We reported on Monday that Hillel International had announced a new nationwide initiative to combat antisemitism. Today, we’ve learned that StandWithUs, which has an active chapter in San Diego, has launched a new division called “Rabbis United.” (Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison)
StandWithUs launches ‘Rabbis United’ Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
People are worried about jobs, rallies, protests and yes riots. The real question now is it more important to open up the world than to live.? Is it worth partying on the beach, drinking alcohol in mass at a bar or living for a future time? Young people are dying and many are killing their parents by bringing the virus in their homes. Wake up. It is your life. Do not take it for granted. And this advice applies to those considering High Holy Day services as well. [Rabbi Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg]
High Holy Day worship during the pandemic Read More »
Bernhard H. Rosenberg-Rabbi, Jewish Religion, USA
Stumbling and kvetching. These are our themes. And perhaps not only Israel’s. Set in the context of a pandemic, as yet without a date for vaccine, along with plenty of arguments among the professionals about transmission, infection rates, treatment of the ill, and how to deal with those not yet infected. Plus plenty of politics, with paid lobbyists, articulate advocates, real suffering of those not able to work, and lots of preferences. [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]
Pandemic ties Israeli politicians in knots Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastLast week, we carried the news that Rose Ritch stepped down from her position as student body vice president at the University of Southern California because of the harassment she had to endure for being a supporter of Israel. On Monday, Hillel International announced a new initiative to train campus administrators on how to recognize and deal with antisemitism. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Hillel announces initiative to combat antisemitism Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USAThe Encinitas, California-based Leichtag Foundation expressed shock and sadness over the Aug. 4 explosion that destroyed most of the port of Beirut, Lebanon, killing more than 150 people and leaving thousands homeless. “Responding hospitals, already stretched thin due to COVID-19 are now at overcapacity,” reported Charlene Seidle and Sharyn Goodson, respectively the Foundation’s executive vice president and vice president for philanthropy and organizational development. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Leichtag Foundation urges Beirut relief donations Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Ken Stone, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Stephen D. Bryen
Oscar Orleans is a university-educated refugee from the Congo, who made his way to Israel, and in this mystery novel serves as a consultant to the Tel Aviv police department in cases involving other Black Africans, regardless of from which part of the sub-Saharan continent they came. (Donald H. Harrison)
A modern African-Israeli tale set in Tel Aviv Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East
Lieng, our fortyish Cambodian woman guide, told us prisoners were brought to these rooms for four months of torture before they were killed. They were defiled day and night without rest. The jailers extracted the names and locations of all their relatives and friends from them. Those people were also arrested and brought to the prison. The first people to be killed once wore glasses. The Khmer Army leaders were ignorant peasants and reasoned that anyone who wore glasses was an intellectual and hence were the enemy. People threw away their glasses and stumbled around when they became aware of this irrational thinking. A similar fate followed for any professional person, doctor, teacher, businessman, bureaucrat, etcetera. The legacy of this stupidity is, that Cambodia desperately needs to rebuild its intellectual capital to fully function as an independent nation. Today it is totally dependent on the aid of other nations to support basic services and repair war damaged structures. [Ira Spector]
Face to face with the Cambodian genocide Read More »
International, Travel and Food
This story is built around 50 delicate letters, most written on the back of German period piece postcards: including garden scenes of fairy tales gnomes, elfs, leprechauns, and teddy bears designed for children. The letters, starting in February 1939 were by Max Lichtwitz, a Berlin lawyer, to his six-year-old son Heinz or Heini Lichtwitz, the future Henry Foner. They evoke love, longing, and irreparable loss. Max, a widower, sent his six-year son Heinz to England to live in Swansea, Wales with Morris and Winifred Foner. Max, his new wife and stepdaughter never got out of Germany, and were murdered in Auschwitz. [Oliver Pollak]
Postcards and the Kindertransport Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Oliver PollakI wonder if I would have survived in college back in the 1960s if the animus on campus toward Jews and Israel were as great as it is today. Two examples of the kind of hatred and bigotry that Jewish students face can be found at the University of Southern California, up in Los Angeles, and across the country at Florida State University in Tallahassee. [Donald H. Harrison]
It’s tough being a Zionist on many campuses Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, Shor M. Masori, USA
JERUSALEM (Press Release) – Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, one of the greatest commentators on Judaism of our generation, died Friday in Jerusalem, aged 83, after suffering from acute pneumonia. Rabbi Steinsaltz was born in Jerusalem in 1937. After graduating in chemistry and physics from the Hebrew University, he began his career as an educator and
Adin Steinsaltz, translator of Talmud, other Jewish texts Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials
Three themes dominate this enjoyable and informative memoir by a South African-born author who lived in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States before settling with her husband and three children in Israel. [Donald H. Harrison]
Jodi Samuels’ memoir: ‘Chutzpah, Wisdom and Wine’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Travel and Food, USA
A compilation by Laurie Baron, Ph.D., of lectures on a variety of Jewish subjects ranging from music to history to contemporary affairs.
Streaming Jewish Lectures, Aug. 9-13 Read More »
International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Lifestyles, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA
The rise in terrorism perpetrated by Islamists around the world is blamed on Israel, as are the problems of the Middle East. Even blood libels against Jews are common again, such as Jews having spread the current pandemic to make money. Media personalities – athletes, rappers, actors, and other “celebrities” – make/spread atrocious comments about Jews with little or no backlash. To top it off, younger, Jewish, so-called intellectuals, writers, entertainers, and others have taken to disparaging Israel and undermining their co-religionists for the sake of – what? [Steve Kramer]
The revival of Jew-hatred in the U.S. Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA
As the United States embraces improving race-relations, Black culture and heritage become more than just an expression of the Black community, but something that is inherently all-American. As the movement brings light to nationwide change, it may be helpful to consider the methods of Moroccan multiculturalism, where cultural protection is tied to development, limiting socioeconomic divides and welcoming diversity. [Jacqueline Skalski-Fouts]
Morocco a model for U.S. multiculturalism Read More »
International, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food, USA