Books, Poetry & Short Stories

‘The Dream of Zion’ focuses on the life of Herzl

The Dream of Zion: The Story of the First Zionist Congress by Lawrence J. Epstein, Rowman & Littlefield, New York;  ISBN 978-1-4422-5466-5 ©2016, $36.00, p. 137, plus chronology and references. By Fred Reiss, Ed.D.   WINCHESTER, California — Professor emeritus Lawrence Epstein in his newest book The Dream of Zion, argues that the nineteenth-century European Enlightenment’s […]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, International, Jewish History, Middle East

Fabled chameleons protect food supply on Noah’s Ark

The Chameleon That Saved Noah’s Ark by Yael Molchadsky with illustrations by Orit Bergman; Penguin Young Readers Group/ Nancy Paulsen Books (c) 2015; ISBN 978-1-100-99676-8; 28 pages, 16.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –You could call this Israeli-written and illustrated book a fable, or a midrash, that utilizes the well-known biblical story of Noah

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

A Righteous Gentile’s own story

In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer by Irene Gut Opdyke and Jennifer Armstrong; Penguin Random House/ Ember; (c) 1999, 2015; ISBN 978-0-679-99181-6; 278 pages including appendices, $10.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — This publication has reviewed, and will continue to review, numerous memoirs by Holocaust survivors. What makes this memoir different

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

Growth of Museum of Tolerance, Moriah Pictures told

Meant To Be by Rabbi Marvin Hier; Toby Press, LLC; © 2015; ISBN 978-1-59264-389-9; 342 pages including photo sections and index; $29.95 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –This memoir tells the story of the founding of the Yeshiva University of Los Angeles, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Moriah Pictures, and the Museums of Tolerance in

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

From the Jewish library: ‘Life Along the Silk Road’

Life Along the Silk Road, by Susan Whitfield, 2nd edition, University Press, 2015 By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — The book opens with several explanatory sections:  a “Preface to the Second Edition,” a “Note of Transliteration and Names,” an “Introduction,” a “Prologue,” and a map spread across two pages. The map is arresting.  It shows

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories

Katz’s book on Israel’s war against terror is outstanding

The Ghost Warriors: Inside Israel’s Undercover War Against Suicide Terrorism by Samuel Katz; Berkley  (2016) ISBN: 1592409016; $18; Rated: 5* By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — There is hardly a day when we don’t read another story about a terrorist attack. For the most part, Radical Islam has demonstrated an almost uncanny ability to raise

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East

Large cast to read, sing Goldberg, Shneour works

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California–The works of two great Jewish poets, Leah Goldberg (1911-1970) and Zalman Shneour (1887-1959) will be featured at the Tuesday, February 23, 7 p.m. program of Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices in the Astor Judaica Library of the Lawrence Family JCC. All the poems will be read in their original language as

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego Calendar

How Judaism views evil speech

False Facts and True Rumors: LaShon HaRa in Contemporary Culture by Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman, Maggid Books, Jerusalem; ISBN 978-1-59264-441-4 ©2015, $29.95, p. 261, plus bibliography and indexes By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California–The Hebrew expression lashon hara, literally meaning “an evil tongue,” is often translated as slander, gossip, and malicious or disparaging speech. In contemporary

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

From the Jewish library: ‘Sergei Prokofiev’

Sergei Prokofiev: A Soviet Tragedy by Victor Seroff, Funk & Wagnalls, 1968 By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — Anton Rubenstein. a composer and one of the greatest piano virtuosos of the 19th century was born to Jewish parents in the vicinity of Odessa.  Though he and Prokofiev never met – indeed Prokofiev was only three

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Can a derivative story teach the Holocaust?

The Tree in the Courtyard: Looking Through Anne Frank’s Window by Jeff Gottesfeld; illustrated by Peter McCarty; ©2016 Alfred A. Knopf, Junior Library Guild Selection; 34 pages; $17.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – This beautifully written, magnificently illustrated, sentimental remembrance of Anne Frank is being marketed as a children’s book, but I’m not

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

‘Ghosts’ illustrates reverence for our war dead

Ghosts: Images of War by Carrie Zeidman; © 2015 Swiss Creek Publications; ISBN 978-0970227652; 71 pages; $40. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – This is an unusual book of photo essays touring venues of the American Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II and the Holocaust.  Photojournalist Carrie Zeidman visits these places

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

Some tips for couples who don’t want to quarrel

Stop The Fight: An Illustrated Guide for Couples by Michelle Brody, PhD; © 2015; The Experiment, LLC;  ISBN 978-1-61519-280-9;  295 pages plus index and notes; $15.95 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Psychologist Michelle Brody offers a dozen scenarios illustrating typical fights between married couples, along with suggestions for how the couples might understand what those

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Book review: ‘The Myth of the Cultural Jew’

The Myth of the Cultural Jew: Culture and Law in Jewish Tradition by Roberta Rosenthal Kwall, Oxford University Press, New York;  ISBN 978-0-19-537370-7 ©2015, $34.95, p. 297, plus index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — If you’ve ever heard a new employee at work say something like, “We didn’t do it that way when I

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