Rebecca Spence
By Rebecca Spence
-
News Conflict Brews Over Palestinians Airing Views in the Pews of Pasadena
Los Angeles – An influential Episcopal church in Pasadena with long-standing ties to the Jewish community is coming under fire from local Jews for hosting a Palestinian Christian activist group’s conference. The conference, “From Occupation to Liberation: Voices We Need To Hear” slated for February 15 and 16 at All Saints Church, a 3,500-member church…
-
News Hollywood Writers’ Strike Produces Flood of Red Ink at L.A. Synagogues
Los Angeles – At Hanukkah time, one month into the Hollywood writer’s strike, Rabbi Sharon Brous, founding rabbi of IKAR, a spiritual community on Los Angeles’s West Side, sent out an e-mail to her congregants, expressing support for members of the Writers Guild of America. Her position was a no-brainer, in some respects. Brous, who…
-
Fast Forward SUPER TUESDAY: In McCain’s Backyard, Jewish Paper Backs Barack
In Arizona, home state of Republican Senator John McCain, the local Jewish newspaper is urging its readership to back Barack Obama. Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, an independent family-owned newspaper founded in 1948, published an editorial February 1 endorsing the senator from Illinois. “He has been a good friend to and strong advocate of the…
-
Fast Forward SUPER TUESDAY: Intermarriage, Election Style
A prominent supporter of Hillary Clinton and an equally weighty backer of Barack Obama count themselves as members of the same swanky Beverly Hills synagogue — and the same family. Toni and Bruce Corwin, both past presidents of Temple Emanuel, are partners in a Clinton-Obama “intermarriage.” The pair hasn’t voted differently since 1968, when Toni…
-
News Case of Informant Reverberates Through L.A.’s Orthodox Community
Los Angeles – The scandal that has emerged since a Hasidic rebbe and others were charged late last month with defrauding the federal government of tax dollars has caused shock waves beyond Hasidic circles, with even Modern Orthodox rabbis addressing the issue in impassioned sermons. The pressure was particularly great at the 900-family Modern Orthodox…
-
News Nevada’s Sabbath-Keepers To Miss Saturday’s Caucus
Los Angeles – With presidential candidates vying for every last caucus vote in Nevada, contenders from both parties can almost certainly write off one entire constituency: the state’s Orthodox Jews. They also can forgo a smattering of Conservative Jews and, as long as we’re counting, the state’s Seventh-day Adventists, too. The scheduling of the Nevada…
-
Culture Tutors Tackle Tinseltown
When entertainment executive Marc Potash landed a job at Universal Pictures last spring, the offer didn’t come out of the blue. After all, Potash had an inside connection at Universal — not because of his background in film production, but because he had been the bar mitzvah coach of the studio co-chairman’s son. Potash, 28,…
-
News Synagogues Become Rock Venues
Los Angeles – Most major cities offer plenty of venues for rock music, but the newest ones are those you’d least expect: synagogues. In an era in which synagogue membership rolls have seen a sharp decline, congregations across the country are increasingly turning to live music, from electric guitars and conga beats to world music…
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Their Pacific Palisades synagogue is standing, but all three rabbis lost their homes
- 2
News Scoop: Heritage Foundation plans to ‘identify and target’ Wikipedia editors
- 3
News ‘Do you have the Torahs?’ Synagogue races LA wildfire to rescue its past and future
- 4
Opinion Why is Netanyahu poised to OK a ceasefire that’s favorable to Hamas? One word: Trump
In Case You Missed It
-
BINTEL BRIEF I live in a Muslim country. Speaking out against antisemitism has left me isolated
-
Opinion Gaza ceasefire is the result of political machination — not Donald Trump
-
Looking Forward Why the hostage and ceasefire deal is both reassuring and terrifying
-
Opinion Is peace really coming? What about the West Bank? 5 crucial questions for Israel post-ceasefire
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism