USA

How Jewish candidates fared in March 3 primary

There were 12 Jewish candidates on San Diego County ballots on March 3.  Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden were in a coast-to-coast race for delegates that stretched from Maine to California, with Biden winning or ahead at press time in Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Minnesota, and Massachusetts.  Sanders won or was leading in California, Colorado, Utah, and Vermont.  Michael Bloomfield won in the American territory of American Samoa, and was battling Elizabeth Warren for third place in many of the states.  Texas and Maine saw seesaw battles between Biden and Sanders, both too close to call as we went to press. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

12 Jews compete on San Diego County ballots

While San Diego Jewish World does not plan to make any formal endorsements until the November election, we would like our readers to be aware of the names of our fellow Jews who are on San Diego County ballots.  There are at least a dozen such candidates, whose Jewish affiliation has been made known to us.  Whether they are Democrats, Republicans, or independents, we would like to congratulate them for putting themselves out there. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

SDJW correspondent publishes sixth novel

Our correspondent in Mevasseret Zion, Israel, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, has written a sixth novel, this one called A Ruffled Calm.  As with her previous five novels, Shefer-Vanson has illustrated the cover of her book with one of her own art pieces, seen to the right of this story. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

Susan Davis provides fact sheet on coronavirus

Congresswoman Susan Davis, D-San Diego, has issued a fact sheet about the coronavirus.  We republish it here: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first identified on February 11, 2020 in Wuhan, China. The first infections were linked to a live animal market, but the virus is now spreading from person-to-person. It often spreads between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet) and through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes…. [ Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

Historians, biographers probe Jewish Cleveland

Cleveland Jews and the Making of a Midwestern Community contains a pair of biographical essays, which I read with considerable interest, and more than a majority of essays of the historical type, dealing with such phenomena as the growth of Jewish Orthodoxy in Cleveland; the impact of Jewish philanthropy on that city; the growth of Jewish schools; The development of feminist ideals among Jewish women’s organizations;  Black-Jewish relations in Cleveland; suburbanization of Cleveland’s Jewish community; Reform Judaism in the Cleveland suburbs; and programs to assimilate into Jewish society refugees from the Soviet Union. [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, USA

San Diegans’ dream trip leads to new website

In 2017, newlyweds Jonathan Moed and Zoe (Jurkowski) Moed went on a year-long dream trip around the world, and now Jonathan is pursuing a “passion project” to help high-tech start up entrepreneurs in developing nations realize dreams of their own. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

‘…I Am Proud To Be A Socialist’

It is sad, appalling, and outrageous that much of what Bernie Sanders is advocating is denigrated as “socialist,” as if it were a stigma detached from the day-to-day realities of life that affect every American man, woman, and child. I have and continue to be apolitical, but for me, anything to do with human rights matters because in the final analysis, no one has any right whatsoever to undermine another person’s right to be free, to believe, to feel secure, and to be treated humanely and equitably, as long as it does not infringe upon someone else’s rights. [Alon Ben-Meir, PhD}

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Alon Ben-Meir, USA

History tells of Nazi looting of Rosenberg gallery in Paris

Based on extensive research, the author describes what happened to the Paris art gallery that her grandfather, Paul Rosenberg, owned and directed in the first part of the twentieth century, until the invasion and occupation of France by the Germans in 1940. When France was taken over by the Germans all Jews, including the Rosenbergs, were deprived of their citizenship and property. In its heyday the Rosenberg Gallery exhibited the works of painters such as Matisse, Braque, Picasso and others with whom Paul Rosenberg maintained warm relations and in some cases, especially that of Picasso, a close friendship. Many of these artists were defined as ‘degenerate’ by the Nazis, although that did not prevent them from using these works for their own ends, often selling them to museums and collectors who paid handsomely for them.[Dorothea Shefer Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

347 rabbis denounce Sanders’ comment about AIPAC

Two Reform rabbis from San Diego – Devorah Marcus of Temple Emanu-El and Jeremy Gimbel of Congregation Beth Israel – are among 347 rabbis who have signed a letter rejecting the “outrageous comments” made by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). In announcing he would not attend the AIPAC Policy Conference in March, Sanders, who like the rabbis is Jewish, said “I remain concerned about the platform AIPAC provides for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights. For that reason, I will not attend their conference.”  In a press release, AIPAC subsequently described that comment as “truly shameful.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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

Sanders has short coattails, if any at all

Possibly our first Jewish president, and already Americans are panicking. This sigh of relief: Democratic leaders and others are raising concerns about an overreaching agenda and a misguided approach to Israel, not over his religion or ethnicity. It looks like that, anyway. We must face it – the election of a President Bernie Sanders could become a reality. It is yet too soon to predict the outcome, but this one result is foreseeable: Sanders will confront an adversarial Congress, if not a hostile Congress. [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USA

Palestinian commentator: BDS hurts us

Bassam Eid is a Palestinian author and commentator, who may be seen frequently on Israeli television.  While he is critical of various Israeli policies, he also speaks out frequently against corruption in both the Palestinian Authority and Gaza Strip.  On Tuesday evening, at the Fairbanks Country Club, in this affluent community wedged between northern San Diego and Rancho Santa Fe, Eid condemned the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement as being harmful to ordinary Palestinians. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

Rabbi’s sermon became popular WWII lesson

Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn (1910-1995), assigned to the Fifth Marine Division, was the first Jewish chaplain the Marine Corps ever appointed. The American invading force at Iwo Jima included approximately 1,500 Jewish Marines. Rabbi Gittelsohn was in the thick of the fray, ministering to Marines of all faiths in the combat zone. He shared the fear, horror and despair of the fighting men, each of whom knew that each day might be his last. Roland Gittelsohn’s tireless efforts to comfort the wounded and encourage the fearful won him three service ribbons. [Michael Feldberg, Ph.D]

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, USA

The complex relationship between Poles and Jews

Occasional upticks in animosity between Jews and Poles has produced a correspondence between a Polish friend and my colleague Shlomo Avineri. It’s been an open and friendly exchange, pondering the memories of both people and one land. And it has reminded me of an instance in my youth, in Fall River, Massachusetts. [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D}

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International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

Bomb threats against JCCs, including La Jolla’s, not credible

The Lawrence Family JCC  in La Jolla was among a group of JCCs across the United States that received a non-specific, general bomb threat via email on Sunday morning, according to Betzy Lynch, its chief executive officer.  She said the staff immediately notified the San Diego Police, which has a substation right next door.  Law enforcement determined that the threat was not credible and no evacuation was necessary, Lynch reported.  This was in contrast to the JCC in Albany, New York, which evacuated approximately 100 people to allow bomb-sniffing dogs and officers to comb through the facility, which also was subsequently declared to be safe. [Donald H. Harrison]

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