Los Angeles — On a rainy Friday night, nearly 100 Jewish students — and a handful of non-Jewish ones — gathered at the University of Southern California’s Chabad house to get their weekly dose of Jewish nourishment. And while the nourishment came in the form of a free meal, including homemade chicken soup, it was,…
If you live long enough, you achieve your goal. The day of the big test arrived for the “Yiddish Star from Bucharest,” whom the press had elevated to a place among the greatest actors like Sonnenthal, Schildkraut, Irving, Possart, and Rossi. The magnificent, vast Nickel Theater was packed to the rafters and beautifully decorated. From…
The song describes “her wrinkled brow.” Botox smoothes her complexion now. No mameloshn does she speak, To her, that language is “all Greek.” “How few her pleasures” goes the song. Today that concept is all wrong, For currently the Jewish mom is On vacation in St. Thomas. These mamas glow with lipstick, rouge, The tools…
Ralph Kaplowitz, an original member of the New York Knickerbockers who played in basketball’s first professional game in 1946, died at his home in the Floral Park section of Queens on February 2. He was 89. According to his daughter, Barbara Kaplowitz, the cause of death was kidney failure. At the age of 27, Kaplowitz…
Los Angeles — When Stanley Gold, the powerhouse steward of Disney’s financial investments, took over last year as board chairman of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, he made it known that business would not be done as usual. And it hasn’t. Over the past year, Gold, 66, has steered L.A.’s central Jewish charity —…
ROSALYN ENGELMAN, WHO “SPEAKS” HER CONSCIENCE THROUGH HER ART On January 16 it was freezing outside, but inside Gramercy Park’s National Arts Club there was a glow, as Rosalyn Engelman’s friends and admirers gathered at the opening of the abstract artist’s exhibit, Soul Memories. On display, a collection of new works, brought together for the…
Los Angeles — The West Coast’s leading Jewish social justice organization has named a former corporate litigator turned legal activist for the poor as its new executive director. Elissa Barrett, a 38-year-old attorney, will take the helm of the Progressive Jewish Alliance, the group announced February 2. Barrett, a University of Michigan Law School graduate,…
This week’s parsha is B’shalach, which tells the climatic final chapter of the Exodus: the Israelites’ nighttime crossing of the Red Sea and the drowning of Pharaoh and his chariots. The Italian Jews have a special recipe they make this Shabbat called Pharaoh’s Wheel, a pasta baked into a round pan and filled with nuts,…
Washington — The American Jewish community is starting to question its long-standing support of Turkish interests in Washington, following Turkey’s public denunciation of Israel’s recent military actions in Gaza. The two countries have been trading barbs ever since Israel launched its operation against Hamas in Gaza, in a move to stop Hamas’s rocket attacks. The…
While the public’s eye has been trained on the money that Bernard Madoff allegedly swindled from Jewish organizations, most Jewish charities are fearfully watching another, much larger donor that is falling on hard times: the government. Jewish agencies such as nursing homes and community centers take in an estimated $10 billion each year from government…
Tel Aviv, Israel — In the final days of Israel’s election campaign, pollsters were calling the Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu “Teflon Netanyahu,” reflecting the common belief that he was riding an unstoppable wave of support. But Tzipi Livni’s Kadima party, trailing, was working hard to give the impression that it had found Netanyahu’s Achilles’…
