By Rabbi Ben Kamin GAN YAVNEH, Israel, Jan. 20–I had to “come home” to feel at home again in my own life. Change and renewal are nothing without sorrow—just as no song can be written without lyrics. The Holy Land is a place where tired gestures are converted into genuine responses. It’s a heady, healing, […]
A global family repairs itself Read More »
International, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — A New York Times review of a book describing what may be the world’s largest refugee camp, near Kenya’s border with Somalia, notes that 60 million people have been displaced throughout the world as a result of conflict and other mass misfortunes.. We can paraphrase Stalin: one person forced from
Walling out the refugees Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USAU.S. backs Ambassador Daniel Shapiro in spat with Israel (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A U.S. State Department spokesman defended U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro on Tuesday, a day after Shapiro sparked outrage in Israel with criticism of Israeli policies in Judea and Samaria. When asked on Tuesday about Shapiro’s comments, which were made in
Middle East Roundup: January 20, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Susan B. Tuchman and Morton A. Klein NEW YORK — After years of urging the University of California (UC) Regents to take a strong stand against campus anti-Semitism, the Regents will soon be issuing a statement that will hopefully address the problem in a meaningful way. But as Regent Bonnie Reiss eloquently stated
UC Berkeley helps Muslim students, ignores Jews Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education
The Polgar Variant, directed by Yossi Aviram, Israel, 2014, 68 minutes long in Hungarian, English and Hebrew with English subtitles. To be shown twice during the San Diego Jewish Film Festival: Sunday, Feb. 7, at 5 p.m. at the Edwards San Marcos Stadium 18, 1180 W. San Marcos Blvd., San Marcos; and on Thursday, Feb.
Film Festival Preview: ‘The Polgar Variant’ Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Theatre, Film & BroadcastPARIS, France (WJC)–More than two-thirds of French citizens are opposed to the suggestion that the kippah should be removed in public places, a survey found. Seventy percent of respondents in an opinion poll commissioned by the Paris Match magazine said it would be giving in to terrorists if Jews were forced to remove their yarmulkes for security
French reject keeping kippah off Read More »
International, USAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikl%C3%B3s_Vig
The Jewish Singers: Miklos Vig Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Tammi Rossman-Benjamin SANTA CRUZ, California– As a resource to current and prospective students, parents, university administrators, elected officials, researchers, and donors, AMCHA Initiative has unveiled a database that chronicles anti-Semitic incidents that occurred over the past academic year by state and university. The incidents are organized into three categories: Targeting Jewish Students and Staff, Anti-Semitic Expression and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
AMCHA Initiative database tracks anti- Semitic incidents Read More »
Jewish History, USABy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–The Netanyahu government is getting under the skin of the United States Administration. US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro echoed it earlier this week when he spoke in Tel Aviv at a conference organized by Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies. We can safely assume that what he said had been
Extremist settlers strain U.S. – Israel relations Read More »
Middle East, USATop Israeli official welcomes new Egyptian envoy (JNS.org) Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold on Monday met with the new Egyptian ambassador to Israel, Hazem Khairat, who arrived in Israel at the start of this month. “Israel considers Egypt an important country in the region and relations with it are vital to Israel,” Gold
Middle East Roundup: January 19, 2016 Read More »
Middle East
By Mimi Pollack SAN DIEGO — Yale Strom may be a multitalented man and a well known musician both locally and internationally, but he is also refreshingly down to earth and modest, answering my questions at his rustic, comfortable home in Mission Hills with his loving dog, Olive, snuggled on his lap. Where to begin?
Yale Strom: a man of many talents, projects Read More »
Mimi Pollack, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & BroadcastThe Practical Guide to the Laws of Kashrut by Rabbi Pinchas Cohen, Maggid Books, Jerusalem; ISBN 978-1-59264-434-6 ©2015, $17.95, p. 75, plus glossary and figures By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California–The Hebrew word kosher means “proper” or “fit,” and in the case of food, the term kosher refers to food that God says is
Book explains the laws of Kashrut Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish ReligionMELVILLE, New York — Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom has aroused controversy by her critical remarks concerning Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. There have been Jews in Sweden for many years. What is perhaps the first record of a Jewish presence in Sweden? A. Jews were well established throughout much of Europe by the Middle Ages; however, there
Jewish trivia quiz: Sweden Read More »
Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Eva Trieger LA JOLLA, California — According to Craig Prater of the Lawrence Family JCC, San Diego audiences may not realize their great fortune in luring Hannah Fisher to the next month’s Jewish Film Festival. After a scintillating phone call with the Toronto native, I must agree! Fisher has agreed to Chair the Film Jury
The anatomy of a film festival Read More »
Eva Trieger, Theatre, Film & Broadcast