The Arts

Who compiled the Haggadah, and why?

By Moshe Dann JERUSALEM — Although Jews have been retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt at the Pesach Seder for millennia, the Haggadah as we know it was compiled during the Gaonic period (8th-9th century CE) in Babylon, with additional songs written by Jews probably during the Middle Ages. Based on Torah, Mishna […]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish Religion, Middle East

Book review: ‘The Limits of the World’

The Limits of the World by Jennifer Acker; Delphinium Books © 2019; ISBN 9781883-285777; 300 pages, $25.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Immigrants from India found themselves distrusted by both sides of the racial divide in colonial Kenya.  As far as black Africans were concerned, the brown-skinned Asians were part of the ruling

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Book Review: ‘In Good Faith’

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California  — Often the greatest critics of religion offer us a series of criticism about the depth of our faith; they confront us with our hypocrisy. They challenge us to reexamine what it means to “believe.” As a young teenager, I remember hiding Raphael Patai’s book, Hebrew Myths in

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Book Review: Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel

Click here for related story By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin  BOCA RATON, Florida — Jordan B. Gorfinkel and Erez Zadok’s 2019 Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel, published by Koren Press, will delight parents and children. There are humorous comics explaining the Haggadah and Seder ceremonies in about half of the book’s 170 pages with the chad

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

Superman, Batman and deeper Torah concepts

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Superhero comics have been influenced greatly by Jewish life in the United States and by Torah learning, according to Jordan Gorfinkel, 51, the entertainment entrepreneur who managed the Batman franchise for a decade before creating his own Avalanche Comics Entertainment company. In the sanctuary of Tifereth Israel Synagogue

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Book Review: ‘Radical Inclusion’

Radical Inclusion: Engaging Interfaith Families for a Thriving Jewish Future by Edmund Case, © 2019 Center for Radically Inclusive Judaism, ISBN 9781732-938809l, 265 pages, $19.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – If I understand author Edmund Case’s basic premise, it is if people “do Jewish,” then for all practical purposes, they are members of

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

Book Review: ‘Maimonides’ Hidden Torah Commentaries’

Maimonides’ Hidden Torah Commentaries, Genesis 1-21 by Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel, First Edition Design Publishing, Inc., Sarasota, FL, © 2016, Published January 2019, ISBN 978-1506-907-16-1, p. 294 plus bibliography and index, $21.95. By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel, author of Maimonides’ Hidden Torah Commentaries, is also the author of a multi-volume

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion

Strom to present songs of home and exile April 9

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — “Songs of Home and Exile” is the title of the program Yale Strom will present at Smith Recital Hall, SDSU, Tuesday evening, April 9 at 7 p.m. The multi-talented artist-in-residence at San Diego State University’s Jewish Studies Department, has assembled an outstanding group of singers and instrumentalists for this

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego Calendar

Book Review: ‘Taming Your Guts’

Taming Your Guts: A Complete Guide to Functional Gastrointestinal Disorder, Second Edition, by Arnold L. Flick, M.D. © 2018, ISBN 9781797-411767; 188 pages plus diets and index. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Dr. Arnold Flick, who is a retired clinical professor of gastroenterology at the UC San Diego medical school, takes readers on

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food