Donald H. Harrison

25 Conservative congregations latest to join ‘Mitzvah Initiative’

NEW YORK (Press Release)– A new cohort of 25 congregations from Judaism’s Conservative Movement will enroll in The Jewish Theological Seminary’s groundbreaking Mitzvah Initiative this fall, joining the nearly 50 synagogues, Solomon Schechter day schools, and Ramah camps already involved with the program, among them Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego. The 2010–2011 cohort includes […]

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Jewish Religion

Lighter side: Austria, Cuba and other ‘Middle Eastern’ players

By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — What could be more routine than those little notes countries send other countries to say Happy Birthday? Yet even here there’s a sort of strangeness about the current U.S. government’s approach to the Middle East . On October 25, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sent national day greetings to

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International, Middle East, USA

Education Department rules threats, hostile acts toward Jews are Civil Rights violations

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) — Congressman Brad Sherman applauded Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for agreeing to return to its 2004 policy and applying Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to the protection of Jewish students from anti-Semitism on campuses. “For two years, I have been pushing the U.S. Department of Education to adopt this

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USA

Judy Gross pleads in letter to Raul Castro for release of her husband Alan

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The wife of a Jewish American aid worker jailed in Havana for allegedly being a spy has written a letter to Cuban President Raúl Castro expressing regret for his actions. The ‘Reuters’ news agency also reported that Judy Gross, wife of US Agency for International Development employee Alan Gross, had claimed President

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Travel and Food

Historians say German Foreign Office, notwithstanding denials, were Nazi collaborators

BERLIN (WJC)–A task force of historians commissioned in 2005 by then German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has found that during the Nazi-era many diplomats at the Foreign Office were in the Holocaust and covered up their involvement in the crimes after the end of World War II. Fischer said he was “disgusted” by the revelations.

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Travel and Food

Pennsylvania legislators protest anti-Israel speech of Lincoln U. prof

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (WJC)– Two state lawmakers have sent a letter of complaint to the head of Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania, about a literature professor who made strong anti-Israel statements at a rally in Washington, DC in September. Professor Kaukab Siddique, 67, had said: “We must stand united to defeat, to destroy, to dismantle Israel,

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USA

U.S. sponsors speech by Iranian apologist in Saudi Arabia

By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel (Press Release)– There are days when you think: No, this nightmare can’t be real! Is the Obama Administration really so bad? Have the policymakers really taken leave of their senses? And then you see this: The U.S. Consulate-General in Saudi Arabia “hosted Dr. Trita Parsi, founder and President of the

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Middle East, USA

D.A. to run commercials against insurance fraud on area movie screens

SAN DIEGO (Press Release)– District Attorney Bonnie M. Dumanis on Monday, Oct. 25, announced a new public awareness campaign featuring a series of short ads placed on over 340 movie screens in theaters across San Diego County aimed at curbing insurance fraud. Insurance fraud costs California consumers an estimated $15 billion dollars every year and

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San Diego Calendar, San Diego County

U.S., Jordan sign $275 million compact to improve Jordan’s water supply

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, along with Daniel Yohannes, chief executive officer of the Millenium Challenge Corporation, signed an agreement on Monday, Oct. 25, to upgrade Jordan’s water supply in the Zarqa area. Following is a text of comments made at that ceremony: MR.

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Travel and Food

JWV urges Dec. 17 be made an evening for a special Kaddish

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)– Steve Zeitz, national commander of the Jewish War Veterans, has called on synagogues to set aside the evening of Friday, Dec. 17, as a Shabbat for commemorating losses of Jewish and Allied lives in World War II. He issued the following statement: “The JWV is requesting that special memorial prayers be recited

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USA

Jewish Agency refines its plans to introduce young Diaspora Jewry to Israel

JERUSALEM (Press Release)– Providing teens and young adults from abroad with a continuum of experiences in Israel and creating social action opportunities in Israel for young Israelis and Jews from abroad will serve as the focus of the work of the Jewish Agency for Israel, its Board of Governors decided Monday, Oct. 25. These areas of

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Middle East

Knesset member tweaks the nose of the United States, calls for war crimes investigation of U.S. role in Iraq

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — My concern in political science is to observe, understand, and explain. I do not view myself as a partisan.   At times observation can be painful, as when a student in my seminar died in the explosion at the Hebrew University cafeteria, and the girl friend (now wife) of a

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Ira Sharkansky, USA

Pro-Palestinian cleric hijacks statement from Middle East bishops

By Bruce Kesler ENCINITAS, California– “Is ‘Palestinian-killer’ the new ‘Christ-killer’?” was the first question that occurred to me as I read news reports that a meeting of Catholic Bishops from the Middle East condemned Israel, called for withdrawal to 1967 borders, and asserted that Jews have no Biblical right to Israel. I just read the actual statement of

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Middle East

Adventures in San Diego Jewish History, April 15, 1955, Part 3

Compiled by San Diego Jewish world staff Double Talk Southwestern Jewish Press, April 15, 1955, Page 5 By Janet & Linda Solof Hitting the spot was Easter vacation For “us kids” to get some relaxation So now we are studying very hard. Working for a good report card Seen enjoying vacation and the sun at

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Adventures in SD History, San Diego County