The Arts

‘The First Step’ Tells How Prison and Sentencing Reform Were Won

I’ve watched CNN commentator Van Jones many times on television. Now I’ve learned more about him from watching The First Step, a 90-minute documentary about the role he played in lobbying for prison reform. He suffered severe criticism from the right and from the left, but he stuck to it, engaged his critics in dialogue, and in 2018 helped to cobble together a coalition that passed HR 5682 by a vote of 355-58 in the U.S. House of Representatives and 87-12 in the U.S. Senate.  [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Teralta Neighborhood Park Praises ‘Unity in the Community’

Teralta Neighborhood Park is remarkable in several ways: 1) It is built right over the Interstate 15 freeway between Orange and Polk Avenues in the City Heights neighborhood.  2) It now boasts a 270-foot long, 7 ½-foot high mural titled “Unity in the Community,” which features faces, activities, and landmarks of the diverse City Heights neighborhood.  3) It serves a largely immigrant community in which at least 30 languages are spoken, with four major language groups—English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Somali—incorporated into the mural. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

Student Showcase Features Wide Range of Poetry, From Swings to Enlightenment

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — Topics from swings to enlightenment were subjects for the student poets and writers from the San Diego Jewish Academy Middle School and High School, San Diego’s Torah High School and Portland, Oregon’s Jewish Academy Middle School who read their poems to more than 50 Zoom listeners, Tuesday evening,

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

‘His Only Son,’ Movie about Abraham and Isaac, Opens March 31

On March 31, in theatres around the country, His Only Son, a Christian movie by David Helling depicting the binding of Isaac, will open.  Except for some Christian references at the beginning and end of the epic, the film fits in well with Jewish exegesis. It’s a fascinating cinematographic midrash on Genesis 22:1-19.  [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Jewish Life Television’s Brad Pomerance Headlines Jewish Heritage Journey to Poland

LOS ANGELES (Press Release) — Over the last several years, Jewish Life Television’s Brad Pomerance has hosted and produced JLTV’s global travel series Air Land & Sea, where the JLTV team voyages around the world to uncover the trials and tribulations of the Jewish people near and far.  After each trip, JLTV viewers have the unique opportunity to watch

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Holocaust, International, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

A New Outstanding Commentary on the Biblical Book Leviticus

By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Koren Press’ “The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel – Leviticus” follows its predecessors on the Biblical books Exodus and Samuel as a third outstanding biblical commentary. It contains a wealth of scholarly information written in an easy-to-read and interesting — even fascinating — fashion

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

Obituaries: Women’s Museum Honorees Natasha Josefowitz, Rosalie Schwartz

SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — Two honorees of the Women’s Museum of California died on March 15. One was author and columnist Natasha Josefowitz who was 96.  Lucid until the end, she had been writing columns for La Jolla Village News and San Diego Jewish World through the end of February.  An archive of her articles that appeared on

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Natasha Josefowitz, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak Discusses Mideast Assassinations and Diplomacy in Candid Documentary

Israeli Filmmaker Ran Tal has put together a fascinating documentary in which former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak contemplates whether Middle Eastern history would have changed if plans to assassinate Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had been approved during the 1970s by his superiors. At that time, Barak was an up and coming officer in the IDF, not important enough to make policy, but sufficiently well placed to carry it out. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Jewish History, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

B’Shalom: Body Image, Military History, Baseball Classic, Jewish Political News

Kristine Schomaker’s eating disorder had made her feel “othered” since her girlhood. She tried to imagine herself as a slender blonde but when she looked into the mirror, she saw herself as she was, a very large woman. Rather than hide from her physical presence, she decided to embrace it. She invited 59 fellow artists to depict her in the nude. Sculptures, photographs, paintings, and drawings in various media resulted in an exhibition now being shown through April 13 at the Mesa College Art Gallery. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, USA

The Story Behind a San Diego Couple’s Historic Gift to Israel

Documentary filmmaker Matthew Mishory has done a deep dive into the background of a San Diego couple who lived quietly, scrimped to such a point that they even reused their paper towels, and through their daughter made the largest philanthropic donation to Israel in the history of the Jewish state: $500 million. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, Israel, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA