Laurie Baron, PhD, compiles a list of streaming films and documentaries covering racial violence in America.
Streaming movies about American racial violence Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA
My sister, violinist Zina Schiff, has championed the works of many contemporary composers, as illustrated by her recordings. The 1998 release of the Peter Jona Korn (1922-1998) Violin Concerto was a result of my friendship with the composer. At it US premiere with the Baton Rouge Symphony. Korn’s friend, Peter Paul Fuchs, was the conductor; the country’s foremost music magazine, Musical America, came to review the concert; and the composer himself, was in the audience. [Eileen Wingard]
Music of Peter Jona Korn performed by Zina Schiff Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts
Here in San Diego County, peaceful demonstrators honored the memory of George Floyd, the African-American victim of a white Minneapolis policeman who continuously and fatally pushed his knee into Floyd’s neck, hampering the prone man’s ability to breathe. The demonstrators’ cries for racial justice were heart-felt, appropriate, and in need of urgent redress. Also, here in San Diego County, particularly in La Mesa, rioters of diverse racial backgrounds dishonored George Floyd, using his unwarranted death as an excuse for arson and looting. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
George Floyd honored, dishonored by protests, riots Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA
When thinking about Jewish communities around the world, most of us probably don’t give much thought to Uganda. But tucked away in the Savannah, over very rough roads, live the Abayudaya. Like the rest of the world, they are also affected by the current pandemic. Under the same lockdown rules, most Abayudaya are unable to go to their jobs to provide for their families. The worldwide pandemic has hit them hard because, as meager as our stimulus checks might seem, their government provides bubkes. And unlike many of us, working remotely via Wi-Fi is simply not an option. [Eric George Tauber]
Online concert benefits Ugandan Jewry Read More »
Eric George Tauber, International, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USAWant to catch a lecture online on a Jewish topic? Laurie Baron provides links to some interesting ones.
Streaming Jewish lectures for the week of May 31, 2020 Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Just because a former President of the United States is no longer in office -and lacks the authority to affect any executive orders or policy changes- does not mean that he is no longer a threat. The morals and ideals he espouses continue to have a lasting impact on the fabric of this great nation, whether to bind the threads of American citizenry in unity or rent them asunder. [Eric George Tauber]
Provocateurs sow dissension among Americans Read More »
Eric George Tauber, International, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA
Marione Ingram was born in Hamburg in 1938 to a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father, and so was defined as a ‘mischling’ (half-breed) by the Nazi authorities. Her autobiographical book begins with her account of having been sent by her mother when she was eight years old to take her younger sister to their aunt. She decided to return unbidden and found her mother in the throes of an attempt to commit suicide by putting her head in their gas oven. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
A ‘Mischling’ growing up in WWII Hamburg Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish History
In “The Devil and Daniel Webster” Benet depicts Daniel Webster saving a New Hampshire farmer from the Devil and from Hell. In the story, the farmer Jabez Stone was impoverished; every effort he made on his farm turned out bad. Exacerbated, he agrees to sell his soul to the Devil in exchange for ten years of great prosperity. His request is granted. At the end of the ten years, Jabez rushes to the famed orator and lawyer Daniel Webster to come and save him. The Americanized Devil, who calls himself Scratch, comes to collect the farmer’s soul. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
On ‘The Devil and Daniel Webster’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionThese are times we need the laughs, so Prof. Laurie Baron has compiled a list of streaming movies.
Streaming American Jewish Comedies Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Mark Werner is a retired corporate attorney from North Carolina, who at least once a year for the past 18 years has traveled to Israel at his own expense to sweat and grunt for three weeks as a manual laborer at various installations maintained by the Israel Defense Force. The jobs varied from assignment to assignment, but they all involved hard work, typically in the hot sun of Israel and inside even hotter warehouses. [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]
Book review: Life of a Sar-El volunteer Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, USA
One of the distinct pleasures I’ve found that serving as a contributing author for San Diego Jewish World brings, is the opportunity to review material related to psychology and mental health. When I was asked to review Anti-Semitism and Psychiatry edited by H. Steven Moffic, John R. Peteet, Ahmed Hankir and Mary V. Seeman and published by Springer this year, I welcomed the prospect. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]
Anti-Semitism and psychiatry Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Michael Mantell, Science, Medicine, & Education
One of the earliest Memorial Day commemorations was organized by a group of freed slaves in Charleston, South Carolina, after the Civil War, less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered. So it is fitting that, in honor of Memorial Day, I write about my sister Zina Schiff’s 1994 4-Tay CD, Here’s One” featuring works by American composers, including “The Deserted Garden,” by African-American composer Florence Price. Inspired by African-American spirituals, the simple beauty of “The Deserted Garden” reflects the somber longing for lost loved ones. [Eileen Wingard]
A tune for Memorial Day? ‘Here’s One,” in fact, four Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA
Shavuot is a mysterious holiday. This commemoration of receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai isn’t given a specific date for its celebration; instead we are told in Sefer Sh’mot (the Book of Exodus) to schedule it seven weeks from the second night of Passover. This year Shavuot will arrive the evening of Thursday, May 28. [Sam Glaser]
A Shavuot revelation Read More »
Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Sam GlaserIn the video above, Carla Sitton Berg and her daughter Liora Sitton Berg of San Diego perform a mother-daughter duet urging us “Don’t Dream It’s Over.” Carla, wife of Geoffrey Berg, a board officer of Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School, will be among artists presenting a free online concert Sunday at 3 p.m for which you can register via this website. The concert is co-sponsored by Music on the Inside (MOTI) and Balanced Guitar (BG) “through their shared belief in community and the powerful role of music, especially now.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
San Diegan Carla Berg performs in concert Sunday Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA