Yesterday was January 27. In 2005, the United Nations established UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and they chose that day because that was the day, back in 1945, when Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated. Yesterday marked the 80th Anniversary of the liberation of that death camp. In …
The last seven days since my last column have been extremely eventful around the world. Between yesterday’s Inauguration, to getting a chance to tour the Eaton Fire area in Altadena with Rabbi Hanoka from Chabad of Pasadena and the Consul General of Israel Israel Bachar on Wednesday, and t…
It has been almost 5 years since I began writing this weekly column in an effort to keep our community connected at the start of the COVID pandemic. Since then, so many people in the community have commented on how much they appreciate these messages, and because of that, I've continued. Eve…
Community.
It is very likely THE word that I think, speak, and/or write about most in all of my years as our Jewish Federation’s Executive Director. In essence, it is the very reason why the entire Jewish Federation movement was created. Jewish Federations are an amalgamation of several J…
As you may remember, I was nominated by LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger to be a commissioner on the LA County Commission on Human Relations. The commission's mission is to promote better human relations in LA County and help build vibrant, thriving communities by working to transform pre…
You would think that after all these years, I would get used to how busy my weeks sometimes get. Take last week for instance…
As you may have seen (or attended), we held a special Israel Town Hall Meeting last week with what we billed as a “leading Israel Expert.” That expert happened…
Last week was very busy at our Jewish Federation. Not only are we in the midst of our Jewish Book Festival and held a local authors event at Temple Beth Israel of Highland Park, our newly formed Jewish Community Relations Council held its first meeting, but for the first time in several year…
This past week may go down as one of the most monumental and impactful for our community in recent years. Between the election, the buycott our Jewish Federation initiated and implemented in support of Trader Joe's carrying Israeli products, to what many are calling a pogrom in Amsterdam tha…
As you might've noticed, our Jewish Federation has increased our advocacy in and around our community over the last several years. Whether it was our fight against the renaming of a section of Crescenta Valley Park back in 2017, the development of a Comprehensive Community-wide Security Plan…
Anyone who has come to my office for a meeting or just to stop by and say hi might see me in my office chair. From where I sit (which is the title of my monthly JLife SGPV column), even though I sit inside my office with only an interior window, I get the opportunity to look out at and acros…
As the news broke last week of Yahya Sinwar being killed by the IDF, I experienced many emotions, as I'm sure many people did. Surprisingly, one of the thoughts that filtered into my brain was the idea of character. Thinking about one's character has been on my mind as I have come out of the…
What a whirlwind these last two weeks have been, from Rosh Hashanah and the start of 5785 to the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7 and this weekend’s Yom Kippur services. As I’ve shared, the start of this Jewish year is unlike anything we’ve e…
Commit to doing one extra Jewish “thing” in 5785
With 5785 beginning in just a few days (as I am writing this month's column), I have that "special" feeling I always seem to have at this time of year. For as long as I can remember, the days leading up to the High Holidays have alway…
Use this time to improve the world around you
In just over four weeks, we will gather together at local synagogues and around dining room tables to start this year‘s High Holy Days. Not since the mid-1940s, following the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel, has a High…
Celebrating How Our Jewish Community Has Come Together
I have been a Jewish professional for over twenty years. During this time, I have seen several ebbs and flows—not only in how organizations have operated and been received by community members but also in how the professionals and…
