The Arts

The mysterious Gabriel at North Coast Rep

By Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel SOLANA BEACH, California — Last December  I reviewed the movie Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Society on this website.  It  took place on England’s Guernsey and Channel  islands just off  the coast of France during World War II .   I learned then that Winston Churchill considered these  islands  indefensible and removed […]

The mysterious Gabriel at North Coast Rep Read More »

Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Felder’s Beethoven: dramatic, informative, musical

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO –– Although we hear it only near the end of Hershey Felder, Beethoven, the letter Beethoven wrote to his younger brother, Johann, at the age of 31, known as the Heiligenstadt Testament, summarized his struggles with handicaps and tragedy that drove the composer to consider giving up on life.  His

Felder’s Beethoven: dramatic, informative, musical Read More »

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

Famous Jewish poets to be read March 5

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”  Emma Lazarus’ words on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty take

Famous Jewish poets to be read March 5 Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, San Diego Calendar, San Diego County

How Maimonides understood Torah

By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Unfortunately, most people of all religions only know what they were taught about their religion and the Bible that they learnt in grade school. Most of it is childish and wrong. It is a shame that people do not improve their knowledge about religion as they

How Maimonides understood Torah Read More »

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

Book Review: ‘No Forgotten Fronts’

No Forgotten Fronts: From Classrooms to Combat by Lisa K. Shapiro; Naval Institute Press, © 2018, ISBN 9781682-472729; 348 pages plus appendices, notes, bibliography and index. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – During World War II, many people turned to The Washington Post for their news.  On the other hand, G.I.’s who were former

Book Review: ‘No Forgotten Fronts’ Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Jews in the News: February 24, 2019

By Donald H. Harrison NATIONAL/ INTERNATIONAL – The Associated Press was credited with three stories involving Jews in Sunday’s San Diego Union Tribune.  In one, Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California had an impromptu debate with students who demanded that she support the Green New Deal, which she responded would never receive enough votes

Jews in the News: February 24, 2019 Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Jews in the News ~ February 22, 2019

By Donald H. Harrison NATIONAL/ INTERNATIONAL – Her patience sorely tested, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson warned President Trump’s former campaign aide Roger Stone that he will get no more chances if he violates a court order to remain mum about his upcoming trial in which he is accused of lying to Congress regarding

Jews in the News ~ February 22, 2019 Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Children’s Book Review: ‘Made by Raffi”

Made by Raffi, story by Craig Pomranz, illustrations by Margaret Chamberlain, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, IsBN 9781847-805966. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Made by Raffi is a story by singer Craig Pomranz, with illustrations by Margaret Chamberlain, that should help children who feel different from others of their gender understand that they have

Children’s Book Review: ‘Made by Raffi” Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Jews in the News: February 21, 2019

By Donald H. Harrison NATIONAL/ INTERNATIONAL –Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the opinion for a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning excessive seizure of property by law enforcement agencies following an arrest.  According to a New York Times story, she said excessive seizures violate the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing equal protection of

Jews in the News: February 21, 2019 Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Judaism, Zionism and the Land of Israel

Book Review: Judaism, Zionism and the Land of Israel by Yotav Eliach By Edwin Black WASHINGTON, D.C. — For decades, Rabbi Yotav Eliach, esteemed principal of Rambam Mesivta High School in Long Island, has accumulated his teachings, writings, and those of many other scholars and rabbinical authorities, tracking the history of Israel. His mission was not

Judaism, Zionism and the Land of Israel Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Edwin Black, Jewish History

De Toqueville foresaw FB’s danger to democracy

By Sam Ben-Meir NEW YORK — There is a fascinating chapter toward the end of Alexis de Toqueville’s Democracy in America titled “What Kind of Despotism Do Democratic Nations Have to Fear?” in which the author attempted something truly extraordinary – to describe a social condition which humankind had never before encountered. We find him

De Toqueville foresaw FB’s danger to democracy Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Sam Ben-Meir, USA

Jews in the News ~ February 17, 2019

By Donald H. Harrison NATIONAL/ INTERNATIONAL – U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson told Roger Stone, his defense attorneys, and prosecutors not to make any statements that might prejudice a jury in the case in which he is accused of lying to Congress in its probe of possible Russian connections to President Trump’s successful

Jews in the News ~ February 17, 2019 Read More »

International, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego Calendar, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Jews in the News: February 16, 2019

By Donald H. Harrison NATIONAL/ INTERNATIONAL — House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York, joined by five of his subcommittee chairs, including Reps Steve Cohen and David Cicilline, respectively of Tennessee and Rhode Island, informed President Trump on Friday of the commencement of an immediate investigation into his declaration of a national emergency and

Jews in the News: February 16, 2019 Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, International, San Diego County, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

Jews in the News ~ February 15, 2019

By Donald H. Harrison NATIONAL/ INTERNATIONAL — In order to build a border wall, President Trump decided on Friday to declare a national emergency, prompting a constitutional crisis over whether he legally can reprogram money  previously allocated by Congress for other purposes.  U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told The New

Jews in the News ~ February 15, 2019 Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA