Louis Keene

Louis Keene

@keene.la

Covering the Jewish world from Los Angeles @forward.com | sometimes write about sports | Talk to me: keene at forward dot com

258 followers77 following141 posts

Louis Keene
@keene.la

Beautiful tribute. Will miss Talya's presence in our newsroom. Shabbat Shalom ❤️

talyazax.bsky.social@talyazax.bsky.social

Some news: After almost 11 years on staff, today is my last day at @forward.com. I've been so lucky to work in this one-of-a-kind newsroom. I'll share more on my next steps soon. In the meantime, here are some brief reflections on what this glorious place gave me.

forward.comThe most important thing I'll take away from 11 years at the ForwardI've worked here for a third of my life. The people I've worked with have made it wonderful
Louis Keene
@keene.la

Continuing a trend of recent elections, heavily Orthodox Jewish LA neighborhoods Pico-Robertson and Beverly-La Brea swung for the most conservative candidate, in this case Spencer Pratt for mayor. In four Pico-Robertson districts, Pratt beat incumbent Karen Bass, 2533 to 1027. Map by @latimes.com

Louis Keene
@keene.la

After Trump won in 2024, I wrote for @forward.com about the demographic shifts explaining the political change in Pico-Robertson's Modern Orthodox community, where in 2016 three in four voters backed Hillary Clinton. forward.com/news/681436/...

forward.comHow a Jewish neighborhood in liberal Los Angeles became a stronghold for TrumpThe political shift in Pico-Robertson, an Orthodox neighborhood in LA's Westside, reflects voters with a change of heart and changing demographics
Louis Keene
@keene.la

As long as the money was coming, Israeli and Jewish groups welcomed Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his sidekick, Jona Rechnitz. Now that they're at odds, those groups don't have much to say. Our story includes Rechnitz's first public quotes since the $175 million lawsuit: forward.com/news/827647/...

forward.comFloyd Mayweather showered cash on Jewish causes — and now he’s suing their ‘Robin Hood’ alleging $175 million got divertedHigh-flying middleman Jona Rechnitz tells the Forward ‘holy work’ brought him and the boxer to Israel after Oct. 7
Louis Keene
@keene.la

The controversial Orthodox activist known as "Flatbush Girl" told me the fraud allegations didn't bother her because Rechnitz supports agunot. "I don't give a shit if he's a Robin Hood and he's stealing from the rich to help the poor. Good, let him keep doing it," she said. bsky.app/profile/keen...

Louis Keene@keene.la

As long as the money was coming, Israeli and Jewish groups welcomed Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his sidekick, Jona Rechnitz. Now that they're at odds, those groups don't have much to say. Our story includes Rechnitz's first public quotes since the $175 million lawsuit: forward.com/news/827647/...

forward.comFloyd Mayweather showered cash on Jewish causes — and now he’s suing their ‘Robin Hood’ alleging $175 million got divertedHigh-flying middleman Jona Rechnitz tells the Forward ‘holy work’ brought him and the boxer to Israel after Oct. 7
Louis Keene
@keene.la

Yeshiva University has announced U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee as its commencement speaker. The choice deepens the school's ties with the Trump administration and the American right. YU President Rabbi Ari Berman delivered a benediction at Trump's 2025 inauguration. News release below.

Louis Keene
@keene.la

I appreciated the candor from AJ Edelman. Story's full of great quotes like this. forward.com/news/sports/...

Louis Keene@keene.la

Just pubbed @forward.com – an exclusive interview with AJ Edelman, the Israeli Olympic bobsled captain, who pulled no punches defending the ill-fated switch that got his team disqualified. Read here: forward.com/news/sports/...

Louis Keene reposted

Louis Keene
@keene.la

Just pubbed @forward.com: I spoke with Nithya Raman about her run for mayor of Los Angeles, her engagement with the Jewish community in her district and how voters should read her breaking with DSA on Israel. Gift link! forward.com/news/806134/...

forward.comShe's a democratic socialist who affirmed Israel's right to exist. Can she be LA's next mayor?Nithya Raman thinks she can win over the city's Jewish voters. Step one: Convince them she’s not Zohran Mamdani.

Louis Keene reposted

Ami Fields-Meyer
@fieldsmeyer.com

TOMORROW NIGHT: I'm speaking about how to fight authoritarianism locally at a great *virtual* event with @forward.com and the Jewish Partnership for LA With amazing copanelists – Pastor Eddie Anderson, Rudy Espinoza, and Marjorie Gilberg, moderated by the Forward's @louiskeene.bsky.social Join us!

actionnetwork.orgFrom D.C. to L.A.: The Local Impact of the Second Trump AdministrationJoin Jewish Partnership for Los Angeles and The Forward for a virtual conversation about the impact of the first year of the second Trump Administration on Los Angeles: the social safety net, immigrat...

Louis Keene reposted

Defector
@defector.com

Here's a thread of some Dan McQuade blogs that we really loved 🦅 The Garden State Parkway’s Jon Bon Jovi rest stop is playing fast and loose with famous quotes: defector.com/the-garden-s...

defector.comThe Garden State Parkway's Jon Bon Jovi Rest Stop Is Playing Fast And Loose With Famous Quotes | DefectorCHEESEQUAKE, N.J. — Have you ever scored a touchdown? I never played real football, so my own experiences have been pretty low-key, but man, did they feel great. I think I remember almost all of them—...

Louis Keene reposted

Louis Keene
@keene.la

Interviewed someone who's against the Nazi/Anne Frank ICE comparisons. Except he's also the only Orthodox rabbi I'm aware of who signed a letter against ICE. His perspective is important so I'm sharing it here. Rabbi Max Davis on Minneapolis, ICE and his shul: forward.com/news/800628/...

forward.comOrthodox Jewish groups have been quiet about ICE. This Minneapolis rabbi wasn’t.Bucking the political norms of Orthodox Judaism, Rabbi Max Davis signed a letter condemning ICE for "wreaking havoc across our state."
Louis Keene
@keene.la

It's one thing when opposing Anne Frank comparisons is the only way you're engaging with this topic at all, and it can feel like that is typically the case. Not here. (Story is also a good reminder that Orthodox Judaism contains a range of political views!)

Louis Keene@keene.la

Interviewed someone who's against the Nazi/Anne Frank ICE comparisons. Except he's also the only Orthodox rabbi I'm aware of who signed a letter against ICE. His perspective is important so I'm sharing it here. Rabbi Max Davis on Minneapolis, ICE and his shul: forward.com/news/800628/...

forward.comOrthodox Jewish groups have been quiet about ICE. This Minneapolis rabbi wasn’t.Bucking the political norms of Orthodox Judaism, Rabbi Max Davis signed a letter condemning ICE for "wreaking havoc across our state."
Louis Keene
@keene.la

Interviewed someone who's against the Nazi/Anne Frank ICE comparisons. Except he's also the only Orthodox rabbi I'm aware of who signed a letter against ICE. His perspective is important so I'm sharing it here. Rabbi Max Davis on Minneapolis, ICE and his shul: forward.com/news/800628/...

forward.comOrthodox Jewish groups have been quiet about ICE. This Minneapolis rabbi wasn’t.Bucking the political norms of Orthodox Judaism, Rabbi Max Davis signed a letter condemning ICE for "wreaking havoc across our state."
Louis Keene
@keene.la

What the OU is posting on social media today...

Louis Keene@keene.la

Every major Jewish denomination other than Orthodoxy has signed a joint letter condemning "in the strongest terms" the violent immigration enforcement by ICE/DHS in Minneapolis and beyond. Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist orgs signed. Orthodox Union + Agudah did not.

Louis Keene
@keene.la

Cool to see Jennifer Venditti nominated for Best Casting for her work on Marty Supreme, which included this chap:

Louis Keene@keene.la

Spoke to the guy who plays Roger (who gets hustled in the bowling alley by Timothée Chalamet and Tyler, The Creator) in MARTY SUPREME. His day job is teaching at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in NYC! forward.com/culture/7974...

forward.comHe works at a Holocaust museum by day. How’d he end up in 'Marty Supreme'?Heading into his audition for Marty Supreme, Isaac Simon was nervous. But not for the reasons you’d expect. “I was taking a long lunch break from the museum,” he said, “and at the time I was three or ...
Louis Keene
@keene.la

Every major Jewish denomination other than Orthodoxy has signed a joint letter condemning "in the strongest terms" the violent immigration enforcement by ICE/DHS in Minneapolis and beyond. Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist orgs signed. Orthodox Union + Agudah did not.

Louis Keene
@keene.la

this is cooler than the robert pattinson cameo imo

Louis Keene@keene.la

Spoke to the guy who plays Roger (who gets hustled in the bowling alley by Timothée Chalamet and Tyler, The Creator) in MARTY SUPREME. His day job is teaching at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in NYC! forward.com/culture/7974...

forward.comHe works at a Holocaust museum by day. How’d he end up in 'Marty Supreme'?Heading into his audition for Marty Supreme, Isaac Simon was nervous. But not for the reasons you’d expect. “I was taking a long lunch break from the museum,” he said, “and at the time I was three or ...
Louis Keene
@keene.la

Spoke to the guy who plays Roger (who gets hustled in the bowling alley by Timothée Chalamet and Tyler, The Creator) in MARTY SUPREME. His day job is teaching at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in NYC! forward.com/culture/7974...

forward.comHe works at a Holocaust museum by day. How’d he end up in 'Marty Supreme'?Heading into his audition for Marty Supreme, Isaac Simon was nervous. But not for the reasons you’d expect. “I was taking a long lunch break from the museum,” he said, “and at the time I was three or ...
Louis Keene
@keene.la

More info on Mississippi synagogue arson suspect Stephen Spencer Pittman: Quit college baseball, launched "scripture-based fitness" website, shared antisemitic meme on Instagram the day of the attack. forward.com/news/796632/...

forward.comSynagogue arson suspect posted antisemitic cartoon on day of the attackStephen Spencer Pittman posted an antisemitic meme around the time of the Mississippi synagogue fire at Beth Israel in Jackson.
Louis Keene@keene.la

Here's the FBI affidavit on Stephen Spencer Pittman, the suspect charged in the arson of Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Miss. Pittman called Beth Israel the "synagogue of Satan" in an interview following his arrest, authorities said. (1/2) forward.com/fast-forward...

Louis Keene
@keene.la

I think the graffiti ghost towers are an artistic triumph, I hope they live forever, and I'm so thrilled that this art piece exists (and close to me at least for now).

Alissa Walker@awalkerinla.bsky.social

Artist Sayre Gomez made a sculpture of the Graffiti Ghost Towers and this story about why he felt he had to document LA’s “source of civic embarrassment and angst” as our megaevents put the city on the world stage is the best thing you’ll read today 🎁🔗

nytimes.comIn Sayre Gomez’s Art, L.A.’s Problems Move From Real to Hyper-Real
Louis Keene
@keene.la

Here's the FBI affidavit on Stephen Spencer Pittman, the suspect charged in the arson of Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Miss. Pittman called Beth Israel the "synagogue of Satan" in an interview following his arrest, authorities said. (1/2) forward.com/fast-forward...

Louis Keene
@keene.la

Part 2 of the FBI affidavit on Stephen Spencer Pittman, the suspect charged in the arson of Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Miss. Pittman called Beth Israel the "synagogue of Satan" in an interview following his arrest, authorities said.

Louis Keene
@keene.la

“Renee Good—a good person, a decent person, a mother, someone who cared about her community and standing up—may the loss of her life not be in vain. May her memory inspire us to continue to peacefully stand up for what is right.” -Rabbi Eva Cohen of Minneapolis religionnews.com/2026/01/09/p...

religionnews.com'She could have been any of us': Faith leaders mourn Renee Good in MinneapolisMINNEAPOLIS (RNS) — 'It's all just too much, but my faith requires me to show up,' said the Rev. Dana Neuhauser.
Louis Keene
@keene.la

One year after the Palisades fire, I spoke to the people of Kehillat Israel, a synagogue where 250 families lost their homes and another 250 were displaced. Most haven't even begun rebuilding. "We haven’t been able to fully move on," one rabbi told me. forward.com/news/795253/...

forward.com'From a shtetl to a diaspora’: After the fire, a Palisades synagogue forges through a year in exileKehillat Israel was spared by the Palisades fire, but one year later, the congregation is still dealing with its aftermath.
Louis Keene
@keene.la

I wrote about the unverified rumor spreading online that slain MIT professor Nuno Loureiro was Jewish and targeted for pro-Israel views. "Every Jew must arm themselves,” one influencer echoing the claim said to 250,000 followers. Loureiro's friends say he wasn't Jewish. forward.com/fast-forward...

forward.comAfter MIT professor’s killing, Jewish influencers spread unverified antisemitism claimIn the wake of the Sydney attack, Jewish influencers pointed to Nuno Loureiro’s death as proof that Jews all over the world were in danger.