Articles about Judaism – latimes
Posted By admin on October 23, 2015
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
September 17, 2013 | Harriet Ryan
On a trip to Israel in 1964, Philip Berg, a high-flying insurance salesman from Brooklyn, crossed paths with an aging rabbi renowned for his grasp of kabbalah, an esoteric strain of Jewish mysticism. Neither Berg nor kabbalah would ever be the same. The organization he founded after returning to the United States, now known as the Kabbalah Centre, transformed a field once reserved for the most elite of Orthodox yeshiva scholars into a lucrative pop culture phenomenon. His new-age repackaging of the ancient wisdom of the Torah was embraced by many gentiles and celebrities, including Berg's most famous student, Madonna, but his approach was derided by mainstream Judaism as superficial and inauthentic.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
August 16, 2013 | By Matt Hamilton
When Joseph Harounian came out of the closet to his Persian Jewish family, relatives told him to march right back in. Some worried he'd turn his cousins gay. Others feared for the family's reputation. They began excluding him from family events. It was only after his grandmother intervened that he was gradually welcomed back into the fold. Now, years later, Harounian says his family has come to terms with who he is. But he knows that the fear of ostracism still keeps other gay Persian Jews from coming out. Support for gay rights and same-sex unions has never been higher, according to numerous polls.
NEWS
April 9, 2013 | By Karin Klein
The newer, smaller and more centrally organized a religion is, the less prone it is to reformed versions breaking away. It also helps if the religion's followers form an insular group, to one extent or another, away from the tug of societal trends. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has typically had a very strong form of this identity. It's a highly centralized organization, with a clear set of rituals and behaviors that are expected, with clear outcomes for those who follow suit -- and those who don't.
ENTERTAINMENT
April 17, 2011 | Stanley Meisler, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Jerusalem, Jerusalem How the Ancient City Ignited Our Modern World James Carroll Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: 418 pp., $28 James Carroll's latest book is very ambitious. Invoking history, anthropology, social psychology, geography and theology, the author, a former Catholic priest, delves into the stories of the violence unleashed by the organized religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam throughout their existence. He anchors the book by describing how each has used the city of Jerusalem, holy to all three, as a symbol or metaphor or touchstone.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 12, 2011 | By Mitchell Landsberg, Los Angeles Times
Three hundred rabbis walk into a Las Vegas martini lounge. Bartenders scramble to handle the crowd the rabbis are thirsty. Suddenly, an Elvis impersonator takes the stage. We are faced with two possibilities. One, this is the beginning of a joke. Two, they don't make rabbis the way they used to. The Rabbinical Assembly, the clerical arm of Conservative Judaism, would have you believe the second message, or something like it. That's why it launched its 2011 convention with a martini reception at a Las Vegas synagogue.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
January 29, 2011 | By Nomi Morris, Special to the Los Angeles Times
On a recent weekday evening in Santa Monica, seven Muslim and five Jewish women gathered around a dining room table laden with homemade foods prepared in accordance with the dietary laws of both faiths. One by one, the women lighted candles, each saying a few words to mark the eighth anniversary of the West Los Angeles Cousins Club, a grassroots discussion group that explores spirituality and mutual understanding. "Before we started the Cousins Club, I never even knew a Muslim person," said Shayna Lester, who hosted the anniversary meeting.
See the original post:
Articles about Judaism - latimes
Comments