In the premiere episode of The Bagel Report, Erin and Esther talk about the one holiday that’s taBOO for the Jews: Halloween. Whether you dress up and demand candy door-to-door or opt out entirely, join us for a Jewish gloss on the holiday: including Erin’s list of iconic scary movie scores written by NJB Danny Elfman and Esther’s recollections of growing up without Halloween. Plus, what makes a Halloween costume “Kosher”?
Notable people and events in the Jewish LA community.
Sukkot emphasizes that which we intrinsically know. We go outside and show the world that no matter the environment, we will express our Judaism with pride and joy.
Liat Cohen-Reeis, director of the Antisemitism Task Force at StandWithUs San Diego, has tried to bring local news media’s attention to antisemitic incidents, but has encountered disinterest.
An uproar over an article showing discrimination against Jewish and Israeli writers dramatizes how ideology and politics prevail over truth.
At the shelters, the grooming does more than make the dogs look and smell better.
Furstenberg has been an iconic writer and editor in Israeli and American publications for decades, including for the L.A. Jewish Journal, and her death, even at the age of 90, on the eve of Rosh Hashana, deeply moved Jerusalemites who knew her.
Arthur Green, “Can Judaism Be Saved: Its Future After Gaza” (Teaneck, NJ: Ben Yehuda Press, 2025) pp. 139.
The point of all this isn’t to replace the people who keep our institutions running. It’s to give them back the hours they spend being human copy machines, so they can spend those hours on the work only people can do.
This is more than a proposal to construct apartments. It is an invitation to reconsider what a Jewish institution can be.
The custom of eating stuffed vegetables on Simchat Torah is to symbolize the scrolls of the Torah filled with the wisdom of the holy text.
An uproar over an article showing discrimination against Jewish and Israeli writers dramatizes how ideology and politics prevail over truth.
Israelis are an impatient bunch, but their political processes can drag on and on – and on.
Saudi Arabia’s growing vulnerability presents Israel – and the United States – with an opportunity to deepen the partnership between two of the region’s most important forces against extremism.
On October 27, Israelis will elect the 26th Knesset. A week later, on November 3, Americans will vote in pivotal midterm elections.
Shattering as it’s been, there’s something to be said for this abrupt return to biblicalness. By this awkward word I don’t mean belief in religion, necessarily, but appreciation for values that have fallen into disfavor in our supposedly enlightened age.
Israeli officials spent much of the day examining whether the incident aboard Flight FZ1073 was an attempted terrorist attack.
Here was an extraordinary chain of people of different nationalities whose actions resulted in lives being saved.
