Donald H. Harrison

Jewish Film Festival Review: ‘Righteous Rebel’

  By Jack Forman SAN DIEGO — Righteous Rebel: The Story of Rabbi Avi Weiss, a wide-ranging, celebratory feature-length documentary by filmmaker Phil Schneider honoring the life and the activism of the well-known and controversial Orthodox Rabbi who has been in the public limelight for almost a half a century screened before an attentive audience of […]

Jewish Film Festival Review: ‘Righteous Rebel’ Read More »

Jewish Religion, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Rutgers Prof. revives blood libel against Israel

By Richard L. Cravatts, PhD BOSTON, Massachusetts –Jews have been accused of harming and murdering non-Jews since the twelfth century in England, when Jewish convert to Catholicism, Theobald of Cambridge, mendaciously announced that European Jews ritually slaughtered Christian children each year and drank their blood during Passover season. That medieval blood libel, largely abandoned in

Rutgers Prof. revives blood libel against Israel Read More »

Middle East, Richard L. Cravatts, Science, Medicine, & Education

‘Flory’s Flame’: Jewish history through Ladino music

LA JOLLA, California —  San Diego Jewish Film Festival audiences were bestowed a gift of immeasurable delights as Flory’s Flame was shown on On Friday, February 12, in the JCC’s Garfield Auditorium.  Before the airing of the hour-long documentary, we were treated to five live heart-rending pieces sung by Elizabeth Schwartz, accompanied by guitarist and professor, Fred Benedetti. 

‘Flory’s Flame’: Jewish history through Ladino music Read More »

Eva Trieger, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Two IDF reservists tell of morality in combat

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Two IDF reservists, touring Southern California as guests of the pro-Israel advocacy group StandWithUS, described to several audiences the precautions the Israeli military takes to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza and other areas of combat operations. At the same time, Edan and Gilad (their last names withheld by

Two IDF reservists tell of morality in combat Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Humoring the headlines: February 15, 2016

By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO─ Within a nanosecond of the news that Antonin Scalia had died in his sleep, Mitch McConnell warned President Obama against nominating a new Supreme Court judge during a presidential election year.  Ted Cruz threatened to “absolutely” filibuster any Obama nominee and make the election a referendum on the Supreme Court. 

Humoring the headlines: February 15, 2016 Read More »

Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Middle East Roundup: February 15, 2016

Israel maintains ‘discreet’ ties with many Arab states, Netanyahu says (JNS.org) Major Arab countries “are changing their view of Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a visiting Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations leadership delegation in Jerusalem on Sunday. “They don’t see Israel anymore as their enemy, but they see Israel as their

Middle East Roundup: February 15, 2016 Read More »

International, Middle East

Never Again: Holocaust News for February 15, 2016

Poland to outlaw phrase ‘Polish death camps’ WARSAW (WJC) — Poland is planning to adopt a law to punish people who use the phrase “Polish death camps” in relation to Nazi concentration camps in German-occupied Poland during World War II. Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro declared on a radio channel that his bill would “meet the expectations of Poles, who

Never Again: Holocaust News for February 15, 2016 Read More »

International, Jewish History

Jewish trivia quiz: Antonin Scalia, RIP

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — In the 2015 case of Zivotofsky v. Kerry, the Supreme Court tackled the issue of whether passports of American citizens born in Jerusalem should list their birthplace as “Jerusalem” (as was the practice since Israel’s founding) or “Jerusalem, Israel” (as advocated by Zivotofsky). The court ruled that passports could continue

Jewish trivia quiz: Antonin Scalia, RIP Read More »

Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire

How Judaism views evil speech

False Facts and True Rumors: LaShon HaRa in Contemporary Culture by Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman, Maggid Books, Jerusalem; ISBN 978-1-59264-441-4 ©2015, $29.95, p. 261, plus bibliography and indexes By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California–The Hebrew expression lashon hara, literally meaning “an evil tongue,” is often translated as slander, gossip, and malicious or disparaging speech. In contemporary

How Judaism views evil speech Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion