Jewish biography: Felix Hausdorff, mathematician & philosopher

The life of Felix Hausdorff is a profound story of duality: he was a brilliant German scientist and writer. But alongside this duality, there existed a Jewish-German duality: Hausdorff was German by culture and Jewish by blood. He considered German science and culture his own, belonged to the highest academic elite of Germany, but the forces ruling German society saw in him, a brilliant scientist, an inferior outsider doomed to destruction. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

JFest brings Leonard Cohen’s music, stories, and spirit to The Conrad

Batalla noted that in 2026, Yom Kippur falls on Cohen’s birthday. The following song, “Who by Fire,” was based on the prayer Unetanneh Tokef. He wrote it after the improvised concerts he gave IDF soldiers during the Yom Kippur War. For “Who By Fire,” Batalla introduced the udu, an African water drum, and the guitar-like Middle Eastern oud played by Dimitris Jimmy Mahlis, who toured with her and Cohen. Batalla said Cohen’s touring band always had an oud player and said in the hands of a master it has been called a direct line to God. {Shor M. Masori]

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Jewish Celebrities, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Shor M. Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Adat Yeshurun hosts JFEST’s South African Jewish night

Marcus also shared that when they first came to South Africa from Lithuania in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jews became peddlers, traders and small business owners, similar to the American Jewish immigrant stories. (Sandi Masori)

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International, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

Eighth-grade students commemorate the Holocaust by painting ceramic butterflies

La Mesa Arts Academy’s eighth-grade Social Studies classes, taught by Mrs. Debra Lunamand and Mrs. Heather Filippelli, participated in The Butterfly Project just before the end of the school year as students completed testing and finalized semester grades. More than 300 plaster butterflies were painted. [Cailin Acosta]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Cailin Acosta, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish composer Justin Hurwitz featured at final concert of the semester at La Mesa Arts Academy

Composer and songwriter Justin Hurwitz, who wrote the music for La La Land, is Jewish and of Russian, Polish, Syrian, and Lebanese descent. Hurwitz attended Harvard University, where he was roommates with director Damien Chazelle. The two later collaborated on La La Land and several other films. [Cailin Acosta}

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Cailin Acosta, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors