Byliners

Actor in ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ has Yiddishisms Down Pat

Right now they’re doing Tuesday With Morrie, a two-man show based on the book of the same title by Jewish writer Mitch Albom.   The play takes place in the 90s when Mitch (Kevin Quezada) reconnects with his favorite professor from Brandeis University, Morrie Schwartz (John Grasberger).  Morrie has recently been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease and is ailing fast.   Mitch guilts himself into committing to come and visit Morrie every Tuesday until he passes.  During these visits they talk about life, love, death and the meaning of it all.  [Sandi Masori]

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Sandi Masori, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

The Man for Whom Ma’alot Harav Shlomo Goren Was Named

Born in Poland in 1917 and emigrated to Palestine at the age of eight, Rabbi Goren was a brilliant, colorful, and sometimes controversial, Talmudist and halakhist. Young Shlomo Goren was a prodigy: at the tender age of twelve, he began his formal Talmud studies as the youngest student ever at Jerusalem’s Hebron Yeshiva and he published the first of many books when he was just seventeen years old. [Gedaliah Borvick]

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Gedaliah Borvick, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion

From Rashida’s Rhetoric to Fears of Sitting Shiva

By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — If only a bloody-hand stunt staged by pro-Arab activists applied to U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s rhetoric and her possible role leading to the deaths of two Jews – one a synagogue president in Tlaib’s hometown and the other a pro-Israel demonstrator outside Los Angeles. Tlaib, a Democrat who represents

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Bruce Ticker, California, Israel, Opinion, San Diego County, USA

Visiting San Diego, Israeli Academic Leader Unpacks ‘Incorporation of American Universities’

By Jacob Kamaras LA JOLLA, California — The “incorporation of American universities” is at the roof of toxic discourse surrounding the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses, University of Haifa President Prof. Ron Robin said during his visit to San Diego from November 12-13. In a nationwide tour of campuses, Robin met with university presidents, administrators,

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California, Israel, Jacob Kamaras, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

One Out of Four is Gone

By Doron Krakow Kibbutz Nir Oz (Meadow of Strength) was founded in 1955, becoming part of the left-wing Zionist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair. In the hands of its roughly 70 founders, a formerly arid and bleak 5,000 or so acres of Israel’s frontier were gradually transformed into an idyllic setting, green and lush, and in

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Doron Krakow, Israel, Opinion, USA

Jewish Trivia Quiz: Dr. Ruth

By Mark D. Zimmerman Dr. ‍Ruth ‍was ‍just ‍named ‍New ‍York ‍State’s ‍Ambassador ‍to ‍Loneliness, ‍with ‍a ‍charge ‍to ‍help ‍New ‍Yorkers ‍cope ‍with ‍the ‍loneliness ‍epidemic. ‍Dr. ‍Ruth, ‍the ‍Holocaust ‍survivor ‍who ‍gained ‍fame ‍as ‍a ‍sex ‍therapist, ‍says ‍that ‍she ‍began ‍focusing ‍on ‍this ‍issue ‍when ‍she ‍was ‍isolated ‍during ‍the ‍COVID ‍lockdown,

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Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire

The Hidden Passion and Joy of Psalms Described by Two Rabbis

Most identify the Book of Psalms as a collection of Jewish hymns, prayers, and poems mostly focusing on praising and adoring God. Rabbis Jack Riemer and Elie Spitz, co-authors of Duet on Psalms, with their long careers as pulpit rabbis recognize for too many, reciting psalms is a perfunctory exercise, spoken without passion and devoid of their intrinsic meaning. [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]

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