Mere hours after President Donald Trump called on governors to open places of worship, calling the institutions “essential,” one Los Angeles congregation pounced on the opportunity. In defiance of a California state ban on religious gatherings due to the potential spread of coronavirus, it opened for Friday night services. Members of Congregation Etz Chaim, an…
Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf going treif isn’t the biggest kosher news out of Los Angeles. The biggest story is how our community is keeping its local kosher establishments in business. Coffee Bean was a convenient kosher coffee chain. Losing it will have some impact, especially those looking for a quick kosher coffee break. It…
There was a typhus pandemic, concurrent with an outbreak of cholera and widespread famine. There were bread riots everywhere, the country was under foreign occupation and overrun by refugees from other war-torn countries. This was 78 years ago in Tehran during the Second World War. Food, heating oil, and other essentials were rationed. Bakers were…
Orthodox synagogues in Los Angeles present a united front against spread of COVID-19
For Jay Sanderson, it got personal. Last month, the COVID-19 virus claimed his mentally disabled twin brother, Jeffrey, who was living in a group home outside Boston. When it was clear Jeffrey wouldn’t survive the infection, doctors told Jay that his brother had about 24 hours to live. He lasted another four days and died…
On a warm Friday near downtown Los Angeles, a line of locals stretches down 12th Street, from Union to Valencia. At the corner, they cross the street, looping back in front of the Pico Union Project. As they pass in front of the gate, a man wearing gloves and a mask hands them a bag….
A few years ago, Sarah Blitzstein and a few close friends mapped out an unconventional 5K route. Instead of passing through local parks or looping around prominent Los Angeles landmarks, they chose branches of an institution that had been central to their friendship dating back to their youth: The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. “It…
The calls from the frontlines were disturbing. Emily Kane Miller, CEO of Ethos Giving had heard from her medical professional sister-in-law that supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) were running low in her hospital. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Faraut, CEO of LA LOOP, had heard the same from a doctor in her family. Seeing the need for…
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