International

Jewish Agency tells its strategic plan

According to the strategic plan, The Jewish Agency will work to ensure the safety of Jewish communities around the world and fight vigorously against the manifestations of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism that reached new heights in recent years. In addition, The Jewish Agency will focus on encouraging Aliyah and assist those who make Aliyah of-choice, while also conducting clandestine emergency Aliyah operations. Over the next decade, The Jewish Agency will also engage in mending the rifts between the Jewish people by reinforcing the affinity of world Jews towards each other and the State of Israel, while building a two-way bridge between world Jewry and Israel. [Jewish Agency for Israel]

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International, Middle East, USA

Processing a billion garlic bulbs a year

From an initial ten-acre plot of garlic in 1956, the family has expanded its holdings to 6,000 acres throughout central California. The company, also known as Christopher Ranch, harvests approximately 100 million pounds of garlic annually, which translates into the production of approximately one billion garlic bulbs every year.  The company has a workforce of 1,000 permanent employees, and upwards of 2,000 employees who are brought in for the harvest season under a federal program with Mexico. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Travel and Food, USA

Elizabeth Warren antagonizes Jewish voters

Warren sounded as if she was threatening Israel to withhold aid if it refused to halt settlement construction if she is elected president. Pointing to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign pledges, Warren inflamed an already volatile issue with these words: “Right now, Netanyahu says he is going to take Israel in a direction of increasing settlements…It is the official policy of the United States of America to support a two-state solution, and if is moving in the opposite direction, then everything is on the table.” She added with the effect of emphasis: “Everything is on the table.” [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USA

Jewsraelis and other Jewish people of Israel

Today’s Israeli culture differs from Jewish culture at the state’s founding: Israel is more ethnically diverse, its Jews practicing along a broader spectrum of beliefs. They live mostly in cities, not on kibbutzim or moshavim. They are self-governing, speak a modern form of Hebrew, follow the Jewish calendar, and openly display rather than hide their identity. They live in a country in which they never have to fear de jure anti-Semitism. Israelis are rabbis and talmudic scholars, estheticians and economists, police and politicians, taxi drivers and technical wizards. [Fred Reiss, EdD]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East

First yahrzeit of Tree of Life Synagogue massacre

This Shabbat marks the one year anniversary of the massacre at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when eleven Jews were murdered during the Morning Prayer service.

The act of violence and hate that was supposed to instill fear in Jews had a somewhat opposite effect. Instead of staying away, the next weekend, millions of people, from all different faiths and backgrounds “Showed Up For Shabbat.” Synagogues were packed in what was a beautiful, comforting, and inspiring statement of solidarity and love for Jews, Judaism, and Jewish community, around the world. [Rabbi Joshua Dorsch]

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Jewish History, USA

Benny Gantz reaches out to all sides

Gantz seems to have learnt the trade. His speech last night when accepting the president’s charge to form the next government – now when Netanyahu has failed to do so – was excellent. It left many of us with the impression that here’s a man prepared to lead a united country, whereas the leaders of other parties, not least Netanyahu himself, are bent on fragmentation. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

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Middle East

We must not grow numb to the Yazidi genocide

A few week ago, I had an opportunity to meet with six members of the Yazidi community, including journalists and activists. I must admit that although I knew and was very shaken when I first learned about the horrifying attack by ISIS on the Yazidi community in Sinjar, Iraq, listening to their account of what actually happened still stunned me beyond description. [Alon Ben-Meir, PhD]

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Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USA

State’s Ethnic Studies Curriculum awaits resolution

The state’s proposed ethnic studies curriculum was temporarily shelved in part because of objections from the California Jewish Legislative Caucus, the Anti-Defamation League, and other Jewish groups that the panel that created the document all but ignored the Jewish experience in the United States, while utilizing the curriculum to spread a false Palestinian narrative about Israel that includes support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS). [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Bibi’s mandate soon to expire, without results

We’re at the end of Bibi’s’ mandate, without any results. With more than a hint of desperation, and indications from within Likud that–while expressing support for their leader–individuals are maneuvering to be next in line. He’s produced another pledge, signed by the ultra-Orthodox, but not by Shaked and Bennett, that they’ll oppose any non-Bibi coalition that has the support of the Arab parties. [Ira Sharkansky, PhD]

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International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

Davis joins Pelosi’s trip to Jordan, Afghanistan

U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (D-San Diego) was part of a delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) on a previously unannounced weekend trip to Jordan, where they met with King Abdullah II to discuss Turkey’s invasion of Syria.  The group also went to Afghanistan where they met with President Ashraf Ghani. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, USA

A posthumous birthday salute to oceanographer Walter Munk

On what would have been oceanographer Walter Munk’s 102nd birthday on Saturday, Oct. 19, surfers gathered in a ring near the Scripps Pier in La Jolla while others gathered on the pier itself to honor Munk by tossing biodegradable flowers into the ocean.  San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Charles T. Clark reported that a seal “even made an appearance, jumping in and out of the water nearby.”  Often described as the “Einstein of the Oceans,” Munk died in February of this year.  The City of San Diego honored him in 2017 on his 100th birthday by naming a walkway along the beach of La Jolla, “Walter Munk Way.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, USA