International

Assembly candidate rues growing anger amid pandemic

State Assembly candidate Kate Schwartz eared her graduate degree in psychiatric social work, and today as a mental health professional, she serves as one of five members on the Fallbrook Regional Health District Board.  As our society experiences the coronavirus pandemic, she says that Americans appear to be moving from the first stage of grief — shock and denial — to the far more dangerous second stage, which is anger. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA

Scientific, psychological, spiritual advice during pandemic

Via such Internet communication systems as Zoom and Facebook, San Diegans have been receiving scientific, psychological, and spiritual information during this coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego sponsored a 40-minute online briefing by Prof. Erica Ollmann Sapphire, Ph.D,  of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in which some of the points that she covered were: [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Remarkable history of Holocaust Torah at Chabad of La Costa

Ed [Richard]was understandably deeply moved by the dedication ceremony, and profoundly touched when he saw us using the Torah that he had donated in loving memory of his amazing parents. And so, a few years later, when Ed had an Aliyah, and when we made the blessing for him following his Aliyah, he whispered to me, “I want to donate another Torah.” “What?!” I exclaimed. I was sure I must have misheard. NOBODY donates two Torahs! [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi

Neo-Nazi youth taunt Jewish student in New Jersey

On her first two days as a freshman, two teachers laughed when pronouncing a student’s last name, Guiffre, as Jew-Frey. One teacher remarked, “I wouldn’t want a last name like that,” and the same teacher would later recommend Mein Kampf as a great book. An anti-Semitic photo displayed in a group chat in 2018 prompted an investigation by the state attorney general, which last October found probable cause that Paige fell victim to discrimination by the school and the school district based on her religion. [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Yuli Edelstein and Israel’s Supreme Court

“Democracy or anarchy?” was a front-page headline in yesterday’s The Marker, the business section of Ha’aretz. The issue was the conflict between the Speaker of the Knesset (former prisoner of Zion in his native Soviet Union Yuli Edelstein) and Israel’s Supreme Court. The court decreed that he isn’t allowed to delay a plenary session of the new Knesset, as is the law, to elect a Speaker.

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Middle East

Torah teaches officials to be good financial stewards

Moses gave an exact accounting of the raw material brought to the Sanctuary: gold (29 talents, 730 shekels), silver (100 talents, 1,757 shekels), copper (70 talents, 2,400 shekels) etc. The first thing which strikes us is that this seems to be an accountant’s report on Moses’ business affairs. Moses, after all, is the leader of the Jewish People; if he isn’t above suspicion, who is? But why encumber Moses with a ledger?The answer ought to be obvious. The sacred text comes to teach us that no one is above suspicion. Even Moses is accountable. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA

Major Jewish groups to meet CV19 challenge together

Gary E. Jacobs, the San Diegan who serves as the national chairman of the JCC Association Board of Directors, declared Wednesday that “the Jewish community has historically overcome the greatest challenges only when we united and work together.  This is one of those moments when we in the JCC Community, along with the Federations, summer camps and so many others will collaborate to address this unprecedented crisis.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, The World We Share, Travel and Food, USA

Pollard case recalls two women’s bipartisanship

Jonathan Pollard’s second wife, Esther, has advanced metastatic cancer and is fighting for her life, while Jonathan cannot be with her much of the time.According to various news reports, Israeli officials and, in America, the Orthodox Union, Agudath Israel, and the Coalition for Jewish Values, have asked President Trump to lift his parole on “humanitarian grounds.” Based on his release date of November 20, 2015, Pollard’s difficult parole conditions would end in November, 2020. There was a time when Israeli MK’s reached across the aisle to try to help the Pollards. [Toby Klein Greenwald]

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Jewish History, Middle East, Toby Klein Greenwald, USA

Arab bloc support endangers the Jewish state 

Benny Gantz’s current tactic (antithetical to what he campaigned on) is to cooperate with the anti-Zionist Arab parties to form a minority government; those Israeli Arab parties would remain outside of Blue and White’s coalition but would back it up. Is this a big deal, and if so, why? Because the anti-Zionist Arab parties will demand serious payback for backing the Blue and White coalition. [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer

Universities urge Pass/No Pass grades this semester

With in-person classes transferred to Internet learning at UC Berkeley, my grandson, Shor Masori, is back home in San Diego, monitoring his classes via computer.  Recently, he and his fellow undergraduates received a notice from Bob Jacobsen, Letters & Science Dean of Undergraduate Studies.  It began, “The chair of the Academic Senate has written to explain that for this semester only, the default grades that instructors will give are Pass and No Pass.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Shor M. Masori, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food

Bibi hanging onto the PM’s office by his fingernails

Benny Gantz is a week into his month-long effort to form a government. Dynamics suggest that we’ll have no clear information for a while. Bibi continues to operate as if he has a life-time hold on his block and the office of the Prime Minister. He and his supporters are proposing a joint arrangement whereby Gantz joins him. His party colleague, the Speaker of the Knesset, has been holding off meetings destined to remove the Speaker from office. Gantz is muttering about Bibi’s offer. Speculation is that he supports it, but that it would split his party. Lapid and Ayalon are firmly against joining with a Prime Minister Netanyahu. [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

The Jewish candidates: Sarah Davis in the 78th A.D.

Sarah Davis faces San Diego City Councilman Chris Ward, who is another LGBTQ Democrat, so such issues as gay rights, marriage equality, and others that in former years were hot topics will not be matters for much debate in the 78th Assembly District contest prior to the Nov. 3 runoff election.  However, Davis, a member of the Jewish community, says she and Ward have plenty of differences about such issues as placing greater emphasis on women’s health and fighting climate change. [Our Shetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Incompetence riddles Israel’s temporary government

It seems that, all things considered, Prime Minister Netanyahu is having a good coronavirus crisis or, at least, is using it to his advantage. To start with, the courts have been closed, which means that his trial that should have started last week has now been postponed for at least a couple of months and probably longer. His minister of justice is a most faithful servant who takes every opportunity to run his master’s errands.No doubt other ministers do it also, if for no other reason than to stay in office. Should a unity government come about – which is reasonable and desirable at this time yet by no means certain – several of them will have to go back to the back benches. Their retirement will greatly benefit the country. Thus, for example, the present defense minister seems more interested to protect the settlements than the country. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

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Middle East