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March 2, 2011
Kirtan Rabbi spins into southern California
People twirl ecstatically, eyes closed, repeating, in a call-and-response fashion, chants led by Rabbi Andrew Hahn, who plays a harmonium while others play guitars and percussion instruments — repetitive, hypnotic sounds that seductively nudge the crowd, young and old alike, to sway and swirl and chant.
Brandeis University head cultivating L.A. support
Frederick M. Lawrence, the new president of Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., came to Los Angeles and environs in early February for a dozen meetings with donors, alumni, prospective students and more. With about 1,800 graduate and undergraduate alums in Southern California alone, Lawrence had good reason to see this as fertile ground for fundraising and Brandeis consciousness-raising. Plus, the newly anointed president has ties to the region — his wife, historian Kathy Lawrence née Kurtzman, who happily dons the name “first lady of Brandeis” — is from Beverly Hills, having grown up at Hillcrest Country Club and in a house that once was home to Betty Grable.
The solitude of the Arab soul
“This,” I thought, “is what the surface of Mars must look like.”
Innovation Israel tries innovative approach
Blame it on coinciding with the Grammys and the Jewish Federation’s annual Super Sunday, but only 15 people showed up at the Feb. 13 L.A. leg of the nationwide tour of “Innovation Israel: Shaping Israel’s Future. Today,” presented by the aliyah organization Nefesh B’Nefesh, and PresenTense, an incubator for ideas empowering the Jewish community. To the organizers, Israel’s stars are its social entrepreneurs solving social problems through innovative ideas.
J Street needs another lane
I was watching the J Street convention on its Web site, and it reminded me a little of those underground meetings among religious settlers in the West Bank. That is, a constant flow of red meat served to the fervent and the like-minded. In the case of J Street, this red meat can be boiled down to this: It is really, really, really, really important that Israel reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
Why Israel should support Arab democracy
Sitting with Israeli policy makers during the protests in Tunisia and then Egypt, I could feel the anxiety and alarm as senior officials from across the political spectrum attempted to decipher the implications for the Jewish state. Cries of panic have increased as the upheaval spread throughout the Arab world. My frank, if trite, comment that Israelis and American Jews should be applauding the Arab streets’ attempt to throw the bums out during one meeting in Jerusalem was immediately discounted as ignoring the unproven hypothetical that without “strong” leadership, Arab countries will democratically elect Islamic radicals committed to pushing Israel into the sea.
Zenga Zenga
On Sunday, I posted a blog about a video on YouTube that had captured the attention of the Libyan resistance movement and become the unofficial anthem of its youth.
Letters to the Editor: Metro, Jewish Activists, Hollywood, Bill Link
John Mirisch’s critique of L.A.’s current transit plans (“Just What Is Jewish Mass Transit?” Feb. 25) is contradictory and uninformed. On the one hand, he faults Metro’s failure to provide sufficient park-and-ride lots for the Westside subway extension. On the other hand, he decries “big brother’s stick of eminent domain.” Mirisch can’t have it both ways: If you want more parking you may have to encroach on somebody’s property, which of course is perfectly permissible under the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment if the taking is compensated. As a city councilman, he should be aware of the takings clause, a long tradition in American constitutional law and urban planning. Mirisch seems to be looking for any excuse to put the brakes on transportation reform in a region that badly needs it.
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