USA

Jews must remain a special, chosen people

To me, the Holocaust is much more than a tragic event in Jewish and World history. To me, it was a wake-up call. In the pre-Holocaust era, European Jewry was rapidly looking to assimilate. Jews were holding some of the most prestigious positions in society, ranging from doctors to musicians to professors and even politicians, some Jews were so wrapped up in their social ranks that they did not even identify with their Judaism anymore. It’s said that the Jewish Germans were Germans first then Jews. They were more loyal to their country than their G-d. [Rabbi Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg]

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Bernhard H. Rosenberg-Rabbi, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, USA

A Holocaust exhibit takes to webcasting

The Remember Us The Holocaust (RUTH) exhibit at the Chula Vista Heritage Museum, located in Chula Vista’s main library, was barely a fourth of the way into its anticipated year-long run, when the Covid-19 pandemic forced it closure.   Sandra Scheller, the exhibit’s curator and daughter of the late Ruth Sax, a Holocaust survivor, remained undaunted.  She slowly but thoroughly transformed the exhibit into a virtual experience. {Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Humor: NY retiree to California examines Florida brethren

A short while ago, I visited a third world country. Visas were no longer necessary, but that may change after the next election. The country’s name is South-Eastern Florida. I was there to reunite with long lost Jewish friends of fifty years ago from the New York City area. We had scattered to all corners of the United States seeking fortune, fame, and families. I found some of my comrades via the Internet. I also sought out several cousins who had relocated to this sun-drenched nation. [Ira Spector]

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Lifestyles, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

Congresswoman Davis protests ICE’s plan for foreign students

President Donald J. Trump’s policies toward foreign students are “extreme,” “unnecessary,” and “cruel,” said Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) in leading 136 members of Congress to urge the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to rescind a decision to deport foreign students who during the coronavirus pandemic take courses on-line rather than in person. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Short story: Dirty Dishes

The summer of 1965, I was not quite 17, not quite 5-foot-7, and not quite a college freshman. I was also broke, and I was convinced that I held the school record for number of crushes on girls who couldn’t quite remember who I was when I called for a date. I couldn’t do anything about my age or height, but I decided to solve my other two problems with a summer job at a Catskill Mountains hotel, piling up tips and meeting girls – Jewish preferred, but not required. [Michael Ginsberg]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Michael Ginsberg, USA

The Moroccan villager who changed my life’s course

The Tifnoute community of 44 villages (about 12,000 people) … is so remote that it takes 24 hours to get there due to having to circle around the Atlas Mountains in order to arrive, with the last 70 kilometers of which being unpaved paths. When, as Peace Corps Volunteers, we were assigned to the Toubkal park, we could choose to live anywhere among its valleys of villages, so when I heard that no one had gone to the Tifnoute, I said, “OK, I’ll do it, I’ll go.” I traveled in segments, and it took me three days to get there that winter in 1993. [Yossef Ben-Meir]

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International, Middle East, USA, Yossef Ben-Meir

Jew-hatred, then and now

Jew-hatred (politely termed anti-Semitism) has returned to the US and the West, jolting some Jews but befuddling others who fail to recognize the phenomenon. We baby boomers grew up in era of acceptance of the Jewish community. But this ancient hatred has reverted to the mean as the shock of the Holocaust has receded and Israel has become a powerful nation. [Steve Kramer]

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International, Jewish History, Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA

Why the great Talmudists valued contrary opinions

The Talmud has always been a champion of free speech. It is a unique document of human history where rabbis engage philosophers, wise women, emperors, Roman centurions, and a host of other people as they debate the meaning of life and the message of Judaism. Rabbinical discourse is dialectical. It presents a no-hold-bars approach to virtually any topic, from war and peace to the laws governing sexual relations. But be forewarned: the Talmud is not for the faint of heart. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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International, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA

ADL, Jewish Federation team to boost community security

Matthew Brown had 20 years experience as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation before becoming the Homeland Security Program Manager for the San Diego Unified Port District. Earlier this month he joined the staff of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as part of a three-year partnership program with the Jewish Federation of San Diego County to improve security for the local Jewish community. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

Many broken Americans respond with dignity, patience

We absolutely do not feel personally safe in the current national environment. And a horrifying number are frightfully sick while an explicable number are losing their lives. We have both viral illness and viral racial injustice–they have eerily converged into an uncommon veil of American disease, distrust, disavowal–but, yes, hope. We the people, the authentic American body-psyche, have become the default leadership of our complex nation. Knowing that we’ve been forgotten, many of us have decided to remember what principles this country telegraphed when we threw off the shackles of royal colonialism. [Ben Kamin]

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Lifestyles, San Diego County, USA

Deuteronomy, midrashim, and current police practices

In one of its first San Diego presentations, Avodah held a webinar on Tuesday, July 7, on the issue of police accountability. Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein, director of the Justice Fellowship in Avodah’s Chicago offices, began by quoting Deuteronomy 16:18-20: [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, USA