Donald H. Harrison

Halloween superstitious? How about tefillin and mezuzot?

November 6, 2013

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Rabbi Kamin’s interesting article on the subject of Halloween reminded me of many of my own childhood experiences. Is Halloween “permitted”? Is the children’s ritual of “Trick and Treating,” considered forbidden because it emulates the practices of the non-Jewish world? Many years ago, a learned colleague […]

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Of Presidents, Prime Ministers and Secretaries

November 6, 2013

By Donald H. Harrison Kerry tilts to Palestinians during Wednesday’s Mideast press conferences Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke bluntly about Iran and the Palestinians. On the other hand, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry tried to put a diplomatic gloss on matters during their joint appearance in Jerusalem. Later while standing with Palestinian President Mahmoud

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Donald H. Harrison

How the Israeli landscape has change since Rabin

November 6, 2013

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Twice a year at about this time, Israelis hear about the murder 18 years ago of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. It happens twice, like some other occasions, due to the the country’s juggling of two calendars, secular and Hebrew. Like JFK, Yitzhak Rabin has grown in stature with an improved personality since

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

JNS news briefs: November 6, 2013

November 6, 2013

Avigdor Lieberman cleared of corruption charges (JNS.org) In a unanimous verdict, a three-judge panel on Wednesday acquitted former Israeli foreign minister and Yisrael Beiteinu party chairman Avigdor Lieberman of corruption charges, Israel Hayom reported. “I congratulate you on your acquittal and I am pleased with your return to the Israeli cabinet so that we can

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International

The painful legacy of torture

November 5, 2013

TEL AVIV (Press Release) — Israeli soldiers captured during the 1973 Yom Kippur War were subjected to brutal torture in Egypt and Syria. Held alone in tiny, filthy spaces for weeks or months, sometimes handcuffed and blindfolded, they suffered severe beatings, burns, electric shocks, starvation, and worse. And rather than receiving treatment, additional torture was

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Kerry pays homage to Yitzhak Rabin’s memory

November 5, 2013

TEL AVIV (Press Release)– On the 18th anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry paid tribute to him at the square where his life was taken. Here, provided by the U.S. State Department, is a transcript of the remarks made on that occasion: SECRETARY KERRY: It’s a great privilege for me

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Middle East

JNS news briefs: November 5, 2013

November 5, 2013

Netanyahu: No change in Palestinian position since 1993 (JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday in a Likud-Beiteinu alliance meeting that he sees “no real changes in the Palestinian position since 1993,” the year the Oslo Accords were signed. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, said Israel’s linking of its release of Palestinian prisoners

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International

Kalman Aron: Survivor and artist subject of Book Fair talk

November 5, 2013

LA JOLLA, California– Susan Magee, author of Into the Light, a pictorial biography of artist Kalman Aron, speaks at the San Diego Jewish Book Fair today (Tuesday, Nov. 5). Here is a video about the artist whose work has been greatly influenced by surviving the Holocaust.

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Jewish History

Netanyahu and Israel have learned to cope

November 5, 2013

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Here we are, with at least 2,000 years of animosity from outsiders, along with quarrelsome Jews. Some believe with great intensity that God gave us everything between an Egyptian river and far to the east. Some believe that the Jews of Palestine then Israel have been responsible for their problems

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Memories of 1963: JFK, The Beatles

November 5, 2013

By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — On November 4, 1963, a still-emerging quartet from Liverpool played a key engagement: The Beatles gave a concert for the Royal Family in London. In fact, the event was a Royal Command Performance at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London, in the presence of both the Queen

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USA

A Holocaust book for youngsters?

November 4, 2013

Aline Sax, author, and Caryl Strzelecki, illustrator, The War Within These Walls, Eerdman’s Books for Young Readers, 2013, ISBN 978-0-8028-5428-5, 169 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Sometimes I think all of us are too young to learn about the Holocaust, because the more we know the more our souls feel crushed. But

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Donald H. Harrison

Humoring the headlines: November 4, 2013

November 4, 2013

By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―Major cuts in the Food Stamp Program went into effect the day after Halloween. When criticized for reducing food subsidies for those who can’t afford to feed themselves, a number of Tea Party Republicans introduced legislation to hold Halloween on the last Thursday of every month to sweeten the lives of

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

JNS news briefs: November 4, 2013

November 4, 2013

Jobbik party’s commemoration of Hungarian Nazi collaborator sparks protest (JNS.org) Nearly 1,000 protestors took to the streets in Budapest to decry the far-right Jobbik party’s unveiling of a statue of Hungarian wartime leader and Nazi collaborator Miklos Horthy, Reuters reported. The third-largest party in Hungary, Jobbik’s leaders have stoked extremism anti-Semitism in Hungary, often

JNS news briefs: November 4, 2013 Read More »

International

Why the Palestinian Authority can’t afford peace

November 4, 2013

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Palestinians have thrown a monkey wrench in the works again – as they have a pattern of doing every time the “peace process” is supposed to be close to “solving” the problem. Despite the secrecy surrounding the current U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry-sponsored talks, a Palestinian

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Middle East, Shoshana Bryen

Halloween superstitious? How about tefillin and mezuzot?

Of Presidents, Prime Ministers and Secretaries

How the Israeli landscape has change since Rabin

JNS news briefs: November 6, 2013

The painful legacy of torture

Kerry pays homage to Yitzhak Rabin’s memory

JNS news briefs: November 5, 2013

Kalman Aron: Survivor and artist subject of Book Fair talk

Netanyahu and Israel have learned to cope

Memories of 1963: JFK, The Beatles

A Holocaust book for youngsters?

Humoring the headlines: November 4, 2013

JNS news briefs: November 4, 2013

Why the Palestinian Authority can’t afford peace

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