In 2016, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appointed a 55-year-old anti-Semitic hardliner and Islamic jurist, Ebrahim Raisi, as chairman of that Iranian government’s reserve for terrorism, the Astan Quds Razavi. Fast forward to August of 2020, 60-year-old Ebrahim Raisi…
Opinion
Bennett, Bibi, & Iran
Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu was ousted as Israel’s prime minister on June 14, 2021, after Naftali Bennett and his Yamina party formed a government with other right and center-right Israeli parties. While both Bennett and Netanyahu have political differences, both…
Abolhassan Banisadr: A Power-Hungry President
In France, 88-year-old Abolhassan Banisadr died from a long illness on Saturday, October 9, 2021. After supporting Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Banisadr became Iran’s first elected president in February of 1980 but was shortly impeached and fled to France following an…
Exploring the Jewish-Owned Delis of Los Angeles
North Beverly Drive. Pico. Fairfax. The homes Nate ’n Al’s, Factor’s Famous Deli, and Canter’s Deli respectively. During my time in quarantine and in the spirit of supporting Jewish-owned businesses, I explored the closest Jewish delicatessens the LA area had…
Conspiracies Have Reached The Mainstream
Conspiracy theories used to be a joke in society, fun stories that tried to explain world events in a convoluted way that assigned meaning to trivial details. People who believed in things that weren’t based on facts or science, such…
The Only Way to Win is to be Proud
“She drove me to Hebrew day 6-8th grade almost every day. Lives down the street from me” This was the text I received after Shabbat from a close childhood friend about Lori Gilbert Kaye, the woman who was mercilessly killed…
Apple updates icon for key diet element
Bagels are an integral part of my diet and identity and I truly feel that no bagel is complete without lox and cream cheese. This is a fact that I finally understood when Apple released the bagel emoji. When Apple…
On Solidarity, Peoplehood, and Empathy: A response to the Los Angeles vigil supporting the those hurt and lost in Pittsburgh
Jews from all over Los Angeles came together on Sunday for a vigil in support of the families who were affected by terror Saturday morning in Pittsburgh. With a growing list of 64 Jewish organizations sponsoring the vigil, the question…
United we stand; and why we’ll never fall
As I made myself some tea and schmoozed at the coffee station after Shabbat lunch this week, I heard a surprising announcement. “Let’s take a moment of silence to honor the people we lost in today’s tragedy.” I waited for…
Candlelight vigil for Pittsburgh synagogue shooting held at Federal Building
Jews and people of other faiths gathered at the Federal Building at the intersection of Veteran Avenue and Gayley Avenue Sunday evening for a candlelight vigil in solidarity with the Pittsburgh Jewish community after 11 people were killed in a…