It was obvious by the detached and halting delivery of President Trump’s Oval Office speech that it was composed by someone else and read off the teleprompter. Since I am close friends with the Oval Office custodian, I obtained the draft that Trump wrote, but reluctantly tossed in the trash can. Here is the short version of it. [Satire by Lawrence Baron, Ph.D]
The unexpurgated Oval Office address Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
Maybe now the threat of anti-Semitism – government-sanctioned anti-Semitism, to be specific – could be slackening with Bernie Sanders’s slackening presidential campaign. American Jews feared that a Bernie Sanders presidency would intensify the anti-Semitic movement that has been haunting our country, especially during the past few years. Had Sanders swept Super Tuesday states last week, we should still be worried. [Bruce S. Ticker]
Biden’s victories reassure Jews worried about Sanders Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USA
With the Lyceum Space arranged in a black box, centering the action, Scenic Designer Yoon Bae invites us into a world of bright colors, ornate patterns and cherry blossoms. The luxurious harem of 17th century Hindustan was paradise, employing only the finest seamstresses, cooks, nurses and … well, you know. There was always plenty of delicious food to eat and fine silks to wear. The women of the harem wanted for nothing so long as they kept their Emperor happy. Watching over the harem are trained, battle-ready female bodyguards. They must be ever-ready to spring into action. But there’s a lot more waiting than action, so the guards play little games to pass the time. Devereau Chumrau and Taireikca L.A. have a playful rapport with a musical hip-hop street swag that makes them fun to watch. The stage combat with jo sticks, ably choreographed by Ka’imi Kuoha, was like a scene straight out of Kung Fu. [Eric George Tauber]
House of Joy is an intriguing adventure Read More »
Eric George Tauber, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
More and more Jewish organizations in San Diego County are announcing precautions and responses to the coronavirus pandemic, including Jewish Community Foundation, Jewish Family Service, Jewish Federation of San Diego County, Jewish National Fund, Lawrence Family JCC, Ohr Shalom Synagogue, Seacrest Village Retirement Community, Tifereth Israel Synagogue, and Western Jewish Studies Association. Following in alphabetical order, is a report about each. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Many S.D. Jewish institutions announcing coronavirus precautions Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
Beginning this week, ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) will share a new comprehensive guide to contemporary antisemitism with candidates running for national office in 2020, as well as every member of Congress. Antisemitism Uncovered: A Guide to Old Myths in a New Era identifies some of the most stubborn tropes about Jews, explains why they are dangerous, provides the backstory behind the myths and shows how they have evolved into the present day. [Press Release from Anti-Defamation League]
ADL’s anti-Semitism primer heading to candidates Read More »
Jewish History, USA
More than 300 passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship had arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar by Wednesday to begin a mandatory 14-day coronavirus quarantine. Approximately 270 cruise ship evacuees arrived at the base Wednesday afternoon, joining 42 passengers who were flow in Tuesday night. More could be coming, according to media reports. [Times of San Diego report]
Grand Princess passengers enter Miramar quarantine Read More »
Ken Stone, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education
As Italy grapples with the novel Coronavirus, the Chairman of The Jewish Agency for Israel, Isaac Herzog, and Chairman of Keren Hayesod, Sam Grundwerg, spoke with leaders of the country’s Jewish communities in Rome and Milan to voice their solidarity with those affected. The community leaders described the challenges and threats they are facing, and their immediate needs. [Press release from the Jewish Agency of Israel]
Israelis mobilize to assist Italy’s Jews Read More »
International, Middle East
The Super Achievers by Ronald Gerstl reveals the remarkable disproportionate Jewish contributions to world knowledge of science and heath, and the surprisingly high number of Jewish Nobel Prize Winners in these fields. Although Jews are only 0.2% of the world’s population, Jews were awarded 24% of the Nobel Prizes in science and medicine. Similarly, while Jews account for only 2% of the American population, they received 37% of the US Nobel Prize awards in these fields. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
‘The Super Achievers’ probes Jewish Nobelists Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, USA
This busy parasha covers a potpourri of topics: a census; protocol for cleansing the priests; formulas for making anointing oil and incense; designation of Bezalel as chief craftsman of the Tabernacle and priestly garments; mandates for keeping the Sabbath and annual festivals; the episode of the Golden Calf and the soothing of God’s and Moses’ outrage during which Moses shattered the original Ten Commandments tablets; Moses’ extended conversations with God and God’s refusal to show Moses His face; creation of a repeat inscribed set of tablets, followed with the famous words about God’s sustained compassion on one hand, and alternatively his prolonged capacity for punishment of iniquity; and finally Moses’ satisfaction over his dealings with God which resulted in his face aglow. There’s a lot to choose from. For today, I have selected only the following three passages, from which I have sought Internet sources for comparison with our Hebrew texts. [Irv Jacobs, MD]
Censuses, feet washing, anointing in the ancient world Read More »
Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion
Gold was discovered in January 1848 at Sutter Creek near Coloma, in what became El Dorado County in 1850. Five chapters focus on thirteen Northern California counties. Patterns emerge. Jews were attracted by the opportunities posed by the discovery of gold, but they did not go into staking claims and mining, they went into commerce, shifting from itinerant peddling into storefronts. Enterprising immigrants provided much needed supplies including dry goods at mercantile stores. Miner settlements went from canvas tents to wooden structures and ended with a degree of permanence and optimism, brick and stone buildings. Some boomtowns became ghost towns and were transformed into State Parks and Historic places. The magic word, according to Fred Rosenbaum, historian of Jewish California is “retail.” [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]
A history of Gold Country Jews in pictures Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak, USA
U.S. Attorney Robert S. Brewer Jr. experienced first-hand in San Diego the concerns shared by Jewish congregations around the country about anti-Semitism — a concern that prompted U.S. Attorney General William Barr to send a directive to U.S. Attorneys throughout the United States to arrange meetings with Jewish community leaders. At a kosher lunch meeting on Wednesday sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League, rabbi after rabbi — ranging from Reform to Chassidic–expressed their worries about the safety of their congregants at a time when there has been an increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes. [Our shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
U.S. Attorney Brewer reassures Jewish community on security Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi
Holy cow! Or should I say, holy cows! This week cows fill our Torah reading, from the sin of one cow, the golden calf, to – this being Shabbat Parah – another cow, the red heifer. Shabbat Parah, the Sabbath of the Red Heifer, occurs on the Shabbat prior to Shabbat Mevarkhim of the month of Nisan. This brings to mind a question. What do you get when you pamper a cow? Spoiled milk, that’s what! Ok, ok, it’s just a bad joke, I get it. But why did the secret service surround the president with dozens of cows? Of course, they were trying to beef up security. Ugh, I now, but writing this so close to Purim leaves its mark of still overflowing fun. [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]
The Torah’s two very different cows Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
Purim was celebrated this year in Israel and perhaps elsewhere also as a respite from worrying about the spread of the coronavirus (epidemic? pandemic? panic?). In the old-age home (pardon: “parents’ home; golden age residence; 55 and better”) where my wife and I live, the residents put on a splendid Purim Spiel depicting Biblical characters from the Creation until Queen Esther and beyond. In the presentation, God spoke in English with a marked non-British accent. Delilah was suitably dressed but appeared with her walker. Etc. etc. etc. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]
Purim in the House of Mozes Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East
During the Holocaust years, Purim celebrations were forbidden to the Jews. Christians and Jews could not even own the book of Esther. Such decrees did not stop the Nazis from poking fun at the Jews on this Jewish holiday. With diabolical glee, the Nazis frequently orchestrated special killings with the Jewish festivals. On Purim in 1942, the Nazis hanged ten Jews in Zdunka Wola to avenge the hanging of Haman’s sons. Similar incidents occurred in the Piotrkow ghetto and in Czestochowa and Radom. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Haman, Purim, and Holocaust Read More »
International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi