Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriet Savit, Random House Children’s Books, ©2016; fiction; ISBN 978-0-553-51334-9; 230 pages; $17.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Here is a fictional story that is both fascinating and improbable. A 7-year-old Jewish girl in Poland is left alone after the Nazis take away her father, a professor […]
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
The Timechart History of Jewish Civilization, edited and designed by Meredith MacArdle, World Press Ltd., 2010, Consultant: Judy Gold, Director, London Jewish Cultural Center By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — This is a large coffee table sized book that opens with a spectacular full color, sixteen page, unfolding panel which is eleven feet long. It
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish HistoryThe Practical Guide to the Laws of Kashrut by Rabbi Pinchas Cohen, Maggid Books, Jerusalem; ISBN 978-1-59264-434-6 ©2015, $17.95, p. 75, plus glossary and figures By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California–The Hebrew word kosher means “proper” or “fit,” and in the case of food, the term kosher refers to food that God says is
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish ReligionEvery Man in This Village is a Liar, by Megan K. Stack, Doubleday Publishers, 2010 By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — Megan K. Stack, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times writes from distant lands wracked by war and unrest. She takes the reader to Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, various Palestinian areas, Israel and
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Books, Poetry & Short StoriesIsaac Stern: My First 79 Years, written with Chaim Potok, Alfred Knopf Publisher, 1999 By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — On any list of the outstanding violinists of the twentieth century, one would surely find the name of Isaac Stern. Born in 1920, in the city of Kreminiecz, which, as he states in this
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts
Karen Levine, Hana’s Suitcase: The Quest to Solve a Holocaust Mystery; © 20r Te02, 2012; Random House Children’s Books; ISBN 978-1-101-93349-7; 135 pages, $9.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Perhaps because I’m in the process of researching a local biography, I’m all the more impressed by the resourcefulness and stick-to-it-iveness of Fumiko Ishioka,
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish HistoryLet There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World by Seth M. Siegel, St. Martin’s Press, New York; ISBN 978-1-250-07395-2 ©2015, $27.99, p. 252, plus eight color photos, appendices and; an index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. “Water, water, everywhere, and all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” WINCHESTER,
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & EducationI Don’t Know What to Believe: Making Spiritual Peace With Your Religion by Rabbi Ben Kamin; Central Recovery Press, © 2016; ISBN 878-1-942094-04-3; 224 pages; $16.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –Rabbi Kamin’s columns appear regularly on San Diego Jewish World. In fairness to those reading this review, it should be noted that we
Take from Bible what’s best, leave the rest Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish ReligionEleanor of Aquitaine, A Life by Alison Weir, Balantine Books, 1999 By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — In a time when chivalry placed women on a pedestal, knights fought for ladies faire and troubadours sang their praises, the reality of existence was quite different, even for a queen. This is the time from whence many legends
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories
Love in a World of Sorrow by Fanya Gottesfeld Heller, Gefen Publishing House © 2015, ISBN 9780965-229-839-3l 252 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –There are many authors like Fanya Gottesfeld Heller who tell their survival stories from the Holocaust at school assemblies and other forums. In San Diego County, the names of Gussie
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish HistoryBy Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — Most families have some cousins they would rather not think about. Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York, by Stephen Birmingham (Syracuse University Press, 1996) and Poor Cousins by Ande Manners (Putnam Publishers Group, 1972) relate the stories of the powerful Jewish families of New York and
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, USA
Scattered Among the Nations by Bryan Schwartz, Joy Sand and Sandy Carter; Weldon Owen publisher, Visual Anthropology Press, 251 pages, cover price $60. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –I’m going to rearrange the sequence of Bryan Schwartz’s narrative and photography book so that we can always travel toward the east, almost around the world,
Yes, Rebecca, Jews live there too! Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish ReligionUnlikely Soldier: A Jewish Soldier in Hitler’s Army by Georg Rauch, Publisher: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2006, 2015 By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — As a nineteen year old male living in Vienna during World War II, there was no way Georg Rauch could escape being conscripted into the Nazi military machine. At first he thought
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish HistoryBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — The TV series, Call the Midwife, which is based on Jennifer Worth’s book of that name about her own experiences of working as a midwife in the impoverished East End of post-war London, has aroused widespread interest and enthusiasm, first in Britain and subsequently all over the world.
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Theatre, Film & Broadcast