By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — It should be hard to pick on Norwegians and their government this week, but it is impossible to overlook Svein Sevje, Norway’s ambassador to Israel. Trying to “outline the similarity and the difference in the two cases” (mass murder of Norwegians by a Norwegian and mass murder of […]
By Isaac Yetiv, PhD LA JOLLA, California — The Founding Fathers, fearful of “tyranny,” created, intentionally, a system of “divided government” to make impossible the concentration of power in the hands of one man or one group. But today, because of the great divisions in our society, the fierce partisanship and factionalism have led to
How to put an end to these budget crises Read More »
USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — A friend sent me a link to a New York Times Op-Ed piece entitled “Israel’s Identity Crisis.” The points were Who is a Jew? and Why is Netanyahu confounding the peace process by insisting that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish State? It is not difficult to understand why the New York Times would
‘Who’s a Jew’ issue not really germane to Palestinian negotiations Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Carol Davis LA JOLLA, California— While the La Jolla Playhouses Sleeping Beauty, Rose (Aspen Vincent), of the fairy tale of the same name, flutters her eyelids in an attempt to awaken (in a sleeping disorder clinic) after a nine hundred year slumber yours truly had everything she could do to keep her eyes from fluttering
Sleeping Beauty Wakes to confusion and mayhem Read More »
Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Donald H. Harrison ALCATRAZ ISLAND, California – From the prisoners’ viewpoint, what was the worst thing about the federal prison here on “the rock” in the middle of San Francisco Bay? Was it the strict routines they had to follow? The loneliness? The chance that they may fall afoul of the rules and
Alcatraz: Its frustrations and escapes Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO–Parashat Mas’ei begins with a review of the journeys of the Israelites after the Exodus: “These were the marches of the Israelites who started out from Egypt . . . Their marches, by starting points, were as follows:” (Num. 33:1-4) In the first half of Numbers 33:2 the Torah
Importance of the future… and the past Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Donald H. Harrison OAKLAND, California – Ever since the 1990 enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, it has been increasingly commonplace to see buildings, vehicles, and streets built to be accessible to wheelchairs. But such was not the case in 1936 when Franklin D. Roosevelt was the President of the United
FDR’s presidential yacht awaits the public in Oakland Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –One of the elementary lessons in civics is that government does the job of sorting through various demands and deciding priorities, or Who Gets What. The key to the ongoing exercise is politics. In a democratic regime, votes bring to office the officials who make those decisions. If enough citizens find
The summer of Israelis’ economic discontent Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — One might say that this is a hell of a way to run a government, and then argue whether the reference is to Israel or the United States. Here the quarrel is whether the problem is housing, medicine or the government. There it is the the stubbornness of Republicans
U.S.’s and Israel’s focus on economic disquiet puts Palestinian issue on back burner Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –The horror of mass murder in Oslo last week begs nothing as much as distance. All the first comments were wrong. Knowledgeable people – “experts” – were sure it was Muslims and wondered why Norway was a target since Norway is certainly hospitable to Muslims and hostile – sometimes virulently
Ideologies of the lunatics may differ, but they are willing to kill for them Read More »
International, Shoshana BryenBy Carol Davis SAN DIEGO –The last time San Diego audiences saw The Who’s Tommy performed locally was in 1992 when Pete Townshend (of the Who from 1962-1982) and Des McAnuff (former artistic director or the La Jolla Playhouse) staged its world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse. The musical soon moved to Broadway in
Who’s Tommy? You’ll enjoy finding out at the Rep Read More »
Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO — This business of obesity and its strain on the American health picture, including the unfair and disproportionate and attendant drain of medical and extended care funding, is one of the key crises of our time. Having just shed nearly 80 pounds with the supervision of a hospital weight-management
Conquering the fat me Read More »
Travel and Food
By Lloyd Levy LONDON –Much heat has been generated in some circles in the Jewish Diaspora in recent weeks, by the Israeli Knesset passing laws to fight back against attempts to undermine the State. For example, Israeli citizens who allegedly incite boycotts of their own country’s products , or who work hand in glove with
Western critics of Israeli democracy should look to their own houses Read More »
Lloyd Levy, Middle East
By David Amos SAN DIEGO — What a magnificent job of portraying Leonard Bernstein at the Old Globe by actor-musician Hershey Felder! I was pleased to see this one-man-show, Maestro, the Art of Leonard Bernstein on Tuesday, July 26. I have frequently written about Bernstein, and his life, which has been called “the most spectacular
Felder’s portrayal of Bernstein prompts many pleasant memories Read More »
Travel and Food