The Arts

Public lives not matched by family’s private ones in ‘Purpose’

On the surface it seems that his family is the “ideal” family. Dad Solomon (Cornell Womack) is a civil rights hero and minister, and his mom is a former lawyer turned homemaker. The photos on the wall show them with all the greats of the Civil Rights movement. [Sandi Masori]

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San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food

Afro-Peruvian folk music opens SDSO concert

The 37-year-old Lopez is the current composer-in-residence of the San Diego Symphony. This piece was commissioned in 2013 by fellow Peruvian native, Conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya, then Music Director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and was dedicated to Harth-Bedoya, even embedding his initials into the entire work. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Mamdani commemorates ‘Nakba Day’

Nakba Day is the silliest, most childlike excuse ever created to explain away defeat in war. Most nations and peoples who are vanquished take their losses in a saddened, subdued manner. The less said the better. The Arabs would proclaim it from the highest of their tall, looming minarets, where Muslims make the call to prayer five times a day. [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Antisemitism, Bruce Ticker, Israel, Jewish History, News Media, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Children’s book presents Jewish legend of 15th Century Spain

This historical fiction novel explores the lives of Jews in 15th-century Spain through the perspective of a young girl named Loma (Paloma) and the struggles faced by her family. The author researched her own Spanish Jewish heritage, which inspired her to write this novel, suitable for children ages 8–11.
[Cailin Acosta]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Cailin Acosta, International, Jewish Fiction, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish daughter pays tribute to her late ‘Show Biz’ mom Terry Miller

My mom loved to be silly and was able to find humor in most situations. After she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in January 2022, she asked, “How did these cancer cells get to all these other parts of my body? Are they, like, campers hiking around and setting up campsites roasting marshmallows around a fire? Wouldn’t that be a funny sketch?” [Amanda Miller]

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Lifestyles, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

An echo from the past

As I read the message the memory of the composer, Verdina Shlonsky, and her articles about French composers she had known in Paris, came flooding back. I recalled her as a kind, elderly lady who lived in a small apartment on the top floor of an old Tel Aviv building with virtually no furniture other than a piano and a couch. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Technology

Seussical the Musical is ‘pleasure-ical’ but arts funding is not

The fun and spectacle of the show were tempered a bit by proprietors Erin and Gary Lewis’ announcement that due to their funding being cancelled by the City of San Diego as part of the sweeping cuts to the arts and culture budget, they need to raise $100,000 or the next show, Rock of Ages won’t be staged. [Sandi Masori]

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

The importance of Jewish camping

Long before phrases like “immersive engagement” and “experiential Judaism” became common communal language, Jewish camp was already doing that work. Camp created environments where Judaism was not confined to a classroom or a single hour each week. Judaism became woven into the rhythm of daily life through songs, Shabbat under the stars, Hebrew cheers, Israeli dancing, storytelling, friendship, color wars, mentorship, and shared memories that would last a lifetime. [Betzy Lynch]

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Antisemitism, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Opinion, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

New York Times and antisemitism: the Jewish enemy within

Coverage of Israel often portrayed it as a destabilizing force rather than a necessary refuge for a shattered people. By the 1970s and 1980s, legitimate policy critique sometimes slid into rhetoric about excessive Jewish power and dual loyalty. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Antisemitism, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, News Media, Shanda File, USA