This week, I tuned in to two live story broadcasts by local artists. The first was a picture book reading from YAAANA (Yiddish Arts and Academics Association of North America). The second was Read, Imagine, Create, a presentation of student works by Write Out Loud. [Eric George Tauber]
Stories under quarantine Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eric George Tauber, San Diego County
Rabbi Devorah Marcus of Temple Emanu-El offered this reflection in the aftermath of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd: “My hope is that we will not let this moment fade into obscurity and apathy as we move on to other pieces of news, of suffering, of tweets. My hope is that we will take this moment of brokenness and build in the cracks a garden seeded with our hope, our commitment to our neighbors and our community, and that we will reach out to everyone who is afraid right now for themselves, their children, and our world, and offer each other our comfort and our love. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Where now after the George Floyd killing? Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA
It’s an ongoing debate whether immigration hurts our society by taking jobs away from Americans, or helps it by importing new workers, innovators and entrepreneurs. Taking the latter position, Dr. Bilha Chesner Fish, MD — herself and immigrant from Israel — interviews twenty-one different “inspiring and successful American immigrants.” [Eric George Tauber]
Immigrant women tell of their successes and challenges Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eric George Tauber, USA
In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd and protest demonstrations across the country, rabbis and Jewish organizations are grappling with the issue of what Jews can do to combat racism and bigotry in the United States. While there is general consensus that there is a need for action, it remains an open question just what kind of action would be appropriate. Messages and news releases crossing my desk illustrate the contours of the debate so far. [Donald H. Harrison]
Jewish community urges combat against racism, bigotry Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA
Now in paperback, A Bend in the Stars takes its name from the idea posited by Albert Einstein that light during a solar eclipse will bend around the darkened celestial object. One of the main characters in this novel is Vanya Abramov, a mathematician who believes his calculations together with photographs not only could prove Einstein’s theory but improve upon it. However, more than a few obstacles face Vanya’s potential bid for international recognition and perhaps even a Nobel Prize. [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]
A tale of adventure, romance, and Russian anti-Semitism Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
Author Jacqueline Saper, part of a Jewish family, the daughter of an Iranian university professor and a British mother, an assistant airport manager, describes growing up in a wealthy and idyllic setting, a large house with opulent furnishings in the Tehran neighborhood of Yousefabad, dining in the best restaurants, attending private schools, travelling back and forth between England and Iran, and surrounded by maids and household laborers. [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]
Modern woman tells of life under the ayatollahs Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History, Middle East
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 ArtsHere 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 & BroadcastJust 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 Religion