The Arts

Holocaust Memorial, Once at East County JCC, Finds a New Home

A parade of speakers on Sunday rededicated a 50-year-old Holocaust monument, telling about the Jewish communal building where the monument is now located, about the artist who created the massive bronze sculpture, and most importantly, about the victims and survivors of the genocide launched against the Jews by Nazi Germany. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

Dybbuk Possesses a 19th Century Jewish Immigrant in Novel

This novel for young adults is set in Chicago at the time of the 1893 World’s Fair, when immigration to America was prohibited for people with diseases, but otherwise was unrestrained by quotas. Maxwell Street at the time was a bustling, crowded, impoverished neighborhood for Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, one of whom – the protagonist Alter Rosen – has dreams of earning enough money as a linotype operator to pay for passage from Romania to America for his mother and two young sisters. He also has nightmares that people will learn that he is a homosexual. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

San Diego Jewish Academy to Open New Performing Arts Center, Focuses on Wellness

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — San Diego Jewish Academy (SDJA), a pluralistic community K-12 school with a thriving early childhood center, today highlighted the milestones the school will celebrate this year, including a new 350-seat performing arts center expected to open in early 2022 and a continued focus on wellness to ensure the health and

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

Israel Philharmonic Returns to the US with Quartet Performance at Inaugural Gala in San Diego

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — On Tuesday, American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (AFIPO) announced a series of galas headlined by an Israel Philharmonic string quartet in seven U.S. cities this December, including the Inaugural San Diego Gala held at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center on December 8th. The events mark the first

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Travel and Food

The Polish Spy Who Reported on Auschwitz from the Inside

Witold Pilecki, a member of the Polish resistance, learned of a new camp established by the German Nazis in the Polish city of Oswiecim, toward what end no one knew yet.  He volunteered to do the unthinkable: to purposely be captured by the Nazis and to be sent to the camp, which came to be known as Auschwitz. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History

The Life and Times of Rabbi Judah the Prince

Using many sources, including hundreds of anecdotes, former US Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (1985-1987) and Under Secretary of Defense (2001-2004) Rabbi Dr. Dov S. Zakheim, author of Nehemiah: Statesman and Sage (Maggid Books, 2016), gives us a very informative and riveting, easy to read biography of one of the most important figures of ancient Jewry, Rabbi Judah the Prince (135-217), also called Rebbe, “Teacher.” He was the man who had Judaism’s Oral Law put into writing, called the Mishna, which became the basis of the Talmud. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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

Good News From Israel (October 17, 2021)

In the Oct. 17, 2021 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include: 
–An Israeli startup can test whether a recovering cancer patient needs chemotherapy.
–Israelis are aiding and rescuing trapped Afghans.
–An Israeli has been elected President of Europe’s top nuclear research organization.
–The brother of Israel’s PM has launched an electro-hydrogen truck in the UK.
–BMW, LG, and other multinationals are using Israeli smart glass in their products.
–An Israeli hosted chess tournament attracted participants from Iran and Saudi Arabia.
–Over a million people visited Jerusalem’s Western Wall during the recent festivals. {Michael Ordman]

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Business & Finance, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, The World We Share, Travel and Food, USA

Sunbelt Offers Free Copy of Louis Rose Biography to First 50 Who Request It

Sunbelt Publications Inc. published the first of the six books I have written so far.  It was the biography, Louis Rose: San Diego’s First Jewish Settler and Entrepreneur.  In the event that you haven’t heard of him, he was the man for whom Rose Canyon, Rose Creek, and the Roseville section of the Point Loma neighborhood were named.  The Robinson-Rose Building in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is another reminder of his legacy. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

An Intellectual Approach to Looming Death

After New York City public relations practitioner Marcia Horowitz received the diagnosis that she was suffering from Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, she and her husband, author Richard S. Cohen, discussed how they would prepare for her death, which came 160 days later.  They decided that they would have both a medical plan and a life plan, both of which they would pursue with equanimity.  [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles

‘Nanny’ Star Fran Drescher Explains Why She Insisted Character Remain Jewish

BOSTON (Press Release) — In new comments, “The Nanny” star Fran Drescher has explained why she insisted that her character on the CBS sitcom would remain Jewish after the network attempted to make the character Italian. As a guest on the All Inclusive with Jay Ruderman podcast, Drescher was asked, given today’s environment of rising

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Jewish Celebrities, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Book Provides Eye-Opening Account of Espionage Operations Through the Ages

The Anatomy of a Spy: A History of Espionage and Betrayal by Michael Smith; Arcade; ‎ 2020; ‎ ISBN: 9780750-992572; 383 pages; $18.99. By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — It is very rare for a book to elicit loud exclamations of surprise, delight, or amazement from me while I’m reading it, but this did

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

Torah Reading for October 9, 2021

Do you sing zemirot at your Shabbos meals? Sadly, I see fewer and fewer people enjoying this wonderful tradition to enhance the Shabbat experience. One song in particular is linked to this week’s parasha, Noach. No, not Yah Ribbon and Mah Yedidot Menuhatekh, but Yom Shabbaton, “The dove found a place to rest on the Sabbath (Yonah Maz’ah Bo Manoah)” written by Yehudah Halevi, the great Spanish poet of the 12th century. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts