Once every ten years, new district lines are drawn for our representatives in Sacramento
and Washington. For decades, Orthodox Jewish voting power has been diluted because
our two largest neighborhoods – Hancock Park/Beverly-LaBrea/Fairfax and Pico-Robertson/Beverlywood/Beverly
Hills – have been placed in separate Assembly Districts.
The Opportunity . . .
A new Commission has been created to draw fair district lines without backroom deals.
We finally have an opportunity to unite our community into a single Assembly District
- and to increase our influence with our representatives in Sacramento. The would
mean more respect and assistance for our unique community.
In the first few draft maps, our two largest neighborhoods were placed in separate
districts. After receiving testimony and documentation by Agudath Israel, and letters
from organizations such as the Orthodox Union, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Hatzalah,
the Commission adjusted the lines to unify parts of our community.
But the current draft map chops Pico-Robertson/Beverlywood in half, with Beverlywood
and South-of-Pico placed in a District with Culver City, Baldwin Hills and the Crenshaw
area. We want to unite our community in a single district, BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP!
votersfirstact@crc.ca.gov [mailto:votersfirstact@crc.ca.gov].
The Commission resumes work soon, so please act quickly!
What to say . . .
1. Tell them where you live – Pico-Robertson, Beverlywood, Hancock Park, Beverly-Fairfax,
Beverly Hills, Century City, Westwood, Santa Monica,
the Valley. Emails from Beverlywood and South-of-Pico are especially important.
(We are blessed to have significant communities in the Valley
and the far Westside. Geography prevents placing all in a single district. But
even those areas will benefit if our two large City neighborhoods are in
a single district.)
2. Tell them: The Fairfax/Hancock Park neighborhood and Pico-Robertson/Beverlywood
neighborhood constitute a single, integrated
community-of-interest (COI) with many shared institutions. The only way that the
Orthodox community will have a voice in the Assembly is if
Fairfax/Hancock Park and Pico-Robertson/Beverlywood are all in the "LAMWS" district.
3. Tell them your personal connections between these communities. Do you live
in one neighborhood and send your children to school in the
other? Shop in the other? Use a hospital in the other? Community activities?
Tomchei Shabbos? Hatzolah? Classes? Be specific. We need to
show that the neighborhoods interact and form a single community!
4. Tell them: Uniting our community in a single district will not weaken the
representation of any other minority group or community of
interest.
5. Thank them for putting some of Pico-Robertson into the "LAMWS" district,
but ask that they not divide Pico-Robertson/Beverlywood in half.
All of Pico-Robertson/Beverlywood should be in the "LAMWS" district, along with
Beverly-Fairfax, Hancock Park and Beverly Hills
6. Be respectful and appreciative. The 14 Commissioners must divide the whole
state, and none of them live in our neighborhoods. They do not
know us, so we need to educate them.
Supported by concerned Orthodox Jewish organizations in the Los Angeles Area.

Perhaps the most telling of the recent revelations of the liberal/left Journolist, a list consisting of about 400 major liberal/left journalists, is the depth of their hatred of conservatives. That they would consult with one another in order to protect candidate and then President Obama and in order to hurt Republicans is unfortunate and ugly. But what is jolting is the hatred of conservatives, as exemplified by the e-mail from an NPR reporter expressing her wish to personally see Rush Limbaugh die a painful death — and the apparent absence of any objection from the other liberal journalists.

Every one of us on the right has seen this hatred. I am not referring to leftist bloggers or to anonymous extreme comments by angry leftists on conservative blogs — such things exist on the right as well — but to mainstream elite liberal journalists. There is simply nothing analogous among elite conservative journalists. Yes, nearly all conservatives believe that the left is leading America to ruin. But while there is plenty of conservative anger over this fact, there is little or nothing on the right to match the left's hatred of conservative individuals. Would mainstream conservative journalists e-mail one another wishes to be present while Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi or Michael Moore dies slowly and painfully of a heart attack?

From Karl Marx to today, the Left has always hated people on the Right, not merely differed or been angry with them.

The question is: why?

Here are three possible answers.

First, the left thinks the right is evil.

Granting for exceptions that all generalizations allow for, conservatives believe that those on the left are wrong, while those on the left believe that those on the right are bad, not merely wrong. Examples are innumerable. For example, Howard Dean, the former head of the Democratic Party said, "In contradistinction to the Republicans … (Democrats) don't believe kids ought to go to bed hungry at night."

Or take Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., who, among many similar comments, said, "I want to say a few words about what it means to be a Democrat. It's very simple: We have a conscience."

Please visit the websites of leading GOP candidates for Governor and U.S. Senate in 2010:

Note here the strong statement by Chuck Devore (R- Irvine).

Chuck DeVore, a California legislator and declared candidate for the United States Senate in 2010 against Barbara Boxer, announced his support of the state of Israel's current military operations in Gaza.

"For the last several years I have been amazed at the forbearance and restraint shown by Israel as Hamas terrorists rained down rocket after rocket purposefully targeted at Israeli civilians," Assemblyman Chuck DeVore said. "Imagine if terrorists in Tijuana regularly shot rockets into San Diego – America wouldn't stand for it. I support Israel's right to defend itself against terrorist attacks. The terrorist organization Hamas has brought this defensive military operation on itself."

Here is his platform:

No to Reconquista.

Replace “Multi-culturalism” with pride in America, its language and culture.

No to dumbing down curriculum; keep the standards high for the future of our country.

Deport illegal gang bangers destroying our schools.

Zero tolerance for terrorizing students and teachers.

Here is his picture:

When Rabbi Shifren is elected, he pledges an all-out war against student obesity and lack of fitness.

"I believe every board member has the obligation to PERSONALLY serve as an example of what it means to have a fit America, students with strong minds and bodies, ready and willing to carry the torch for future generations. Never before have our youth been so challenged, with all the issues they face. Being physically fit will enable them to confront all the stresses and difficulties they face with confidence and bolstered self-esteem. I intend to start jogging clubs at schools in the 4th District, and personally run with all the schools to encourage them on their own quest to better fitness."

The thing that stuck with me about my liberal buddies in those years was their extraordinary venom toward the Bush administration. Every cell in their bodies oozed contempt for the "reckless cowboy" who had become the sad emblem of their country. They craved a change in the White House more than a heroin junkie craves another fix.

Now sweep wipe two years later, and I'm sitting at a Shabbat table in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood with a group of politically savvy Orthodox Jews, and, not surprisingly, I'm getting a whole different take on who should occupy the White House.

Clearly, most of my Orthodox brethren are in the Republican camp. There are significant exceptions, of course, especially at the more liberal B'nai David-Judea Congregation, but it's fair to say that the majority of Orthodox voters are an ideological world away from my liberal buddies at the Urth Caffé.

It seems a bit unfair to post this one on a Saturday, but McCain is up with a new radio spot, a version of his television ad linking Obama to various Chicago characters.

This one says Obama procured "$75,000 for his relative."

"That’s your money Obama’s using. That’s unethical. Helping his friends with your tax dollars," continues the narrator.

The line is a reference to the report that Obama, as a state senator, sent $75,000 in grants for adult literacy, counseling and youth programs at a nonprofit run by his wife's first-cousin once removed, Caspars Funnye.

Funnye is much better known as America's most prominent black rabbi, as the Forward reported.

David Saperstein, a high-profile Reform rabbi from Washington, D.C., will address some 70,000 spectators at Denver's stadium, just before Obama is scheduled to speak.

Mark Schneier, a highly-regarded Orthodox rabbi from New York and founding director of the Jewish-Muslim Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, will also take part in the opening ceremony, alongside Amy Schwartzman, a Reform rabbi from Virginia.

"The Democrats have always been, are, and will continue to be people of faith, and the convention will demonstrate that in an unprecedented way," Convention CEO Leah Daughtry said.

Adeena Bleich and former Assembly Speaker
Bob Hertzberg at a bar mitzvah in Hancock Park.

If you want to really annoy Adeena Bleich, just ask her what it feels like to be a young Orthodox woman running for City Council. I know, because when we sat down recently for lunch at Shiloh's, the first thing I asked her is what it felt like to be a young Orthodox woman running for City Council.

She rolled her eyes like my teenage daughter Shanni does when I show off my knowledge of the latest music.

It's clear that Bleich is leery of being stereotyped, or worse, becoming some kind of political curiosity whose main calling card is her youth (she just turned 31), gender and Orthodox religion.

What she is, she says, is something a lot less dramatic: A hard-working individual who knows how local politics work and who wants to bring a new, practical attitude to serving the people.

All the people, of course.

Although she estimates that nearly half of the registered voters in her 5th District (which cuts a wide swath from West Los Angeles through Westwood, Pico-Robertson, the Fairfax area and right up to Sherman Oaks) are Jewish, she's savvy enough to realize that Jews alone won't carry her to victory. So Bleich, who is single and belongs to three Modern Orthodox shuls in Pico-Robertson (Young Israel of Century City, Beth Jacob Congregation and B'nai David Judea) wants to reach out.

She's not exactly a novice at this game. She spent years as City Council Deputy to Councilman Jack Weiss— and was knee-deep in the local dramas of neighborhood groups, pro-business groups and the maze of City Hall politics. She was also in the trenches with former Speaker of the California Assembly Bob Hertzberg when he ran for mayor of Los Angeles.

So she knows the lingo, and she also knows that she's up against some serious competition — from, among others, former city councilman Paul Koretz and neighborhood activist Ron Galperin. But she has no qualms about asking for your vote, because, as she says, she's got some great things cooking for your district and your neighborhood.

“I am deeply saddened by these attacks,” the Rabbi declared. “I have known Joe Lieberman for more than 15 years as both a friend of extraordinary integrity as well as a political leader of unbending devotion to democratic principles. Above all, he is a man whose strength of conviction has so often breached the self-defeating partisan divides that frequently imprison our Congress. Joe Lieberman has devoted his entire political career to the ideal of building bridges for the general good.”

Founded in 1983 and based in Chicago, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews promotes understanding and cooperation between Jews and Christians around the world, focusing on financial support for Israel in addition to a broad range of social concerns.