n Israeli civilian who entered Lebanon weeks ago on his own accord was returned on Thursday in a special operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and other security officials. [JNS.org]
Israeli Who Crossed into Lebanon is Returned Read More »
Middle East
A few Hamas leaders fully expect Israel’s downfall, yet Israel may not want to dislodge Hamas from its perch in Gaza. That is due to the equally firm expectation Hamas will be replaced by something worse. [Bruce S. Ticker]
OpEd: Hamas’s Confused Rule over Gaza Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Middle East
Published by NJArts.net The cover of Norman Seldin’s autobiography, “You Don’t Know Me.” When President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Norman Seldin was 16 years old and already a working musician. He was also, in fact, promoting his own shows. And on that November night, he had booked a “Cavalcade of Stars” show at the
Published by Reuters UK By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) -Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty by a U.S. jury on Wednesday of helping the late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls, sealing a remarkable fall from grace for the British socialite. Maxwell, 60, was accused of recruiting and grooming https://www.reuters.com/world/us/opening-statements-ghislaine-maxwell-sex-abuse-case-set-begin-2021-11-29 four teenagers between 1994
Ghislaine Maxwell convicted of recruiting teenage girls for Epstein sex abuse Read More »
Shanda File
This Young Adult novel is a mystical adventure in which four pre-teenage American girls representing the four cardinal directions are brought together to save the world from environmental disaster. The leader, Maia, representing the North, is a Lakota from South Dakota; the others are a Black-Jewish girl from New York (Sara, East); a Chicana from New Mexico, (Ava, South) and a Chinese girl who had been adopted by a Caucasian family in California (Yue, West). [Donald H. Harrison]
YA Fiction: A Magical Journey to Save the Environment Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, The World We Share
Anti-Semitism is not just a symptom of the radical left. Anti-Semitism can come from the ultra-right as well. The following story has not received much press in the Jewish community. When anti-Semitism rears its presence—regardless which part of the political spectrum it originated from—as a Jewish community, we must address the issue. Failing to do so is nothing less than moral cowardness. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Antisemitism Surfaces in Ohio Contest for U.S. Senate Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA
San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced criminal charges Monday against a man who attacked his neighbor on November 10 while yelling anti-gay slurs. Robert Frank Wilson, 40, is charged with one count of felony battery and a hate crime allegation. He was arraigned Monday in San Diego Superior Court in the South Bay and pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors say Wilson blocked his neighbor’s driveway, got out of his vehicle and started yelling homophobic slurs at the victim. At one point, Wilson reached into the window of the victim’s vehicle and struck him in the face. [District Atttorney’s office]
Man Accused of Hate Crimes against Gays, Jews Read More »
San Diego County
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (COP) on Monday issued the following statement: “We are appalled by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) vote to approve an open-ended Commission of Inquiry solely focused on Israel’s response to the conflict initiated by the Hamas terrorist regime last May, also known as ‘Operation Guardian of the Walls.’ … (Conference of Presidents)
Conference of Presidents Denounces UN General Assembly Vote on Gaza War Investigation Read More »
International, Middle East, USA
Randy S. Grossman began serving as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of California on Sunday, Dec. 26, for an interim period of 120 days or until a Presidential appointee is confirmed, whichever occurs first. [U.S. Attorney’s office]
Randy Grossman Named U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Read More »
San Diego County, USA
Speaking in 2013, Joe Biden said of the Jewish people, “You make up 11 percent of the seats in the United States Congress. You make up one-third of all Nobel laureates. So many notions that are embraced by this nation that particularly emanate from over 5,000 years of Jewish history, tradition and culture: independence, individualism, fairness, decency, justice, charity.” He concluded by saying what? [Mark D. Zimmerman]
Jewish Trivia Quiz: Joe Biden Read More »
Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire
How do you manage the pressure of hail in your life? No, not the hail that might fall once every few years in our generally warm San Diego rainy seasons. The hail I’m referring to is that which comes as adversity and misfortune, the type that Pharaoh experienced in this week’s Torah reading. Pharaoh told Moshe after the plague of hail, “I’ve sinned this time and God is righteous and me and my people are wicked.” But as soon as the hail cleared, Pharaoh stepped back from his admission. [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]
Torah Portion for January 1, 2022 Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
In Part One, we mentioned the question why, according to tradition, Judah’s family merited having the messiah come from them and obscurities in the Torah in Genesis 37 and 38. This is a continuation. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
What we don’t know about Judah – Part Two Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
From time immemorial until the late nineteenth century, almost all of Jerusalem’s residents lived in the walled Old City. Divided into four uneven quadrants – the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter and the Armenian Quarter – the Old City looms large due to its rich and multi-layered history, but it is actually quite small, at slightly less than 4/10 of a square mile. To give you a sense of perspective, it is less than 1% the size of modern Jerusalem. [Gedaliah Borvick]
Travel: The Gates of Jerusalem Read More »
Middle East, Travel and Food
Published by Reuters UK JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s government set a goal on Sunday of doubling the number of Jewish settlers in the Golan Heights within five years, a move that could tighten its hold on the territory it occupied in fighting with Syria in 1967. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett cited then-U.S. President Donald Trump’s
Israel sets goal of doubling number of Jewish settlers on Golan Heights Read More »
Middle East