Donald H. Harrison

Film Review: The Last Vermeer

The Last Vermeer – producer Dan Friedkin’s directorial debut – is a well-paced and thoroughly engaging World War II drama. Joseph Piller (played by Claes Bang), is a Dutch Jew who fought with the Resistance during the war; and is now commissioned with uncovering and redistributing art stolen by the Nazis. Enter the flamboyant painter and art dealer, Han van Meegeren (masterfully played by Guy Pearce) who is suspected of selling Dutch art treasures to Field-Marshal Hermann Goering and other top Nazi officials. Piller’s story is complicated by a fraught relationship with his wife (played by Marie Bach Henson), who remained in Holland during the occupation; and while she provided intelligence to the Resistance, the implication is that she was only able to acquire such intelligence by carrying on a romantic dalliance with Nazi officers. [Sam Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir

Contest Dec. 10 for San Diego City Council President

Two Democratic San Diego City Councilwomen — Jennifer Campbell, who is Jewish, and Monica Montgomery Steppe, who is African American — have announced their intentions to compete for the position of President of the San Diego City Council, which Georgette Gomez will relinquish next month when she leaves office following an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Congress. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County

Biden: Latest Republican challenge to Obamacare is ‘simply cruel’

US President-elect Joe Biden has said the Republican challenge in the Supreme Court to Obamacare – which greatly expanded health-care access and protections – is “simply cruel and needlessly divisive.””This case represents the latest attempt by the far-right ideologues to do what they have repeatedly failed to do for a long time,” he said in

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International, USA

White Supremacist Tom Metzger dead at 82

Tom Metzger, one of the nation’s most notorious white supremacists and anti-Semites, has died, according to a post on his White Aryan Resistance website. He was 82. The post said: “Thomas Linton Metzger, born April 9th, 1938 in Warsaw, Indiana, passed away in Hemet, California, on November 4th, 2020.” [Ken Stone, Times of San Diego]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Ken Stone, San Diego County, USA

Book is irreverent but useful guide to Jewish practice

Why Jews Do That, authored by Rabbi Avram Mlotek, co-founder and the Rabbi of Base Manhattan, a group described as an “organization aiming to be a pluralistic Jewish salon for the post-college set,” is occasionally irreverent, often amusing, and always succinct and to the point with its answers. [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion

Trump’s defeat means dicey times for U.S., Israel

The refusal of the top man to accept the decision of the voters may have its parallel here in Israel. Bibi, like Trump, wants to hold on to his power. Among other reasons, to protect himself from the judicial process. Bibi’s style is far more polished than Trump’s But he’s a liar. He accepted the suspension of any annexation of the West Bank, and the sale of advanced planes and other military equipment to the UAE in dealings with the United States, but he acted in both cases as those were temporary matters agreed to by others, without a role for himself. [Ira Sharkansky]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

Jewish ideas and belief in Western modernity set Rabbi Sacks apart

The untimely death of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks on Saturday generated a wave of sorrow throughout large sectors of the Jewish world and beyond, with an outpouring of tributes from across the Jewish religious spectrum as well as from the highest pinnacles of the British establishment, including the prime minister, Charles Prince of Wales, and

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International, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials

Trump Fires Third Defense Secretary Mark Esper After Clashes

President Donald Trump shared with the country on Monday morning over Twitter that he had fired Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper. This is the third defense secretary who Trump has fired in his term as president.Trump wrote that Esper would be temporarily replaced with the “highly respected” director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Christopher C.

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USA

Bry concedes mayoral race; plans neighborhood political organization

San Diego City Councilwoman Barbara Bry, conceding she had lost the mayor’s race to Assemblyman Todd Gloria, told a news conference on Zoom Monday that she plans to organize a new political organization to give neighborhoods and residents a stronger voice at City Hall. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County

Jewish Trivia Quiz: Alex Trebek, RIP

Alex Trebek, host of Jeopardy since 1984, died this week after an 18-month battle against pancreatic cancer. The winner of seven Emmy Awards, Trebek was also known as an activist and philanthropist, supporting causes including World Vision Canada and the Alex Trebek Forum for Dialogue at the University of Ottawa. One of the fun aspects of the Jeopardy program is that on many occasions, the categories are given clever names, often with puns. Which of the following is a real Jeopardy category that contained an answer and question of Jewish content? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

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Jewish History, Mark D. Zimmerman, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Trivia, Humor & Satire

First direct tourist flight from Israel to UAE touches down in Dubai

The first flight carrying Israeli tourists to the United Arab Emirates landed on Sunday in the city-state of Dubai, the latest sign of the normalisation deal reached between the two nations.FlyDubai flight No. FZ8194 landed at Dubai International Airport just after 5:40pm, bringing the tourists to the skyscraper-studded city after a nearly three-hour trip.The low-cost

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Middle East, Travel and Food