Category: Science and Health

The inept politicians who slashed fire department budgets and ignored warnings bear responsibility for engulfing our city in flames. Wildfires are still burning through my hometown of Los Angeles, displacing thousands of people and ruining billions of dollars of property.  The two largest fires, in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton, near Pasadena, are already the most destructive […]

The Time: 9 a.m., Wednesday, January 8 The Place: Our Big Kitchen Los Angeles, 8657 West Pico Boulevard The Occasion:  Bris of baby boy Muchnik, son of Rabbi Eli and Bassie Muchnik, founders of Chabad of Picfair Village The tables were set, delicious food was laid out, and the crowd gathered to welcome yet another […]

Emek Hebrew Academy has set up a Crisis Center at their Magnolia Building  to provide much needed aid to families in Pasadena and Pacific Palisades who have lost their homes in the devastating wildfires this week. Many have been displaced from their lifelong houses and are living in temporary locations such as hotels and friends […]

Dear all, The fierce Santa Ana winds have fueled a number of devastating fires throughout the Los Angeles area. I am remember of a passage from the book of 1 Kings about the prophet, Elijah: “Come out,” God called, “and stand on the mountain before GOD.” And lo, GOD passed by. There was a great and […]

Welcome to 2025, a year brimming with potential—not just for the world at large, but for the Jewish people. As I sit here reflecting on what it means to step into this new chapter, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the generations who came before me. Millions of Jews—countless souls whose names we […]

Editor’s note: This is second in a series on the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The Democratic Socialists of America of Los Angeles claim that their mission is to build a “better world” where “everyone can live a life of dignity,” but many in the Los Angeles Jewish community believe that the local chapter of […]

The terrorist attack by an American citizen turned ISIS ambassador in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, which killed 14 and left 35 seriously injured, was about as predictable as an unfulfilled New Year’s resolution. Problem is: New Year’s resolutions usually involve a nation without the self-discipline to lose weight. What happened in New Orleans […]

Over the eight nights of Hanukkah, author and activist Noa Tishby may have just set a record for most-viewed menorah lightings of all time. On each night — Dec. 25, 2024 through Jan. 1, 2025 — Tishby posted a new video of her lighting a menorah with a different celebrity friend. As of January 3, […]

Wikipedia editors decided to rename the “2024 Nuseirat rescue operation” article to “Nuseirat rescue and massacre” after enough editors insisted that the only way the article title could be neutral is if “massacre” is included. The operation, which occurred in June, involved Israeli forces rescuing four hostages in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas-run Gaza Health […]

  The Ghost of Rachel in the Nile Bar and Grill Thoughts on Torah Portion Va-Yigash (retold, 2025) ©Rabbi Mordecai Finley   A swirling eddy of pain, love, loss, regret, resentment, hope, reconciliation – core experiences of human beings – forms into the vortex of this week’s Torah portion, Vayigash.   Joseph was the uneasy […]