By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Almost lost in the terrible events in Boston is the Obama administration’s dire warning last week that the window for diplomatic success in the Middle East is closing — not on Iran’s quest for nuclear capability; not on the Syrian war; not on sectarian violence in Iraq; not on […]
Enough with the ‘window of opportunity’ rhetoric Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel SAN DIEGO — The Psalms’ language is unabashedly picturesque; it full of nature imagery—as is the Siddur itself. One way to think of the metaphor is to see it as a moving image; it is not static. This thought is the simple premise behind the Nehahel Siddur: Nature serves to
New Orthodox siddur is intellectually attractive Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Eva Trieger SAN DIEGO — It is the generally accepted modus operandi of stand up comedians to react to hecklers with quick jabs and caustic barbs. Well, Steve Hofstetter was at the top of his game at Riley’s Bar and Grill in the Point Loma neighborhood last Saturday, April 20. On a small stage,
Putting down hecklers is Hofstetter specialty Read More »
Eva TriegerBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO –Brian Helgeland’s 42 is an old fashioned Hollywood biopic. Spanning Jackie Robinson’s recruitment by the Brooklyn Dodgers and first year in the National League, the film presents idealized depictions of both Robinson played by Chadwick Boseman and Branch Rickey played by Harrison Ford. Ford steals the movie like Robinson stole
The Wandering Review: Jackie Robinson and the Jews Read More »
Lawrence BaronBy Rachel Marder/JNS.org JERUSALEM – While Israel is fast becoming a leader in the biomedical and biotechnology fields, industry experts say the Israeli Health Ministry may be unduly hindering its growth. Famously called a “start-up nation,” a nickname coined by Dan Senor and Saul Singer in their 2009 book about the Jewish state’s economic miracle, today
Slow approvals delay Israel biotechs Read More »
Travel and FoodTrialogue and Terror: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam after 9/11 by Alan L. Berger, ed., Cascade Books, Eugene, OR; ISBN 978-1-60899-546-2 ©2012, $30.00, p. 255, plus index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — Domestic stories primarily covered the front page of the New York Times on September 10, 2001. Succeeding days and months would be
The post-911 world through interreligious eyes Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish ReligionBy Binyamin Kagedan/JNS.org As is the case for many holidays in the Jewish calendar cycle, Lag B’Omer (April 28 this year) carries within it not one, but multiple and distinct layers of meaning. Mystical significances, historical memories, and moral reflections all meld together into the contemporary notion of what makes this day special, the product
Lag B’Omer: Rethinking the Akiva narrative Read More »
Jewish ReligionSwedish knight completes 4,500-mile walk to Jerusalem (JNS.org) Jorgen Nilsson, an officer in the Swedish military and a Knight Hospitalier in the Order of St. Lazarus, has arrived in Israel after a six-month journey on foot from his home in Sweden, Israel Hayom reported. Nilsson arrived in Jerusalem on Sunday, where he was given a
JNS news briefs: April 22, 2013 Read More »
InternationalTEL AVIV (Press Release)— A few years ago, researchers revealed that the universe is expanding at a much faster rate than originally believed — a discovery that earned a Nobel Prize in 2011. But measuring the rate of this acceleration over large distances is still challenging and problematic, says Prof. Hagai Netzer of Tel Aviv
Black holes aid in measuring universe’s expansion Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education
Story and photos by Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–There were so many things to do, exhibits to see, and people to schmooze with that unless you walked hand-in-hand with a companion during the entire time of the Israel Independence Festival, never letting go for even a minute, no person’s overall experiences there on Sunday,
San Diego celebrates Israel’s 65th birthday Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Anav Silverman JERUSALEM — It is not every day that downtown Jerusalem is featured in international films. But this past Friday a Chinese film production drew local attention, as movie scenes for what is expected to be a blockbuster movie in China, were shot along the busy Ben Yehuda Street. The film, The Old
It happened on Ben Yehuda Street Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Aryeh Savir SHA’ALABIM, Israel — Charlie Park, Vice President of Samsung Korea, visited an Israeli Yeshiva at Sha’alabim last week. He was accompanied by a South Korean camera crew. Their objective was to document how students study Talmud at the Yeshiva. Park met with the program directors and with students. The South Koreans have
Samsung exec tours yeshiva to find source of genius Read More »
Middle East
By Donald H. Harrison EL CAJON, California — I had to ask director Martin Katz whether he had been thinking about death a lot lately. His upcoming play at Grossmont College, An Ordinary Day, is a comedy dealing with a lady who plans to commit suicide, only she is constantly being interrupted. It wasn’t so long
Director probes the lighter side of death Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson EIN BOQEQ, Israel — Just one and a half hours’ drive away from my home just outside Jerusalem lies the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth, whose water is so salty that the human body can float quite easily on its surface. It rains very rarely and the temperature there never
Ah, the respite of the Dead Sea Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson