Articles written by Edmon J. Rodman
Sorted by date Results 1 - 18 of 18
A Sephardic seder, of sorts, for Rosh Hashanah
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-For Rosh Hashanah, many of us eat an apple dipped in honey as an auspicious sign for a sweet new year. The symbolism is clear, and the ritual as easy to pull off as squeezing a... Full story
On Sukkot, use King Solomon's wisdom to endure the election season
(JTA)—Building up to Sukkot, with its temporary, shaky sukkah, it’s easy to forget that the holiday comes with something more substantial: its own book, Ecclesiastes—Kohelet in Hebrew—which is read during the festival and gives us a solid... Full story
A Sephardic seder, of sorts, for Rosh Hashanah
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-For Rosh Hashanah, many of us eat an apple dipped in honey as an auspicious sign for a sweet new year. The symbolism is clear, and the ritual as easy to pull off as squeezing a... Full story
3 items that say Passover: Which do you choose?
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-Can the essence of Passover fit into a box? Fans of Manischewitz and Streit's will undoubtedly answer, "Yes, in a matzah box." But a successful Kickstarter campaign called Hello... Full story
Save a fridge magnet for must-have Jewish calendar
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-It's no miracle that I know the exact minute that Rosh Hashanah is coming; my trusty Jewish calendar hanging on the refrigerator tells me. While it doesn't actually speak to me like... Full story
Purim poser: What is our fascination with villains?
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-Who is the Haman in your life? The person, like the bad guy in the Megillah Esther that we read on Purim, schemes to bring you down. When we get to the place in the Megillah where... Full story
Getting gelt was good as gold
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-What can a buck get you on Chanukah? Maybe a gold mesh bag of chocolate coins or a lighter for your menorah. But Jewish continuity? At Chanukah time, when we get so wrapped up in... Full story
At Thanksgiving time, making a leap to feed the needy
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-As we prepare for our Thanksgiving feasts, a 90-year-old Jewish man named Arnold Abbott is stirring the pot in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., about hunger and homelessness in America. Or is... Full story
Shabbat on Halloween: Horror of horrors or wonder of wonders?
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-With a borscht-curdling geshrei, Halloween this year falls on Shabbat. On a Friday night, trick-or-treaters, even Jewish ones, will be knocking. Should we open the door? Or should... Full story
Is lunar eclipse at Sukkot an ominous sign?
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—As we ushered in Sukkot, was there a blood moon rising? John Hagee, the San Antonio pastor who wrote the book “Four Blood Moons: Something is About to Change,” would have us believe so. Hagee predicts that because of a cycle o... Full story
Jewish association with Robin Williams
After hearing of the apparent suicide of Robin Williams, I remembered laughing harder, and deeper than I ever had at a comedian when I first saw him perform at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles in 1977. During his set at the Sunset Boulevard... Full story
Tisha b'Av in a time of rockets, tunnels and death
Editor’s note: This article was received too late for the Aug. 1 issue and Tisha b’Av was Aug. 4, but Edmon Rodman’s message here is too important to pass over just because of deadlines. LOS ANGELES (JTA)—After weeks of missiles falling on... Full story
Kabbalat Kaboom: Celebrating the Fourth on a Friday
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-Part "God Bless America," part "Shabbat Shalom," the Fourth of July this year falls on a Friday. In this land of religious freedom, how do we plan to observe both? As the sun sets ov... Full story
An SOS from my OS seder
LOS ANGELES (JTA)-At future Passovers, if we consider the Jewish implications of the recent hit movie "Her," we all could be using a talking computer operating system with artificial intelligence to l... Full story
Pass the cranberry latkes: When holidays collide
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—If the Pilgrims are lighting menorahs and the Maccabees are chasing turkeys, it must be Thanksgivukkah, as some have come to call the confluence of Thanksgiving and Chanukah that will happen this year on Nov. 28. It’s a rare eve... Full story
At Yom Kippur, a heads-up on chest thumping
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—On Yom Kippur, when we beat our chests during the confession, maybe we should be knocking instead on our heads. After all, isn’t that where all the trouble starts? On this most... Full story
Contemporary artist Gary Baseman goes back home through Los Angeles museum
Inviting the museum visitor down hallways and through rooms of rendered memories and memorials, the Gary Baseman show at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles uses a design based on the... Full story
On Tisha b'Av, feeling the loss from the flames
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—On Yom Kippur, we ask “Who by fire?” Sadly, this year at Tisha b’Av we already know who—the 19 firefighters who perished in Arizona. “This is as dark a day as I can remember,” Gov. Jan Brewer said in a statement.... Full story