By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — I remember secretly praying, when I was a lad of ten years, for Santa Claus to mistake our home for a Christian household and slide down our chimney with presents. It was a serious and plaintive devotion; my good Catholic neighbors were going to have the reindeer adventure […]
Thoughts of a rabbi on the approach of Christmas Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –Can Americans cure themselves of gun addiction? It’s a daunting assignment, and raises a question about coping. Gun addiction may be insoluble, and there may be no way for individuals to cope with the malady that infects so many of their fellow Americans as to make no place suitable as a refuge.
An ex-pat’s thoughts on U.S. gun control Read More »
USACIA: Pollard received life sentence for giving unauthorized interview to Blitzer (JNS.org) Jonathan Pollard, the only person in U.S. history to receive a life sentence for spying for an American ally, received a sentence of that magnitude because of an unauthorized interview he gave Wolf Blitzer of the Jerusalem Post in 1986, according to a
JNS news briefs: December 17, 2012 Read More »
InternationalBy Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — They should have called it Corny Island Christmas. Corny in a good way, of course. Donald Margulies’ new play, Coney Island Christmas celebrates what Jewish kids have fantasized about for a couple of generations now: an ecumenical Christmas that they can participate in without shocking the neighbors. After all, Jesus was a Jew, wasn’t
Comedy tells of Jewish girl playing Jesus Read More »
Cynthia CitronBy David Amos SAN DIEGO –During the weeklong celebration of Hannukah, which just finished, I was pleased to find Radio Hannukah on the Sirius-XM satellite radio in the car. It was a special channel, entirely devoted, 24 hours a day, to recorded music related to the festival. Most of it was Hannukah music, while other
Let us commission serious Jewish music Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California– When the devastated father of Emilie Parker, Robbie Parker, took to the cameras and microphones on Saturday to talk about his murdered 6 year-old child in Newtown, Connecticut, we were able to gain more than a media coup. Even the most cynical (and there are some), who may have
How we can respond to the Newtown victims’ families Read More »
USABy Danny Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan– For a small island nation like Taiwan, she sure gets a lot of visitors from around the world, some coming here for the first time, and others coming back for nostalgic reunions with old U.S.military buddies. Joel Aronson, who lives in New Jersey, is one such man. The former
Jewish-American photographer returns to TAiwan Read More »
InternationalBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — How extreme is Avigdor Lieberman? Compared to what? No doubt that Avigdor Lieberman has an image problem with the worthies of the West. He goes beyond the politically correct assertions that the terrorism is not Islam by speaking explicitly about Arab violence, and he throws the charge of
When it comes to violence, US far more extreme than Israel Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Even the day after the terrible tragedy in the school in Connecticut, the Israeli papers found space on their front pages for Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s resignation. Though the prosecution has dropped against him all the serious charges that have been on the books for many years, it intends
The indictee who would be tsar Read More »
Middle EastBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — I often get asked, “What is the symbolism of the dreidel? What exactly is its origin?” The dreidel is a four cornered top that was popular in the medieval era and originally used for gambling. Jewish folklore purports that when the Syrians prohibited the study of
The symbolism of the dreidel Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — We Jews, especially, know the story of immigrants who have come to America seeking economic opportunity. We recall how the older generation tried to hold onto the mother tongue, but how the younger generation quickly embraced English and American ways. We know that every generation of immigrants, from
PBS documentary examines lives of Iranian-Americans Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Danny Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan– When British cookbook author and international foodie Marlena Spieler flew to Taiwan recently for a four-day visit at the invitation of the government tourist bureau, she immediately fell in love with Taipei, its people and its delicious foods. Spieler is the veteran author of over 50 food and travel
British cookbook author has delicious time in Taiwan Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Isaac Yetiv, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California– Early in the 1950’s , in a speech in Haifa , David Hacohen , the Israeli representative at the U.N., astonished the public when he said, “Don’t expect the United Nations to be a Court of Justice; it is an organization guided by the competing interests of the nations,
Palestine vote another example of U.N.’s dysfunctionality Read More »
International, Middle EastBy Gary Rotto SAN DIEGO —The shootings in Connecticut hit me hard. Just the thought of a gunman coming into a school and shooting children was too much for me. I thought of the times when my daughter was younger and attended San Diego Jewish Academy that she would tell me of a Code Red,
Perhaps we should register body armor Read More »
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