USA

Pandemic teaches we are not so advanced

The affairs of the world were running as usual; not necessary right, to a great extent, but as usual. With this world not knowing any better, things were considered normal. All of a sudden, the world woke up to face a terrible pandemic affecting all.  And now thousands are getting sick and many are dying. With all our advancements, we were not prepared. [Arkady Mamaysky]

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Arkady Mamaysky, International, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Lone soldier from San Diego on patrol near Gaza

  Other items in  today’s column include *Israel Philharmonic teams up in their homes for Pesach melodies *Coronavirus and animals *Passover doings * By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Sometimes in the morning, sometimes at night, Israel Defense Forces Corporal Sagie Shpigelman, 19,  of San Diego patrols Israel’s border with Gaza along with other

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Travel and Food, USA

Passover, the pandemic, and globalization

The impact of the pandemic has caused a revolution in how we relate to each other: our main conduit is now the Internet, not personal contact. This year, our Seder will be attended by 15 others on Zoom. It won’t be perfect, there will be glitches, but Michal and I won’t be sitting at the table alone. (Those of you who are alone can make good use of the many websites offering special songs, prayers and more.) The pandemic has brought other, all-encompassing changes. Probably most significant is the apparent demise of globalization, which has been so trendy over the last generation. Right now, most borders worldwide are extremely well guarded, with stringent regulations for non-citizens in effect. [Steve Kramer]

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

Jewish community raises $2 million for Covid-19 emergencies; more needed

Approximately $2 million has been raised for the San Diego Jewish Community Emergency Fund, created by the Jewish Community Foundation, the Leichtag Foundation, and the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, professionals of those three organizations noted Monday in a Zoom conference. However, more will be needed, according to Beth Sirull, the president and CEO of the Jewish Community Foundation. “The pandemic has the makings of a real humanitarian nightmare,” she said, noting that as people are thrown out of work, they are struggling to meet such basic needs as purchasing foods and medicines. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Judaism, Lifestyles, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Social crisis and the public use of reason

Presently we face a true crisis – a crisis in the fullest sense of the word.  A crisis is defined not simply by the magnitude of the problem – but rather, by how it compels us to question our basic assumptions and preconceptions; it is a situation that forces us to reevaluate the conditions that made it possible in the first place. This implies that within the darkness of every crisis there lies a seed, a kernel of something from which a new reality, a new way of thinking of ourselves and our duties to each other, can emerge. [Sam Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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Sam Ben-Meir, USA

Campaigns shape up against 3 anti-Israel Congress members

We have been living with the glaring presence of Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar in Congress for 15 months. Finally, we have some idea of the forces that could decide Tlaib’s political future. Likewise for a Republican congressman who is perceived as anti-Israel. The other week, Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones announced that she will challenge Tlaib in the Democratic primary next August to represent part of Detroit and some of the city’s suburbs, according to the website Jewish Insider. [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USA

The pioneering American Jewish women directors

I should have compiled this list during March for Women’s History Month, but better late than never. I’ve been doing research for the past 2 years on American Jewish women directors and wanted to share some of the films by the pioneers that you can stream at home.  Although a considerable number of women directed films during the silent era, those numbers dwindled to two, Dorothy Arzner and Ida Lupino, between 1930 and 1960.  The decline of the studio system and the political and social movements of the 60s opened up opportunities for more women directors in the next decade.  Jewish women were disproportionately represented in their ranks. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Jewish History, Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

DeBlasio stumbles over First Amendment

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has a penchant for making controversial comments. As a politician who always tries to win the loyalty of his constituency, it is quite possible he may have dug a hole for himself that he cannot climb out of. The Mayor said: “If your congregation continues to meet, you could be done for good. If you go to your synagogue, if you go to your church and attempt to hold services, after having been told so often not to, our enforcement agents will have no choice, but to shut down those services, … I don’t say that with any joy. It’s the last thing I would like to do, because I understand how important people’s faiths are to them, and we need our faith in this time of crisis. But we do not need gatherings that will endanger people.”[1] [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA

The tapestries that bind us

The watercolor has been in my family seemingly forever. It used to hang in my parents’ apartment in Tel Aviv, but it has been in my different homes in California for decades. In it a young girl of five or six years faces the painter with a slight pout and a high forehead crowned by a white ribbon. The sadness along her lip line is unmistakable. One can imagine small pools of tears about to gather in her big dark eyes. She is wearing a summer dress, but the painter chose to focus on her face and in quick brush strokes drew two blue straps over small shoulders that are colored a distinctive pink. [Varda Levy]

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International, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA

Sanctions in a time of pandemic

The Islamic Republic of Iran is fighting the coronavirus (a.k.a. Wuhan virus) with its usual obfuscation, lies, denials, and accusations. Calling the virus a concerted effort by the U.S. and Israel to infect Iran, the government has demanded an end to Western sanctions – and money, lots of money — because, it says, American sanctions are preventing medical supplies from entering the country.
The first claim is nonsense and the second claim is nonsense. [Shoshana Bryen]

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International, Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USA

The Mezuzah and the Coronavirus

One of the fascinating aspects of the coronavirus and its impact upon our society is the impact it is having on the religious lives of people across the world. In Israel, the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi asked Jews to stop kissing mezuzahs because of the coronavirus, while a major European rabbinical group published its own directives how to contain the spread of the illness. For those who are unfamiliar with what a mezuzah is, a mezuzah is a small parchment that contains some of the most sacred Jewish prayers, most notably, the Shema. Some Jews are instructed not to touch the mezuzah, or a Torah scroll with their hands. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

The Jewish candidates: Kate Schwartz in the 75th A.D.

Kate Schwartz, a Fallbrook Democrat who will face incumbent Assemblywoman Marie Waldron (R-Escondido) in the Nov. 3 runoff election, said the coronavirus pandemic illustrates the necessity to re-open community and rural hospitals. Furthermore, she said, it is evidence that California should switch from competing private health systems to a unified, single-payer health care system.  She said California could set an example for the rest of the nation. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, The World We Share, USA