USA

Arab countries should pay for humanitarian relief in Gaza

The senator’s scheme to relieve their pain collapses when he proposes that funds for humanitarian aid there be diverted from the $3.8 million that America sends to Israel each year for military aid. Why Israel? Why not all the oil-rich Arab countries that spend their money on royal palaces and extravagant vacations? They launched the war of 1948 that sent Palestinians fleeing Israel in all directions or living mainly in Gaza and the West Bank. What is their responsibility? [Bruce Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USA

StandWithUs, Poway salute shooting victims

SAN DIEGO – The Jewish and general communities are honoring the memory of Lori Gilbert Kaye, who was murdered April 27 by a gunman who barged into Chabad of Poway and wounded three other people before running away and later being apprehended. Exactly six months after the shooting attack that wounded Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, 8-year-old Noya Dahan, and her uncle Almog Peretz from Sderot, Israel, StandWithUs San Diego focused on the victims at a gala which was themed “Standing Together Against Anti-Semitism.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, USA

Orthodox romance at Sea World

Dr. Ben Dishman, PharmD, who is retired as a psychiatric pharmacist from the Veterans Administration Hospital, enjoys visiting Sea World on the average of once a month. Besides seeing the animals, he likes to see love bloom among Orthodox Jewish couples who apparently consider Sea World to be a perfect meeting place for their arranged dates. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

With friends like J Street …

Why is it that some Jewish Americans, including J Streeters, think they know better than Israelis what will bring peace between Jews and Palestinian Arabs? It’s some sort of hubris. Israelis, by a wide margin, recognize that leaving Gaza was a huge mistake, resulting in thousands of attacks on Israelis in the south of our country (primarily but not exclusively) by terrorists allied with Iran. Why then should Israelis even contemplate allowing a similar but more existential situation in the center of Israel adjacent to our major population centers? [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA

Sanders, Warren mount anti-Israel campaigns

As Democratic candidates for the presidency continue to move further to the left in an effort to distance themselves from the policies and politics of President Trump, the two frontrunners, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have increased the rhetoric against what is normally an untouchable topic for Democrats and Republicans alike: the United States’ relationship with the sole democracy in the Middle East, Israel. [Richard L. Cravatts, PhD]

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Middle East, Richard L. Cravatts, USA

The legacy of Dr. Jonas Salk

Had he lived, today, Monday October 28th, would have been Jonas Salk’s 105th birthday.  Last night, an audience of mostly senior citizens remembered and appreciated the enormity of the contribution that he made to world health by developing the polio vaccine.  And, indirectly, the man who was the speaker at Tifereth Israel Synagogue—Salk’s son, Dr. Peter Salk—played an important role in that drama while he was still a child.[Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego Calendar, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Animals receive a blessing at Tifereth Israel Synagogue

With Jews around the world scheduled to read the story of Noah’s Ark next Saturday, the Abraham Ratner Torah School at Tifereth Israel Synagogue held a blessing for the animals in a brief outdoor ceremony on Sunday. Rabbi Joshua Dorsch, with arms raised, blessed about a dozen dogs and one rabbit that were brought by congregants of the Conservative shul.  [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Travel and Food, USA

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

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

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