Other items in this column include:
* Israeli real estate
* Political bytes
* Coming our way
* In Memoriam
SAN DIEGO — The Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego is spotlighting three local organizations that provide comfort to the homeless and the poor during the Thanksgiving holidays.
In a message to supporters, the Foundation suggested that “at this time of year, we may take a moment and consider those less fortunate who don’t have a warm and cozy place to prepare and enjoy a meal. … Please consider supporting these or any other organization making our world a better place.”
It listed the following organizations:
* Serving Seniors provides an elegant and traditional Thanksgiving meal for over 500 local Sean Diego Seniors.
* Support the Enlisted Project (STEP) provides turkey and all the fixin’s for military and veteran families to prepare their own meals at home.
* San Diego Rescue Mission will host its annual Thanksgiving meal on Saturday, Nov. 23, serving about 1,200 men, women, and children featuring hot meals, live music, and a festive atmosphere.
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Israeli real estate
Nefesh B’Nefesh, the organization that helps Americans make Aliyah in Israel, sponsors a talk by attorney Debbie Rosen-Solow on buying real estate in Israel, at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19, at the Lawrence Family JCC, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla
“Buying a home in Israel is a lifelong dream for so many, either for planned aliyah or to have something ‘down the line,” said Rosen-Solow, a New Jersey-born Israeli citizen who now lives in Beit Shemesh. “Too often people aren’t prepared and fall into bureaucratic traps, whether with transferring funds to Israel and ensuring all the American and Israeli regulations are met or even just due to the language barrier for non-native Hebrew speakers. But it doesn’t have to be that way, provided you educate yourself and plan accordingly.
“The Israeli market is very strong and provides a great opportunity for investors,” she says. “Having an advisor who specializes in foreign investors and in particular how to make the most out of the regulations and benefits can make the experience even more successful.”
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Political bytes
*Business reporter Lori Weisberg had two related stories in today’s San Diego Union-Tribune. In one, she reported that the San Diego City Council voted 5-4 to put on the March 3 ballot a proposed increase in the hotel tax to pay for expansion of the San Diego Convention Center. The split vote found the two Jewish members of the council on opposite sides: Dr. Jen Campbell voting with the majority and mayoral hopeful Barbara Bry in the minority, saying the election should be in November when there typically is higher turnout. The second story was about Comic-Con saying that Nov. 16 is the day that badges for its 2020 convention will go on sale, with an online waiting room opening at 8 a.m. and purchasing for up to three badges starting at 10:30 a.m. As has been the case in the past, Comic-Con warns that there are not enough badges to meet the expected demand. Will that no longer be the case if voters approve the increase in the hotel tax to expand the convention Center?
*Terra Lawson-Remer and Olga Diaz, who are both running against incumbent county supervisor Kristin Gaspar, will be glad to read the column by the San Diego Union-Tribune’s political columnist Michael Smolens. Reporting on Gaspar’s unsuccessful efforts to block the opening of satellite offices of the Registrar of Voters to accommodate voter registration on Election Day, Smolens said Gaspar’s claim was untrue that people could register to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles, even if they weren’t citizens. Further, he wrote, Gaspar’s claim also was untrue that the proposed change meant that mail ballots would be sent to people who were not already registered.
*Former San Diego Port Commissioner Laurie Black is among sponsors of San Diegans for Justice who advocate an independent, community-led Commission on Police Practices “to increase police accountability and build community trust in the City of San Diego.” The group is holding a fundraiser at 6 p.m., Friday, Nov. 8, at the Women’s Museum of California, 2730 Historic Decatur Road, #103, at Liberty Station, featuring Genevieve Jones-Wright, who ran unsuccessfully in 2018 for San Diego District Attorney.
* State Sen. Brian Jones, R-Santee, a candidate in the 50th Congressional District opposing incumbent GOP Congressman Duncan Hunter, hosts a legislative open house at 6 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 14, at the Sonrise Church, 8805 North Magnolia Avenue, Santee. According to his legislative staff, “This event is an opportunity for attendees to connect with their senator, share their ideas, and learn about the amazing work being done by local nonprofits to improve the lives of people in our community.”
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Coming our way
*Aimee Ginzburg Bikel, wife of the late Thedore Bikel and executive director of the Theodore Bikel Legacy Project, will be a luncheon guest following Shabbat services, Saturday, Nov. 9, at Congregation Beth El, 8660 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. She will be discussing The City of Light, a Chanukah book written by the late actor/ folksinger, that has just been published for children 10 and up. “Set in Vienna during Kristallnacht, ‘The Night of Broken Glass,’ the story follows a young Jewish boy strolling through Vienna witnessing acts of anti-Semitism during the holiday of Hanukkah,” according to the 32-page book’s publisher, Mandel Vilar Press. “At night, he dreams of a superhero Judah Maccabee defending Vienna’s Jews. When he awakes and realizes there will be no Maccabean rescue, he weeps. Years pass, the boy, now an old man, returns to Vienna and sees the Jewish community and the Temple are restored. He looks for the eternal light in his Temple and can’t find it. Then suddenly it becomes clear to him: ‘The light was there all the time, it was in his own heart.’”
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In Memoriam
Am Israel Mortuary has notified us that Samuel C. Harris, 96, died on November 4th and that funeral services will be conducted by Rabbi Avi Libman of Congregation Beth El at 11:15 a.m., Thursday, November 7, at Miramar National Cemetery, 5785 Nobel Drive.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com