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Surmountable Challenges

By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — Israel’s political, social, and military prospects have all taken a hit this year following the installation of the current government coalition, headed by the redoubtable Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu. While the right wing, religious, and nationalistic parties won a decisive electoral majority, the difference in the popular […]

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Israel, Opinion, Steve Kramer, USA

B’shalom: Top CSU Professor; Jewish Political Scene; Obituaries

Mazal tov to Alyssa Sepinwall, who by a process of nominations by students, has been honored as the best professor in the California State University System. She was lauded for engaging students in discussions rather than simply lecturing to them from behind a lectern. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

B’Shalom: Biden’s Pesach Greetings, Passover and Jewish Political News

In an OpEd that was released over Cable News Service, U.S. President Joe Biden described the Passover seder as a “cautionary tale of the present and our future as a democracy.”  He said that the Haggadah tells of “how evil in every generation has tried to destroy” Jews and warned that antisemitism is “rising to record levels today.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, USA

Jewish Community Must Assume a Stronger Role Lobbying for Gun-Safety Laws

By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — After news broke that three children and three adults were gunned down in Nashville, I spent some time perusing the Anti-Defamation League’s lengthy report on antisemitic incidents last year. It covered much ground, and one could say that nothing about it disturbed me. There was nothing about gun-safety laws

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Bruce Ticker, Opinion, USA

‘The First Step’ Tells How Prison and Sentencing Reform Were Won

I’ve watched CNN commentator Van Jones many times on television. Now I’ve learned more about him from watching The First Step, a 90-minute documentary about the role he played in lobbying for prison reform. He suffered severe criticism from the right and from the left, but he stuck to it, engaged his critics in dialogue, and in 2018 helped to cobble together a coalition that passed HR 5682 by a vote of 355-58 in the U.S. House of Representatives and 87-12 in the U.S. Senate.  [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Jewish Congressman Benjamin Gilman Fostered Study Abroad Programs

Chances are the students who receive the scholarships know only a little about their benefactor, the late Congressman Benjamin A. Gilman, a Republican from New York and a member of the Jewish community.  Towards the end of his congressional career, he urged his colleagues “to defray eligible study- or intern-abroad costs,” according to the website of the Gilman International Scholarship Program. “These costs include program tuition, room and board, books, local transportation, insurance, international airfare, passport and visa fees.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Ben Dishman, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Strength in Adversity

By Doron Krakow Over the past few days, a series of remarkable gatherings took place across the continent—gatherings of hundreds of Jewish Community Center professionals from dozens of JCCs, centers, and camps representing different regions of our movement. Programs and settings varied, but each one focused on skill-building while addressing emerging challenges around programs, operations,

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Doron Krakow, Lifestyles, Opinion, USA

B’Shalom: George Soros, Trump Indictment, Jewish Political Scene, Business, and Celebrities

When former U.S. President Donald Trump denounced Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who has been conducting a grand jury inquiry into a “hush money” payment from Trump to porn star Stormy Daniels, he called Bragg a “Soros backed animal who doesn’t care about right or wrong no matter how many people are hurt.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Celebrities, USA

Big-Mouth Profs ‘Dare to Dissent’

By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — It would take someone like Carolyn McCoy to explain the words of Kareem Tannous, a terminated college professor whom she defends in a letter published last Friday in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Tweets the biz prof on International Holocaust Remembrance Day: “#zionism is the disease #Free Palestine is the cure

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Bruce Ticker, Israel, Opinion, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

DeSantis to Travel to Israel Ahead of Likely 2024 White House Bid

Published by Reuters By James Oliphant WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, expected to be a top contender for the 2024 U.S. Republican presidential nomination, will travel to Israel next month as the country is being riven by a crisis that has led to widespread protests. The trip, which is being billed by DeSantis’

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