By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — An old former congregant and friend of mine (who happens to be a Cohen) recently lost his father, and he asked me the following question. Is a Jewish Priest’s ritual purity compromised by coming into contact with ashes of a cremated person? Your question could also […]
How does Judaism treat cremated human remains? Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By David Brin ENCINITAS, California — My own fascination with Rick Santorum is partly rooted in the fell prediction that Papa Robert Heinlein made, in his future history, way back in the 1950s… that a fundamentalist preacher would win the presidency on a court decision, without a plurality (sound like 2000?) and thereupon clamp down
Santorum, a futurist’s nightmare come true? Read More »
USABy Ira Sharkansky Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–This week the leaders of Israel gathered to honor the retirement of Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch, and the installation of her replacement, Justice Asher Grunis. The ceremony provided several insights into the nature of Israeli government and society. It touched the Holocaust as well as the rights of Israeli Arabs.
Changing of chief justice ceremony laden with symbolism Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastWASHINGTON, DC (Press Release) – In separate hearings Wednesday, Feb. 29, with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Congressman Brad Sherman (D – California) urged both officials to work to oust Iran from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) in advance of legislation currently under consideration by Congress
Administration may move to exclude Iran’s banks from money transfer system Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Miri Horwich-Fried PETACH TIKVAH, Israel–Doing for others was my game plan. About four years ago, at age 33, I completed my doctoral work on diabetes. A resident of Petach Tivkah and mother of three, I sought a new direction. By “chance,” I heard about a lab researching cancer immunology, headed by Dr. Cyril Cohen,
A medical researcher learns patients’ feelings first hand Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education
By Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO –He was often called “Rooster” by his college chums, due to a stubborn cowlick and a kind of “in-your-face” attitude. He has unquestionably suffered grievously in his lifetime, having lost a child even as he and his wife Karen have raised another youngster that struggles with Edwards syndrome (Trisomy
Santorum’s sectarianism negates principles of the nation’s founders Read More »
USABy Evelyn Gordon WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amid the din of debate over a possible Israeli strike on Iran, perhaps it is unsurprising that Israeli Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor’s press conference on February 20 attracted so little international attention. But in a world that claims to view an Israeli-Palestinian deal as a top priority, it should
Continued Egypt-Israel peace precondition for new treaties in Mideast Read More »
Middle East
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — If you have raised a child, you have had this experience. Your little boy or girl came home from school with a sample of his or her artwork. To you it just looked like a hodge-podge of scribbles, random color smears. But your child exclaimed, “Look, Mommy,
Jewish tradition condemns the scoffer Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — I learnt the term that heads this page last Tuesday at a meeting in the Knesset. It was coined as a variant of the Hebrew for “money laundering” (halbanat hon) to read halbanat khok. The occasion was a meeting hosted by Zahava Galon, the leader of Meretz, to which
Efforts to preserve Migron called ‘law laundering’ Read More »
Middle East
Rasputin and the Jews: A Reversal of History by Delin Colón; ISBN 978-1-4610-2775-1 ©2010, $15.00, p. 110, including bibliography By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — The controversies over the deeds and exploits of Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin, an illiterate faith healer and prophet from nineteenth century backwater Russia, continue to swirl around his legacy nearly
Was Rasputin actually a friend of the Jews? Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, International
-Third in a Series- By Donald H. Harrison BORREGO SPRINGS, California– Utilizing a converted military troop-carrier-and-cargo truck, California Overland Desert Excursions offers visitors to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park the combination of three off-road adventures in a single trip. The company’s owner, Joe Raffetto, utilizes both of his previous careers–advertising man and biologist–to make the
Exploring a dry lake, slot canyon and Borrego badlands Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Carol Davis LA JOLLA, California– When my family was young and we used to pile into the car for any number of our family excursions, I never dreamed some of them would come back to haunt me. Recently, I attended Moving Arts The Car Plays: San Diego, a concept developed and conceived by Paul Stein.
‘The Car Plays: San Diego’ an unusual and different theatre experience Read More »
Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & BroadcastHAIFA (Press Release)– A new program at the University of Haifa will train students to be unofficial “ambassadors” for Israel on the Internet. The students will learn how to confront the delegitimization of Israel that is present on the World Wide Web and on social networks in particular. “Many Israelis don’t know how to respond to
U. of Haifa to inaugurate program to combat anti-Israel propaganda Read More »
Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — The accidental burning of the Quran in Afghanistan raises some important questions: How does one dispose of old religious literature? The 18th century Muslim scholar Allamah Haskafi, author jurisprudence text Durr-Mukhtar, wrote of the disposal of the no-longer wanted Qurans: “If one decides to get rid
How different religions dispose of worn-out holy books Read More »
Jewish Religion