
Louis Keene is a reporter for the Forward. His work has also been published in The New York Times, New York magazine and Vice. He is based in Los Angeles.

Louis Keene is a reporter for the Forward. His work has also been published in The New York Times, New York magazine and Vice. He is based in Los Angeles.
The exodus of Black residents from La Cienega Heights reflects a broader trend of Black migration out of L.A.’s core
Editor’s note: In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Forward is resurfacing some of our recent coverage related to the Black-Jewish experience and racial justice. This article originally appeared in July, 2020. As an offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Zach Banner is paid to throw all six feet, eight inches and 350…
As tens of thousands of vaccines are distributed to healthcare workers and the elderly across Los Angeles County, faith leaders are not in either of the top tiers, keeping them sidelined as the pandemic worsens through the winter months. “I’m baffled,” said Rabbi Elazar Muskin, who leads Young Israel of Century City, an Orthodox synagogue…
You’re reading DENI DIARY, the weekly dispatch from Deni Avdija’s rookie season by Louis Keene. Want these posts in your inbox? Click here. So, after starting the season with five straight losses, the Washington Wizards strung together a pair of wins against Minnesota and Brooklyn last weekend. But Deni Avdija has seen his minutes decline…
The latest guilty plea in the Chabad of Poway financial scandal has connected an additional religious leader to the scheme that rocked a community victimized by a 2019 terrorist attack. Rotem Cooper, 54, admitted Tuesday to defrauding the government and his employer by claiming thousands of dollars in false donations, becoming the eighth person to…
Not long after the Boy Scouts of America started letting girls in, Gabbi Stein felt her parents nudging her to join. Their sales pitch was hardly original: Their daughter was a junior in high school. It would look good on her college applications. “At first I was like, Oh my God, this is totally not…
This is the second installment of Deni Diary, a new weekly report about the rookie season of Deni Avdija, the Israeli basketball phenom who plays for the NBA’s Washington Wizards. Want these updates in your inbox? Click here to subscribe. December 25, 2020: The cedar of Lebanon The Washington Wizards have seven foreign-born players —…
It’s been all gimmels for Gershon Distenfeld at the 2020 World Series of Poker main event. The Orthodox Jewish resident of Bergenfield, New Jersey, is one of nine contestants to advance to the last round of the no-limit Texas Hold ‘em tournament, whose winner — considered to be the world champion of poker in a…
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