By Cailin Acosta in La Mesa, California
As we finish up all the Super Bowl treats, the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy, have started and will continue for two weeks.
There are 16 Jewish and Israeli athletes to keep an eye on in the next two weeks.
Boston native, A.J. Edelman, and the Israeli bobsled team, which consists of Menachem Chen, Ward Fawarsy, Omer Katz, and Uri Zisman. This is Israel’s Olympic debut in bobsled.
Miami-born Jared Firestone will compete for Israel in the skeleton competition.
Boston native Aerin Frankel will compete as a goalie for Team USA on the Women’s Hockey Team.
Boston-native brothers Quinn and Jack Hughes will compete on the USA Men’s Hockey Team with Alaska-native Jeremy Swayman.
Hungary-born Attila Mihaly Kertesz will compete for Israel’s first cross-country skier.
Chicago-native Emery Lehman will compete for the USA Men’s 1,500 speed skating competition.
Canadian Kayle Osborne will compete as goal tender for the Canadian Women’s Hockey Team.
Russian-Israeli Mariia Seniuk will compete for Israeli figure skating competition.
Israeli siblings Noa and Barnabas Szollos will compete for Israel in the Alpine skiing competition.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Other pending events, previously reported in this column, may be found in our Jewish community calendar.
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Hadassah San Diego announces its “How to Have Effective Conversations About Antisemitism” at 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 15. This event will be led by ADL San Diego, Rob Hicks, who will help to have effective conversations about antisemitism in and out of the workplace and will cover evidence-based techniques to change behavior about antisemitism. Click here to register and to receive the address.
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Congregation Beth Israel’s Men’s Club Speaker Series presents “No One Should Struggle Alone: The Kindness Initiative Serving Our San Diego Jewish Community” at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 18. Executive Director Keren-Dee Hamui will share inspiring stories and help spread the word about the vital work in the community. Click here to register.
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Young Israel of San Diego presents its “Purim: We are the World: A Festive Purim Celebration and Meat Dinner” at 5 p.m., Tuesday, March 3. The event includes food, fun, and Purim spirit. Organizers say to come dressed in your favorite costumes. Click here to register.
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Murray Galinson San Diego-Israel Initiative announces its “Keeping Israeli Arts and Culture Alive After October 7” at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, March 5, at Leichtag Commons. The conversation will be led by Kan radio host, literary expert, and MGSDII visiting professor at San Diego State University, Yuval Avivi, who will be joined by artist Dana Yoeli and musician Iris London-Zolty. From Tel Aviv University, frequent commentator on CNN and Israeli media, and MGSDII visiting professor at the University of California, San Diego, Udi Sommer will round out the group. Click here to register.
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CHABAD CENTERS’ HAPPENINGS
La Jolla’s Jewish Women’s Circle announces its “Divine Relationships: Judaism’s Best Kept Secrets for Enhancing Your Relationship with Guest Speaker Chani Shemtov” at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 18. The event will be led by Shemtov, who is a world-renowned speaker on relationships and intimacy. Hors d’oeuvres and desserts will be provided. Click here to register.
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Downtown presents its “Hawaiian Purim” at 6 p.m., Monday, March 2. The event includes megillah reading, Hawaiian-themed dinner, graggers, tiki bar, masquerade, and hamantaschen. Click here to rsvp.
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University City announces its “Purim in Mexico” at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 3. The event includes megillah reading, dinner, and entertainment. Click here to register.
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AROUND THE COUNTY
San Diego Hebrew Day School reports Morah Lili Feingold’s LLI reading group has been diving into the exciting world of dinosaurs. As part of their literacy work, students read All About Dinosaurs and practiced understanding nonfiction text by learning facts about different dinosaurs. To deepen their comprehension, students were invited to draw what they read about. This creative activity helped them turn words into images and show their understanding in a fun, engaging way. It was a wonderful example of how reading, creativity, and comprehension come together to support strong literacy skills.
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OBITUARY NOTICES
Irene Fine has died. She was the wife of Larry Fine and the mother of Gil, Joel, and Sari. The funeral was held on Monday, Feb. 9, at El Camino Memorial Cemetery, Chabad of East County reports.
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Sandra Herman has died. The funeral was held on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Greenwood Memorial Park with Rabbi/Cantor Hanan Leberman of Tifereth Israel Synagogue as officiant, Am Israel Mortuary reports.
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Roberto Najmias has died. He was the brother of Sara Artenstein. The funeral was held on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Home of Peace Cemetery, Ohr Shalom Synagogue reports.
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Carolyn Wallen has died. She was the wife of Bill Wallen, mother of Joellyn (Ron) Zollman, Kevin (Jamie) Wallen, grandmother of Zachary, Aliza, Will, and Eli. The funeral was held in Pennsylvania, Congregation Beth Israel reports.
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Cailin Acosta is the assistant editor of the San Diego Jewish World.