January 11, 2025

The inept politicians who slashed fire department budgets and ignored warnings bear responsibility for engulfing our city in flames.

Wildfires are still burning through my hometown of Los Angeles, displacing thousands of people and ruining billions of dollars of property.  The two largest fires, in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton, near Pasadena, are already the most destructive wildfires in the city’s history, burning nearly 30,000 acres over the past two days. In the Palisades area, where some of the most severe destruction has occurred, there were multiple reports of fire hydrants running dry, when water levels in the tanks dropped below the minimum pressure required to surge the water uphill.

Certainly these wildfires may be attributed to some natural factors beyond anyone’s control, like the Santa Ana winds, which not only helped spread the fires but also grounded aircrafts used by firefighters to combat the blaze. Fires of this size and level of destructiveness may also be the result of human settlement and expanding populations—while intense wildfires are a normal part of Southern California’s environmental history, they historically did not destroy communities, because population centers were surrounded by citrus orchards or other environmental buffers. Now, Los Angeles just has homes and residential areas where there were once orchards, meaning that humans are left increasingly vulnerable to fires.

With this said, it appears increasingly clear that city and state officials also bear some degree of responsibility for this horrific situation. Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass shaved $17.6 million from the city fire department’s budget, leading to the fire chief to warn her in a letter sent only last month that this budget reduction would severely diminish the city’s ability to prepare for and respond to large-scale emergencies like wildfires. Bass had initially asked for an even larger cut—$23 million—with the intention of freeing up even more money for the city’s bloated and ineffective programs for the homeless, which draw well north of one billion dollars of city funding.  On top of this, the city devoted time, resources, and energy to making DEI one of the fire department’s top priorities—a statement made by their newly appointed lesbian fire chief, Kristin Crowley. And speaking of city priorities, Karen Bass was halfway across the world when the fires broke out, attending the inauguration of the new president of Ghana. When she returned, the inept Bass delivered an emergency press conference, directing anyone seeking assistance to “URL,” a blooper that might have been funny if it weren’t coming amid scenes of horrific loss and destruction. Crowley herself was not shy about criticizing the mayor, saying bluntly in a post-wildfire interview with FOX 11 that city officials “failed” the fire department and that they did not receive proper funding.

On top of the city’s progressive ineptitude, there are also allegations that Los Angeles and California failed its people in more serious environmental ways by neglecting to adequately prepare for fires. California has been extraordinarily slow in constructing the additional water reservoirs recommended to combat and plan for wildfires. For instance, the state has been planning to build the Sites Reservoir, which would provide agricultural and firefighting water to southern California, for 40 years. State voters had even approved $2.7 billion for water storage projects a decade ago in 2014. But the project is not expected to be completed until at least 2030, owing to the extraordinarily slow process of planning, permitting, and environmental review in the blue state. Bureaucratic obstacles also prevented California from conducting the necessary controlled burns—despite governor Gavin Newsom promising on his first day in office to “step up our game” at forest thinning and other mitigation efforts to protect vulnerable areas from fire. Instead, Newsom slashed the state’s fire prevention budget by nearly $150 million, claiming in a bold-faced embellishment that California had treated 90,000 acres under his reign—though the true figure was closer to 12,000. A 2021 NPR report found that the state’s overall fire prevention work that year, the worst wildfire season on record for California at the time, had dropped by half—and, clearly, did not pick up in subsequent years.

For now, we must all send prayers and any resources we can give to the brave firefighters fighting to protect homes and citizens who have experienced great loss. But eventually, it will be time for a reckoning. Californians should understand the root of this tragedy and the policies that likely accelerated it so they can rebuild accordingly. In fact, many people in our deep blue state are already directing ire at the politicians who have failed so many people, and the leftist policies of overregulation, bureaucratic strangleholds, and budget slashing that crippled the city’s resources and preparedness. And this is before countless Californians embark on the heartbreaking project of rebuilding their homes, when they will have to battle the layers and layers of red tape, permitting, and so-called environmental regulation necessary to build in this area. Many commentators are predicting that this could be the watershed moment that brings a red wave, and as more and more political failures are uncovered, it certainly seems that they could be right. The public officials who slashed resources, misdirected funds, and failed to act with appropriate initiative should be held culpable for this disaster, because taking them to account and throwing our support behind better, more competent leaders may help prevent another disaster in the future.

Dr. Sheila Nazarian is a MMM Board Certified Plastic Surgeon and Assistant Professor, USC.

Even as we prepare today to be evacuated from our Sherman Oaks residence, I am reminded of the broader, and more significant, outcomes here.

The impact of this natural disaster will be significant not only on the LA story but more directly on the LA Jewish community, as in some measure this experience has a distinctive Jewish component to it, as many of the affected areas are densely settled by Jews.

The broader implications are significant. The loss of Income as a result of career displacement, the closing of businesses, and the destruction of homes will have a long and profound impact on this region and for the individuals and families affected.

No doubt, because of the fires, much of the focus of LA philanthropic and charitable energy will be internally directed for years to come in being responsive to this community’s losses. The economic pressures on Jewish philanthropic institutions will be significant, as it will generate the need to raise specific funds to help manage resettlement and assistance to families impacted by this tragedy. The psychological fallout is beyond imagination.

The collateral damage is particularly significant, as there will be disruptions to many of LA’s key businesses, educational institutions, and social service networks.  With housing already a critical issue within Los Angeles County, the 2025 fires will add further strain on the availability of residential resources.

A fundamental question facing many folks impacted by these events, will they elect to rebuild their lives and homes, here in LA?  The growing reality, after this carnage Los Angeles will be a very different city.

There are lessons to be learned and adapted from this community’s prior experience with 1994 Northridge Earthquake, the aftermath of the 1992 Civil Unrest, and other episodes, a composite both natural disaster and human events, in how as a community we responded.

As with other moments of tragedy and loss, we will see efforts to create special opportunities for coming together to memorialize the lives both lost and impacted as we praise the first responders. Already, we are beginning to see the expression of individualized prayers and messages, specifically crafted around this unimaginable storyline.

Upon reflection, the value-added of community in a time of crisis is affirmed in this moment. With all of this, there comes with this experience a profound degree of fear and loss when facing an uncertain future. “Who by fire” is no longer merely a verse from Jewish tradition but now represents our reality as we see the death toll rise and the scope of loss continue to expand. Everyone knows someone who has been directly impacted by this tragedy.

Such transformative events reframe the power and meaning of the collective. In moments of despair, our humanity is rekindled. In an age of social media and of the sovereign self, this moment serves to reconnect us one to another.

When living through the pandemic we operated by necessity in isolation. Today, amidst nature’s wrath, we find ourselves bound together by a distinct desire for community. The affirmation of what the civic enterprise, be it public safety, the first responders, the broader nonprofit sector or more directly, our Jewish communal enterprise represents to our lives and well-being. These are the moments that affirm the essential importance of the collective.

How we show up to support those who have lost all that provided them with comfort and in some measure offered them a form of identity and standing will be our test. While we see “place” and “home” as critical to who we are in the world, we are reminded that our essence is much more than the material. At the outset, we acknowledge their loss and their sense of despair and uncertainty, as we embrace them and take them into our lives and into our homes. Our humanity is on trial here.

In this unfolding new reality, we garner a sense of what is truly meaningful and valuable in life, stripped of possessions and of place. The sanctity of life is itself reaffirmed in this moment. May we collectively find wholeness and peace amidst the flames.

Dr. Steven Windmueller is an Emeritus Professor of Jewish Communal Studies at HUC-JIR. He is the editor of a 2021 collection of essays on The Impact of Donald Trump’s Presidency on American Jewry and Israel.

Welcome to the world of misplaced priorities. Nearly everywhere one looks, people are going about things the wrong way. Usually, it’s faulty thinking. Sometimes intentions are good, but people are conned into marching mindlessly, shouting slogans, and pumping fists. Often, pure hatred is the culprit.

Black Lives Matter once seemed like the most important organization on earth. Decades of racial progress were discounted or outright denied. “Systemic racism” was America’s Original Sin that refused to reform.

The principal leaders of BLM absconded with millions of dollars in donations. Much of it was spent on new homes for the movement’s founders.

Need any real estate advice? Now you know where to go.

For the past eight years, it was crucial that Donald Trump be put in jail. Federal or state penitentiaries, makes no difference. Just one that involves hard labor and no food. In civil courts, Trump was to be transformed into a pauper. A billionaire tucked away in a maximum-security lock-up, holding a tin cup.

Tens of millions of dollars were wasted on these pursuits, precious resources that could have gone to fighting actual crime. The charges against him, in various jurisdictions, were bits of magical thinking masked as legal doctrine. Only one prosecution succeeded, the one least serious in nature. On Friday he was sentenced to no prison time.

We hear a lot about America’s fascist impulses. But where, exactly, are these alt-right, neo-Nazis waiting in the wings to hijack the nation?

We hear a lot about America’s fascist impulses. But where, exactly, are these alt-right, neo-Nazis waiting in the wings to hijack the nation? The entire lot of January 6, 2021 pseudo-insurrectionists—totaling well under 1,000—are already in jail.

Meanwhile, there’s a critical mass of hard left lunatics on college campuses, in mainstream media, publishing, museums and corporations like Disney and Budweiser, imposing their woke mores on the rest of us. Censoring speech. Demanding compliance with an infinite array of progressive mandates. America has been in a cancellation culture vise-grip for the better part of a decade. And the purge continues.

Of all the nations in the world, only one should cease to exist—the Jewish one. In fact, it should never have been created. Despite the Old Testament being situated in the land around Jerusalem, all teeming with Jews, no modern-day self-determination for the Jewish people should be allowed. It is absolutely necessary for there to be 23 Arab-Muslim countries, but not a single Jewish one.

The Arab nations specialize in oil, theocracy, misogyny, homophobia and overall unfreedom—not necessarily in that order. Israel, in its very short existence, has developed scores of life-saving medications and high-tech marvels like the cell phone, GPS, the pill camera, USB flash drives, Windows Operating Systems, autonomous vehicles, the desalinization of ocean water, the blooming of deserts, solar-panel windows, and, of course, SodaStream and Wonder Woman.

Yeah, let’s end that country. What do we need them for.

Of all the actual genocides occurring in the world right now, in places like Ethiopia, Sudan and China—and unpunished past genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Turkey, Congo and Guatemala—the one that must result in legal accountability is what’s presently occurring in Gaza.

Genocides require the intent to mass murder an entire people. Israel’s clear intent is to eliminate terrorists—and terrorists, alone. Gazans are killed because Hamas places them in harm’s way as human shields, and not because they are being targeted by Israel. Genocides result in a population loss. Palestinians, however, have tripled in numbers since the “occupation” began. Israel may be great at many things, but genocide, obviously, is not one of them.

The actual genocides of the Uyghurs in China, the Tigrays in Ethiopia and Darfurians in Sudan go entirely unnoticed because the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and Amnesty International fixate on Palestinian casualties of war—re-named as victims of genocide.

Hollywood just hosted its Annual Golden Globes. Nikki Glazer, who is Jewish, joked that actor Adrian Brody, also Jewish, has now starred in two films where he portrayed a Holocaust survivor. (He received the Oscar for Best Actor in “The Pianist” in 2003. He received the same award at the Golden Globes for this year’s, “The Brutalist.”)

Back in 2003, one was allowed to be Jewish in Hollywood without it being an insult to Muslims and a microaggression for Palestinian sympathizers.

Perhaps that explains why the Holocaust went unmentioned in Brody’s acceptance speech. He vaguely referenced his ancestors, but forgot to mention who they were. In fact, neither he, nor any of the many Jews who either presented or received awards that evening, said a word, or wore a yellow pin, to call attention to the 100 Jewish and American hostages in Gaza.

Not even Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot herself, who has been Israel’s staunchest supporter in Hollywood, took a moment to remind the world of the hostages—not by wearing a pin, nor in presenting the award to Brody! Guy Pearce, however, who also appears in “The Brutalist,” knew why he was on stage: to showcase his red bloody-hands pin in honor of Hamas.

And now we come to the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. It has displaced more than 150,000 people, scorched 36,000 acres of land (greater than the size of Miami), eliminated more than 10,000 homes and businesses, and killed at least 11 people. Looters are busy scavenging through evacuated homes to see what’s worth taking.

This horror should have never happened, or it should have been greatly mitigated. Tens of thousands of Angelinos received false evacuation warnings. Approximately 1,000 hydrants were empty of water. We now have come to learn that over $17 million was slashed from this year’s fire department budget. Los Angeles, apparently, was in urgent need of 62 new fire stations. The city’s population has doubled since 1960, but there were more fire stations back then.

The person hailed as L.A.’s first woman and lesbian fire chief is reportedly hanging on to her job by a thread. She will be remembered for making DEI initiatives a priority. But she shouldn’t be the fall girl. City Hall, and the state’s governor, failed miserably.

The Hollywood elite bears some blame, as well. In demonstrating their woke gravitas, A-listers watched the city implode with soft-on-crime policies and snatch-and-grab vandalism of commercial storefronts. They allowed UCLA to seethe with unchecked antisemitism, and elected officials who vowed to defund the police and fire departments—which they did, commendably.

In demonstrating their woke gravitas, A-listers watched the city implode with soft-on-crime policies and snatch-and-grab vandalism of commercial storefronts. They allowed UCLA to seethe with unchecked antisemitism, and elected officials who vowed to defund the police and fire departments—which they did, commendably.

Hollywood is not very good at taking a hard look at itself. It’s better at dressing up in evening attire and attending award shows. Celebrities always believed themselves to be immune from social ills and nature’s wrath.

But now the city’s houses are literally burning. And so many misplaced priorities are becoming painfully, and abundantly, clear.

Thane Rosenbaum is a novelist, essayist, law professor and Distinguished University Professor at Touro University, where he directs the Forum on Life, Culture & Society. He is the legal analyst for CBS News Radio. His most recent book is titled “Saving Free Speech … From Itself,” and his forthcoming book is titled, “Beyond Proportionality: Is Israel Fighting a Just War in Gaza?”