Ten spies conclude, “We cannot do this.” Joshua and Caleb see the same reality and say, “It will be difficult, but we must do it anyway.” {Betzy Lynch}
Twelve spies sent by Moses to scout out Canaan have a relevant message for today Read More »
Jewish Religion, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food
This is the first time in history that the entire tournament is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and is the first to feature 48 teams. (Cailin Acosta)
Soccer players from around the world converge on North America Read More »
Cailin Acosta, International, Israel, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USA
As Anyanwu and Jones are the only actors, the fight scenes are done by shadow boxing against an imaginary opponent with sound effects for the hits. Jones did a great job making the hits and kicks feel like they really landed. (Sandi Masori)
‘The Monsters’ portrays family reconciliation Read More »
Lifestyles, San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Batalla noted that in 2026, Yom Kippur falls on Cohen’s birthday. The following song, “Who by Fire,” was based on the prayer Unetanneh Tokef. He wrote it after the improvised concerts he gave IDF soldiers during the Yom Kippur War. For “Who By Fire,” Batalla introduced the udu, an African water drum, and the guitar-like Middle Eastern oud played by Dimitris Jimmy Mahlis, who toured with her and Cohen. Batalla said Cohen’s touring band always had an oud player and said in the hands of a master it has been called a direct line to God. {Shor M. Masori]
JFest brings Leonard Cohen’s music, stories, and spirit to The Conrad Read More »
Jewish Celebrities, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Shor M. Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Welcome to akridosis—the Grasshopper Syndrome. A certified Yiddishe classic. If you go around convinced you’re a grasshopper, don’t be shocked when the rest of the world reaches for the Raid. (Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel)
Parsha Shelach Lecha: Grasshoppers and giants Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food
Marcus also shared that when they first came to South Africa from Lithuania in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jews became peddlers, traders and small business owners, similar to the American Jewish immigrant stories. (Sandi Masori)
Adat Yeshurun hosts JFEST’s South African Jewish night Read More »
International, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food
La Mesa Arts Academy’s eighth-grade Social Studies classes, taught by Mrs. Debra Lunamand and Mrs. Heather Filippelli, participated in The Butterfly Project just before the end of the school year as students completed testing and finalized semester grades. More than 300 plaster butterflies were painted. [Cailin Acosta]
Eighth-grade students commemorate the Holocaust by painting ceramic butterflies Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Cailin Acosta, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Composer and songwriter Justin Hurwitz, who wrote the music for La La Land, is Jewish and of Russian, Polish, Syrian, and Lebanese descent. Hurwitz attended Harvard University, where he was roommates with director Damien Chazelle. The two later collaborated on La La Land and several other films. [Cailin Acosta}
The Torah records one of the most revealing statements in all Tanach: “We were like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and so we were in theirs.”
The first half of the verse is understandable. The spies felt intimidated. They felt small in comparison to the challenges before them. But the second half raises an obvious question. How could they possibly know how the inhabitants of the land viewed them? [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]
Parsha Shelach: ‘The link is what you think’ Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell, Staff and Bylined Contributors
The hanging from a clock scene is one of the most famous sequences in film history: Harold Lloyd dangling from the hands of a giant clock high above the city streets of Los Angeles. The scene remains thrilling today … [Sherrie Rose]
Silent Movie Mondays ends with Harold Lloyd comedy: ‘Safety Last’ Read More »
California, Jewish History, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Ohad Moskowitz, featured vocalist on the program, has a beautiful, versatile voice and chose selections from the liturgy and from Israeli songs. He ended with those with pop music influence. (Eileen Wingard)
JFest concert brings together many familiar faces Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors
The contempt that some Israel-bashers hold for America’s laws never ceases to surprise. Their accomplices in Boulder, Colorado, eclipsed them all on June 1, the first anniversary of Karen Diamond’s murder in a firebombing on Boulder’s Pearl Street. They are demanding the release of her convicted killer, Mohamed Soliman, who was sentenced to life plus 2,178 years in prison last month after pleading guilty to 101 charges in the attack. He injured 13 others. (Bruce S. Ticker)
Anti-Israel protesters demand that Colorado release firebomber Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Israel, Jewish History, Obituaries & memorials, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) and PeerK12 concluded their 2026 San Diego Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) Student Scholarship Contest with a special awards ceremony held at the RUTH: Remember Us The Holocaust exhibit at the La Jolla Library on Tuesday. The event brought together students, community members, and Holocaust survivor Ben Midler to celebrate the next generation of young leaders committed to preserving Jewish history and combating antisemitism through education. (Press Release)
Jewish history projects win college scholarships Read More »
Jewish History, Press Release, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions
“The RJC condemns in the strongest possible terms the candidacy of Graham Platner, a man who walked around with a Nazi SS Totenkopf tattoo emblazoned on his chest for 18 years and now expects Maine voters to send him to the United States Senate. A Nazi tattoo is disqualifying. Full stop. [Press Release]
RJC slams Graham Platner’s Nazi tattoo Read More »
Antisemitism, Holocaust, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA