International

Beth Jacob to begin highly regulated prayer sessions

Beth Jacob Congregation will hold outdoor weekday prayer services by reservation only beginning on Sunday morning, its rabbis and lay leaders announced.  No decision has yet been reached on resuming Shabbat services, which normally attract far larger crowds than weekday services. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Should worship be considered an essential service?

The question has come up: Should churches and other houses of worship be considered, “an essential service”? The President recently announced that he would override governors who do not open up the houses of worship for services. Moreover, it has been argued by many that places of worship are no less “essential” than liquor stores or supermarkets. Both these places should not be reopened before religious services.[1] The President’s position here is logical; by insisting that houses of worship be reopened, he is appealing to his evangelical supporters. Presidents in office often use the “bully pulpit” to promote an agenda that the President personally endorses. {Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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International, Judaism, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA

ADL to universities: Oppose campus anti-Semitism

As universities begin preparing to reopen campuses in the fall semester, ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) is calling on administrators and faculty to take meaningful steps to ensure an inclusive campus climate for all students in response to a series of disturbing anti-Israel and antisemitic actions at U.S. colleges in 2019. [Press release from Anti-Defamation League]

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Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Now boarding: JNF’s virtual tours of Israel

With the latest predictions suggesting Israel’s tourism industry could lose up to $1.16 billion due to the COVID-19 crisis, Jewish National Fund-USA (JNF-USA) is helping Israeli tour guides through an innovative new “virtual travel” initiative. A group of San Diegans embarked on this novel experience and returned with wide eyes and open hearts. Led by JNF-USA First Lady and San Diego Board Member Lauren Lizerbram, the group “traveled” from north to south and saw unique and captivating Israeli sites. [Press Release from Jewish National Fund]

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Middle East, San Diego County

Webcasts reinforce tikkun olam

I zoomed in on two local webcasts today and although they dealt with different topics, they both made me feel good about belonging to a strong, caring Jewish community.  I was particularly impressed that the presenters had compassion not only for their own immediate circles of family and friends, but also for society at large, and particularly for people who struggle to make ends meet.  {Our Shtetl San Diego County by Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Jewish trivia quiz: Hong Kong

Thousands of protesters were met by police with tear gas and water cannons in the streets of Hong Kong as China imposed new national security laws over Hong Kong, bypassing the territory’s legislature which normally would deal with such issues. The Jewish community in Hong Kong dates to the mid-1880’s. The Sassoon family of Iraq were among the first people to establish a business outpost in Hong Kong, which played a significant role in the growth of the territory. Another Jew who had an impact in Hong Kong was Matthew Nathan, who is remembered for Nathan’s Folly? What does that refer to? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

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International, Jewish History, Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Book review: Life of a Sar-El volunteer

Mark Werner is a retired corporate attorney from North Carolina, who at least once a year for the past 18 years has traveled to Israel at his own expense to sweat and grunt for three weeks as a manual laborer at various installations maintained by the Israel Defense Force.  The jobs varied from assignment to assignment, but they all involved hard work, typically in the hot sun of Israel and inside even hotter warehouses. [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, USA

Congress members demand swastika removal from VA cemeteries

House Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Ranking Member John Carter (R-TX), and full House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Ranking Member Kay Granger (R-TX), today sent a bipartisan request to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie urging that all gravestones inscribed with swastikas and messages honoring Hitler be removed from military cemeteries. [Press release from the House Appropriations Committee]

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International, Jewish History, USA

Donald Trump, Henry Ford, and ‘Bloodlines’

President Trump’s recent remark about Henry Ford’s “good bloodlines” has aroused curiosity and controversy. Trump actually is not the first president to subscribe to the discredited notion that there is such a thing as “good” blood and “bad” blood. But you have to go back nearly a century to find another American head of state who openly embraced such notions. [Rafael Medoff, Ph.D]

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International, Jewish History, USA

Pressing issues face Israel during Bibi’s trial

On his way to court to hear the charges against him and to confirm that he understood them, Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the nation to “explain” what all that was really about: the Left could not defeat him at the ballot box. (In fact, Likud, the party he leads, got more and more votes in successive elections. No single political party in Israel has ever had greater support.) Therefore, his political opponents decided to unseat him by abusing the judiciary (encouraged by the attorney-general and former cabinet secretary), the police (including its former national chief) and, of course, the media. He reiterated the mantra that the charges are pure fiction, invented by forces of evil. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

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Middle East

A tune for Memorial Day? ‘Here’s One,” in fact, four

One of the earliest Memorial Day commemorations was organized by a group of freed slaves in Charleston, South Carolina, after the Civil War, less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered. So it is fitting that, in honor of Memorial Day, I write about my sister Zina Schiff’s 1994 4-Tay CD, Here’s One” featuring works by American composers, including “The Deserted Garden,” by African-American composer Florence Price. Inspired by African-American spirituals, the simple beauty of “The Deserted Garden” reflects the somber longing for lost loved ones. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

Zooming through Jerusalem’s religious sites

Traditionally, the Memorial Day weekend is one of the busiest of the year for travelers, but not so in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.  However, technology, in the form of a Zoom meeting, whisked me on Sunday, May 24, from my home in San Diego and on to a tri-religious journey to Jerusalem, under the auspices of the America Israel Friendship League (AIFL). [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Sports & Competitions, Travel and Food, USA

Anne Frank sculpture draws thanks from President Rivlin

Outside of the Jerusalem bedroom city of Ma’aleh Adumin, on the main road adjacent to a school, is a huge new bronze sculpture themed on Anne Frank. It was placed just last week.  The sculpture was funded by the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation. It is the artistic creation of Sam Philipe, the noted Israeli sculptor.  It is not interpretive; It is not abstract; That was a condition of funding.  It is real. [Jerry Klinger]

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International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Middle East