By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Best selling author Herman Wouk died last week at the age of 103. Wouk, an Orthodox Jew, won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Caine Mutiny, and also wrote many Jewish-themed novels, including The Winds of War, War and Remembrance, and Marjorie Morningstar. Marjorie Morningstar told […]
Jewish trivia quiz: Herman Wouk, z”l Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Eva Trieger SAN DIEGO — Big thanks to Kate Hamill for rewriting Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in such a playful and accessible way. The cast did justice to the snappy, buffoonish, coquettish roles that Hamill created. The playwright sought to deliver Austen’s feminist message and did so in a way that engaged the
Pride and Prejudice with a comic twist Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Amy Neustein, PhD FORT LEE, New Jersey — My late mother, Shirley Friedberg Neustein, was a childhood friend of Herman Wouk, who attended the boys division of a Zionist camp (Keeyuma/Carmelia) in the 1920s and 30s, which was picturesquely situated on Lake Champlain in Milton Vermont. They kept up until my mother died in
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Amy Neustein, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, USABy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Greek and Jewish myths, reports and tales appear at first blush to be remarkably similar, but there are stark differences in how each culture views God, the world, the presence of evil, the worth of people, their duty, and their future. Psychologists have recognized that one
Contrasting the Bible with Greek mythology Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — The Exhibit on Aging served as a fitting backdrop to the Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices program, held in the Gotthelf Gallery of the Lawrence Family JCC Thursday, May 2. The forty plus people who gathered were well-rewarded with inspiring poems by three senior citizens. Janice Alper and Dr. Irvin
JCC poetry program features compassion and whimsy Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, Irv Jacobs, MD, San Diego CountyBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Rabbi Dr. Marc D. Angel’s A New World: An American Sephardic Memoir reads like an engrossing novel. It describes the transition of the Angel family from an immigrant Sephardic community into an Americanized group over several generations. In the process, it “reminisces” about the immigrant generation,
Review: ‘A New World: An American Sephardic Memoir’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion
The Guest Book by Sarah Blake, Flatiron Books © 2019, ISBN 9781250-110251, 480 pages, $27.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — When Ogden Moss Milton purchased Crockett’s Island, Maine, in 1935, possibly unbeknownst to him, but fairly obvious to outside observers, he established a monument to white privilege. Not just any white, mind you,
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. HarrisonBy Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — The Gotthelf Gallery, with its current exhibit, The Art of Aging, will be the setting for the Thursday, May 2, 7:00 p.m. Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices evening. Three senior Jewish Poets will be featured, Janice Alper, Chana Givon (read by Ellen Zyroff) and Dr. Irvin Jacobs. Following the hour
Poets Alper, Givon and Jacobs on tap at JCC Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Irv Jacobs, MD, San Diego Calendar
By Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — The Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood keeps busy — in addition her literary and TV work — flying around the world on an almost monthly basis to give lectures at universities and book festivals in over a dozen countries. Look up in the sky at any moment, and you
Chance encounter of a literary kind Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – In the American History Theater’s current production of The Diary of Anne Frank, some American theater history is being reprised. Back in 1959, Shelley Winters won an Oscar as best supporting actress for her performance as Mrs. Van Daan in the movie version of that play, which dramatized
Niece reprises Shelley Winters’ role in ‘Anne Frank’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USABy H. Applebaum SAN DIEGO — What do parents do if they are raising a Jewish child, yet have no resources at hand? The cause could be intermarriage, or living far from family or other Jews, or all of the above. When Jews leave traditional Jewish enclaves, and children come along, it presents a challenge.
PJ Library helps families seeking more Jewish context Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA
The Dog Lady of Mexico by Alison Sawyer Current; self-published; © 2018, ISBN 9780578-413808; 388 pages; available via Amazon. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – The Isla Mujeres is off the northeast tip of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. It boasts warm beaches, tropical weather, a quiet, lay-back lifestyle, and more dogs than residents can shake
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, The World We Share
By Moshe Dann JERUSALEM — Although Jews have been retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt at the Pesach Seder for millennia, the Haggadah as we know it was compiled during the Gaonic period (8th-9th century CE) in Babylon, with additional songs written by Jews probably during the Middle Ages. Based on Torah, Mishna
Who compiled the Haggadah, and why? Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish Religion, Middle East
The Limits of the World by Jennifer Acker; Delphinium Books © 2019; ISBN 9781883-285777; 300 pages, $25.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Immigrants from India found themselves distrusted by both sides of the racial divide in colonial Kenya. As far as black Africans were concerned, the brown-skinned Asians were part of the ruling
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison