There are some new faces at UCLA. Rabbi Aryeh and Sharona Kaplan were recently hired to be the Torah educator couple for the Orthodox Union\’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC).
In this collection of linked stories, the three figures at the center are a mother, father and son who leave Riga, Latvia, for Toronto, Canada. The stories are told from the point of view of the son, Mark Berman, who observes everything and helps interpret the New World for his parents.
Sean Samuels, a Beth Jacob board member, was instrumental in the quest to erect Irvine\’s eruv, which should be operational by Rosh Hashanah.
Of course, it was only a matter of time before a class of frum frauds emerged on Craigslist. But if the missives from Orthodox neighborhoods are to be believed, where there are frum, there is desire.
Rabbi Simon Dolgin, founding rabbi of Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy and rabbi of Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills for 32 years, died in Israel on April 19 at the age of 89.
With entrée in both spheres and his own bent for community involvement, Joel Landau\’s influence is felt far beyond Beth Jacob, which was his first full time pulpit 11 years ago.
The Conservative movement may continue to attract those for whom Orthodoxy remains \”too restrictive\” and Reform \”too acculturated,\” but a more likely outcome will be \”the demise of the Conservative movement,\” Rabbi Paul Menitoff wrote.
If Yeshiva University (YU) wants to be a vibrant presence in the United States, it has to create stronger relationships with the Modern Orthodox community, so said YU President Richard Joel during his keynote address at the Orthodox Union\’s (OU) 13th annual West Coast Torah Convention, which was held Dec. 11-15 in Los Angeles.
\”We have always intended to go to Israel,\” said Rich Brownstein, an Orthodox Jew from Pico-Robertson. \”And in terms of the perceived danger, I don\’t think it is very different to any other time in Jewish history. They have always been shooting at us, there have always been wars and there have always been difficulties.\”
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