As many as 1,000 protesters rallied in Manhattan on Tuesday outside Gracie Mansion, the official mayoral residence, to demand that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani be more responsive to the safety concerns of the city’s Jewish residents or be removed from office by New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul. [SDJW staff]
Jewish world briefs Read More »
Antisemitism, Israel, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
Jewish Heritage Month is ending in a few days. I was pleased to see a display on my way out of an event at La Mesa Arts Academy honoring famous Jewish Americans. [Cailin Acosta]
Jewish American Heritage Month nears conclusion Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Cailin Acosta, Israel, Jewish Celebrities, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA
AB 2664 would establish a 100-foot zone around the entrances of houses of worship, within which protesters may not intentionally approach congregants within eight feet of their body without their consent. The legislation comes amid rising antisemitism and a growing pattern of protests outside religious institutions of all faiths. [Press Release]
California Assembly approves legislation regulating protests near Houses of Worship Read More »
Antisemitism, California, Israel, Jewish Religion, Press Release, USA
Democratic Majority for Israel PAC on Tuesday celebrated Johnny Garcia’s victory in the Democratic primary runoff in Texas’s 35th Congressional District, where voters decisively rejected Maureen Galindo, whose long record of virulent antisemitic conspiracy theories made her unfit to serve in the Democratic caucus. (Press Release)
Johnny Garcia defeats anti-Zionist Maureen Galindo for a Texas Congressional seat Read More »
Israel, Press Release, USA
He is likely correct that Spinoza was convinced that God does not intervene in history, perform miracles, reward, punish, or listen to prayers – other Jewish thinkers said the same thing while never denying God’s existence. But he is clearly wrong to suppose that when Spinoza said we can see God in nature, he meant God does not exist. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Was Spinoza an atheist? Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors
From the time Conductor Kostelanetz suggested Zina learn the Hovhaness Concerto and the release of this CD, she recorded 16 other CDs, all gaining critical praise. This Alan Hovhaness CD is also receiving a great deal of media acclaim. [Eileen Wingard]
Zina Schiff demonstrates her violin mastery in Alan Hovhaness CD Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food
Foster hand-selected her audiences, in this way assuring that attendees would be generous. Often her patrons were members of clubs that she sponsored or was a member, thereby stacking the deck for more favorable reviews. [Eva Trieger]
‘Glorious,’ saga of the worst singer, now at PowPac Read More »
Eva Trieger, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
The basic story, set in an Eastern European shtetl, is about the disappearance of the dye-maker Samuel. Samuel has a special technique for extracting dye from the flowers, and that is by listening to the flowers, letting them live their lives, and then picking them only when they’ve died. [Sandi Masori]
David Chait narrates a fanciful shtetl folktale Read More »
Jewish Fiction, San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
The La Mesa Arts Academy Masters Arts Showcase took over the school library with its end-of-the-year showcase celebrating the promoting eighth graders. [Cailin Acosta]
Life is enriched by detecting hidden Jewish connections Read More »
Cailin Acosta, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food
Lichtenstädter loved historical-prophetic sketches. In his book Das Neue Weltreich (The New Empire, 1903), he predicted Germany’s attack on Poland in October 1939 (he was off by one month). In 1912, Lichtenstädter predicted the “monstrous” slaughter of Armenians by the Turks, which took place in 1915. Long before the historical events, Lichtenstädter predicted the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1940 (he was off by two years). [Alex Gordon]
Jewish biography: Siegfried Lichtenstädter, anti-utopian author Read More »
Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors
An attic full of strawberries
A hand full of cards
Families forgetting they had to be wary
Their lives now forever covered in scars … [CeCe Acosta]
Poetry: All That Remains Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, Jewish Fiction, Lifestyles, Obituaries & memorials, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Written in 2005 by Ins Choi, who also played the role of Appa (the dad) in this production, it was originally written while Choi was attending the Soulpepper Academy in Toronto. At the time Choi cast himself in the role of Jung, the son. But, he said, he always aspired to play Appa when he “got old.” [Sandi Masori]
Television sit-com ‘Kim’s Convenience’ comes to Old Globe stage Read More »
Lifestyles, Opinion, San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Thousands of years ago, in a story held as history, sacred memory, and inherited narrative, our traditions begin in the same household. Abraham. Sarah. Hagar. Isaac. Ishmael. [Betzy Lynch]
Letter to our Muslim neighbors Read More »
Antisemitism, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Opinion, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
Now, artificial intelligence has forced humanity into a different kind of confrontation, not merely with technology, but with the possibility that human imagination itself may no longer be sufficient to understand what comes next. [Shahar Masori]
AI may surpass the limits of human imagination Read More »
Opinion, Science, Medicine, & Education, Shahar Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Technology