This past month, writers at The Jewish Journal won prestigious journalism awards at the 64th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards, presented by the Los Angeles Press Club, and the 41st Annual Simon Rockower Awards, presented by the American Jewish Press Association.
Columnist Tabby Refael won first place in the commentary category at the Southern California Journalism Awards for her piece, “Want to Know What Will Become of Afghanistan? Ask Iranian Women.”
Jewish Journal Publisher and Editor in Chief David Suissa won third place in the same category with his column “How Do You Fight Antisemitism? With Arab Israelis.”
The Los Angeles Press Club also honored Suissa with second place in the columnist category, and Refael with second place in the humor/satire writing category for her piece, “Beverly Hills, What a Thrill.”
The Jewish Journal won in multiple categories at the 41st Annual Simon Rockower Awards. Refael received first place in the excellence in single commentary category for her piece, “Thank You, Progressive Jews, for Defending Israel in Difficult Spaces.”
She also won first place in the excellence for writing about antisemitism category with her column “The Time Iran Sheltered Jews During the Holocaust” and first place in the excellence in writing about seniors category for her piece “There’s Something About Mary.” In the review/criticism category, she won for her review, “Children’s Book Combines the Wisdom of the Talmud with the Ancient Poetry of Rumi.”
Suissa snagged first place for “Honoring the Departed,” a column that won him an excellence in personal essay award.
Kylie Ora Lobell won first place in the David Frank award for excellence in personality profiles category for her cover story on Mayim Bialik called, “Mayim Bialik: Keeping Her Cool in Hollywood.”
Julie Gruenbaum Fax won first place in the excellence in news obituaries category with “Iraqi Survivor Ruth Pearl, 85, Fostered Harmony and Understanding in Memory of Son Daniel Pearl”, and Thane Rosenbaum received an honorable mention in the Louis Rapoport award for excellence in commentary. Jonathan Kirsch received an honorable mention in the review/criticism category for his piece, “‘Squirrel Hill’ Shows Violence Against Jews Can Happen Anywhere.”
The Journal’s six first prizes at the Rockower Awards was a notable improvement over the previous year, when it won two.
