International

Shabbat reflections on Rev. Martin Luther King

During evening and morning Shabbat services preceding Martin Luther King Day, Rabbi Josh Dorsch and David Ogul, respectively the rabbi and president of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, read from the pulpit a reflection that congregant Dan Tomsky had extrapolated from the writings of The Rev. Kathleen C. Rolenz, a Unitarian Universalist minister. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, Sam Litvin, USA

Auschwitz memoir revived for 75th anniversary

As we approach the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, many books, documentaries and articles are appearing about “history’s darkest chapter.” The book Last Stop Auschwitz: My Story of Survival From Within the Camp, set for release momentarily, will certainly become one of the more defining accounts of the horrors and inhumanities perpetrated by the Nazis during the Holocaust. [Dorian De Wind]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorian de Wind, International, Jewish History

Martin Luther King Jr.: A flesh-and-blood human

There is a growing and voluble trend among scholars and journalists that we quite some time ago let go of the real King in favor of a caricatured legend–or, as Charles Blow of The New York Times just termed it: the “Dream King.”  This is a good day to reflect on the real story. Martin Luther King Jr. would have turned 91 years old last week, January 15.   As a pastor’s son growing up in the “Sweet Auburn” section of central Atlanta, pranking his friends and mimicking preachers with wicked accuracy, he likely never dreamed that the day of his birth would be designated a federal holiday. [Rabbi Ben Kamin]

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USA

Gimbel’s WZC goals: ‘Pluralism, peace, economic justice’

In recent articles, we have been profiling San Diegans who have been nominated by various slates to serve as delegates to the World Zionist Congress, which will take place in Jerusalem Oct. 20-22  Among the nominees is Rabbi Jeremy Gimbel, the assistant rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Shrinking the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

In an effort to balance the pessimistic reflections in my references to Micah Goodman’s analysis of the situation created by the occupation, let me now cite from the same essay by Goodman in The Atlantic in which he also suggests how the seemingly insoluble conflict between Israel and the Palestinians can be – as he puts it – shrunk, even if it can’t be resolved. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

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Middle East

Jews, Christians, Muslims to join in MLK salute

San Diegans of various faiths will gather at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 20, at the Marston House in Balboa Park, at 3525 Seventh Avenue (corner of Upas) to honor the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on what would have been five days past his 91st birthday. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, USA

Fears on the right, fears on the left

JERUSALEM –US President Trump promises/threatens again to release his plan for resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict before the March 2 elections in Israel. I haven’t read anything that takes the plan seriously or spoken to anybody who believes in it. But I’ve heard much about the conflict being insoluble. That is the view of Micah Goodman, one of the brightest stars on Israel’s current intellectual firmament. In a long essay in the April 1 issue if The Atlantic he tells us why the conflict cannot be solved (but it can be shrunk: whereof more another time). [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

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Middle East

World dignitaries’ A-List converge on Jerusalem

Kings, princes, presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers will converge on Jerusalem this week for the Fifth World Holocaust Forum to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz. The race for hotel rooms has been frenetic and the prestige hotels have mainly been booked on a “first come first served” basis with a few exceptions. [Barry Shaw]

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Barry Shaw, International, Middle East, USA

Two San Diegans on new Kol Yisrael slate

We have previously announced the names of four San Diegans who have been nominated on different slates to serve as delegates to the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem next October.  San Diego County is also represented on the new Kol Yisrael slate, backed by a variety of organizations, including StandWithUs and the Israel-American Council, two of the fastest growing Zionist organizations in the U.S.. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Posthumous Holocaust memoir a family affair

Mendek Rubin was born in 1924 in Jaworzno, Poland, a town with over 2,000 Jews, about 15 miles from Auschwitz. He died in Carmel in 2012. When his daughter Myra was putting his papers in order she came across a manuscript In Quest of the Eternal Sunshine. It was a surprise and not a surprise. It was a surprise to find it, but she had already helped her father edit it decades earlier. She worked on the manuscript for a few days but the task was incompatible with raising her two children. And, “in the intervening years” she had “completely forgotten it existed.” [Oliver B. Pollak]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak

Why I won’t vote for Biden, Sanders or Warren

– Two policy positions should disqualify any candidate for president – casting a vote to invade Iraq or distorting Israel’s role in its struggle with the Palestinians. That would eliminate former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the three consistent front-runners for the Democratic nomination. In October 2002, then-Senator Biden joined 76 other senators in voting to send troops to invade Iraq, and Sanders and Warren cannot pontificate on the Middle East for long without placing a disproportionate amount of blame on Israel. {Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USA