By Rabbi Michael Berk SAN DIEGO — The lurid allegations of politicians acting badly overcame the usual summer lull in news this season. Mayor Bob Filner and Anthony Weiner spent much of the summer trying to survive politically. But what about spiritual survival? What does their common faith, Judaism, teach about sin, atonement and forgiveness? […]
Time for Filner, Weiner and us to do teshuvah Read More »
Jewish Religion, San Diego County, USA
By Anav Silverman JERUSALEM — A 10-member delegation of dairy farmers from the Punjab region of India recently visited Israel to participate in a training program about modern dairy farming techniques. The unique program was especially designed for the group by the Center for International Agricultural Development Cooperation (CINDACO) of Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and
Punjabi farmers tour Israel’s agricultural projects Read More »
Middle EastTEL AVIV (Press Release)— A new study led by Tel Aviv University researchers finds that the Holocaust education trips Israeli high school students take to Poland every year can trigger mental health problems. About a third of the psychiatric professionals surveyed in this pilot study said they had treated teenagers for psychological problems arising from
Student Holocaust trips can trigger mental health issues Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education
Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations take place under the radar (JNS.org) Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations were held secretly on Tuesday in Jerusalem, AFP reported, citing Palestinian sources. Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s special envoy, Yitzhak Molcho, reportedly met twice—first for two hours and later for one hour—with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and
JNS news briefs: August 21, 2013 Read More »
International
By Aaron Voit SAN NICOLÁS LEMPA, El Salvador –For the next five months it is my extreme privilege to work as EcoViva’s International Fellow in the Lower Lempa in El Salvador. I first came to the Lower Lempa as a participant on an EcoViva Community Empowerment Tour (CET) in April of 2012. It was a
A Tikkun Olam project in El Salvador Read More »
San Diego CountyBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Moshe Arens has gained credit for coining the expression, The Middle East is not the Middle West. It serves to warn westerners, and especially Americans, that culture matters, and that the culture of the Middle East is not like that of the Middle West. This is a good time to
Middle East is not the Middle West Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — We all have our secret lives. I don’t mean to say that each of us has a sinister side, which we wickedly act out in some deep, dark, private world. What I do mean is that we all act differently when we are alone, or with a
The sins that we commit in the privacy of our homes Read More »
Jewish Religion
SAN DIEGO — Our license plate maven Melanie Rubin has no idea whose initials CES are, but she figures that the owner of the license plate has a very lucky number: 18, which, of course, is the numeric value of the Hebrew word for life, “Chai.” So mazal tov, CES, and L’Chaim!
Jewish-interest license plate: CES 18 Read More »
Jewish Religion, Melanie Rubin
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C — The Palestine Liberation Organization was created in 1964. Like most revolutionary movements, it wrote a Charter to define its aims and fundamental policies, including: Article 17: The partitioning of Palestine, which took place in 1947, and the establishment of Israel are illegal and null and void, regardless of the
Palestinians still dedicated to Israel’s destruction Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen
By Sheryl Rowling SAN DIEGO — Admit it – you’re worried about having enough money during retirement. Does this scenario describe you? You’ve been working for decades. Your kids are grown and mostly self-sufficient. You’ve been contributing to your 401(k), paying off credit cards every month, and dreaming of the day you can afford to
The Money Maven: The Retirement Dilemma Read More »
Sheryl Rowling, Travel and FoodBy Sarah Beller WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) –Joan Davenny was more than just my eighth grade teacher. As my day school graduating class splashed through Ein Gedi and heard a young kibbutznik’s poem on Yom Hazikaron, walked the ramparts of the Old City and sang “Al Kol Eileh” in the courtyard of Goldstein Youth Village,
Remembering Joan Davenny amid Mideast peace talks Read More »
Middle EastEgypt’s Catholic leader says country in a ‘war against terrorism’ (JNS.org) The ongoing turmoil in Egypt “is not a political struggle, but a war against terrorism,” the head of the Catholic Church in Egypt, Bishop Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak, Patriarch of Alexandria, said in a recent statement. “With pain, but also with hope, the Catholic Church
JNS news briefs: August 19 & 20 Read More »
International
The Gods are Broken! The Hidden Legacy of Abraham by Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin, U. of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE as a Jewish Publication Society Book’; ISBN 978-0-8276-0931-0 ©2013, $19.95, p. 133, plus notes and bibliography By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — The life of Abraham, the first patriarch of the Hebrew nation, is
Rabbi reconstructs the life of Abraham Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion
By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — After enacting its ban on the promotion of homosexuality, Russia is defying demands to change its policy or face a boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics there. Putin has dug his heels in and renamed St. Petersburg St. Burg because the mere mention of peters is too homosexually
Humoring the headlines: August 20, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, USA