After more than 20 years at Valley Beth Shalom, Rabbi Ed Feinstein recently was named senior rabbi at the Encino synagogue, succeeding Rabbi Harold Schulweis. Recently, Rabbi Feinstein, 51, began teaching an adult education course called \”Knowing God: The History of the Jewish Spiritual Journey.\”
After 25 years of dieting, this is what I know: There\’s more to me than the sum of my parts, no matter how much they weigh.
Filmmaker Michele Ohayon\’s career previously highlighted serious (and politically correct) subjects, such as oppressed Palestinians and homeless women. She won a 1997 Oscar nomination for \”Colors Straight Up,\” her profile of urban youth in the aftermath of the L.A. riots.
Oxnard\’s population is more than 70 percent Latino, which could explain why Tierra Sur, the finest new kosher restaurant on this coast (or almost any other), has decided to open with a decidedly Mediterranean-Spanish flavor, with a large dose of Tuscany thrown in for good measure.
Attending the North American Association of Jewish High Schools\’ (NAAJHS) leadership conference last year awakened me to the great possibilities of Jewish pluralism. NAAJHS was founded as a forum for Jewish community high schools to exchange ideas and work toward the betterment of Jewish education.
Having never been to a Jewish prayer service before, the non-Jewish students wanted to see what it was like. The tradition fascinated many, and everyone could relate to the singing and dancing.
\”Truthfully, my grandfather really was the catalyst for the journey,\” Brian Bain said in a phone conversation from Dallas, where he relocated after his New Orleans home was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. He was referring to Leonard Bain, a retired traveling hat salesman and silent film editor who was 99, in 2002, when the film was made. The elder Bain has since died at the age of 101.
The best way to discover Mozart here might be a night at the Vienna Opera. I was lucky enough to attend a performance of \”The Magic Flute\” during my visit, which was sponsored by Austria Tourism. This was classical Mozart through and through in terms of the music, but the performance was strikingly modern.
Many of Los Angeles County\’s 84 libraries carry Jewish-flavored works, but Culver City has the only stand-alone Judaica collection. Among other Southland public libraries, Agoura Hills Library has a Holocaust and Hebrew language collection, and the Los Angeles Central Library in downtown — part of the city of Los Angeles\’ library system — has a Yiddish collection with 3,000 books.
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