JewishJournal.com: The Calendar Girls

President Bush: Uncensored

2008-05-18T23:51:00.000-07:00

If he sounds like a puppet most of the time, Israel got the best of him.

During a recent visit to Israel on behalf of its 60th, in the umbrage of olive trees, the President joined a group of young Israeli Jews and Arabs for some of his most candid dialogue to date.

Though he's clearly ignorant of some of the finer points of Israeli society--for example, that Jews and Muslims don't typically marry -- absent the obstinate complacency that has repelled his critics and alienated much of his constituency, a free-styling Bush who spouts ideals about a two-state solution endeared himself to Israelis on both sides of the fence.

Leave it to a group of forthright students to cut through the nonsense and get the Commander-in-Chief to get real.

From the L.A. Times:

"I think it comes out that you don't like Muslims because in most of your speeches you tend to relate extremism to Muslims," said the 16-year-old Israeli Arab, who is Christian.

Without bristling, Bush conceded the point.

"Actually, what I say is you're not a religious person if you're a murderer," he replied. "But you're right. I've got to do a better job of making it clear when I talk about Islam [that] I talk about a peaceful religion."

The exchange Friday was part of an unusually frank and lively discussion between an unscripted Bush and a diverse group of young Israelis as he ended a 48-hour visit to Israel. It showed a reflective, self- critical side of a leader in his final year in office, but also a gap in his awareness of the rigid social norms that underlie the region's conflict and reinforce division.

At one point, Bush asked whether Arabs and Jews date, or go to the same dances.

...

"Optimism doesn't mean ignoring the truth," Bush replied. Later he said, "I think why people are fighting is there's a group of people that refuse to accept a Jewish state . . . a refusal to admit a certain reality."

That brought a fresh retort from Chacar, the Arab teen, who said Israel for too long had refused to recognize the Palestinians' identity and rights.

"We can't wipe out a whole section of history," she said. "The Palestinian people did exist."

"Did exist and do exist," Bush answered, forecasting a Palestinian state. "It's going to happen."

The president went around the circle for 45 minutes, giving each Israeli a chance to speak. When Aviad Tamir, 25, said he aspired to a public service career and asked for advice, Bush said, "You don't have to lose your soul. . . . Have a core set of principles that you won't change."

Happy Birthday Israel, from Koreatown

2008-05-15T16:13:00.000-07:00

VideoJew Jay Firestone is at it again. He hit the streets yesterday afternoon rounding up a plethora of passerby for a birthday tribute to Israel. Traipsing up and down Wilshire Boulevard, the VideoJew proves The Jewish Journal is not just pretty in print -- there may be a future in reality television. Look out Jay Leno!

p.s. shout-out to Dikla for her deft camera stylings!

Identity theft at Jewish Film Fest

2008-05-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

"Don't you know? Auschwitz isn't just for the Jews anymore," says Lukas, the disturbed (and disturbing) protagonist of "The Memory Thief," a film by Gil Kofman that was screened Monday night, May 12, at the Jewish Film Festival.

Lukas is an exceedingly desperate character - a young man with no past and no hope of a future who works as a tollbooth cashier by day and watches pornography in his ramshackle apartment by night. He visits a catatonic woman in the hospital, pretending she is his mother and wonders about the lives of the thousands of drivers who whiz by him everyday.

"I bet not one of them would remember my face," he muses gloomily.

When one of those drivers, a Holocaust survivor, stops to talk to him, Lukas begins to take an interest in the lives of Jews who were victimized during World War II. His interest becomes a frightening obsession that consumes Lukas, a non-Jew, to the point where he assumes the identity of a survivor - stealing memories that are not his own and creating a future for himself that may be more concrete and certain, but definitely not any less dismal.

This psychological twister is well made and intriguing, but plan to get ice cream or something sweet after the movie to alleviate the gloomy state of mind you'll undoubtedly be in.

"The Memory Thief" opens May 30 at the Music Hall in Beverly Hills. For more info, check out www.memorythiefmovie.com.

The Jewish Film Festival continues this week with several more screenings, two of which are worth highlighting:

"Song of David" is about another young man's obsession - except this one is a little more normal. David is a Hasidic 16-year-old studying to become a rabbi who discovers the world of rap music and his own talent at expressing himself in this urban genre that is so far from his secluded religious world. The screening at the Knitting Factory on Wed., May 14 at 6 p.m. will be followed by a performance by the Moshav Band.

"The Tree of Life" is a documentary by L.A.-based director Hava Volterra, who turns the lens on her own life as she deals with her father's death by exploring his familial roots in Italy. If Rob Eshman raved about this film, then it has to be worth a look. "Tree of Life" is screening on Wed., May 14 at 7 p.m. at Wilshire Blvd. Temple, Audrey and Sydney Irmas Campus.

Details of the screenings at www.lajfilmfest.org.

Bill Maher the bully

2008-05-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

Bill Maher is painfully funny. He's the kind of political humorist who is so shameless and so clever that you bluster with laughter before you realize how noxious his jokes are.

Here's a clip from this week's Circuit about the HBO "Real Time" host who sparred with Tony Snow -- started strong, but got booed by the end (with some too-inappropriate-for-print jokes mixed in):

Calling Bill Maher "politically incorrect" is too kind. Bitingly snide, bitterly sarcastic, at times crude, caustic and offensive, he is also horribly funny.

Tony Snow declared himself "the sacrificial lamb" the moment he stepped on stage at Universal Studios Gibson Amphitheatre, rightly anticipating a rough tumble with the provocative HBO pundit during the final installment of American Jewish University's (AJU) 2008 Public Lecture series on April 28.

"Yeah, I'm the idiot who decided to come to Hollywood and debate Bill Maher," Snow said, immediately segueing into an analysis of the current campaign climate before Maher took the podium and denigrated the president.

"Bush is a uniter," Maher said. "He's united the middle class with the lower class...between Iraq, Katrina and now famine, he just needs locusts to round out his resume for the term."

As much as he hates Bush, he was harsher on Hillary Clinton.

"You gotta forgive her," Maher said in response to her alleged miscommunication about getting snipered in Bosnia, "it's been a long time since anybody's pinned her down."

He updated her (in)famous 3 a.m. ad about a phone ringing at the White House with his own version of the story:

"The only time Hillary has answered the phone at 3 a.m. it was her husband calling, from the police station asking, 'can you come down here with $500 and a pair of pants?'"

Judging by the response, the audience didn't clearly lean towards one candidate or the other, but collectively distanced themselves from Maher, an avowed atheist, when he began his diatribe against religion.

Despite preempting his analysis with some buttering up ("Aren't the Jews the best audience in the world?"), it wasn't enough to keep them in his court when he called religion "silly and dangerous," relegated faith to "you either believe in a talking snake or you don't" and cited the first four 10 Commandments as proof of an egomaniacal God.

Hubris from both speakers -- potshots, crude jokes, even cuss words -- cheapened an otherwise dynamic debate.

The aim of the lecture series, which has also included Tony Blair, Karl Rove and Arianna Huffington this season, is to posture divisive speakers on polar ends of the political spectrum in front of a mostly liberal-leaning Los Angeles audience. While the crowd vacillated between laughing at Maher's outrageousness and appreciating Snow's clear-mindedness, in the end, bandying politics as entertainment did not necessarily elevate political discourse.

Crushing on Israel

2008-05-08T12:11:00.000-07:00

JJLA Editor-in-Chief Rob Eshman was featured today on 89.3 KPCC. In case you missed his segment about Israel during your drive to work this morning, here it is in its entirety:

I love Israel.

When I hear an American Jew say that, when I hear myself say that, I always stop to wonder: what exactly does it mean?

Do we love it so much that we would, as the school kids say, marry it? Apparently not. Though Israel's Law of Return entitles any Jew anywhere in the world to citizenship, a minuscule number of American Jews have picked up and moved there.

Do we love Israel enough to fight for it? No. Only a handful of us have actually taken up arms during any of Israel's wars. The American Jewish arrangement has long been: we give our money, you give your sons. We give our opinions, you give your lives.

The truth is, too many of us love Israel like young girls love Miley Cyrus, like women love George Clooney, like white guys love Springsteen. We swoon. We idealize. We have a crush.

Once we believed Israel existed to physically save us, to be our refuge when the world came after us. Now we know better: many more Jews leave Israel to come here than leave America to settle there.

So 60 years after the Zionist dream of a Jewish homeland came true, Israel has become more of a spiritual refuge for American Jews than a physical one. It's an emotional home away from home.

We boast of its remarkable accomplishments in technology and culture, its vibrant free press, its social vitality. And we leap to its defense against its many enemies and critics.

But the problem with crushes is that the instant our crush disappoints us, we become disillusioned. The problem with crushes is we overlook faults until they turn dangerous and tragic.

Israel at 60 is a wonderful achievement. But it also faces monumental problems that cannot be overlooked: it desperately needs to improve the quality of its democracy. It needs to narrow the gaps between rich and poor, between secular and religious, between Arab and Jewish Israelis. It needs to pursue agreements with its enemies. It needs to reject the ideologies that have mired it in the folly of settlements for the past 40 years.

And we who love Israel have to learn to scold it, to correct it, to not stay away out of disillusionment or keep quiet out of deference. The father of Zionism, Theodore Herzl, once said, "Nothing happens as one hopes, nor as one fears." A real state in the real world doesn't demand reverence, it demands we raise our voices and get involved.

Crushes are fine when we're young. But Israel is turning 60; it's time we grew up too.

To listen to Rob's segment, click here.

Two Robs worth listening to

2008-05-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

Our esteemed chief, the Jewish Journal's Rob Eshman, will be featured on KPCC 89.3 FM this Thursday, May 8 during the station's day-long programming in honor of Israel's 60th anniversary.

His two-minute commentary on what Israel means to American Jews will air during Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

To listen, tune in to 89.3 FM or visit www.scpr.org for a live broadcast stream.

And if you think Rob is riveting in print, wait until you hear him on the radio!

The end is near, but have no fear, says Rob Kutner, a former Jewish Journal contributor who moved on to work for the Daily Show (where his wacky sense of humor was encouraged to flourish). Kutner's new book, "Apocalypse How: Your Guide to Turning the End of Times into the Best of Times," will be in bookstores on May 12.

The tongue-in-cheek self help book offers valuable advice on how to survive nine of the most likely world-ending scenarios and includes uplifting motivational slogans that'll keep you going through alien invasions, zombie attacks or a nuclear war: "To the extent that you can see any of it through the permanent cloud of dust and ash, the sky's the limit!"

Kutner will be reading and signing copies of his book at Book Soup in West Hollywood, May 13 at 7 p.m. For more info, visit www.apocalypsehowthebook.com.

The Siren

2008-05-02T11:44:00.000-07:00

I left Israel when I was six years old. There are only a fistful of fuzzy memories that remain from my childhood in Kfar Saba.

But recently, a vivid memory floated to the surface of my mind:

The sorrowful wailing of a siren sounding throughout Israel at the very same moment.

For two minutes on Yom Hashaoh, everything in Israel stops: cars on the highway come to a halt, cell phones are shut off, conversations are quieted, children in schoolyards stop playing.

The entire country stands in unified grief, in memory of all those that perished in the Holocaust.

Even as a young child, I understood the significance of that siren. I felt the weight of Jewish suffering on my shoulders and I hadn't even learned about World War II yet. My heart swelled with sorrow, but I didn't realize who or what I was mourning.

The memory of that moment still causes my eyes to water and my throat to go dry.

The notes to a Jewlicious video of the siren described it eloquently: "It's a touching and poignant moment in a country known more for its boisterousness than for its introspection."

Here is that video:

"Survivors"

2008-05-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

Today and everyday, we remember the lost..
And we celebrate the survivors who lived to tell the tale.

(photo by Mark Seliger)

Why Ruth Messinger is my American Idol

2008-04-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

Ruth Messinger's face is like a map of all the countries she's visited. Visible in the lines of her skin, there are pangs of hunger, the violence of genocide, the ravages of poverty; but in her eyes - drip irrigation begins in a small Mexican village, an HIV-infected woman and her child receive medical care in Zambia, and in Gujarat, India, low-caste sewage workers' rights are newly represented.

The list of deeds she's inspired in the developing world runs long as a lifeline. Hers is the kind of work that is not only improving lives, but prolonging them.

As president of American Jewish World Service, a social change organization that provides grants to 350 grassroots programs in 38 developing countries worldwide, Messinger is a global harbinger of hope for millions of people struggling to survive. Under her leadership, AJWS promotes the Jewish value to pursue social justice and they recruit Jewish volunteers to travel to developing countries and help alleviate the poverty, hunger and disease most politicians only talk about.

For Messinger, talking was just the beginning. She spent 20 years working in public service in New York City as a groundbreaking female in politics: in 1997, she became the first woman in Manhattan history to win the Democratic mayoral nomination (and ran opposite Rudy Giuliani).

Though she lost the election, she shaped her experience into an instructive on the challenges women in politics face, and wrote the following for the Jewish Women's Archive:

During the years that I held elected office, the percentage of women holding such positions across the U.S. went from about 4% to 20%. An impressive increase to be sure – very important for the advance of women and, in my judgment, for the improvement of politics – but also in some ways a painful one, given the hurdles that women in politics encounter. The public often has different expectations of women than of men. They are not sure that women should be working, particularly in a business they think of as dirty. Experienced political donors contribute less to women than to men and, if asked why, cannot justify this decision. Male colleagues are often people who really have never dealt with women as equals and are easily threatened by women expecting to be treated that way.

Instead of leveraging her political clout into a cozy Manhattan lifestyle, Messinger took her hard-hitting activism to the Sudan and confronted the atrocities of the genocide in Darfur. Upon her return, she awakened the American Jewish community and hammered awareness of the conflict into mainstream consciousness.

And, in the middle of doing all that, Messinger mothered 3 children, 8 grandchildren and celebrated the birth of a great-grandchild.

There are many ways to admire Messinger -- as an agent of social change, an accomplished woman, and as a Jewish example of how religion can motivate goodness in the world.

But I admire her most for being fearless. In an age when the global conflicts we face seem so huge, so insurmountable, Messinger marches on unfazed. To say that she is changing the world is an understatement; she is actually saving it.

60 bloggers for Israel

2008-04-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

60 bloggers, 60 days, 60 different spins on Israel.

If you haven't already done so, check out the new site 60 bloggers for Israel, a blog devoted to thoughts on Israel that features a different post each day leading up to Yom Ha'atzmaut.

The project, dreamed up by Craig Taubman as part of the Let My People Sing festivities, is a collaboration with Rabbi Yonah Bookstein of Jewlicious.com. Together, they enlisted 60 bloggers from near and far including, "Jewtube," "My Urban Kvetch" and "Yo, Yenta!" to wax poetic about the promised land.

Thus far, the blog reads like an epic love poem to Israel, with many of the contributors sharing their memories, feelings and political impressions of the holy land.

The Calendar Girls posted their prose yesterday in "Oh Israel, how do I love thee?"

Poets + Seder

2008-04-25T09:17:00.001-07:00

By now you think you've heard it all: interfaith seders, sober seders, alterna-seders (bread and beer after Pesach), even a bondage seder (someone is literally tied, blindfolded, gagged and locked up in a cage for 72 hours on Passover - to "earn" freedom).

But tomorrow night, a Poet's Seder will sound off in artsy Venice. Organized by Rick Lupert, creator of Poetry Superhighway, the ode to the Exodus story will comprise creative reflections from 36 poets from around the world through a reading of their newly published poetry Haggadah.

Quench your literary appetite and satiate all your senses at this Seder of sophisticates with drumming, music and poetry - you never know, the next Auden or Dickinson or Larkin might be in the room.

Saturday, April 26
A Poet's Seder. 7:30 p.m. $5-$10. Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, 681 Venice Boulevard, Venice. info@poetseder.com.

My two cents on "Sarah Marshall"

2008-04-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

The hype has been so frenzied and the reviews so forthcoming on Jason Segel's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" that it would be impossible for me to add anything of significance to the discourse at this point.

Emma Forrest did a stupendous job of profiling the latest Judd Apatow protege, Segel, and the first movie he has written and starred in:

In the film, it’s clear that Segel’s character will end up with Mila Kunis, aka “the right girl,” and—kudos—the first nice Jewish girl to make it past Apatow’s shiksa goddess fixation. It’s certainly the first Apatow film to climax in a lavish puppet musical, puppets being Segel’s secret passion: “I threw it out there and the next thing I knew, there were 40 Jim Henson puppets.” A budding musician—he wrote the love song that his Freaks and Geeks character sang to his beloved on-screen—Segel is also thrilled that the soundtrack will feature songs he wrote. He’s been making his living in the business since his teens, but for this film, Segel’s enthusiasm—and anxiety about its reception—is palpable. “We’re all just wondering who’ll be the one to spoil Judd’s run,” he concedes. “I am afraid that this group has become so successful that one of us will be the iceberg that sinks the Titanic. I really don’t want to be it.”

If you haven't read the entire article, which Danielle linked to in her last blog, I highly recommend it.

Naomi Pfefferman, the JJ's Arts and Entertainment Editor, also wrote a nice piece in last week's paper about "Sarah Marshall" director Nicholas Stoller (a Jew with the name Nicholas?), who is a proud member of the "Jew-Tang Clan," as Apatow's stable of talented tribesmen has been nicknamed.

Stoller was hanging around on the set of "Knocked Up" when Segel, his favorite writing partner, mentioned a script about his own experiences as a dumpee. (The actor actually had a girlfriend break up with him while he was naked, which became "Marshall's" opening sequence.)

"I went to Judd and asked if I could direct the movie -- my first -- if I helped Jason through the writing process," Stoller said.

Apatow agreed on the spot.

However, I do have a couple of coins to toss into the overflowing fountain of publicity this movie has generated. I saw the movie last week at an AFI Director's Screening at the Arclight in Hollywood. The screening, open to the general public, was crammed full of eager young people and the post-film Q & A with Segel and Stoller was buzzing with enthusiasm - the two held hands in a genuine moment of affection and then again later just for laughs.

The unique mix of chick flick romanticism, crude guy humor, universally appealing heartbreak plot and truly nuanced acting made for a movie that appealed to me just as much as it did to my fiance, David.

I have to say though, that the movie poses a challenge for Israelis who may have a hard time with the heavy use of slang words ("junk" for penis) and pop culture references. And the thick British accent of Sarah's new boyfriend. David whispered to me in the middle of the movie, "Is he speaking English?"

But that's not the point. The point is that when I bought the tickets to see the movie, I contemplated inviting David, or my girlfriend or my younger sister, feeling confident that any one of them would have enjoyed the movie equally. Usually, we divide up movies by people categories: David saw "300" with his brothers; the latest "Rambo" with his buddies; I saw "Taxi to the Dark Side" (a heavy doc about torture in Afghanistan) with my girlfriend; the dripping-with-drama "Atonement" alone - we were on a 13 hour flight to Israel - because David would never agree to rent it, etc.

But "Sarah Marshall" could fit in any of those categories. I could enjoy it with anyone, even my mom - in spite of Segel's infamous naked scene.

And that's cool.

[Photo courtesy of Danielle Levitt, Entertainment Weekly]

'Heeb,' Hippies and Hollywood

2008-04-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

Few people in L.A. know what "Heeb" is.

The word itself was once perceived as a derogatory slang term for Jewish people, but Heeb's etymology is less interesting than its current incarnation: a sassy magazine first launched in 2002 that markets a snarky, tribalist brand of "Jewish" that celebrates the secular, the urban and the political in an unabashedly irreverent tone.

If you haven't heard of it yet, you will -- because Heeb is moving to Hollywood.

At their Hollywood Issue launch party April 9, which I wrote about in Up Front, Heeb presented the "lifestyle brand" it hopes to cultivate in L.A. and engender in its readers. That lifestyle posits Jews at the center of Hollywood, dressed in chic garments and hanging at hip locations (like the Von Dutch building), where they sip trendy but tasteless energy drinks, dance disco in the dark and hover around an up-and-coming celebrity they're banking on as the next-big-thing.

(In this case, that breakout star is Heeb cover boy Jason Segal, star and screenwriter of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" whom our friend Emma Forrest profiles in their current issue.)

The 'zine seems to be tiring of its metropolitan mother, New York City and plans to sink its teeth into Jewish L.A. to pump up its prestige - a ballsy move for a Jewish brand with a sordid past.

Founder Jennifer Bleyer abandoned Heeb in 2003, embarrassed by the concept she created. In The Jewish Girls' Guide to Guilt she wrote, "Being the poster girl for hipster secular Judaism wasn't really me...That I bore this ridiculous message of Jewish coolness into the world made me want to crawl under a rock."

But "cool" is not a sufficient adjective for the the most eclectic Jewish crowd this side of the Chrysler Building; in fact, the visibly multicultural mix might suggest a good portion of partygoers weren't Jewish at all. Instead, they might identify as hipster, bohemian or bourgeois--but isn't it contradictory to label a discernibly well-off crowd bohemian?

According to David Brooks, author of Bobos In Paradise - that is precisely the point. Brooks coined the portmanteau "Bobo," the word-marriage of bourgeois and bohemian, to describe descendants of the yuppie generation--children of the corporate upper class--who blend self-interest and liberalism by spouting social progressivism while indulging in conspicuous consumption.

The Heeb crowd may have appeared bohemian, but their headgear could have been from Barney's and their casual hoodies were woven of cashmere.

Considering everyone who attended the party was a handpicked friend of Heeb, the image of Jewish that emerged is exactly what Heeb wants Jewish to be: the trendy upper-crust, the hot shiksa, the goy groupie, the half-Jewish hippie and even the wannabe-Jew who each serve to popularize Jewish culture in America but have very, very little to do with Judaism.

(photos by Mike Garten)

Wined to perfection

2008-04-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

From Celia Soudry, honorary Calendar Girl:

At one of the most luxurious and largest athletic facilities in Los Angeles, JDaters and wine lovers alike strolled around the Sports Club Oliver Cafe to mingle with singles and taste more than 20 kosher wines. Wally’s Wines & Spirits and JDate put on a merry daters' fete on Thursday, April 17.

Sipping a variety of reds and whites, I started getting tipsy right around the 10th tasting. After a while I lost count. In a similar state of wine-iness, the women sitting at my table started getting friendly and introduced themselves. Curious about my dating situation, one woman in her early 30’s asked if I’ve had any luck on THE Jewish dating website. Clearly I would not be sitting next to her had I found my prince kosher on JDate.

“It has its ups and downs,” I answered.

At one point, I found myself conversing with a quirky messy-haired massage therapist, who made a dramatic sour expression and released a long sigh as she tasted a wine harvested in a metal barrel as opposed to the traditional oak barrel. I inquired if she was having a good time. She answered bitterly, “I’m moving to Israel because there are no men here.”

Moving along to another table, I learned about different grape varieties along with the nature of dating as I watched men boldly introduce themselves to women, attempting to initiate conversations out of thin air.

Singles events can be torturous, but an abundance of wine definitely helps soften the blow. Also, events such as this one inject a much needed touch of reality to the seemingly fictitious world of digital dating. Although the crowd was a bit above my age range (the average seemed to be mid-30’s), I connected with a few wine sellers and yes, even a couple of JDaters, who hopefully found a reason to have butterflies in their stomachs and not just the comforting warmth of the wine.

Passover penis, the matzah challenge and 20 things to do with matzah

2008-04-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

Here's some of our favorite Passover multimedia fare to get you revved up for the wine-heavy breadless holiday. Enjoy!

Is a rising penis kosher for Passover?

VideoJew Jay Firestone's hilarious matzah taste-testing:

Michelle Citrin and William Levin came up with super cool ways to dispose of leftover matzah:

CHAG SAMEACH FROM THE CALENDAR GIRLS!

David the enchanter

2008-04-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

David Minkin is the rock star of magic.

I was told that is the epithet given to him by his fellow magicians at the prestigious Magic Castle club in Hollywood. And having just been to his "Evening of Enchantment" at Malibu's Beau Rivage restaurant, I can say that the title is fitting.

David Minkin, the 2007 International Magic Champion, is loaded with talent, charisma and charm. Women in the audience swooned, fans swarmed him after his wondrous performance and he handled the unusually stressful day with the cool nonchalance of an internationally acclaimed artist. One of David's non-rock star qualities (I detected several) is his affinity for intimate settings.

While many magicians aspire to theater-sized, marquee-trumpeted shows in Las Vegas, he said during his 45-minute act, he prefers to get closer to his audience.

The "Evening of Enchantment" does exactly that - it brings David and the audience to a level of intimacy that makes the experience more than just an amusing set of magic tricks.

The evening begins long before you pull open the heavy wooden doors of Beau Rivage. Driving along the Malibu coast as the sun is in its last hours begins to set a pleasant, relaxed tone for the night. Dimly lit and decked with flowers and twinkling lights, Beau Rivage is the quintessential romantic Mediterranean restaurant - the perfect setting for magical moments.

Guests, limited to 28, are escorted to the tower room on the second floor, where they are treated to hors d'oeuvres and tastings of award-winning wines from the local Malibu Rosenthal winery.

Having had an hour to schmooze or in my case, reminisce (my high school P.E. teacher was there!), the now chummy crowd descended the candle-lit stairway, wine glasses in hand, to the cozy wine cellar.

And then David appeared. No, not out of thin air. His entrance was more earthly - he walked down the stairs, pulled the curtain aside and began to work his wonders. Slowly, the black-clad magician built a rapport with the already warmed up group. He started with coins and moved on to cards - traditional magician fare - but complimented the tricks with autobiographical snippets and charming banter, which the audience readily threw back.

Then David impressed even a skeptic, took us time-traveling, played a tune on his guitar and finally, led us through the rain. I promised David not to reveal his grand finale - it's a bit he has been developing for four years and has only performed at the "Evening of Enchantment."

Whoever came up with the name for the show was spot on.

As I strolled to my car, full of wine and wonder, I felt truly enchanted.

For reservations, call A.J. Steinberg at (310) 795-0269 or visit www.magicandwine.com.

"King Davids" win some, lose most

2008-04-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

A frequent contributor to our blog, Celia Soudry, attended the "King Davids of Comedy" show last week and had this to report:

Shuffling through the crowd at the Hollywood Improv on Thursday night, April 10, excited comedy-club goers eagerly fought for good seats in the packed room to hear Jewish comics deliver their sharpest witty banter at “King Davids of Comedy.”

Host Dan Rosenberg took the stage, and we soon realized that there was nothing funny about his shpeil. Self-deprecating and Jew-bashing Rosenberg made stereotypical jokes about cheap Jews getting half-off coupons to come to the show. The crowd was mixed with older folks as well as young people, and there was an unfulfilled desire for authentic Jewish humor, not just the obvious jabs.

Rosenberg then brought politics into the mix, which wasn’t the best idea after delivering such offensive remarks. “You know, Obama is half Jewish right? Half white, half black, half Jewish, half off,” he said.

After a few more dry comics bored us, grossed us out, and almost killed the high-energy mood of the night, a couple of hilarious performers emerged, Nick Thune and Louis Katz, and saved the day, but only after Jewish-Canadian comic Lahna Turner ranted about her mullet-clad vagina screaming racial slurs. Describing her obese husband, she said, “fatties are great because you never know what you’re going to find. I found a penny once under his titty.” Receiving limited laughs, she begged the audience to cut her some slack.

The Improv saved the best for last with Thune, the only non-Jewish performer. Strumming his guitar, the handsome bearded comic tripped over his microphone cord and quipped, “you have to make mistakes every now and then so no one thinks you’re perfect.” He cleverly sang about an AIM conversation he once had in the 90s when his father first brought home an Apple computer. The then 14-year-old boy chatted with a sultry female online donning the screen-name “NsyncHottie503.” After an in-depth conversation with the 20-something wannabe actress wildly LOL’ing and JK’ing, Thune confessed he was really just a young teenage boy. “I know who you are,” Hottie responded. “Because I'm your 57-year-old neighbor, Jim.”

From the corner of my eye I noticed the guys sitting at the table next to me. They were doubled over laughing during Thune’s entire knee-slapping routine.

The night was slightly disappointing, not just because the Jewish comics bombed, but because the people who spent $18 dollars on tickets with a two-drink minimum and stood in line for a half hour are not likely to return to this monthly show, which raises money for Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medical, disaster, and blood bank service.

And that's no laughing matter.

Nick Thune's Instant Messenger Song:

Israel's aftertaste

2008-04-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

I am plagued by a certain mental malaise every time I return from a trip to Israel.

I feel run-down, depleted, out of sorts.

It's not the usual back-from-vacation-I-wish-I-wasn't-at-work sluggishness. It's different. It's deeper and harder to shake off.

Israel leaves an aftertaste that is a combination of fatigue, nostalgia, emptiness and expectation.

The frenzied pace of life - the fast-talking shopkeepers, the reckless drivers, the crush of people everywhere you go, the whisp of danger always swirling in the air - drains you of all reserves of energy so that it takes at least a week to recover; longer if you had a return flight at 4 a.m. with a 7-hour layover in Switzerland.

Almost as soon as I arrive at Ben Gurion airport and make my way through the long security line, I begin recalling all the things I love about Israel: the Mediterranean climate, the sweet and spicy meals, the roughly handsome men, late nights at Aroma - Israel's improved-upon version of Starbucks, and most of all, the fullness of being surrounded by loved ones.

The intense attention and warm affection of family members who see their relatives from America once every year or two at best was coupled on this trip with the eager observation and enthusiastic embrace of my soon-to-be extended family, who will be making up 400 out of the 500 invited guests at our September wedding. A steady stream of beaming faces paraded through our ten-day trip, filling every minute of every day with banter, questions, drinking, singing, eating and laughing. After that, who wouldn't feel empty sitting alone in their car for 45 minutes on the 101? Or getting only a handful of phone calls throughout the day? Or waking up on a Saturday morning with no one waiting for you at the kitchen table?

I always return from Israel with a sense of expectation. As if I'm waiting for something. Waiting for the next trip to Israel, that's for certain. But also, a larger sense of waiting. Waiting to return to Israel for good. Every visit to Israel tightens the strings that connect me to my birthplace, pulling me closer to the day that I become a toshevet choseret - a "returning resident."

Returning to Los Angeles, I feel like I left home and came home at the same time.

It's no wonder I feel out of sorts.

(Top: Purim Parade - Holon; Middle: Shabbat dinner - Hadera; Bottom: My sister's wedding - Haifa)

Will Israel survive until 100?

2008-04-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

While the Jewish people are pepping their spirits in celebration of Israel's 60th birthday, the hype has begun to overshadow serious talk about the perils facing the Jewish state. ‘Not now,’ we think; after all the struggles, pause to celebrate is a tremendous relief.

The mood shifted though, when Rabbi-cum-Dr. Daniel Gordis, who has long been my Zionist exemplar, stopped by Sinai Temple April 2, during a Shalem Center business trip and delivered an ominous message.

Since I first read his dispatches in high school, Gordis has always seemed to me a man full of hope, someone for whom "Lech L'cha" was not mere verse but a commandment; someone who loves Israel romantically but isn’t afraid to ask her hard questions, who craves peace but knows too well the reality of living in a region that does not.

His speech, delivered eloquently and with animation was uncompromising in its content. The greatest threat to Israel’s future he said, is neither Hamas nor Hezbollah terrorism, not the Arab-Israeli conflict, or even the existential threat to Israel’s existence posed by a nuclear Iran (though that threat is real). Instead, it is the combination of these hostile elements affecting international discourse, and serving to erode the very idea that the existence of a Jewish state is a good idea at all.

He aired a concatenation of multilateral hostilities towards the State of Israel, from international degradation to Israeli civilian apathy; from Walt and Mearsheimer's smear on the America-Israel relationship to Ahmadinejad’s unchallenged hate speech. More frightening than any imminent danger, he said, is that these disparaging and confused sentiments have begun to take root in Israel herself, at her newspapers and universities, in her homes and among her people.

But the couple of Israelis I spoke to this weekend said they didn’t buy that message. “Israelis aren’t afraid of getting killed by a bomb,” a young woman pronounced at the Shabbat table. Nuclear threat or not, Israel will “take care of it” and life will go on. Realizing that they live in Tel Aviv, where the party never stops and not in Sderot, where the rockets never stop, curtailed my wanting to believe them.

Gordis the hard core Zionist compared the status of Zionism with the dusty dissolution of Communism in Russia, something that began as a great idea but lost gravity and disappeared.

A man who was once hopeful is now fueled by desperate determinism. Israel will survive until 2048 because “it has to.”

He didn't bother to sugar coat his message for the Sinai Temple crowd or its rabbi, David Wolpe, whose discomfort and despondency took turns realigning the lineaments of his face. Gordis drove a hard reminder about the status of world Jewry when there was no Jewish state. True, Jewish life in America is quite nice, but imagine what would happen to Jewish liturgy, to say nothing of Jewish life, if there was no Israel to pray for?

Whether you believe in the doomsday message or not, it’s clear that the Gordis who chose the Israel of 1998 is a changed man, and the Israel that lured him there is no longer a fledgling country, but a world power facing unique challenges and called upon to make difficult decisions.

The question is then, what should the Jewish community do? Ignore the fact that the world’s largest Jewish population may soon live in the crosshairs of a nuclear-armed country led by a president who makes no secret of his ultimate aims? Deny that Sderot is a possible microcosm for what might happen when those same terrorist groups have greater destructive capabilities? Tell ourselves that because Tel Aviv is fine, everything else is--and that if we keep going, believing and praying it will one day be alright?

When there is no easy answer, or any answer at all, living a Jewish life makes Israel not a dream or an idea, but a necessary reality.

Purimpalooza 2008

2008-03-25T15:42:00.000-07:00

Check out last week's hot Purim happenings in the Circuit and try to find yourself in the crowd:

Purim in Los Angeles is like Independence Day; a chance for Jews to liberate themselves from everyday exteriors and reinvent themselves as their favorite character—a Persian Queen, an opulent Pharoah or popular this year, call girl #9. With the rare and welcome religious imperative to get shnockered, Jews young and old, observant and secular, all seem to find something irresistible about the holiday of hiddeness, masking and unmasking in their dress, concealing and revealing their inhibitions—and in an election season, proudly proclaiming their politics.

VideoJew Jay Firestone has possible remedies for a post-Purim hangover in his new comic spin on Judaism's big night of bacchanalia:

Remembering Doron

2008-03-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Most people will remember Doron Mahareta (bottom right) as one of the eight Yeshiva students killed in a bloody massacre at Mercaz HaRav in Jerusalem on March 6, 2008.

His voice and his face forever lost.

But Doron's story will endure; because it is a tale not only of incredible determination and overcoming obstacles, but a testament to the passion and the will that enriches and perpetuates Jewish life.

Jeff Ballabon writes:

Doron: Story of a True Tzaddik

Doron wanted to learn Torah in Mercaz HaRav, one of the best of Israel's yeshivas. But, since his early schooling was in Ethiopia, he lacked a strong background in Gemara. The Yeshiva rejected him. He wasn't discouraged. He asked, "If you won't let me learn Torah, will you let me wash the dishes in the mess hall?" For a year and a half, Doron washed dishes. But, he spent every spare minute in the study hall. He inquired what the yeshiva boys were learning, and spent most of the nights and all of his Shabbatot with his head in the Gemara learning what they learned. One day, the "dish washer" asked the Rosh Yeshiva to test him. The Rosh Yeshiva politely smiled and tried to gently dismiss Doron, but Doron wouldn't budge. He forced the Rosh Yeshiva into a Torah discussion; the next day, he was no longer a dish washer but a full-fledged "yeshiva bachur".

On weekends, when Doron would come home to visit his family in Ashdod, he'd spend the entire Shabbat either in the Melitzer Shul or the neighboring Gerrer shtiebel learning Shulchan Aruch and its commentaries. Three weeks ago, he finished the entire Shulchan Aruch and principle commentaries. Doron achieved in his tender 26 years what others don't attain in 88 years. He truly was an unblemished sacrifice, who gave his life for all of us.

Weekend disturbance

2008-03-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

It was supposed to be a secular night. A Hollywood premiere and drinks at the Chateau Marmont felt safely removed from Jewish purview, and I even felt relief at not having to 'talk Jewish' for an evening.

But Hollywood, as we've heard stigmatized many times, teems with Jews, so it's hard to escape the fact that premiere parties could make minyans, and that being Jewish in Hollywood is like a racial stamp, impossible to avoid.

The search for Jews-who-run-Hollywood during an evening that included the second-season premiere of "The Riches" at the Pacific Design Center on Mar. 16, evinced a disturbing reality: an anti-Semitic Hitler admirer wanted to talk about the Jews more than a Hollywood Jew wanted to talk about his Jewishness.

That Jew is Jason Weinberg, manager and power player, oft reputed to be the best in the business. He's known for his A-list client roster which includes Naomi Watts, Demi Moore, Lindsay Lohan and Madonna. Hilary Swank thanked him during her Oscar acceptance speech--even though she forgot to mention her (then) husband.

For Weinberg, the premiere after-party was business as usual. He sat close to client Minnie Driver, the evening's star, coaching her through the whirlwind of attention, the lavished praise, the putrid politics.

"I love the Jews," Weinberg said. But he shied away from my request for an interview.

Away from the tense atmosphere of the Hollywood crush, in the polished courtyard of the Chateau Marmont, my friend and I were confronted with an elderly man known as "Herz." Herz had been affronting female guests and hotel staff with unsolicited molestation.

He approached our table, interrupting our gorging on french fries and caesar salad to bring champagne.

Herz, it turned out, was visiting Los Angeles from Austria, born in the same region--he proudly noted--as Adolf Eichmann and Adolf Hitler.

"Uncle Adolf, I used to call him," Herz said about Hitler. "Eichmann was an a--hole, but Hitler was a nice man."

What did you do during wartime, I asked with some trepidation.

"Banking," Herz replied. "I was on the board of a Jewish Merchant Bank in England," he said. "The Jews gave me my first Rolls Royce."

"But Jews aren't normal like us," he continued. "For Jews, money is God."

That was when we abandoned our perfect french fries and headed for the door.

Since Herz has apparently made a name for himself in the few weeks he's been staying at the Chateau, management was aware of his indiscretions--but not his anti-Semitism. A lovely woman by the name of Angela apologized for our unpleasant experience and tore up our bill.

On our way down the stairs, feeling put off by the whole evening, my friend said, "At least we got a free meal." It was only a moment before we realized what that meant.

Being single at Sinai Temple

2008-03-14T10:48:00.000-07:00

Every nice Jewish gal wants to find her dream guy; but what happens when his mother gets in the way?

Here's my spin in "Attack of The Mothers":

I know how to handle men, but their mothers? An entirely different challenge. Until I moved to Los Angeles, I had never been "hit on" by women. Now women twice, thrice, even four times my age (I call them mothers-on-the-prowl) approach me nearly every Shabbat. Sometimes, they attack in the middle of the Amidah...

Hello, Shalom

2008-03-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

I had no desire to see Shalom Hanoch in concert. I had never even heard of the guy.

But my co-worker, an Israeli ex-pat who was a young woman during Hanoch's heydey, insisted that I come with her to his Saturday night, March 8 concert at the Avalon in Hollywood. She wanted to educate me on Israeli music, and Hanoch - being one of the greatest Israeli rock musicians in the country's young history - would be a terrific start.

Beseder, I said. I'll come.

So I went. But my coworker did not (for family reasons).

And, surprisingly, I had a great time!

Despite not knowing any of Hanoch's songs and being one of the few concert goers under the age of 40, I really enjoyed the show.

Hanoch's raspy, seductive voice was full of emotion during the quiet ballads and bursting with energy during the raucous rock songs. He was charismatic and a pleasure to watch, and he interacted with the crowd in a playful, genuinely interested manner. Their adoration was palpable: they swayed to his love songs, knew every lyric to every song, shouted requests, danced wildly and roared for an encore performance.

The warm vibe enveloped me and I felt like I belonged, on the one hand, and a complete outsider on the other.

Walking past the merchandise-selling booth in the lobby on my way out, I paused to consider buying Hanoch's CD.

Nah, I thought. He's a little too rock for me. I walked away, humming one of his softer tunes.

At least now I know who Shalom Hanoch is.

Thanks, Shosh.

The pro-Israel pastor

2008-03-12T12:28:00.000-07:00

After all the press, controversial pastor John Hagee, as notorious for his incendiary remarks as for his Israel support, was quite boring.

The most scintillating aspect of Stephen S. Wise Temple's "Forum on Critical Values" dialogue between Rabbi David Woznica and Pastor Hagee last night was the press release.

It said:

Hagee is the founder and Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, a non-denominational evangelical church with more than 19,000 active members; he has traveled to Israel 23 times and has met with every Prime Minister since Menachem Begin; John Hagee Ministries has given more than $10 million to bring Soviet Jews from the former Soviet Union to Israel.

At the talk, little else surfaced.

Hagee softened some of his pithier statements, such as "I believe that Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans,” with maundering rationale and suggested misunderstanding.

The packed synagogue of mostly Reform Jews loved him anyway. Especially when he said Jerusalem should belong to Jews and only Jews, undivided. But when asked, he said he wouldn't cause a public stir if for their safety, the Jews decided to divide Jerusalem anyway.

However, I was surprised to learn that after speaking at the Knesset in September 2005, it was Benjamin Netanyahu who inspired Hagee to unify the many Christian groups loosely supporting Israel, which prompted Hagee to create "Christians United for Israel."

Here are the verbal highlights from a night that sounded more like a bible recitation than a discussion:

"I'd rather talk to G-d for 30 seconds than to George [W.] Bush all night."

"Granting forgiveness without demanding a change in conduct is to make the grace of G-d an accomplice to evil."

"Jesus, who was a reform rabbi..."

On Jews bringing the bible to the world:
"We, as Christians have a bible mandate to help you. If we have benefited from Jewish spiritual things, than we have an obligation to help Jews with material things."

On he and his rabbi friend:
"When we're standing in the streets of Jerusalem together and the Messiah comes, one of us has a great theological adjustment to make."

On the Crusaders:
"They were thieves, liars, robbers and rapists."