Donald H. Harrison

Acts of joy might help overcome the coronavirus

e are definitely in uncharted territory. Today (Tuesday, March 17), for the first time, I had to livestream a funeral because of coronavirus and social distancing that is being mandated by governmental agencies across the country. My team spent hours yesterday developing Chabad Virtual Academy; a place where anyone, anywhere, can log in and participate in a class on varied Jewish subjects, or watch them at a later time. In this regard we are not unique. Thousands of institutions are doing the same; allowing people unfettered access to everything from Torah classes to opera. [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]

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Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi

Torah laws foresaw need for good hygiene

With the coronavirus threatening people’s health in the first major pandemic we have seen in over a hundred years, Jewish tradition has much to say about the importance of handwashing. As a “priestly people,” (Exodus 19:6), priests in the Torah were always instructed to wash their hands whenever they enter into the Tent of Meeting or upon entering the Temple.
Just how serious is this precept? [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Science, Medicine, & Education

Council candidate tells of being Cheney’s gatekeeper

Attorney Joe Leventhal, who is seeking election in the 5th San Diego City Council District, once served as a “gatekeeper” for U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, deciding what memos should go to him, which should first be vetted by others, and reading his proposed speeches for accuracy.  It was a pretty heady job for a young lawyer, just 26 years old.  Previously having served on the staff of U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson (R-Illinois), he had observed then that “Washington at the highest levels of government is actually run by all of these folks under 40, even under 30 — the Administration, Capitol Hill, even at the Supreme Court. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, USA

Coronavirus prompts delay in Netanyahu’s trial

By all accounts, Prime Minister Netanyahu may turn out to be one of the beneficiaries of the coronavirus crisis. Benefit #1: As his sidekick the minister of justice has closed the courts, his trial, due to have started this week, has been postponed for a couple of months or more. Benefit #2: The call for a unity government to better respond to the crisis will mean that he may stay in office for a considerable time, even though his bloc doesn’t have the required minimum 61 votes of the 120 Members of Knesset. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

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Middle East

Politics and coronavirus in Israel

It’s been two weeks since the election, and just now the President has interviewed party heads, and selected Benny Gantz to have the first chance at forming a coalition. Earlier signs of a minority government with Blue and White, Meretz-Labor, and Israel Our Home, with outside support from the United Arab List, have faded, but not completely.Two members of Blue and White and one of Meretz-Labor have indicated their opposition to allying with the United Arab List, and that brings Gantz’s vote down to 59. [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Candidate Joe Leventhal: A Jew with a Catholic family

San Diego City Council candidate Joe Leventhal says, “I’m Jewish and my family is Catholic.” He explained in an interview that although he had two Jewish parents, when they divorced, they both married non-Jews; his mother Deena Leventhal to a Catholic; his father Larry Leventhal to a non-practicing Christian.  Even when his parents were together, they were so secular that they gave him as a boy the choice of whether he wanted to attend Hebrew school to study for a bar mitzvah.  “I ended up saying no, and I regret it, and that is part of why I wanted my kids to be raised with religion because I felt I missed something being raised without it,” he said. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Jewish trivia quiz: Bernie Sanders

What were the circumstances a number of years ago when Bernie Sanders said the following?–“All in all, it’s not so bad. When it’s good, it’s good. If it doesn’t feel right, just say no. There’s always tomorrow. There’s always tomorrow. It could be worse. Now, let’s just thank God you have your arms, you have your legs, let’s eat.” [Jewish trivia quiz by Mark D. Zimmerman]

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Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire

‘Fate of Our Fathers’ tells horror of Stalin’s purges

Stalin ruled from the mid-1920s to 1953. Vladimir Berger was born in 1931. In 1937, at the age of 6, his father, Iosif Shmulevich Berger, was arrested by the secret police. Vladimir, his mother and sister never saw him again. The family went from being reasonably well off to selling what they had to make ends meet. [Book review by Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak

She’s got the Post-Purim Blues

At last! The long-established, but until now little-recognized, syndrome that afflicts Jewish women is finally getting the attention it deserves. The illness, known at Post-Purim Blues, shares some symptoms with Post-Partum Blues, the depression that some mothers experience after the birth of their baby. With help from friends, relatives and professionals, those afflicted with either problem generally overcome the ailment in a short period of time. [Just Kidding column by Joel H. Cohen]

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Joel H. Cohen

JAFI brings teen emissaries in SD County home

Three Israeli youth who have been serving in San Diego County as shlichim (emissaries) for the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) left for Israel on Sunday — their one-year tours in the United States interrupted by the shutdown of many area Jewish institutions in reaction to the spreading coronavirus.  Opportunities to interact with Jews on an organized level having been greatly reduced in San Diego County, the three 18-year-olds will return to Israel where, after a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all returnees to Israel, they will be able to do volunteer work and have Pesach seders with their families. [Our shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jerry Klinger, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Travel and Food, USA