Call me Orca. I’ve got a whale of a story to tell. You know the story of Jonah and the whale, right? Wrong. You only think you do: A big, ugly whale swallows Jonah, who spends days in the whale’s belly, before God releases Jonah from captivity and the whale exits, stage right. [Fiction by Michael Ginsberg]
Fiction: Jonah and Me, the Whale Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Fiction, Jewish Religion, Michael Ginsberg
I had stopped off for a Mocha Java Grande with extra mocha and cinnamon. To be sure to stick to my diet, I threw in two Nutra-sweets. He was sipping a glass of water from a plastic cup at a corner table. Sweat visibly thickened through his white, long-sleeve shirt buttoned at the collar. He had a long black coat, a bit dirty and frayed at the hem, that touched the floor. His oversized black-felt hat, with the extra-large, firm brim, lay on the table. His full grey-flecked beard wiggled whenever his hand nervously readjusted his black yarmulke. Mendel’s large gentle eyes cried his tired confusion. He was out of his element. It was 82 degrees outside, very bright and humid. [Jerry Klinger]
Fiction: Mendel the Chasid Moves to Boynton Beach Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jerry Klinger, Jewish Fiction
In my continuing quest to learn the stories of other peoples – in what you might call independent ethnic studies for a Jewish septuagenarian—I picked up Reclaiming Our Stories 2 and was intrigued by one of the fellows pictured on the cover. He was wearing a shirt with the slogan, “Peace for Palestine.” I wondered what kind of peace he had in mind. [Donald H. Harrison]
Anthology personalizes racism, oppression, loss Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County
Laurie Baron, Ph.D, rounds up streaming programs of Jewish interest for scholars and lay people, from Sunday, Sept. 6 through Friday, Sept. 11
Streaming Jewish Programs (Sept. 6-11) Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Lifestyles, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Travel and Food, USA
Rosh Hashanah and Yon Kippur are almost here. This year’s celebration will definitely be different from those of past years. There will be services to be watched from the safety of our homes, both for adults and for kids. But how will children be involved by watching without interacting? PJ Library has come up with the perfect solution. They have assembled a fifty-page packet of information, crafts, recipes and conversation starters to engage children of all ages and encourage interaction between all family members. [Marcia Berneger]
A High Holy Day guide for children Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Marcia Berneger
Moses Crossy
Also Bossy
We don’t Likey
This long Hikey
Sun is Bakey
Feet are achey … [ Norma Levinson-Sedler ]
The aftermath of The Ten Plagues Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Fiction, Jewish Religion, Trivia, Humor & Satire
I commend Morelli for her courage in choosing to work with four point-of-view characters, and I can’t think of any way she could have removed any of them and still told such a sweeping story, but the book suffers, in my estimation, from the intricacies inherent in such an approach. Chapters range from two to around ten pages, meaning that often within a few minutes reading time we are bounced from one character to another, and from the fifteenth to the twentieth century and back again. One never has the chance to settle in, to feel involved with the characters, to develop a strong sense of caring, before one is off again someplace else. [Laurel Corona]
‘The Night Portrait’: Another nice book to read Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories
This history of one Holocaust family’s experiences, together with a book by Julie Gray that I reviewed yesterday — The True Adventures of Gidon Levin in which Gray traveled with Lev to the major venues in his life, — leave me with a hopeful sense that we are moving into a new era of Holocaust research and scholarship. I’m hopeful because I’ve often heard Holocaust survivors ask plaintively, “When we’re gone, who will tell our stories?” The answer is that an entirely new generation of journalists, descendants, and academics will probe the history of the mass murder of six million Jews, unearthing untold stories and bringing to them fresh new perspectives. [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]
A new generation of writers tackles the Holocaust Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History
Holocaust survivor Gidon Lev had written a memoir but he needed an editor. Julie Gray, who had recently made Aliyah to Israel, had a background as a writer for magazines and periodicals. Even though Lev had children older than Gray, their relationship became more than a work match; the two would travel together, become lovers and lifelong companions, and produce a joint memoir that was both an exploration of Lev’s experiences and Gray’s reaction to them. [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]
Memoir of a Holocaust survivor, Kibbutznik, lover Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, USALaurie Baron, Ph.D., has combed through Internet listings for programs of direct Jewish interest from Sunday, Aug. 30 through Thursday, Sept. 3.
Streaming Jewish programs, Aug. 30-Sept. 3 Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & BroadcastTwo delightful books about challah from Kar Ben Publishing are on our list for this week’s book reviews. These are fun and so different from each other, your child will love them both. [Marcia Berneger]
Making reading a Challah-day Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Marcia Berneger
This memoir is approximately 320 pages of despair, and 30 pages of hope and forgiveness. If you are depressed, or feel nobody can understand the troubles you have, you might take solace in this book, knowing that someone else has suffered through deep psychological pain and has emerged on the other side. Reading it made me wonder if listening, as I was doing in the form of reading, without making any comment, was what it must be like to be a psychologist or a psychiatrist. I listened and listened as author Kott vented and eventually came to some decisions about herself. Sometimes, I think, the greatest gift we can give someone is to be a quiet audience. [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]
Memoir relates childhood trauma, eventual recovery Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
This book describes “a battle that pits viral biology against human intellect and capability.”
An exciting approach to generating treatments for Covid19 is the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Taking the known structure of the virus, scientists are able to inquire as to susceptible target sites on the virus for creating drug treatments and vaccines. The goal: theoretical structure and synthesis of biomedical compounds to achieve therapeutic results. [Irv Jacobs, MD, MPH]
COVID-19: Medical breakthroughs, research cooperation Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Irv Jacobs, MD, Science, Medicine, & Education
This is a story well told, except that you won’t know any more about the identity of the Mafia boss after reading this book than you do now. Whoever he was, he took a liking to Helen Pinczewski, Solomon’s hardworking mother, after she and her husband David opened a candy store in an Italian section of Brooklyn. He made it his personal mission not to allow any of the tough guys in the neighborhood to harass the couple, for whom he developed a great sympathy after learning they were Holocaust survivors. From my point of view, there were three important takeaways from this biography. [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]
Three takeaways from Holocaust, Immigrant biography Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, USA