USA

The dire consequences of territorial annexation

The formation of an Israeli coalition government led by Netanyahu and Gantz, the leaders of Likud and Kahol Lavan respectively, will finally put an end to Israel’s nearly 18 month-long political paralysis and, for now, personal rivalry following three elections. Both agreed on a host of important socio-economic and security matters. The most ominous issue they strongly embraced, however, is the annexation of a substantial swath of Palestinian territories based on Trump’s “Peace to Prosperity” plan. Should Israel move to implement the plan, it will lead to ominous consequences and drastically change Israel’s character as a democratic, Jewish state. [Alon Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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Alon Ben-Meir, Middle East, USA

J Street’s endorsement of Biden raises Israeli issues

The politics linked to Israel got a tad more uncomfortable, thanks to the main U.S. presidential contenders.Last Friday, J Street endorsed Joe Biden’s bid to oust President Trump on Nov. 3, which he readily welcomed. The following night, Trump pounced on anti-Israel attitudes among Democrats with no real coaxing. Both moves raise disturbing questions. If the former vice president is elected, will J Street prod Biden to make decisions damaging to Israel? [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USA

It’s back to nature on Earth Day

Controversial filmmaker Michael Moore released on Earth Day the movie, Planet of the Humans, in which he raises the issue of whether the Green Movement has been taken over by capitalists, who have fooled us into believing that wind, solar, and biomass energy will help the planet regenerate.  In the final analysis, it’s not a question of climate change so much as it “human change” that is required.  The full documentary may be seen above. Closer to home, lots of folks were getting out in nature to celebrate Earth Day, albeit while taking such precautions as social distancing and in some cases wearing masks.  [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, The World We Share, USA

Rabbi salutes his father, the rabbi who resisted white flight from Baltimore

Today is my dad’s yahrzeit.  My dad, Rabbi Dr. Nathan Drazin was born on March 16, 1906 and passed away in Israel on 28 Nisan 1976. He is well-known as a brilliant man, a scholar with a beautiful personality. He was also a hero. It is proper to remember him today. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, USA

San Diego’s Internet Yom HaShoah commemoration

With social distancing policies in effect during the coronavirus pandemic, Rabbi Scott Meltzer of Ohr Shalom Synagogue and Rabbi Ralph Dalin, the community chaplain who works under auspices of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, jointly conducted an Internet observance of Yom HaShoah on Monday evening.  The ceremony included such traditional prayers as the 23rd Psalm, and  El Moleh Rachamim as well as a special Holocaust Kaddish during which the names of the Nazi death camps are interjected into the traditional Kaddish text. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA

We Remember!

In the Jewish tradition, we are commanded to remember (zachor) and not to forget (lo tishkach). This week we commemorate Yom HaShoah, the Day of Holocaust Remembrance. On this solemn occasion, 75 years after the end of World War II: We remember the six million Jewish martyrs, including 1.5 million children, who were exterminated in the Holocaust. .. [David Harris]

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International, Jewish History, Middle East, USA

Cottbus, Germany joins San Diego in Holocaust memory

In a second day of Holocaust observance, the Jewish Federation of San Diego County sponsored a webcast on Monday featuring Steven Schindler in San Diego and Nicole Nocon and her daughter, Antonia, in Cottbus, Germany, the home town where Schindler’s late father, Max Shindler, was arrested as a child by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, USA

Canadian vs. American responses to mass shootings

Yesterday, April 19, 2020, in Portapique, Nova Scotia, a gunman on a shooting rampage killed at least 16 people including one Mountie. The gunman was able to flee and lead the police on a 55-mile chase because he was dressed as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer and driving a car made to look like one of their vehicles. Thankfully, he was later cornered at a gas station and taken out by the RCMP. Nova Scotia’s Premier, Stephen McNeil called it “one of the most senseless acts of violence in our province’s history.” [Eric George Tauuber}

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Eric George Tauber, International, USA

Six-camp survivor Ben Midler leads off Yom HaShoah observances in S.D. County

Benjamin Midler, 91, a survivor of six Nazi concentration camps, led off the Jewish Federation of San Diego County’s Holocaust remembrance via a Zoom presentation narrated by daughters Nurit Kotick and Ellen Winter. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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

Some advice about school bullying

Melissa Rubenstein Levin, who worked for Drasnin Communications in San Diego from 2000 to 2002, is now based in Houston, where she is handling publicity for IndieFlix. That production company recently issued three films.  Angst, which includes an interview with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, deals with understanding anxiety disorders; Like “explores the impact of social media on our lives and the effects of technology on the brain,” and The Upstanders, which I recently watched, “explores cyber-bullying,” as can be seen in the trailer above. [Our Shtetl San Diego County by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Joe Gandelman, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Book Review: A Rosenberg by any other name

You gotta love this book. Page 1 leads with my favorite “Ferguson” (shayn fergessen) joke which I have retold tirelessly for years. Fermaglich reveals that Winona Ryder, born in Winona, Minnesota and currently playing the role of Evelyn Finkel in the Netflix series The Plot Against America, based on Philip Roth’s 2004 novel of the same name, was born Winona Laura Horowitz. But this book is not about jokes and celebrities but about the real choices that the nearly three million Jews who came to America between 1880 and 1920 had to make to feel comfortable and make progress in America. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak, USA