The Arts

Author probes ‘desert Islam’ versus its cosmopolitan form

The author was born into a Muslim family living in Canada, so therefore she grew up in a modern, pluralistic and capitalist society while being educated in the tradition of the Muslim religion. In the first part of her book she identifies herself as a lesbian, a journalist and a feminist with an inquirinig mind and openness to interaction with other cultures. She has studied the Koran and the various Muslim texts extensively, and has come to the conclusion that the way the religion is pursued in most Muslim countries today is in fact a travesty and a distortion of its original principles. [Book review by Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Middle East

Passing on Passover thoughts

SAN DIEGO — Members of our community have been sharing their thoughts about this unusual Passover via emails and social media. We are pleased to pass along some of them: Rabbi Joshua Dorsch of Tifereth Israel Synagogue says, “One of the many things that Passover teaches us is that amidst the darkness, and challenging moments in our lives, together, we will persevere. We will emerge from the struggle and the challenges before us, stronger and more connected together.”  Along with Tifereth Israel staff members Michelle Barbour, Amy Stanley, Beth Klareich, and Alissa Messian, he performed in a video parodying Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham:  “I do not want you in my house/ I do not want you or your spouse/ I do not wish to eat with you/ At Seder one or Seder Two/ Don’t get me wrong: I think you’re nice/ but the CDC gave out this advice:/ You must avoid one plague more/ And shoo Elijah from your door./ At next year’s seder, we will tell/ How we were all saved by Purell.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food, USA

1997 novel about 2020 predicted a lethal pandemic

Neta Halperin, a literary critic in the leftwing Israeli newspaper Haaretz, leads off with a headline: ”The Coronavirus Novel: An Israeli Author Wrote a Book on the 2020 Pandemic 23 Years Ago” accompanied by a subheadline that reads: ”In her science fiction novel ‘2020’ published in 1997, an Israeli author described a global pandemic much like the coronavirus. Now she explains why she went there and how she managed to get things so right.” [Dan Bloom]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories

Lone soldier from San Diego on patrol near Gaza

  Other items in  today’s column include *Israel Philharmonic teams up in their homes for Pesach melodies *Coronavirus and animals *Passover doings * By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Sometimes in the morning, sometimes at night, Israel Defense Forces Corporal Sagie Shpigelman, 19,  of San Diego patrols Israel’s border with Gaza along with other

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Travel and Food, USA

Jewish community raises $2 million for Covid-19 emergencies; more needed

Approximately $2 million has been raised for the San Diego Jewish Community Emergency Fund, created by the Jewish Community Foundation, the Leichtag Foundation, and the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, professionals of those three organizations noted Monday in a Zoom conference. However, more will be needed, according to Beth Sirull, the president and CEO of the Jewish Community Foundation. “The pandemic has the makings of a real humanitarian nightmare,” she said, noting that as people are thrown out of work, they are struggling to meet such basic needs as purchasing foods and medicines. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Judaism, Lifestyles, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Love in the Time of Coronavirus

I’ve can’t see her face
Her mask is cotton and not lace.                                                                                                        
No lips or nose
On which to gaze.    
During this pandemic phase. …                           

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Lawrence Baron, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Havdalah moves west with San Diego connections

Those with Internet connections could watch the Havdalah ceremonies with San Diego connections move west on Saturday from Israel to New Jersey en route to San Diego.

In Israel, Cantor Hanan Leberman, who serves for specified holidays as a cantor at Tifeeth Israel Synagogue in San Diego, provided songs and traditional chants in the ceremony marking the end of the Sabbath and the beginning of the regular week.  As is customary, he drank wine, smelled spices, and watched the flames of the havdalah candle flicker shadows from his fingers to the palm of his hand. Hours later, in Vorhees, New Jersey, Cantor Alisa Pomerantz-Boro of that township’s Congregation Beth El, was accompanied by her daughter Rebecca as she marked the end of the Sabbath.  [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Trivia, Humor & Satire

We may not have concerts, but we have CDs to review

Since reviewing live music concerts is not possible during these days of isolation, I will be writing weekly columns about some of my favorite CD recordings by people whom I know, and include examples of audio selections from their discs.  First, I plan to write about the 16 CDs featuring my younger sister, concert violinist Zina Schiff. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Bry sees less need in future for office space, more need for Internet connections, technology

City Councilwoman Barbara Bry, whose runoff status for mayor against Assemblyman Todd Gloria has now been confirmed by the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, said on Friday that the coronavirus pandemic likely will have both short-term and long-term impacts on the City of San Diego [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

The pioneering American Jewish women directors

I should have compiled this list during March for Women’s History Month, but better late than never. I’ve been doing research for the past 2 years on American Jewish women directors and wanted to share some of the films by the pioneers that you can stream at home.  Although a considerable number of women directed films during the silent era, those numbers dwindled to two, Dorothy Arzner and Ida Lupino, between 1930 and 1960.  The decline of the studio system and the political and social movements of the 60s opened up opportunities for more women directors in the next decade.  Jewish women were disproportionately represented in their ranks. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Jewish History, Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Making theatre under quarantine

Because of the rules of Social Distancing, our theatres are closed. SD REP’s House of Joy closed the same weekend it opened. Roustabouts’ gUnTOPIA showed one preview and has been rolled over into next season. Other shows have been indefinitely postponed or simply cancelled. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that theatre isn’t happening. We live in the Digital Age of YouTube, Skype and Zoom. And so “the show must go online.” Here are some of the ways our local theatres are still offering performances to our community. [Eric George Tauber]

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Eric George Tauber, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast