Books, Poetry & Short Stories

As Rabbi Hollander retires, Rabbi Rosenberg ready to step in

or 21 years, Rabbi Chaim Hollander has served as spiritual leader of Young Israel of San Diego (YISD), a small Orthodox congregation located across Navajo Road from the popular Cowles Mountain trail head.  Hollander came to San Diego to teach at Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School (SSDHDS), one of the schools that incoming Rabbi Eddie Rosenberg attended as a child.  [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County

The philosophical, religious lessons of Auschwitz

The title of Joshua Hammerman’s book Embracing Auschwitz is incredulous. How can a rabbi, a pulpit rabbi charged with comforting his congregation, in light of the continental genocide and devastation inflicted on so many families, known as the Holocaust, and understanding the Jewish nation has a God-given obligation to obliterate the Amalekites, the biblical archetype of evil, ask us to accept and welcome this malevolence? The conundrum is resolved before one begins to read a single chapter. Hammerman, stressing there is nothing positive about the Holocaust, invokes his interpretation of the word “embrace” by quoting Abraham Joshua Heschel: “There are three ways we respond to sorrow. On the first level, we cry; on the second level, we are silent; on the highest level, we take sorrow and turn it into song.” [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]

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

Novel paints grim picture of medical ethics

Dr. Tobi Lister works at an urgent care mill, where doctors are not supposed to spend more than 10 minutes with each patient — less if possible — and are graded by how many “likes” they get on Yelp-like medical reviews sent in by patients.  The problem is that if they don’t spend sufficient time with their patients, the doctors are liable to get dinged; but if they do, wait times increase for other patients, resulting in even more dings. [Book Review by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Memories of Tisha B’Avs past

The Jewish People create their own simcha (joy) and tzuris (pain). Our foes are often generated through karma of our own manufacture. The Talmud recounts the origin of archenemy Amalek, who wreaked so much suffering on our nation throughout the ages. Our patriarch Yitzchak’s eldest son was Esav, twin brother of Yaakov. Esav’s son was Eliphaz, and Eliphaz’s concubine, Timna, was a princess who wanted to convert to Judaism. She presented her case to a beit din (Jewish court) formed by the three patriarchs who all happened to be alive at the time. When they rejected her, she chose to remain with Eliphaz, stating, “Better to be a maidservant to this nation than a leader in another.” Their offspring is Amalek, an individual who was hell-bent on avenging the alleged disrespect shown to his mother and grandfather. This hatred of the Jewish People was handed down through the generations, eventually leading to the tribe of Amalek’s brazen attack on Israel when we left Egypt. Amalek surfaces again in the near genocide concocted by tribesman Haman in the Purim story. [Sam Glaser]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Sam Glaser

Beth Jacob issues rules for outdoor davening

– Beth Jacob Congregation responded quickly to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order on Monday, once again closing down indoor places of worship in response to the spiking coronavirus pandemic. The governor’s order also included fitness centers, offices for “non-critical sectors,” personal care services, malls and  hair salons and barbershops. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA, Videos

Short story: Dirty Dishes

The summer of 1965, I was not quite 17, not quite 5-foot-7, and not quite a college freshman. I was also broke, and I was convinced that I held the school record for number of crushes on girls who couldn’t quite remember who I was when I called for a date. I couldn’t do anything about my age or height, but I decided to solve my other two problems with a summer job at a Catskill Mountains hotel, piling up tips and meeting girls – Jewish preferred, but not required. [Michael Ginsberg]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Michael Ginsberg, USA

White moves first; is chess racist?

Given the assault on “whiteness” that we see today, some people of the ultra-left claim that chess is a racist game since it pits the “whites” vs. the “blacks.” To certain individuals, this game accentuates the problems some see in race relations. To make matters further complicated, the white pieces go before the black pieces. This is perceived by those who consider themselves “woke” (people who are super-sensitive to racism) as a “racially biased.” [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Lifestyles, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

What is the Book of Esther really about?

Maggid Books has just published an excellent comprehensive 493-page study of the biblical Book of Esther called Esther: Power, Fate, and Fragility in Exile by Erica Brown, Ph.D, an award-winning author of many books, lecturer, and Jewish teacher. Brown tells readers exactly what the Bible text is saying, not what people read into it. She does so in clear, easy to read language. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

The coronavirus pandemic in couplets

Here are some coronavirus couplets:
Nothing makes me more livid                                                                                             
Than post-opening spikes of Covid.

It’s not an oppressive task                                                                                                                                
To have to wear a mask.
(Laurie Baron, Ph.D0

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Tips for parenting teens during a pandemic

The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute has put together a valuable resource for Jewish organizations and schools to distribute to parents of teens called Parenting in a Pandemic: A Guide for the Perplexed. The contributors include medical doctors, licensed social workers and scholars and covers a wide variety of topics. [Marcia Berneger]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Lifestyles, Marcia Berneger

French Jewish author details a son’s deep regret

Albert Cohen wrote (or at least published) this book when he was about sixty years old. I don’t know when his mother died, but – as its title implies – the book is about his late mother and her devotion to him, embellished by his evidently deep-rooted sense of guilt at not having been as kind to her as he felt should have been in her lifetime. (Dorothea Shefer-Vanson)

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Lifestyles

Children’s Passover books worth buying now

Two sweet books from Kar Ben. Although we’re a little late for Passover, or a little early, depending on how you look at it, these tales are fun to read any time of the year. Each story highlights a different aspect of the holiday, but both books expose our youngest readers to the joys of Passover. The simple, rhyming text and engaging illustrations will delight toddlers while helping them understand more about this special holiday. [Marcia Berneger]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Marcia Berneger