President-elect Joe Biden tried to inspire Americans to keep fighting the pandemic Wednesday night in a Thanksgiving address ahead of the holiday.Biden began the speech by briefly remarking about the history of Thanksgiving and linking it with Americans’ need to continue fighting COVID-19.Speaking from Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said, “The first national day of Thanksgiving, authorized […]
I’m always fascinated at Thanksgiving time to see how rabbis express what is a central tenet of Judaism: giving thanks to the Almighty for the many blessings bestowed upon us.
For example, the Forward offered a prayer from the book, Talking to God: Personal Prayers for Times of Joy, Sadness, Struggle and Celebration by Rabbi Naomi Levy of the Neshuva congregation in Los Angeles. The poem focuses on every day things—children’s laughter, our ability to breathe, having enough food to eat, living in adequate shelters, being clothed, being healthy, the special people in our lives, and residing in a country where people are free to practice their religion without fear. [Donald H. Harrison]
Thanksgiving Blessings and Tzedakah Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
My wife and I are in the medical field. My wife works on the front lines at a large medical center and watches the suffering that COVID inflicts. Not just to the patients and their families but to the front line workers risking their lives to help others. In the evening we watch the news showing these dedicated doctors, nurses and support staff, exhausted both physically and mentally, literally begging us to stay home this Thanksgiving. The Surgeon General, the President-elect and many of our states’ governors also warn us not to make matters worse. They are ignored by a huge percentage of the population. [Ben Dishman, PharmD]
Medical professionals lament holiday travel Read More »
Ben Dishman, Judaism, Lifestyles, USA
In the recent election, American-Israelis voted 70%-30% for President Trump, the converse of how American Jews voted. That tells you Israelis value the president’s accomplishments abroad, feats which are not high priority for most Jews in the US. Under Trump, the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem, quit the Iran nuclear deal, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, declared that Israeli “settlements” beyond the 1949 Armistice lines are not illegal, endorsed, in principle, an Israeli annexation of up to 30% of the West Bank, and brokered normalization agreements with three Arab states under the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement. All of these accomplishments deal with reality in the Middle East, not some tired, fanciful panacea about the necessity for a State of Palestine to allow peace in the Middle East. [Steve Kramer]
Trump is a good friend of Israel. We’ll see about Biden Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named Irwin Cotler as Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, the prime minister’s office said on Wednesday.The office said that the Canadian government has shifted a bit of focus to “reinforcing and strengthening Canada’s efforts to advance Holocaust education, remembrance and research,” in addition to stamping
Trudeau names Cotler as Canada’s special envoy on combating antisemitism Read More »
International
Those of us who are used to covering the high-flying first days of America’s most-promising presidents-elect reflexively shift into wait-and-see skeptic mode when they effusively introduce their new Cabinet advisers to the world.Every new team sounds super special, to hear their new boss tell it. Richard Nixon regaled us at length about his belief that
Martin Schram: Talking tough about truth Read More »
USA
ATLANTA — In the hours after a gunman in Pittsburgh opened fire at the Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018, the phone rang in Atlanta for Rabbi Peter Berg, the leader of The Temple, Atlanta’s oldest Jewish congregation.It was the Rev. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church.“Raphael was the first to call,”
Jewish leaders defend Raphael Warnock after Loeffler attacks Read More »
USA
Washington (AFP) – President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he had pardoned Michael Flynn, the former security advisor whose lies about his Russian contacts spurred the troubling investigation into Trump campaign collusion with Moscow.The pardon, which was expected, came in the final weeks of Trump’s presidency, two years of which was spent fighting the allegations that
Trump pardons Michael Flynn, who lied to FBI over Russia Read More »
International, USA
The rise of Alejandro Mayorkas may be just the feel-good story Miami needs post-election.After his Jewish parents fled Fidel Castro’s Communist takeover of Cuba in 1960, Mayorkas lived in Miami as a child. They eventually left the capital of Cuban exiles for a life in Los Angeles, but the 61-year-old hasn’t forgotten his immigrant beginnings.It
Eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) remains committed to helping San Diegans of all faiths, backgrounds and ages maintain stability through this crisis and beyond. JFS released statistics on Wednesday to demonstrate the region’s increased need for assistance during the pandemic. The 102-year-old nonprofit has also announced a new, “Triple Your Impact Giving Tuesday” donation match challenge for the JFS COVID-19 Relief Fund on Dec. 1. [Jewish Family Service]
JFS increases services many fold in pandemic’s wake Read More »
San Diego County, USA
Washington (AFP) – President-elect Joe Biden said Wednesday that Americans “won’t stand” for attempts to derail the US election outcome, but Donald Trump doubled down on his unprecedented refusal to concede defeat and called for the results to be overturned.In a speech on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, Biden said in his hometown Delaware
Biden says Americans ‘won’t stand’ for attempt to derail election result Read More »
USA
CHICAGO — In the early 1930s, Ralph Newman was walking through the Near North Side when he noticed a bookstore going out of business. He had left Northwestern University after a semester to play minor league baseball in the Southwest — only to be injured and leave baseball. He was in his 20s when he
Among Jews nominated for important posts in the Biden Administration is Secretary of the Treasury-designate Janet Yellen, a former chair of the Federal Reserve. Although she and her husband, Nobel Prize-winning economist George Akerlof, have not to date talked much publicly about their religious beliefs, it is known that as residents of Berkeley, California, decades ago, they attended services at that city’s Congregation Beth El, and that their son Robert Akerlof, who is now himself a professor of economics at the University of Warwick, was enrolled by them in the Beth El preschool. [Donald H. Harrison]
Janet Yellen to be 3rd consecutive Jewish Treasury Secretary Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
In case you ever doubted it, Palestinians have the same conflict over career paths as you and I. Young Americans must choose between accepting a steady and lucrative if humdrum job or chasing a stimulating if risky profession. Such as a businessperson or teacher as opposed to an actor. The Palestinians last week presented their own contrasting example – that of a nurse or of a … terrorist. It turns out that it is far more profitable to choose terrorism rather than a nursing position or any other employment offered by the Palestinian Authority. [Bruce S. Ticker]
What’s better paying in P.A? Nursing or terrorism? Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Business & Finance, Lifestyles, Middle East