Books, Poetry & Short Stories

Recognition sought for Gypsies as Holocaust victims

Johann Trollmann and Romani Resistance to the Nazis by Jud Nirenberg; KO Publications; (c) 2016; ISBN 978-0-9903703-76; 220 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Despite some problems in its organization, this is an important book for the Jewish community to ponder. Utilizing the story of Johann Trollman– a Sinto boxer who in 1933 […]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History

LFJCC to feature Hebrew Day School poets May 17

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO –Seven students from the Soille Hebrew Day Middle School will be participating in the May 17, 7:15 p.m. Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices program at the Astor Judaica Library at the Lawrence Family JCC. Also reading that evening, will be a prize-winning student poet and playwright from Mesa Verde Middle School. Rabbi

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, San Diego Calendar

The Psychology of Tzimtzum

By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — When Don Harrison recently gifted me a copy of Professor Mordechai Rotenberg’s The Psychology of Tzimtzum, it, like most gifts, came with a string. “Michael, I thought you’d enjoy this book and I’m wondering if you’d be kind enough to write a review of it for our

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Michael Mantell, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Yiddish writer Rosenfarb’s works and life examined

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Perhaps if the late Yiddish novelist Chava Rosenfarb had lived to see how many people crowded the Seuss Room at UCSD’s Geisel Library to hear a discussion about The Tree of Life, her trilogy about life in the Lodz ghetto, the depression she felt over the fate of the Yiddish

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County

‘Shtum’: A family deals with autism

LONDON — “The only thing predictable about Jonah is his unpredictability,” says Ben, the narrator in Jem Lester’s debut novel “Shtum.” As he cautiously monitors Jonah, his profoundly autistic son, sitting in the back of a car Ben knows even a mere detour has the potential to cause Jonah anxiety and Ben “untold stress.” “Shtum”

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Science, Medicine, & Education

‘Lions mate with lions’ examines life of Francoise Gilot

When I met Françoise Gilot in London in 1968, she seemed impressively confident and highly articulate. Two things she said stick in my memory. One of her regular chores while living with Picasso, she recalled, was to get him out of bed every day around noon. Each time he was reluctant to begin a new

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Where Anne Frank’s ‘Grimm’s Fairy Tales’ Will Go

A copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales once owned by Anne and Margot Frank, their names inscribed atop the title page, sold at auction Thursday for $62,500 (including the buyer’s premium). The New York City–based Swann Auction Galleries said that “the sale represents the first major offering of Anne Frank material at auction in over two

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History

Khamenei lauds ‘Merchant of Venice’

As the world marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Monday tweeted that he too, is a fan of The Bard, and highlighted “The Merchant of Venice” — famous for its derogatory depiction of Jewish moneylender Shylock — as being in “accordance with Western values.” “I have read

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Ancient Jewish wisdom and modern science

By Stanley Tiger SAN DIEGO –Passover in the 21st Century presents Jewish people with new dilemmas unimagined in previous eras: Should I have regular white flour matzah, whole wheat matzah, egg matzah, any of the flavored matzahs, and more recently “gluten free matzah.” We also have the choice of salted or unsalted matzah, domestic or

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Yeshiva University essays prayers of Shabbat

From Within the Tents: The Sabbath Prayers, Essays by the Rabbis and Professors of Yeshiva University edited by Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman and Dr. Stuart W. Halpern; Maggid Books, New Milford, CT;  ISBN 978-1-59264-446-9 ©2014, $29.95, p. 295 plus Appendix By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California –Hermann Cohen, arguably the greatest German-Jewish philosopher of the nineteenth

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History