Category Archives: California

Reforming CA’s Tax System

Yisroel Pensack writes: A Chula Vista attorney has submitted a proposal to the California Attorney General’s office for a constitutional amendment that would overhaul the state’s tax system via the voter initiative and referendum process. Frank D. Walker, 58, the … Continue reading

Posted in California, Economics | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Reforming CA’s Tax System

California’s High Tax, High Benefit Package Not Working

From the Los Angeles Times: Overall, the Census Bureau’s latest data show that state and local government expenditures for all purposes in 2005-06 were 46.8% higher in California than in Texas: $10,070 per person compared with $6,858. Only three states … Continue reading

Posted in California | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on California’s High Tax, High Benefit Package Not Working

Orthodox Life In Northern California?

Michael emails: I stumbled across your site today, and got a sense that you have a good feel for Jewish life in Northern California. Is there no Orthodox life to be found north of SF and Berkeley? Seems so beautiful … Continue reading

Posted in California, Orthodoxy | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Orthodox Life In Northern California?

‘Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California’

Here is the Amazon.com page for the book and here is the website for the author Frances Dinkelspiel. We did this interview a couple of weeks ago via email. I told Frances to only answer the questions she found interesting. … Continue reading

Posted in Author Interviews, California, Jews | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on ‘Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California’

Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California

My favorite part of this biography by Hellman’s great-great-granddaughter Frances Dinkelspiel came on page 181. It describes how affluent German Jews in the San Francisco Bay Area reacted with ambivalent feelings to the arrival of Russian Jewish immigrants. Why were … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, California, Charity, Jews | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California