USA

The Four Chaplains: Immortal courage at sea

It was a day remembered for the enormous loss of life. It is also a day for remembering the story of four who could have saved their own lives, but chose instead to give their place in a lifeboat to four others. The four men who made that sacrifice were Army chaplains: a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi, and two Protestant ministers. Each man had volunteered for military service. George Fox, a Methodist minister, had been a combat soldier in World War I and still suffered from wounds he had received. Yet after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor he volunteered for active duty. Rabbi Alexander Goode and Dutch Reformed minister Clark Poling left behind wives and young children. John Washington, a Roman Catholic priest, had just left his widowed mother. [Michael Feldberg, Ph.D]

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International, Jewish History, USA

Congratulations Encinitas City Council, JFS & Leichtag Foundation

I think we all should congratulate Mayor Catherine Blakespear and three other members of the Encinitas City Council who voted their hearts, and not their fears, in the recent battle over providing safe overnight parking spaces to 25 homeless families who are forced to sleep in their cars. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA

Trump’s many foreign policy failures

Trump has no coherent foreign policy doctrine, no understanding of historical perspective, and no knowledge of the intricacies of various regional conflicts. He is dismissive of alliances, unbound by international agreements; he is erratic, unfettered, and issues policy directives based on “gut feelings.” Here I provide a synopsis of Trump’s foreign “policy” and the global disorder he has and continues to sow. [Alon Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USA

Clearing up confusion between JNF-USA and KKL

Dr. Sol Lizerbram, the Rancho Sante Fe resident who serves as the national president of Jewish National Fund-USA, says that many people are unaware that Keren Kayemet LeIsrael (KKL) and JNF-USA are totally separate organizations, even though in the past, they were one and the same.
[Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

The deal of the century — really?

That Prime Minister Netanyahu was enthusiastic about the plan, even comparing it to the 1948 Israel’s Declaration of Independence, is understandable. As is the Palestinians’ total rejection of it. Having recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and declared the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, President Trump has now given Israel the green light to annex parts of what since the 1967 War has been disputed territory and where by now some half-a-million Israeli settlers have built their homes. The Netanyahu government will be quick to try to enact legislation to make it happen – even before the March 2 general election. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

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International, Middle East, USA

‘Avodah’ Jewish Service Corps commits to San Diego

The Jewish service corps known as “Avodah” – Hebrew for “work” – has announced that San Diego will be the fifth city in the nation where its fellows will spend a year volunteering to combat poverty, help the homeless, and work with immigrants and asylum seekers, among other projects. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, USA
https://youtu.be/JZVvQ-_C6Ns

How you can help keep democracy strong

“Hear-ye, hear-ye, the polls are now open.” These seven words are one of the foundations of our democracy. In October 2016 I heard a public service announcement on KPBS Midday Edition asking for volunteers to become a poll worker for the 2016 Presidential Election. Little did I know that it would be the start of an incredibly important, interesting, and fulfilling journey. [Ron Marx]

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San Diego County, USA

Mayoral candidates discuss anti-Semitism

Anti-semitism?  City Councilwoman Barbara Bry blames President Donald Trump.  City Councilman Scott Sherman points his finger at the Internet.  And Tasha Williamson says it’s the fault of domestic terrorists, who ought to be prosecuted with the same tenacity as are terrorists from foreign countries. The three candidates made their comments Sunday night at a forum at Temple Emanu-El skipped by Assemblyman Todd Gloria, who polls show to be the frontrunner in their race to be San Diego’s next mayor. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

What Mideast parties want ahead of a peace proposal

We have to wait until President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan is unveiled to discuss it; those already discussing are likely to be wrong. But it is worth reviewing where Israelis, Palestinians, Arab states, and Americans have been — and why this time may be different. The central flaw in the “Palestinian-Israeli peace process” has never been addressed. There has not been — and there is not now — a shared goal toward which Israelis and Palestinians can be induced to work. Instead, each side has three specific and irreconcilable objectives. [Shoshana Bryen]

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International, Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USA

Jewish emigre from Nazi Germany was MLK’s tutor

Just the other day, I received an email from Jean Klugman in Boston that read: ”Hello Dan. My cousin Heather Siegel just sent me a copy of the article you wrote nine years ago, in 2011, in the San Diego Jewish World about a Jewish Boston man who served as Martin Luther King’s German-language tutor at  Boston University when MLK was studying for his PhD exam in the 1950s.” In my article for this online newspaper in 2011, I was not able to give the name of the man I was writing about, since I did not know his name and saw no way I would ever find out. But Jean solved the mystery. [Dan Bloom]

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Jewish History, USA