How Jewish Woman Became Snoop Dogg's 'Pot Doc'
Dina Browner, a Jewish youth group leader turned medical marijuana consultant, has cultivated an A-list clientele that includes actors, hip-hop moguls and politicians.
Pot Seder Aims To Put Legalization on the Passover Table
The fine print at the haziest Seder in the land ever explained the facts: While Oregon voters legalized recreational marijuana use last November, the measure wouldn’t take effect until July 1.
Advocacy Group Aims To Put Marijuana Legalization on Jewish Agenda
Le’Or, founded about a year ago with seed funding from Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap Company, wants to convince American Jews that ending marijuana prohibition belongs on the progressive Jewish communal agenda alongside marriage equality and immigration reform.
Hopes Dashed as Obama Avoids Calling Mass Killings of Armenians ‘Genocide’
This year, on Armenian Remembrance Day — when the mass killing of more than 1 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire is commemorated — Armenian-American activists had high hopes that a president who ran on a message of change would indeed change the pattern of previous administrations. That is, they hoped President Obama would use the term “genocide” to describe the human tragedy that occurred nearly a century ago.
Wagner’s ‘Ring’ Strikes a Jarring but Muted Chord in L.A.
When the Los Angeles Opera launches its most ambitious project to date — a 10-week citywide festival celebrating Richard Wagner’s “The Ring,” which will culminate in a massive production of the epic opera — not everyone will be celebrating.
Leading Combatant in Gay Marriage Fight To Head Southern California Rabbis
When Denise Eger assumes the leadership of this region’s local rabbinic association, she’ll be making history — twice over.
Government Grant Helps California Synagogues Find Eternal Sunshine of the Holy Kind
In 1897, two New York policemen disrupted a public ceremony marking the Blessing of the Sun and dragged a rabbi down to court for failing to have a permit. More than a century later, on the opposite coast, government officials are not only giving a similar ceremony their blessing — they are also putting money behind a new environmental program in its honor.
Hollywood’s Spring Fling With Blooming Israeli Actresses
In Hollywood, Israeli actresses are stealing the show. No fewer than three Israeli starlets will be appearing in major American studio releases over the next month, while others are scooping up roles on television shows and in theater productions. Ayelet Zurer plays the female lead in the forthcoming “Da Vinci Code” sequel, “Angels & Demons,” while Noa Tishby has a smaller part in the romantic comedy “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.” A former Miss Israel, Gal Gadot, is appearing in the fourth installment of Vin Diesel’s cars and babes franchise, “Fast & Furious,” and onstage, Meital Dohan, known for her role in the Showtime series “Weeds,” recently appeared in the Los Angeles run of the play “Stitching.”
Cosmetic Differences
When cosmetics queen Helena Rubinstein first opened her New York beauty salon on East 49th Street, her chief competitor, Elizabeth Arden, promptly moved her salon just four blocks away, to East 53rd Street. Years later, when the flamboyant Rubinstein, known as “Madame Rubinstein,” married a Georgian prince, Arden followed suit and tied the knot with a man who claimed to be a Russian prince.
UJC’s Future at Stake as Local Charities Call for Dramatic Cuts
United Jewish Communities, the national association of federated Jewish charities, is facing calls from a host of federation leaders for drastic cuts in next year’s budget.