By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — The Sinai was a bit of heaven; now it is a chunk of hell. Muslims are killing each other in the wilderness where Moses received the Law; in Israel, hands are wringing and hearts are breaking. Since 1979, when Israel dutifully returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, the […]
Cry, the beloved Sinai Read More »
Middle EastTEL AVIV (Press Release)— Researchers from Tel Aviv University have unearthed the remains of massive ancient fortifications built around an Iron-Age Assyrian harbor in present-day Israel. At the heart of the well-preserved fortifications is a mud-brick wall up to more than 12 feet wide and 15 feet high. The wall is covered in layers of
Harbor fort from 800 BCE unearthed near Ashdod Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education
By Aryeh Savir TSEMACH, Israel — An Israeli team of scientists has developed a new technology which may enable crops to weather s world-wide drought, thus minimizing famine and strife. The team, led by Professor Shimon Gepstein, Chancellor of the Kinneret College, genetically engineered a plant that can withstand droughts by ‘freezing itself’ after not
Kinneret College develops plants that persist through droughts Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education
By Rabbi Philip Graubart SHA’AR HANEGEV, Israel — The day before our Israel group visited Sha’ar Hanegev, our sister city in the Northern Negev, one-half kilometer from Gaza City, six missiles fell in the vicinity. When I arrived, I took a quick walk around a youth village with Mayor Alon Schuster and I asked
Some spiritual advice from Sha’ar Hanegev’s mayor Read More »
Travel and Food
By Eva Trieger LA JOLLA, California – Some of improv theater’s finest gathered to poke fun at San Diego locals and legends Wednesday night at the Mandell Weiss Forum Theater of La Jolla Playhouse. “The Good, the Bad and the I-5” should have been named “Roasting Bob Filner on a Spit” based on the
Mayor Filner subject of numerous barbs at La Jolla Playhouse Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO– I have to face it; I’m too heavy. Practically the only time I can see my feet is if I’m sitting down and I cross my legs. Or if I lean back in my Lazy Boy Chair. I had a biometric examination the other day at Grossmont College,
A 10,000-step program Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — When President Barack Obama took time out from his Martha’s Vinyard golfing holiday to comment on events in Egypt, he produced an iconic moment of unreality comparable to George W. Bush declaring victory in Iraq from the deck of an aircraft carrier. Obama’s lengthy comments have been summarized with the
Obama seen by Mideast commentators as naive, out of touch Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Natasha Josefowitz, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — In these hard economic times, many of us have had to witness the firing of beloved colleagues. I thought it might be useful to review current employment practices, which are different from what many of us grew accustomed to over the course of our careers. Under California
Painful, but Necessary: The Termination Process Read More »
Natasha Josefowitz, Travel and Food
By Navras Jaat Aafreedi GREATER NOIDA, India — 19th June, 2013 was a historic day as it saw the release of the only work of fiction by a member of the Baghdadi Jewish community of Kolkata. The Jewish community of Kolkata was the last of the Jewish communities to settle in India and the first
Baghdadi Jew from Kolkata, India, publishes first novel Read More »
Travel and FoodSAN DIEGO–After a fulfilling life and career, Harold Joachim Simon, M.D., Ph.D. died peacefully surrounded by his loving family on August 6, 2013. He was a founding member of the UCSD School of Medicine faculty and a leader in the field of international health and health policy; professor emeritus of Internal Medicine; and founding chief
Dr. Harold J. Simon, M.D., dean at UCSD School of Medicine Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education
Israel dismisses accusations that it was behind Beirut bombing (JNS.org) Current and former Israeli officials dismissed Lebanese accusations that the Jewish state was behind Thursday’s car bomb in a Hezbollah-controlled area in southern Beirut that killed 22 people. Lebanese President Michael Suleiman said the Beirut bombing“bore the fingerprints of terrorism and Israel, intended to undermine
JNS news briefs: August 16, 2013 Read More »
International
By Eileen Wingard LOS ANGELES — Dr. Noreen Green, the founder and conductor of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, was a student of Murry Sidlin at the Aspen Festival during the summer of 1993. The brilliant conductor and pedagogue encouraged and inspired Green to follow her dream to create an orchestra specializing in music with
Symphony in Los Angeles highlights Jewish music Read More »
Travel and Food
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — One of the most conspicuous signs of a Jewish home is the mezuza on the doorpost. While sometimes people think that the essence of the mitzva is affixing the decorative case on the doorpost, the important part of the mezuza is what’s inside: a small scroll with the
Building a parapet around our roofs and our hearts Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Personally, I have never been one for reality television shows. Life is much too interesting to “observe” from afar. When I was growing up in the sixties and seventies, I remember “The Dating Game.” This show would pit a number of contestants who would compete for
The suicide of a contestant on ‘The Bachelor’ Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi