April 23, 2015

It was only when Aryeh Rifkin lost his voice that he finally found it.

It was 2010 when the then-real-estate developer — having already been through a series of personal and professional challenges — discovered that he had stage 4 laryngeal cancer. After he had surgery to get rid of the disease, he spent time completely mute, and that was when he decided he wanted to transition into a different career.

As Shabbat was fast approaching, nearly 1,000 people stretched their legs, tied up their shoelaces, chugged water and prepared to run through the streets of Jerusalem.

As author and journalist Eric Lichtblau delivered remarks during an April 20 Yom HaShoah program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, photographs of the unimaginable appeared on a slide show behind him: ex-Nazis who were provided safe haven by the United States during the Cold War.

Two events recalling past genocides — and promising to fight against future ones — drew thousands of people to Pan Pacific Park on April 19.

Since the first Jewish Futures Project conference took place in 2011, students in Milken’s integrated and honors Jewish Thought program have been developing innovative projects that approach problems and challenges for their generation. Working with classmates and teacher-mentors, students develop websites, project goals and descriptions, research plans and lesson designs. The cash prizes, a new addition, are to encourage students in their innovative pursuits.

Life isn’t easy, but it doesn’t have to get out of hand.\n\n“Judaism has volumes of things to say about the quality of the way people approach challenges in life,” said Jonathan Schreiber, director of community engagement at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.