Books, Poetry & Short Stories

From the Jewish library: ‘An Improbable Friendship’

An Improbable Friendship: The Remarkable Lives of Israeli Ruth Dayan and Palestinian Raymonda Tawil and Their Forty Year Peace Mission, by Anthony David, Arcade Publishing, 2015 By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — Ruth Dayan was married to and then divorced from Israel’s General Moshe Dayan. Raymonda Tawil was the mother-in-law of Palestinian Fatah Chairman Yasser […]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Middle East

Gaza, Lebanon–An Israeli soldier’s diary

From the Wilderness and Lebanon: An Israeli Soldier’s Story of War and Recovery by Asael Lubotzky, Translated from the Hebrew by Murray Roston,Toby Press, New Milford, Connecticut; ISBN 978-1-59264-417-9 ©2015, $14.95, p. 188 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California –The Third Platoon of the Golani Brigade, now working near Gaza for training, but normally operating in Northern Israel,

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Middle East

God needs worthy people as partners for His miracles

God and Politics in Esther, 2nd Edition, by Yoram Hazony; Cambridge University Press; (2015); ISBN-10: 1107583454; $18.27 on Amazon. Rating ***** out of 5 Stars. By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Yoram Hazony’s exposition of the Book of Esther is priceless. In my Judaism 101 class, everyone read a little bit from God

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

‘The Passover Surprise’ is brief yet topic rich

The Passover Surprise by Janet Ruth Heller; illustrations by Ronald Kauffman; © 2015; Fictive Press; ISBN 978-1-927663-17-1; 35 pages including glossary and discussion drive. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –A lot of ground is covered in this story for middle schoolers.  It begins with a pre-teenage girl, Lisa, competing with her younger brother, Jon,

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

Never read ‘The Book Thief’? Steal the time

The Book Thief (10th Anniversary Edition) by Markus Zusak; Alfred A. Knopf; ISBN 878-0-399-55652-4; 550 pages plus bonus material covering the creative process; $19.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Sometimes a book comes out and, like a news article, dies after a period of time, forgotten by everyone except the author and perhaps

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

‘Being Selfish’ far too self- indulgent for most readers

Being Selfish by Sarah Marshank, Selfistry.me, 2015, 978-1-68222-814-2, 350 pgs., $17.89. By Eva Trieger SOLANA BEACH, California — To paraphrase, some things are better left unwritten.  I’m not saying that an author doesn’t have the right to speak her piece and put it out there for the market to purchase, however, I can’t imagine throngs

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eva Trieger

From the Jewish Library: ‘Why Not Say What Happened’

Why Not Say What Happened: A Sentimental Education by Morris Dickstein (Liveright Publishing Corp., 2015) By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — Morris Dickstein was born into a family of Orthodox Jews who brought with them the anxious and narrow life view of the Eastern European shtetl to New York City’s Lower East Side.  He was given a

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories

Poet Nathan C. Goldman reflects on Jewish themes

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – In my mail came a book of poetry for review, unbidden, a gift from its author, a stranger to me.  Titled Above History, Behind Time, it contained the thoughts of Nathan Carliner Goldman, PhD, who is a professor of government at the College of the Mainland in Texas

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

Ex- Skinhead tells of self- loathing behind his bigotry

  By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Former Skinhead Frank Meeink kept the students of San Diego’s Community Jewish High School entranced for nearly two hours Thursday evening, March 3, as he spoke of being rejected and beaten by substance-abusing parents; accepted and respected by neo-Nazis; feeling adrenaline rushes when other teenagers visibly feared

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

‘The Boy in Striped Pajamas’ teaches Holocaust to young readers from a different point of view

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyle; Random House Children’s Books/ David Fickling Books (c) 2016; ISBN 978-0-385-75107-0; 218 pages including discussion questions; $17.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — This novel is being brought back after a decade; its impact on its intended audience of young readers likely to be sad,

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison