His best-known works are the 1848 pamphlet The Communist Manifesto (with Friedrich Engels) and the three-volume Das Kapital (1867–1894); the latter employs his critical approach of historical materialism in an analysis of capitalism and is the culmination of his intellectual efforts. [Wikipedia]
Today’s Jewish Birthday: Karl Marx Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia
He was the author of 40 books, including novels, short story collections, children’s books, and essays, and his work has been published in 45 languages, more than that of any other Israeli writer. [Wikipedia]
Today’s Jewish Birthday: Amos Oz Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Israel, Today's Jewish Birthday, USA, Wikipedia
Why We Read is an attractive, magnetic, and enigmatic title. There are many answers. Because I want to, because it is satisfying, because it is good for my mind, because a book is a friend, because a book is an escape, and because I can only begin to cover Reed’s analysis. [Oliver Pollak]
‘Why We Read’ Is a Book with Many Answers Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Oliver Pollak, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
Hear the call, California, let’s rise and unite,
In our land of splendor, from plight to light.
From redwood shadows to shimmering shore,
Let’s build a future worth striving for. … {Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel}
A Rabbi’s Prayer Poem for California Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
In 1940, Ehrenburg came to the USSR from occupied Paris. He returned to the country, where the repression of 1937 proved to him the cruelty of the authorities. The writer received frightening news from Izvestia in 1939: although he continued to be on the newspaper’s staff, his reports and articles would not be published. The USSR was changing its attitude toward Jews because of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty. [Alex Gordon]
Jewish Biography: Ilya Ehrenburg, One Handshake Away Read More »
Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Jewish Poets of the Past will feature Yiddish Poet Abraham Sutzkever and Israeli Poet Dahlia Ravikovitch, both recipients of the Israel Prize, that country’s most prestigious award. The program will be held in the Astor Judaica Library of the Lawrence Family JCC at 7 p.m., Tuesday May 7. [Eileen Wingard]
LFJCC to Present Poems of Yiddish and Hebrew Poets on May 7 Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, Holocaust, International, Israel, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Playing Khanan and also stepping into the role of director, Izzy falls in love with Sue-Ann, who portrays Leah. At times brilliant and at times in la-la land, Izzy leads readers on a adventure through S. An-sky’s well-known, memorable play, and through his own disordered mind. [Donald H. Harrison]
‘The Dybbuk’ Meets Schizophrenia in ‘The Book of Izzy’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Staff and Bylined Contributors
In lengthy, brilliant, and painfully introspective essays, he examines not only conflicts between Jews and their non-Jewish detractors, but also delves deeply into the sometimes- internecine divisions among Jews themselves. [Donald H. Harrison]
His ‘Life as a Jew’ is an Introspective Search for Definition Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
Ways of Eating does not contain recipes. Instead it is packed with “takeaways” that illuminate food culture. For instance, “restaurant” derives from the “restoratives” of broth served at inns to travelers. The chapter “Medieval Tastes,” aka middle ages, presents a spirited discussion of periodization and geography. [Olivere B. Pollak]
Customs Surrounding Food Told Entertainingly Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Oliver Pollak, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food
One of our beloved humor columnists, Joel Cohen, has died in New York City, his children have informed me. The news came just two days after I had attended the funeral in San Diego of Ellen Fox Lorang. [Donald H. Harrison]
Two Whose Memories are Blessings: Joel Cohen, Ellen Fox Lorang Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Joel H. Cohen, News Media, Obituaries & memorials, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
There are passing mentions of b’nai mitzvah, Shabbat, and studying Hebrew but these are not essential to the plot, and I wonder sometimes whether such Jewish content is there simply to be placed on Jewish reading lists. You won’t learn anything about Judaism or Jewish culture, but interesting information abounds about the space and the sea. [Donald H. Harrison]
Love Competes with Jealousy in YA ‘Summer Nights and Meteorites’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Fiction, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
We unloaded our books onto the counter. They looked lovely there, the covers all being based on my own watercolor paintings. Unfazed, the librarian handed me an empty form and told me to start filling it out. I began to embark on the task, expecting to have to make an effort to get my books into the annals of posterity. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Israel’s National Library and Me Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Israel, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
The newspaper also taught new immigrants about American folkways—dishing out advice on such diverse topics as how baseball is played, how Americans set their tables, and to sneeze into handkerchiefs to avoid spreading germs in crowded tenements. [Donald H. Harrison]
Biographer of Abe Cahan Illuminates a Bygone Era Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Lifestyles, News Media, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
Her Uncle Abe, the younger brother of her father, played the trombone in the NBC Symphony Orchestra, so a family tradition was to sit quietly around the radio listening to the broadcast of the concerts conducted by Arturo Toscanini, whether or not Uncle Abe had an important solo. Her Bubbie told Abe that he should invite the maestro over to sample her blintzes, but somehow the conductor never realized that pleasure. [Donald H. Harrison]
Nostalgic Memoir Paints Word Portrait of an Era Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USA