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rabbi

Alligators Under

I learned most of my theology not from my teachers but from my children. When my daughter, Nessa, was 3 years old, we had a routine. Each night, I would tuck her into bed, sing our bedtime prayers, kiss her good night and attempt to sneak out of the room. Halfway down the hall, she began to scream, \”Abba!\” An avid reader of Parents magazine, the Torah of parenting, I knew what to do: I walked back to the child\’s room and turned on every light. I looked under the bed. \”No alligator, Nessa.\” I checked the closet. \”No monsters, Nessa.\” I surveyed the ceiling. \”No spiders, Nessa. Now go to bed. Tomorrow is coming, and you\’ve got to get to sleep,\” I\’d say. \”Everything is safe. Good night.\” \”OK, Abba,\” she said, \”but leave the light on.\”

10 Ways to Welcome Converts

Rabbi Maller has written dozens of articles on conversion during his 30 years at Temple Akiba, Culver City. In \”God, Sex and Kabbalah\” (Samuel Weiser), he notes that many converts to Judaism were found to have Jewish ancestors.\n\n\n

UP FRONT

Question: What do you get when you cross Hollywood, the Holocaust and Jewish communal fund-raising? Answer: Something exactly like last Wednesday night\’s Simon Wiesenthal National Tribute Dinner at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Torah Portion

Because of our sins were we exiled from our land, and displaced far from our soil.\”

Too Hot Kitchen?

Today the once-legendary Spanish Kitchen restaurant is a study in decay, the \”K\” missing from the neon sign, the arched storefront crumbling and covered with graffiti.

The Boom Years

If you look out the window of Room 120 at Sinai Akiba Academy, you\’ll see a hole. The hole is the size of a city block.

Torah Portion

A fable: There was a king who collected jewels. One night, he dreamed that somewhere in the world, there was a ring with strange, magical powers:

Remembering

Many members of the Los Angeles Jewish community along with numerous dignitaries, including Gov. Pete Wilson, gathered last Sunday to commemorate Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, during ceremonies at Sinai Temple and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

A Woman’s Voice

My friend Jane and I met for dinner last week andhad a good laugh about death.

A Conversation with Novelist Josh Henkin

Josh Henkin will read from his new book, \”Swimming Across the Hudson,\” Mon., May 12, 7 p.m. at Dutton\’s on San Vivente. Josh Henkin\’s paternal grandfather was an Orthodox rabbi who lived in the United States for 50 years without ever learning to speak English. Still, the author was able to forge a strong connection with the old man, the kind of bond that transcended language and linked Henkin to a people and a past.\n

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Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.