International

Seacrest innovates a fundraiser during Covid-19

Unlike many organizations that settle for “gala” banquet dinners with speakers, Seacrest Village Retirement Communities in Encinitas  has tended to favor outdoor fundraising activities such as golf, tennis, and pickleball along with a spa day for donors.  This year, however, Covid-19 was too great a handicap for golf, and it aced out the tennis tournament.  However, planners for Seacrest Village, which is the upscale successor of the San Diego Hebrew Home for the Aged, were not deterred.  They came up with five methods by which donors could nevertheless help the home raise money to defray the costs for seniors who are financially at risk. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

A security proposal for holy places

A new security approach is needed to protect holy places. Even before the COVID-19 epidemic and the lockdown that impacted businesses and organizations, especially churches, synagogues, mosques and temples, attacks on holy places were increasing. Now almost every day another religious site is invaded, trashed, burned or rabbis, priests, ministers, pastors and monks are assaulted, and in one case a Buddhist monk was killed praying in his temple by a gunshot in High Point, North Carolina. (Stephen D. Bryen, Ph.D)

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish Religion, Stephen D. Bryen, USA

Suppose Trump refuses to accept election defeat

The concerns I have are not numerous, but are extremely critical: what if he challenges the results of the election and remains adamant on calling for a recount or a new election entirely? What if he refuses to leave the White House and prevents the peaceful transition of power? What if he calls on the military to occupy all major American cities while he still is the Commander-in-Chief between Election Day and the inauguration of the new president? [Alon Ben- Meir, Ph.D]

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Alon Ben-Meir, USA

Watching granddaughter’s IDF ceremony in Covid19 time

“You are invited to watch the ceremony to mark the graduation of the soldiers who have completed the Officers’ Training Course.” That was the text of the official invitation emailed to me and other family members by one of our granddaughters, whose sister was one of the soldiers concerned. We were informed that we would be able to watch the ceremony live, as filmed by the IDF’s official photographer, on the official IDF site on the internet. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Lack of Jewish unity spurs anti-Semitism

Just like the Jews in Germany before World War II tried to convince the Nazis that they were good Germans but to no avail, Jews today are trying to convince the world that we are good people. They say that Jews donate to charity more than any other nation or faith, that they contribute to high-tech innovations that advance the world far above their proportion in the world, that Jews have given the world many great physicians, thinkers, artists, and entrepreneurs, and that they are ardent human rights activists. But the world largely responds with contempt. It may be ironic, but it seems very natural for anti-racism protesters to yell “Dirty Jews” at counter-protesters, as The Jerusalem Post reported on June 15. In other words, many people don’t even relate to anti-Semitism as a type of racism. [Michael Laitman, Ph.D]

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East

Swab your cheek and maybe save a toddler’s life

How incredible would you feel if you knew you could save the life of a beautiful 15-month-old baby girl, with something as innocuous as a cheek swab? The surrender of a few minutes on your part might provide a chance to reach milestones for this child and her parents.  Consider her first day of school, learning to ride a bike, losing her first tooth, observing her bat mitzvah, dressing for a first date, kvellling at her chuppah, welcoming her own child.  By registering with Be the Match, you may be offering Zoe and her parents all of these magical moments with minimal effort on your part. [Eva Trieger]

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Eva Trieger, International, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Museum of the Hebrew Language planned in Jerusalem

As the president of the Academy of the Hebrew Language since 1993, Prof. Moshe Bar-Asher has many friends and former students around the world.  For example, he recently recalled in his courtly English, he once had the pleasure of teaching Mira Balberg, who is now a professor in UC San Diego’s Jewish Studies Department. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

Another Jewish institution may be involved in tax fraud

Information provided by U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer in the tax fraud case against Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein and five co-defendants alleges that another religious institution, not yet identified, has also been involved in tax fraud. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

John Lewis: A man of painful sincerity, steel rectitude

As a seventeen-year-old lad from the gravely impoverished Troy, Alabama, John Lewis decided to write a letter to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery. Lewis had breathlessly followed the recent narrative of King, Rosa Parks, and others during the successful eleven-month Montgomery Bus Boycott. Not only did King write back to Lewis, he also included in the letter a round-trip bus ticket to Montgomery and an invitation to meet him, which Lewis eventually did — in March 1958. “I was so scared. I didn’t know what to say or what to do,” Lewis recalled. “And Dr. King said, ‘Are you the boy from Troy?'”  [Source: NPR] [Ben Kamin]

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Obituaries & memorials, USA

Humor: How to achieve Middle East peace

For many years I have preached an obvious solution to the Israel desire for peace and an end to many decades of war with the Arab nations. It’s really quite simple… A secret delegation of high level representatives from the Israeli government, some engineers, agronomists and a few of the best chefs travel to the Australian Outback in a timely manner just before Passover. [Ira Spector]

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International, Middle East, Travel and Food, Trivia, Humor & Satire