Overlooking bruised thumbs, sore muscles and sunburns, by week\’s end the construction crew will bubble excitedly over their measurable progress that began with a bare foundation, said Thayne Smith, construction director for Orange County\’s Habitat for Humanity.
It\’s not every day the words \”brit milah\” work their way into conversation, let alone in discussing a 12-year-old boy. But here in the Russian air they hang for a moment.
On a sunny afternoon at Cheremoya Avenue Elementary School in Hollywood, fourth- and fifth-graders rapped to a poem about slavery, accompanied by a ponytailed musician on an African drum.
The Ohr Dessa Project was established 11 years ago by Rabbi Shlomo Bakst to rebuild Kiev\’s Great Choral Synagogue, completed in 1997. During reconstruction, Bakst became aware of numerous homeless Jewish orphans in Odessa. The Tikva Children\’s Home was created in 1996 as a spin-off of the Ohr Dessa Project.
On a recent bus ride through the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Russia, Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz ignores the rustic scenery surrounding him.
Marc Miller\’s fundraising goal is to surpass last year\’s record $2.25 million Federation campaign by 10 percent.
With a few notable exceptions, Jewish politicians, activists and community leaders are getting into the controversies over Propositions 53 and 54 late and lackadaisically, having focused most of their attention and fundraising efforts on the recall election.
Proposition 54, The Racial Privacy Initiative (RPI), backed by University of California regent Ward Connerly, bans the state from classifying people according to race, ethnicity, color, or national origin.
The Los Angeles recording artist and producer composes and reinterprets Jewish melodies with accessible, contemporary riffs. Taubman\’s popularity shifted to high gear since debuting a joyful \”Friday Night Live\” Shabbat service in 1998 at Los Angeles\’ Sinai Temple, which he performed in June in Orange County.
Today, Jews are among the most educated and affluent minority groups in the United States. Attitudes toward them have evolved to such an extent that an Orthodox Jew, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), is considered a front-runner for the Democrat Party\’s presidential nomination.
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