By Cynthia Citron SAN DIEGO — Hold on to your music. It will be your best friend.” This has been the Golabek family mantra for four generations of concert pianists. As pianist and playwright Mona Golabek settles on a sofa in a private meeting room outside the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater, the intimate performance space […]
Your talent may get you through the darkest of times Read More »
Cynthia Citron
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO –Twenty four thousand talmidim (students) of Rebbi Akiva perished in a horrible plague. These were the best and the brightest. It was a devastating blow to the leadership, to the entire existance of Klal Yisroel. Hashem in His infinite mercy enabled our nation to rebuild after this tragedy. Torah
Power of Torah Judaism demonstrated at Dachau Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — By all accounts, the most admirable feature of American Thanksgiving is that it’s being celebrated by all citizens. Irrespective of religious affiliation, skin colour or income, all Americans feel the need to give thanks for the country in which they live, even when they’re grossly disadvantaged in comparison to
Most Israelis celebrate Yom Ha’atzma’ut, but some pointedly refrain Read More »
Middle East
The Gilboa Iris by Zahava D. England, Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem, 2012, ISBN 978-965-229-574-3, 454 pages, Price unlisted. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –A young American girl wearing a dress has an embarrassing moment trying to get down from a tree. Her muscular Israeli boyfriend comes to her aid, and they kiss with enthusiasm
One-dimensional characters detract from Israeli novel Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — For an American used to Memorial Day as a time for mega-store sales and picnics, the Israeli equivalent requires a significant reformatting of expectations. The official number of those who died while serving in one or another security function or as a result of terror is close to 23,000, with
Controversies surround Israel’s secular holidays Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — He was a character straight out of the novels of Charles Dickens. Scholars have long found Dickens’ attitude toward Jews problematic. The character Fagin in the novel Oliver Twist is certainly a negative stereotype. But many are unaware of the character named Riah in Dickens’ last completed
Lessons that peddlers have taught to rabbis Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Cynthia Citron HOLLYWOOD, California –They weren’t projecting, they were SHOUTING! And even if they were better actors, the play would still be a lot of frivolous twaddle. It’s Early and Often, a play by Barbara Wallace and Thomas R. Wolfe, and directed by Ron West, that explores political morality in 1960s Chicago. And if
‘Early and often’ a silly play about when one should vote Read More »
Cynthia Citron
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Haredim and archaeologists in the Holy Land have never been especially fond of each other. Traditionally, they are a little bit like meat and milk. By themselves, each is fine. However, when they get together, they create a combustive chemistry. Whenever an archeological excavation takes place,
Haredim grapple with archaelogy and other sciences Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Carol Davis CORONADO, California — Confession: I still have my Brownie Pin. Yup! And I have my Girl Scout Pin and my Wings that were used to ‘fly me up’ from Brownie to Girl Scout. They are stored in a small wooden treasure box I put together and varnished in the arts and crafts
Brownies’ moms fight while girls play Read More »
Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By J. Zel Lurie DELRAY BEACH, Florida –Jews come in many shapes and colors. One of the strangest is the Karaites, founded in the 7th century by a charismatic Jew named Anan Ben David. He totally rejected the holiness of the Talmud and strictly obeyed only the 613 mitzvot found in the Torah. The Karaite
The mysteries of the Cairo codex Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish ReligionBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — A small group gathered Sunday at nearby Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate the life and work of British Maj. Gen. Orde Wingate of blessed memory, who is interred there with the Americans with whom he was flying when his plane crashed in Burma in 1945. Israel and the Jewish
Orde Wingate’s doctrines still best for fighting insurgents Read More »
International, Shoshana BryenBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Reading news reports can be like reading tea leaves. The combination of different items may mean more than any one of them says explicitly. Yet it is more art than craft. Conclusions may be sounder than received from a seer, but are less than certain. Currently my computer screen is
U.S. reactions to North Korea inform Israel’s decisions about Iran Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, USA
Dear Friends in the Community, It is with a mixture of joy and sadness that I inform you I will be retiring at the end of this semester. Much of my decision is personal. I began as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois in 1965, and, then spent my graduate years at the University
Dwindling support for public education a factor in Baron’s retirement Read More »
Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–It’s always refreshing when serious people refuse to give up hope – as a growing number of “peaceniks” in Israel have done – about solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The latest effort comes from three distinguished Israelis: a former admiral, a former peace negotiator and a businessman. I understand the article in
Authors urge unilateral steps by Israel to build peace Read More »
Middle East