players.

Young Entrepreneur Pays It Forward Read More »

Jews for Photography

Leave a Comment / Community /

As part of their Be True project, Jews for Judaism, an international education and outreach organization, is holding its first photo contest. Students ages 10-22 living anywhere in the world can submit photos along with brief descriptions. The theme is: “The Joy of Judaism.”

“The goal is to help Jewish students really examine what is important about their Judaism [and realize it] is something to be happy about, something to be excited about,” said Rabbi Zalman Kravitz, education director at Jews for Judaism. Kravitz is in charge of the contest, which ends March 15.

The winner will receive $500 or a prize of equal value.

Founded in 1985, Jews for Judaism’s mission is “Keeping Jews Jewish.” The Jewish Community Foundation and the Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund have supported the Be True project, which was established in 2008.

Past contests have been writing-oriented. A photo contest is an attempt to be more viral and in touch with the interests of teenage Jews.

“Everybody has a camera,” said Kravitz. “Everybody can take a picture.”

Visit be-true.org/contest to enter.

Jews for Photography Read More »

New Leaders Take Helm at 3 Camps

Leave a Comment / Education /

For three local Jewish camps ushering in new leadership, summer 2010 will be a season of change. Habonim Dror Camp Gilboa in the San Bernardino Mountains hired a new executive director in February, Camp Alonim in Simi Valley is narrowing choices to replace its current director, and Camp Ramah in Ojai will replace its resigning director, who is leaving at the end of summer.

This changing of the guard at some of Southern California’s largest Jewish sleep-away camps is by no means a trend; each development unfolded independently.

Dedicated Volunteer Becomes Passionate Leader

Camp Gilboa, the Habonim Dror Labor Zionist Youth Movement camp near San Bernardino, is built on the participation of the organization’s volunteers. So it seems appropriate that Gilboa parent Dalit Shlapobersky, who replaced outgoing executive director Jacob Proud on Feb. 17, spent the past four years volunteering with the camp and is a strong believer in the Habonim Dror (the Builders of Freedom) movement, which organizes year-round activities for youth.

“It was love at first sight,” Shlapobersky said of the kibbutz-style camp that fosters a connection to Israel and Israeli culture, encourages collective work and social action, and emphasizes the ideals of equality, freedom and peace. “I was very passionate about Gilboa right from the start, so being where I am today feels very natural to me,” she said.

Shlapobersky, an Israeli native who moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s, worked previously at the Israeli consulate and as a translator. Her involvement in Camp Gilboa, which draws considerably from the Israeli community, led Shlapobersky to step in as interim director until the camp could find a permanent replacement for Proud.

“I knew they had been looking for someone for a long time,” she said. “I also knew that it might take a while to find someone who fit — it’s not a high-paying job, it requires much dedication and hard work, weeks up at camp, passion.”

It didn’t take long for “interim” to be removed from Shlapobersky’s title.

At the top of her agenda is raising funds for a major initiative: purchasing a campsite.

Gilboa currently rents a YMCA facility, and Shlapobersky said they are unable to make physical improvements to the site or initiate building projects as part of the camp’s emphasis on communal work and nature.

According to a letter written to the Gilboa community by board chair Liz Bar-El, the camp’s enrollment is on the rise and a new location is needed to meet the camp’s growing needs.

Also on the horizon is a Nov. 20 celebration and alumni reunion timed to Camp Gilboa’s 75th anniversary, to be held in Los Angeles.

Both are large undertakings, but Shlapobersky doesn’t seem intimidated.

“They’re big tasks, but I’m not taking them on by myself — we’re a dedicated network of volunteers working together,” she said.

Transition in Progress

Jordanna Flores, Camp Alonim’s first female director, announced her resignation in October 2009, and the camp is currently interviewing candidates to fill her position. Flores, who spent six summers of her youth as an Alonim camper, joined the staff as program director after coordinating Alonim’s 50th reunion in 2003, and then took on directorship of the Simi Valley camp in fall 2005.

Flores and American Jewish University (AJU), which runs Alonim, declined to comment on the reasons behind the camp director’s departure.

In an e-mail, Gady Levy, vice president of AJU and dean of the Whizin Center for Continuing Education, wrote that Flores “has been an incredible leader and source of guidance to the Alonim community,” and will stay on until the summer to help with the transition to the new leadership.

According to Levy, the university is in the final stages of the selection process and hopes to announce the new director within the next few weeks.

“Despite the upcoming staff change,” he wrote, “we are incredibly excited about supporting all of the incredible and innovative programming of Alonim and look forward to seeing only further growth.”

From Ramah to the Rabbinate

“The time has come for me to pursue a different type of position for the next phase of my rabbinate,” Rabbi Daniel Greyber, Camp Ramah’s executive director, wrote in a resignation letter to board chair Ilana Meskin on Jan. 4.

The letter, which was sent to the Ramah community two days later, expressed Greyber’s commitment and devotion to the camp and how difficult it was for him to resign after leading an institution he called “a jewel for the Conservative movement and the Jewish people” for eight years.

Camp Ramah was his first assignment out of rabbinical school in 2002, and Greyber said he is grateful to have begun his career in such a critical area of Jewish identity. But he said he is ready to move on to something different, ideally a congregational pulpit.

As a rabbinical student with AJU’s Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, Greyber interned with Temple Beth Am and Sinai Temple; the day-to-day speaking, teaching and counseling work of leading a synagogue intrigued him.

Greyber is not limiting his search for a pulpit geographically, and it is likely he won’t stay in Los Angeles. He has also applied to a one-year fellowship in Jerusalem with the Mandel Leadership Institute, where he hopes to develop a method by which the lessons of camp directing can be applied to a synagogue educational setting. 

“It’s an exciting time and we’ll see where we land,” said Greyber, who will stay through the end of the 2010 summer season. “Right now, I’m just going through the process.”
Camp Ramah’s board is seeking a replacement, but feels it has time to conduct a thorough search, given the ample notice Greyber provided.

“We’re looking for someone more senior, not someone right out of rabbinical school,” Meskin said. “Rabbi Greyber evolved the job over the past eight years and we grew tremendously as an institution during that time.”

The next director, Meskin says, would help the camp take its next step: autonomy from American Jewish University.

She says the AJU board and university president, Rabbi Robert Wexler, recognize that the camp is ready to become a stand-alone institution and recently offered it the chance to buy the camp property. The new director would also take charge of the initiative to develop a Ramah camp in the underserved Northern California region.

“It’s a time of great expansion and growth for Ramah,” Meskin said. “It’s a particularly exciting time for a new leader to come in, though we are sorry to see Rabbi Greyber move on.”

New Leaders Take Helm at 3 Camps Read More »

Farrakhan’s True Colors

Leave a Comment / Blogs, Uncategorized /

Sunday’s Los Angeles Times ” title=”reported”>reported on the vision he had after having been on that “space wheel” to meet with the late Elijah Muhammed. That meeting imbued him with divine knowledge—-including prophesying the recent earthquake in Chile, (“It’s not an accident that a great earthquake took place in Chile…it was a precipitate of what I have to tell you today of what’s coming to America. You will not escape”). The wheel, he noted, had technology “1 million years ahead” of America’s. He also asserted that the spaceship contains 1,500 airplanes, each equipped with three bombs and the “angels on that human-built planet can build a wall out of air … wall America in and start a fire.”

His immodesty was on display as well; it was “too cheap” to call him just a prophet—- he said. “I’m very humble…..I’m a light in the midst of darkness.”

There have been reports for years that Farrakhan is sick and his activity level diminished. Maybe that explains his willingness to make more of his delusionary musings public. The sorry fact is that no matter how nutty Farrakhan’s rants, he managed to fill up an arena with 20,000 adoring fans and he is still national news (nearly 40,000 Google results).

While he hasn’t often trumpeted his more off-beat theories on religion and “space wheels” when he entertains the media, he has betrayed them often enough so that thinking reporters should have written him off years ago as delusional. Instead of being ignored, he continues to be treated as an off-beat leader who promotes his anti-Semitic and racist views as if he were sane.  Years ago, an editor at the Times told me that the Jewish community had to put up with his anti-Semitism, “because his message of self-empowerment is so important.”

The archetypal example of this strange phenomenon of giving the minister’s theology a pass while according his political views a hearing was an interview of Farrakhan conducted by Ted Koppel on Farrakhan’s True Colors Read More »

Obituaries March 5-11, 2010

Leave a Comment / Obituaries /

Edith Abrahams died Dec. 11 at 89. She is survived by her daughters, Joani (Mark) Share, Randi (Alan) Pollard and Susan (Phil) Tennant; and five grandchildren. Malinow and Silverman

Elizabeth S. Barad died Dec. 21 at 73. She is survived by her sons, Glenn and David; three grandchildren; and sister, Frieda Mirzoeff. Hillside

Leslie Baumgard died Dec. 3 at 64. He is survived by his daughters, Rachel, Adele and Caroline (Adam) Baumgard Salvatore; son, Lucas Wiedeman; and brothers, Stuart (Sheryl) and Godfrey (Susan). Malinow and Silverman

Edward K. Burman died Nov. 30 at 88. He is survived by his wife, Sara; daughter, Tracy (Brian) Mitteldorf; son, Randall; five grandchildren; and brother-in-law, Lenny Borden. Mount Sinai

Denise Cooper died Nov. 29 at 36. She is survived by her husband, Scott; father, Max Brauer; sisters, Irene, Miriam, Ingrid (Howard) Rosenthal and Jacqui (Greg) Wolffe; and brother, Ernesto (Connie) Brauer. Malinow and Silverman

Tillie Elzweig died Dec. 10 at 96. She is survived by her daughter, Clara Martin. Malinow and Silverman

Sally Louise Fischmann died Dec. 22 at 83. She is survived by her husband, Harvey; son, Jeffrey (Kathy); daughter, Jody Wallas; brothers, Arnold and Nathan Leanse; and two grandchildren. Hillside

Ira Forest died Dec. 18 at 89. He is survived by his wife, Myrna; sons, Michael, David and Adam; stepdaughter, Wendy Snyder; stepsons, Lon and Bill Snyder; and three grandchildren.  Hillside

Evelyn Fractor died Dec. 6 at 86. She is survived by her stepsons, Mark and David; and two grandchildren. Hillside

Dorothy Victoria Goldman died Dec. 19 at 91. She is survived by her daughters, Barbara (Robert Orr) and Laura; son, Jay (Emily Miller); and two grandchildren. Hillside

Barry Grogin died Dec. 4 at 64. He is survived by his wife, Payton; daughter, Alexandria; son, Israel; and sister, Joy Miller. Hillside

Renee Gulko died Dec. 21 at 101. She is survived by her niece, Sharon (Joe) Gorin; and stepdaughter, Nancy (Sheldon) Taubman. Mount Sinai

Dale Herman died Dec. 7 at 70. She is survived by her husband, Robert; daughter, Susan Kargari; and brother, Steven Goldstein. Malinow and Silverman

Ralph Kahan died Dec. 17 at 92. He is survived by his daughter, Susan (Norm); son, Jason (Laurie); four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Hillside

Sidney Kaler died Dec. 22 at 83. He is survived by his wife, Thelma; daughters, Sandy (Burrit Newton), Bonnie (William Franus) and Wendy; and eight grandchildren. Mount Sinai

Karen Kaye died Dec. 18 at 67. Hillside

Rosalind Keller died Dec. 13 at 75. She is survived by her husband, Irving; daughter, Linda (William) Lavere; son, Andrew; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Hillside

Yona Kollin died Nov. 29 at 68. She is survived by her husband, Rabbi Gilbert; daughter, Dalia (Noah) Taft; sons, Dani (Deborah Engel) and Eytan; parents, Rabbi Ben and Betty; brother, Harvey Rosen; and five grandchildren. Malinow and Silverman

Bernice Kraemer died Dec. 10 at 84. She is survived by her husband, Edward; sons, Bradley and Glen (Natalie Zionts); sister, Gerta Faber; brother, Howard (Jean) Garber; and three grandchildren. Malinow and Silverman

Eleanor Goodman Leo died Dec. 21 at 85. She is survived by her daughter, Karen Leo Fiske; two sons, Thomas G. and James; and nine grandchildren. Hillside

Bert R. (Budd) Levine died Sept. 23 at 83. He is survived by his wife, Bunny; sons, Hank (Joan) and Danny (Karie), daughter, Janet; daughter-in-law, Evelin; 11 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Mildred Levy died Dec. 22 at 88. She is survived by her daughter, Vicki (David) Rapp; sons, Brian (Pat) and Louis (Gerry); two grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Mount Sinai

Andrew Litchman died Dec. 8 at 50. He is survived by his wife, Naomi; daughters, Marcie and Jodi; parents, Martin (Joyce) and Dana (Tubby) Rosander; sisters, Dari (Jonathan) Dahan and Rachel; and brothers, Jake (Katie) and Benjamin. Malinow and Silverman

Karen Mantell died Dec. 20 at 65. She is survived by her husband, Alan; daughter, Jennifer; son, Jonathan (Wendy); one grandchild; and sister, Enid Schwartz. Mount Sinai

Steven Meltzer died Nov. 30 at 56. He is survived by his mother, Sylvia Falk; and sisters, Susan (Sam) Slatnick and Roberta Zwart. Malinow and Silverman

Evelyn Nathanson died Dec. 11 at 91. She is survived by her daughter, Jill Rohode; and sons, Marc and Greg. Malinow and Silverman

Ben Noodleman died Dec. 21 at 85. He is survived by his daughter, Judy Jason; three grandchildren; and son-in-law, Bob Jason. Mount Sinai

Alvin Rabinow died Dec. 5 at 91. He is survived by his daughters, Royce (Michael) Morales and Bonnie (William) Luttrell. Hillside

Mark Raboy died Nov. 30 at 55. He is survived by his sister, Sheryl Klein. Malinow and Silverman

Edwin Rainer died Dec. 22 at 82. He is survived by his son, David (Anne); three grandchildren; and sister, Marion (Al) Gruen Mount Sinai

Arthur E. Schlaifer died Dec. 21 at 86. He is survived by his daughter, Marissa; son, B. Stuart; and brother, Jack. Mead

Lance Schneider died Dec. 11 at 45. He is survived by his parents, David and Tobianne; sister, Michele; and nieces and nephews. Malinow and Silverman

Margaret Molly Seiff died Dec. 21 at 83. She is survived by her daughter, Sara; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Hillside

Lisa I. Smith died Dec. 22 at 44. She is survived by her husband, Bill; daughter, Jessica; son, Shawn; parents, Gerald and Raquel Schwartz; and brother, Marc (Jodi) Schwartz. Mount Sinai

Nadine S. Smith died Dec. 22 at 67. She is survived by her husband, Herbert; daughter, Lisa (Philip) Tate; son, Craig (Eve); four grandchildren; mother, Rose (Charlie) Lerner; sister, Iris (Tom) Graf; and two stepsisters. Mount Sinai

Beverly Ruth Stein died Dec. 18 at 81. She is survived by her daughter, Julianne; son, David Berger; two stepsons, Joel and David; and three grandchildren. Hillside

Gerald Bernard Surfas died Dec. 16 at 93. He is survived by his two sons, Gregory (Barbara) and Leslie (Diane); four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Hillside

Rona L. Tobias died Dec. 21 at 93. She is survived by her son, Sheldon (Karen). Hillside

Obituaries March 5-11, 2010 Read More »

State Dept. objects to E. Jerusalem building

Leave a Comment / Israel, United States /

The Obama administration expressed “strong concerns” to Israel about building plans in an eastern Jerusalem neighborhood.

“We have seen reports that plans for 600 housing units in Pisgat Ze’ev in East Jerusalem, originally deposited in 2008, have advanced in the approval process, although we understand that the total number of units has been reduced from the original plan,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. “We also understand that this is not a final approval for the project, but it is a step in that direction. We have relayed our strong concerns to the Government of Israel that this kind of activity, particularly as we try to relaunch meaningful negotiations, is counterproductive and undermines trust between the parties.”

The Obama administration is endeavoring to get Palestinians and Israelis back to peace talks. It has praised Israel’s current government for a partial freeze in the West Bank, but tensions remain over eastern Jerusalem, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to extend the freeze.

“We continue to urge both parties to refrain from unilateral actions that, whether intended to or not, undermine trust and efforts to resume negotiations that will bring an end to the conflict and result in a two-state solution,” Crowley said. “We believe it is of great importance that negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians resume as soon as possible.”

State Dept. objects to E. Jerusalem building Read More »

The Lies and Reconciliation Commission

Leave a Comment / Marty Kaplan, Opinion /

If Democrats decide to use the procedural move that Congress calls “reconciliation” to pass health care reform, get ready for a war of words.  It will be won not by the biggest guns, but the biggest mouths.  What’s true won’t matter; what’s loudest, what’s catchiest, will.  That’s democracy in the age of newsertainment.

Start with the fact that few people know what reconciliation is.  It sounds like something from family law, or how Nelson Mandela got South Africans to put apartheid behind them.  Politicians love a blank slate; it’s a great opportunity to define – that is, poison—the debate.  Hello, death panels.

The reason that reconciliation has come up now is the prior war over filibusters, supermajorities and cloture.  (I didn’t say this would be simple.)  Until 1975, a majority of the Senate, 51 votes, was what you needed to pass.  Only two situations required more: votes of two-thirds specified in the Constitution (like ratifying treaties), and votes that the Senate’s internal rules – which senators can make and change as they want – peg to a number more than 51.

For years, one of those rules – Rule 22—said that Senators can speak as long as they want, and sometimes talk a bill to death (filibuster), and that the only way to close down a filibuster (cloture) was to round up 67 votes, which was really, really hard.  In the 1960s, the filibuster was used to block civil rights legislation.  In the 1970s, Alabama Republican Senator Jim Allen used it to deep-six whatever he didn’t like—a federal consumer protection agency, a Legal Services Corporation, electoral college reform. 

But some deft and tense ” target=”_hplink”>spiked, doubling, when Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell began using it, like Jim Allen, to bottle up anything he didn’t like.  It’s basically been that way ever since. Worse, no one has to pull a Jimmy Stewart/“Mr. Smith” all-nighter any more; the mere threat of a filibuster is enough to make the other side to cave, unless they actually have a hard count of 60 votes, which is almost never. You can’t get a bill to the floor for an up-or-down majority vote without a preceding procedural vote, and if you filibuster the procedural vote – which is what Republicans are now doing day in and day out – then doing anything at all requires a supermajority.

Democrats have nothing like the party discipline that Republicans do, so the “filibuster-proof 60 votes” that the press decided they got in the 2008 election was never real.  Senators like Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson could be counted on for nothing, especially cloture votes.  So the Republican strategy worked.  Sixty became the new majority.  If the media effectively nailed Republicans for hyperpartisan obstructionism, I missed it.

Enter reconciliation.  Every year, Congress passes a budget resolution.  Every year, Congress passes laws that break the budget.  Reconciliation is the policing process Congress uses to force itself to stay on budget.  It instructs congressional committees to change current laws until they square with the budget’s revenue, spending and debt-limit levels.  And because the Senate set things up this way, votes on reconciliation can’t be filibustered.  You don’t have to climb Mitch McConnell’s mountain to pass it; it takes only a simple majority.

Over the years, reconciliation has been used to end-run filibusters on all kinds of legislation.  Clinton used it to pass welfare reform in 1996.  George W. Bush used it to ram through his tax cuts in 2001 and 2003.  Both parties have used it to pass laws that couldn’t make it to an up-or-down majority vote any other way. 

Now Republicans are howling that using reconciliation to pass health care is an unprecedented, dastardly abuse.  But as ” target=”_hplink”>facts won’t matter.  Republicans are calling reconciliation “the nuclear option,” and are ” target=”_hplink”>amendments that will tie Democrats in knots and force them to vote for terrorism and against apple pie.

But as a former Senate The Lies and Reconciliation Commission Read More »

13-year-old Julia Siegler’s funeral marked with eloquence and sadness

Leave a Comment / Obituaries /

More than 1,200 people sat in University Synagogue in Brentwood on Monday morning for the funeral of Julia Siegler, a Harvard-Westlake eighth grader who was struck by a car and killed Friday morning as she crossed Sunset Boulevard to catch her school bus. Both Julia’s mother and students on the waiting bus saw the accident occur.

Adolescent boys in suits and ties and eighth grade girls wearing black dresses looked incongruously dressed for a bar or bat mitzvah, but instead were leaning on distraught parents and embracing each other as they mourned their friend at Monday’s memorial. Many of them wore splashes of purple – Julia’s favorite color.

Julia’s parents, Jody and Scott Siegler, and her brother Matthew, all spoke of the joy and light Julia brought to their lives.

“ ‘She’s in a better place now.’ No one can say that about Julia. This was her better place. She was bursting with love for this place,” said Scott Siegler, an entertainment industry veteran who heads Zelnick Media’s West Coast office.

Siegler recalled the joy Julia brought to her dance and to her art, and to her time with friends and family, including her grandparents, who are Holocaust survivors.

“If a word comes to mind now it is joy – she was joy itself,” he said. “How do you kill joy? How is that possible? That dancing head of shining hair, those festive tosses of scarves, those blue-green eyes, curious, interesting, gleaming, mischievous. How is it possible that Julia will not come bounding like a little colt through the mudroom door in our house?”

As Jody Siegler spoke with composed strength and even humor, she clutched a piece of artwork that Julia had created.

“To hold her and touch her, I’m wrapping my hands around her artwork. Her hands formed this, so if hold onto this I am touching her hands,” she said.

“I struggled to be worthy of being the mother of this unbelievable creature. It was something that was beyond any gift I could have expected,” said Siegler, a former film marketing executive.

Julia and her older brother Matthew, a Harvard law student, adored each other. Matt described the sister he nicknamed Jukie as intelligent, inquisitive and kind, but mostly silly, as they pulled off antics together.

“More than anything she put you in a place where you knew that irrepressible joy was just below the surface. Scared before [tonsil] surgery, stressed before a test, nervous before a dance recital – those were a thin veneer, translucent to me, covering a blaze of light and joy.”

Her cousins and family friends, including theater producer Jed Bernstein, remembered her for her vivaciousness and her willingness to teach what she knew – anything from the intricacies of Farmville or Greek mythology to how to use adverbs correctly.

Kate Benton, the seventh grade dean at Harvard-Westlake, gathered thoughts from Julia’s teachers, who all described her as a bright light in and out of the classroom. Her history teacher said he always prepared two lessons – one for class, and one for after class when Julia followed up with questions and challenges.

An impromptu memorial of hundreds of flowers, candles, photos and stuffed animals, sits at the accident site at the corner of Sunset and Cliffwood, along with a sign that reads “Slow Down, For Julia.”

The accident occurred Friday morning at 7:20 a.m., when Julia crossed Sunset against a light to get to her school bus, according to the coroner’s office, Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department and Los Angeles Police Department Officer Sara Faden, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.

She was grazed by one car, and that knocked her into the path of a second vehicle driven by a juvenile. While the accident was initially reported as a hit and run, police said that both drivers stayed on the scene and were interviewed, but neither was cited.

University Synagogue’s rabbi Morley Feinstein gave voice to the pain that pervaded the room.

“At such a time of grief, what can we say to give comfort to those who mourn? In truth, there are no words that can explain or any statement that can ease the sense of loss. Let’s then give voice to the depth of our pain. That it is unfair, that it hurts so much to have lived with hope and now to go home without it,” he said.

He did suggest what not to say.

“Do not attempt to give meaning to this tragedy. Do not explain that it was God’s will, or that it is for the best, or that the good die young, or that there is some kind of purpose to this, because I think those phrases make a mockery of the hurt we feel. Instead say only this. You are not alone. We love you. Your pain breaks my heart. Please know I will be there for you.”

Jody Siegler said Friday morning God blinked, but when he opened his eyes and saw what had happened, He immediately sent people to carry the family through this tragedy.
Brother Matt finds comfort in knowing Julia loved and was loved fully.

“If there is anything that makes this darkness manageable for me it is that … we loved completely. We were consciously grateful every day, and I can’t stress how lucky that makes us feel,” he said. “It was us and Jukie, silly, playful, so interesting and challenging, and at every possible minute it was joyful. We knew it, she knew it, and it was perfect.”
Julia would have turned 14 on March 27. A private burial was held after the memorial service.

Donations in memory of Julia can be sent to University Synagogue or Harvard-Westlake.

13-year-old Julia Siegler’s funeral marked with eloquence and sadness Read More »