Seraphic Secret

By Robert J. Avrech | April 25, 2018

Jackie Danicki to Deliver 15th Annual Ariel Avrech Memorial Lecture

Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT’L

You are all invited to the Fifteenth Annual Ariel Avrech ZT’L Memorial Lecture that will take place Sunday, June 10, 2018, at 10 AM, followed by brunch.

Location: Young Israel of Century City

9317 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90035

For those unable to attend the lecture will be posted here at Seraphic Secret.

Karen and I are delighted to announce that our good friend Jackie Danicki will deliver this year’s lecture:

“Confessions of a Convert: A Humbling, Joyful Journey to Judaism.”

Posted in Ariel Avrech Memorial Lecture, Ariel Chaim Avrech, Jackie Danicki, Judaism, Remembering Ariel | Tagged Ariel Avrech, Ariel Avrech Memorial Lecture, Conversion to Judaism, Jackie Danicki, Judaism, Karen Singer Avrech, Ner Yisroel | Leave a comment

By Robert J. Avrech | April 23, 2018

What’s a Greater Leap of Faith: God or the Multiverse?

What’s a greater leap of faith: God or the Multiverse? What’s the multiverse? Brian Keating, Professor of Physics at the University of California, San Diego, explains in this video.

Posted in Prager University | Tagged Belief, Big Bang, Creator, design, Faith, God, Leap of Faith, Multiverse, Prager University, Science | Leave a comment

By Robert J. Avrech | April 20, 2018

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

“It seems the brighter you are, the deeper the hole you get into.”
—Tuesday Weld

Posted in Art, Fashion, Glamour, Hollywood, Hollywood Stars, Hollywood Still Photography, Judaica, Judaism, Marlene Dietrich, Painting, Photography, Quotes, Rita Hayworth | Tagged Ann Miller, Arnold Schwarzbart, Audrey Hepburn, Dorothy Gish, Eva Marie Saint, Francisco de Goya, George Washington Thomas Lambert, Georges Dambier, Gerrit Rietveld, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Lana Turner, Marlene Dietrich, Omer counter, Palma Vecchio, Richard Estes, Rita Hayworth, Salavat Fidai, Tuesday Weld, Vintage Cars | 3 Responses

By Robert J. Avrech | April 18, 2018

Israel at 70: Flourishing Against All Odds

Institute for Contemporary Affairs

Posted in America, Gaza, Israel, Jew-haters, Jew-hatred, Judaism | Tagged 1948, Athens, Dore Gold, Gaza, Innovation, Israel, Lebanon, Missle Defense, Sparta, Strategic Challenges, Terror Tunnels, The Middle East | Leave a comment

By Robert J. Avrech | April 16, 2018

Cops Are the Good Guys

Are cops perfect? Of course not. And no one should expect them to be. But every single day, under the most difficult conditions, the police protect us from the bad guys. In other words, they do their job and they do it well. Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke makes it very clear: cops are not the problem.

Posted in America, Police, Politics, Prager University | Tagged Black LivesMatter, David Clarke, Fatherless Homes, Freddie Gray, Lack of Respect, Law Abiding Citizens, Michael Brown, Murder, Perfection, Prager University, Professional Training, Progressive Left, The Ferguson Effect, Urban Policies | 1 Response

By Robert J. Avrech | April 13, 2018

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

“They say the movies should be more like life; I think life should be more like the movies.”
—Myrna Loy

Posted in Bette Davis, Deborah Kerr, Dovima, Fashion, Hollywood, Hollywood Stars, Hollywood Still Photography, Judaica, Judaism, Movie Posters, Movies, Myrna Loy, Painting, Photography, Quotes, True Hollywood Confessions | Tagged Abraham Polonsky, Bette Davis, Charles Demuth, Deborah Kerr, Dorothy Dandridge, Dovima, Edward Hopper, Erwin Blumenfeld, Force of Evil, Gianfranco Gorgoni, Gordon Parks, Grant Wood, Horst P. Horst, Livia, Merle Oberon, MGM, Myrna Loy, Richard Rutledge, Tippi Hedren, Veronica Lake, Vintage Cars, Vivian Maier, William McGregor Paxton | 9 Responses

By Robert J. Avrech | April 11, 2018

Jackie Danicki to Deliver the Fifteenth Annual Ariel Avrech Memorial Lecture

Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT’L

You are all invited to the Fifteenth Annual Ariel Avrech ZT’L Memorial Lecture that will take place Sunday, June 10, 2018, at 10 AM, followed by brunch.

Location: Young Israel of Century City

9317 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90035

For those unable to attend the lecture will be posted here at Seraphic Secret.

Karen and I are delighted to announce that our good friend Jackie Danicki will deliver this year’s lecture:

“Confessions of a Convert: A Humbling, Joyful Journey to Judaism.”

Posted in Ariel Avrech Memorial Lecture, Ariel Chaim Avrech, Judaism | Tagged Ariel Avrech, Ariel Avrech Memorial Lecture, Conversion to Judaism, Jackie Danicki, Karen Avrech, Ner Israel Rabbinical Academy | 3 Responses

By Robert J. Avrech | April 9, 2018

As the Rich Get Richer, the Poor Get Richer

The rich are getting richer, and the poor are… also getting richer. What’s driving this wealth creation process? In this video, Daniel Hannan explains why it is capitalism — and capitalism alone — that has led to the unprecedented
enrichment that is the central fact of Western life.

Posted in Capitalism, Economy, Politics, Prager University | Tagged Capitalism, Daniel Hannan, Economics, Free Enterprise, Market, Prager University, Wealth | Leave a comment

By Robert J. Avrech | April 5, 2018

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

Question: What, finally, does the cinema mean to you?
Akira Kurosawa: It’s simple: take myself, subtract movies, and the result is zero.

Posted in Akira Kurosawa, Buster Keaton, Cathy O'Donnell, Hollywood, Hollywood Stars, Hollywood Still Photography, Kim Novak, Passover, Photography, Rick McGinnis, Screenwriting | Tagged Akira Kurosawa, Buster Keaton, Cathy O'Donnell, Charles Sheeler, Double Indemnity, Dovima, George Ault, Gerald Murphy, Joan Fontaine, Kim Novak, Marvin E. Newman, Matisse, Richard Avedon, Rick McGinnis, Thomas Hoepker, Walker Evans, Walter Sickert, Yvonne De Carlo | 2 Responses

By Robert J. Avrech | April 4, 2018

Books On My Night Table

Three fine books I highly recommend.

Posted in Book Reviews, Books | Tagged Chris Cleave, Connie Willis, Marcel Proust | 4 Responses

By Robert J. Avrech | April 2, 2018

Eye for an Eye: One of the Greatest Ideas in History

Nowadays, many people, particularly those living in Western civilization, no longer regard their society as morally superior to any other. In this video, Dennis Prager lays out how this view does not spring from intellectual rigor, but from intellectual laziness.

Posted in America, Prager University | Tagged Eye for an Eye, Prager University, Western Civilization | Leave a comment

By Robert J. Avrech | March 30, 2018

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions, Passover 2018

“Between pictures I go away. I think that is the best way to achieve happiness in Hollywood, the only way to keep one’s perspective. If you stay too close to the motion picture colony you lose your sense of values.”
— Helen Twelvetrees

Posted in Art, Hollywood, Hollywood Stars, Hollywood Still Photography, IslamoNazis, Israel, Jew-hatred, Judaica, Judaism, Passover, Photography, Rick McGinnis, True Hollywood Confessions | Tagged Arthur Szyk, Audrey Flack, Bird's Head Haggadah, Dovima, Eleanor Parker, Emma Matzo, Frank Stella, George Ault, J.R. Everman, Lizabeth Scott, Maria Montez, Moshe Zabari, Richard Avedon, Rick McGinnis, Sari Srulovitch | 2 Responses

By Robert J. Avrech | March 28, 2018

Hidden Hollywood: John Wayne Walks the Walk

Perhaps the most iconic shot of John Wayne’s distinctive walk, The Searchers, 1956.

It’s in the walk.

Picture the following Hollywood stars in your mind’s eye:

Mae West, hands caressing her Rubenesque hips, head tilted, not just sauntering but oozing forward to devour all who cross her path.

Jimmy Cagney, elbows cocked, moving with concentrated energy, he propels himself like a coiled spring.

Joan Crawford, leading with her linebacker shoulders, strides across the screen determined, dangerous, unstoppable.

Posted in Actors, Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, Hidden Hollywood, Hollywood, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Fix | Tagged Harry Carey, Jimmy Cagney, Joan Crawford, John Wayne, Mae West, Mira Rostova, Montgomery Clift, Paul Fix | 8 Responses

By Robert J. Avrech | March 26, 2018

Blacks in Power Don’t Empower Blacks

Between 1970 and 2012, the number of black elected officials rose from fewer than 1,500 to more than 10,000. How has this affected the black community? Jason Riley of The Manhattan Institute answers the question in this video.

Posted in America, Democrat Racists, Democrats, Prager University | Tagged Affirmative Action, Baltimore, Black Politicians, Black Poverty, Cleveland, Detroit, False Black Power, Fatherless Children, Jason Riley, Jim Crow, Marriage, Prager University, Stable Families, War on Poverty | Leave a comment

By Robert J. Avrech | March 23, 2018

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

“The problem with beauty is that it’s like being born rich and getting poorer.”
—Joan Collins

Posted in Art, Dovima, Hollywood, Hollywood Stars, Hollywood Still Photography, Judaica, Judaism, Movie Posters, Movies, Painting, Passover, Photography, Quotes, Rick McGinnis, Saul Bass, Screenwriting, True Hollywood Confessions, Vintage Cars, Vivien Leigh | Tagged August Herbin, Cartier, Cecil Beaton, David Niven, Eva Rubinstein, Fashion, Fay Wray, Félix Vallotton, George Clausen, Ginger Rogers, Hiroshige, Jean Harlow, Joan Collins, Michael Wolf, Nina Leen, On the Waterfront, Passover Haggadah, Peter Mitchell, Richard Avedon, Vilhelm Hammershøi, Vivian Maier, Vivien Leigh, William Helburn | 3 Responses

By Robert J. Avrech | March 21, 2018

D.C. City Council Member Claims Jews Run the Federal Government

Democrat Councilman Trayon White, Sr.

From Obama to the Democrat Black Caucus to IslamoNazi Keith Ellison to Louis Farrakhan to the leaders of the Women’s March, the Democrat part is legitimizing Jew-hatred.

Washington, D.C. Council member Trayon White Sr. (D.) was condemned in the past week after he claimed Jews were responsible for “climate manipulation” in the nation’s capital, and a newly uncovered video shows the councilman has made similar anti-Semitic claims in the past.

Posted in America, Democrat Racists, Democrats, Jew-haters, Jew-hatred | Tagged D.C. City Council, Jew-hatred, Sr., Trayon White, Women's March | 1 Response

By Robert J. Avrech | March 19, 2018

Let Kids Be Kids

Lenore Skenazy, President of Let Grow, encourages parents to do what parents have always done: follow basic safety rules, and then let their kids be kids.

Posted in America, Prager University | Tagged Childhood, Lenore Skenazy, Let Grow, Prager University | Leave a comment

By Robert J. Avrech | March 16, 2018

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

“Men don’t get sore if their womenfolk like me on the screen. I’m one of them, they know it, so it’s a compliment to them. If I can do it, they can do it, and they figure it might be fun to go home and make love to their wives. ”
—Clark Gable

Posted in Actors, America, Angela Lansbury, Art, Clark Gable, Family, Hollywood, Hollywood Stars, Hollywood Still Photography, Judaica, Marilyn Monroe, Miriam Hopkins, Movie Posters, Movies, Painting, Photography, Quotes, Rick McGinnis, Screenwriting, Vintage Cars | Tagged Andrew Wyeth, Andy Galsworthy, Angela Lansbury, Ben Hecht, Bert Stern, Blake Andrews, Design for Living, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Edward Everett Horton, Félix Vallotton, Gianfranco Gorgoni, Jamie Wyeth, Josef Hoffmann, Lee Friedlander, Marc Yankus, Miriam Hopkins, Peter O'Toole, Richard Estes, Rick McGinnis, Sue Lyon, Victor Pasmore | 3 Responses

By Robert J. Avrech | March 14, 2018

Washington Gets The Statue It Deserves

The statue of Marion Barry stands on Pennsylvania Avenue, a place of honor.

After all the national trauma over public statues I have been anxiously waiting to see what new public monuments would spring up. Would the landscape be planted with fresh bronze likenesses of Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and other brave and deserving American leaders?

Well, now we have a partial answer.

A statue honoring Marion Barry, Jr. has been plopped down on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Posted in Confederate Monuments, Democrats, Marion Berry | Tagged Marion Barry, Public Monuments, Washington D.C. | 6 Responses

By Robert J. Avrech | March 12, 2018

Brexit: Why Britain Left the European Union

Is the European Union good for Europe? Or would Europeans be better off without it? Nigel Farage, a leader of the United Kingdom’s Brexit movement, shares his view.

Posted in Big Government, Brexit, Economy, Europe, European Union | Tagged Brexit, Nigel Farage, Prager University | Leave a comment

How I Married Karen

The new book
by Robert J. Avrech

Available in All Major Book Stores

Adobe Digital Edition's version is available through the Lulu store!
About Me
Robert J. Avrech
Los Angeles, California
I'm an Emmy Award winning screenwriter. I'm also an observant Jew, a religious Zionist, a conservative Republican, and a member of the NRA. I've been writing and producing in Hollywood for over twenty-five years. But the focus of my life is my family: my radiant wife, Karen—with whom I have been in love with since I was nine years-old—and my two daughters, who, thankfully, look like Karen. Not too long ago, we had three children. But our son, Ariel, died at the age of twenty-two from cancer. We miss him terribly. We think about him practically every minute of every day. People tell us that time heals, but Karen and I know this is not true. Time grinds away doing its terrible work. Ariel is gone. Yet absence becomes presence.

Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT'L, May His Righteous Memory be a Blessing.
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Annual Ariel Avrech
Memorial Lectures
Young Israel of Century City

Fourteenth: June 11, 2016
Daniel Greenfield: “Fighting Anti-Semitism and Defending Israel in the Age of BDS.”

Blog Post
MP3 Audio Stereo (100 MB)

Thirteenth: May 22, 2016
Ben Shapiro: “How You Can Save Israel”

Blog Post
MP3 Audio Stereo (70 MB)

Twelfth: June 7, 2015
Larry Elder: “The New Black Anti-Semitism”

Blog Post
MP3 Audio Mono (50 MB) | Stereo (100 MB)

Eleventh: June 8, 2014
Michael Medved: “Shifting Alliances: Why Liberals No Longer Reliably Support Israel — And Conservatives Do.”

Blog Post | Audio (mp3 97MB)

Tenth: June 9, 2013
David Horowitz: “The War Against Judaism on the University Campus.”

Blog Post | Audio (mp3 16MB)

Ninth: June 3, 2012
Joel B. Pollak: “The Mainstream Media’s Betrayal of Israel.”

Blog Post | Audio (mp3 15MB)

Eighth: June 5, 2011
Yossi Klein Halevi: “What is Expected of a Survivor People: Lessons My Father Taught Me.”

Blog Post | Audio (mp3 18MB)

Seventh: June 13, 2010
Dennis Prager: “Happiness is a Mitzvah, Not an Emotion.”

Blog Post | Audio (mp3 80MB)

Sixth: June 21, 2009
Rabbi Steven Pruzansky: “Conformity in Jewish Life: Vice, Virtue or Affectation?”

Blog Post | Audio (mp3 64MB)

Fifth: June 15, 2008
Rabbi Dr. Gil S. Perl: “What Was the Rosh Yeshiva Reading: Intellectual Openness in 19th Century Lithuania.”

Blog Post | Audio (mp3 70MB)
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