By Cantor Sheldon Merel SAN DIEGO — I clearly remember the Seders I attended at the home of relatives during my Hebrew school days. I was proud to chant the “Ma Nishtana” and sing along in Hebrew. The group would sing the songs they knew, but talked most of the time. The conversation was not […]
Memories of seders past Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Alex Traiman/JNS.org JERUSALEM– Close to half a million members of Israel’s Haredi public rallied in Jerusalem on Sunday, shutting down roads in and around the city, to protest a proposed bill that would mandate them to participate in the Israel Defense Forces and would criminalize those who refuse conscription. Some political parties—led notably by
Time favors Haredim in IDF draft controversy Read More »
Travel and FoodDocumentary on recently deceased Holocaust survivor Alice Herz-Sommer wins Oscar (JNS.org) A documentary on Alice Herz-Sommer, who died last week at 110 and was at the time the world’s oldest Holocaust survivor, won an Oscar for Best Short Documentary at the Academy Awards on Sunday evening. Born in Prague in 1903, Herz-Sommer was an accomplished
JNS news briefs: March 3, 2014 Read More »
InternationalBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –President Obama has long made clear his distaste for fighting wars — his or anyone else’s. He has followed through on his belief in diplomacy not necessarily moored to military power, and on his priority issues within the military related to social and group identity issues. Now in his sixth
U.S. gets no respect in world affairs Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USA
By Aryeh Savir JERUSALEM – After experiencing a record breaking snow storm in December and an extremely dry winter after that, Israel is now experiencing more unusual weather – a sand and dust storm from the Sahara has descended on the country, creating a grimy and eerie atmosphere. Such storms are not uncommon for this
Sand and dust blanket Israel Read More »
Middle East
By Anav Silverman JERUSALEM–Among the hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews that gathered to protest the government’s proposed military draft law yesterday, there were countless women and children. Police estimated that about half a million Haredim gathered on Sunday afternoon at the nation’s capital, with 2,000 busses bringing in demonstrators from outside, in a united
Haredi women express their views on draft Read More »
Middle EastBy Sheryl Rowling SAN DIEGO — It might seem trite to bring up “elder fraud” again. Trite as it might seem, it is real and happening NOW! Oy vey! A good friend called me last week, upset after finding out about her parents’ experience. It went like this: Her mother received a phone call early
Money Maven: Beware Elder Fraud Read More »
Sheryl Rowling
Editor’s Note: Following is a response to “Muslims, Jews See the World Differently,” a column by Professor Ira Sharkansky that ran on San Diego Jewish World on February 24, 2014: By Jacob Bender PHILADELPHIA — The essence of xenophobia is to extend to an entire group the actions of the few. Based upon the financial
Muslims, Jews not a case of “us versus them” Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—My very first job as a young teenager was working as a busboy in a Los Angeles cafeteria called Ontra’s. I was fired after a single shift, with the manager telling me: “We need someone to clean the tables, not to talk with the customers.” I was a schmoozer back
Feeding the hungry on the salt & pepper detail Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonAttention Family Historians: If you would like a JPG photo copy from the Southwestern Jewish Press of any “Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” article that has been reprinted on the San Diego Jewish World website, simply copy the website address of the article, and send it along with the article’s headline, with a $5 payment
Adventures in San Diego Jewish History, November 15, 1957, Part 2 Read More »
Adventures in SD History
By Loren Kantor STUDIO CITY, California –My paternal grandfather was a Torah scribe. He spent his days carefully drawing the Hebrew letters that made up the Torah, the most sacred of Jewish texts. Writing on thin parchment paper made from the skin of a kosher animal, he began by carefully marking thin pencil lines that
Tales of the Woodcutter: The Torah Scribe Read More »
Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts
By Ozzie Nogg OMAHA, Nebraska — Pesach is coming, so make sure to kasher your water. In his coverage of the Middle East peace process, freelance journalist Andy Rowell writes, “As much as the conflict between Israel and Palestine is about religion and access to land, it is also about resources and who controls those
Should your water be kashered for Pesach? Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Last December, Jerusalem was under siege because of the snowstorm; today Sunday, March 2, it’s under siege because of the half-a-million or more ultra-Orthodox haredim due to come out to demonstrate against the proposed conscription law that would not only compel their young men to serve in the army
Mass Haredi protest expected in Jerusalem Read More »
Middle East