By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — This year, we read Torah portions Nitzavim and Vayeilech, on the Shabbat before Rosh Hashana. It asks us where we stand as we enter the new year. The parasha teaches that G-d tells us, “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. You […]
Parshiyot Nitzavim-Vayeilech: Choosing Life Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
By Jerry Klinger A cemetery stone on a street is a strange site, even in London. It is even stranger considering that there is no body buried beneath. The black and gold stone of honored memory is for a Jewish secret agent, a member of the British Special Operations Executive, SOE, Captain Lionel Lee. Lee
Captain Lionel Lee: Extraordinary Courage and Dedication Read More »
Holocaust, International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Opinion
“The way of my rabbinate and my personal life is living a life of balance,” Kornberg continued. “What I have been able to do and what I try to do is bring [the religious and secular] worlds together with a sense of balance; you don’t have to live in one or the other. You can have a rich religious Jewish life and still live in the secular ‘real world’ so to speak…” [Donald H. Harrison]
Rabbi David Kornberg of Congregation Beth Am: ‘Balance Is My Mantra’ Read More »
Ben Dishman, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, USA
Parshat Ki Tavo 5783 By Rabbi Daniel Reich LA JOLLA, California — Among the many different Mitzvot and insights in Parshat Ki Tavo, right at the beginning of the Parsha we have the Mitzvah of “Viduy Maaser”, also known as the Maaser Confession. We are instructed to announce before God and to vocalize within the
Cultivating Self-Belief Read More »
Daniel Reich-Rabbi, Jewish Religion
By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — It’s summer in Israel and that means hot, sunny, and no chance of rain. So you can be sure that you won’t be caught in a rain shower – but you’ll be hot. What’s “hot” in the Sharon area on the coastal plain where we live? About 33
Escaping Humidity in Jerusalem Read More »
Israel, Jewish History, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food
(JNS) Archaeologists in Jerusalem have discovered a 300-meter (985-foot) portion of a Second Temple-era aqueduct, the longest such continuous stretch ever found in Israel’s capital, the Israeli Antiquities Authority announced on Monday. The ancient waterway was discovered at a building site in the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat HaMatos. “The aqueducts of Jerusalem tell the
Jerusalem Archaeologists Uncover Large Second Temple-Era Aqueduct Read More »
Israel, Jewish HistoryBy Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — To be a Jew is to be a grateful person. As we enter Shabbat with Psalm 92, we read, “It is good to give thanks.” Rabbi Zelig Pliskin teaches, “Living with gratitude elevates your entire life. You become a more spiritual person. You become a more joyful person.
Parashat Ki Tavo: An Attitude of Gratitude Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Author Katherine Pangonis notes in her preface to “Queens of Jerusalem: The Women Who Dared to Rule” that “this is a book about women and power.” The wives and daughters of crusader kings and princes in the Holy Land sometimes found themselves in the position of default ruler
‘Queens of Jerusalem’ Book Seeks to Rectify Historians’ Neglect of Women Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Jewish History, Middle East
Published by ANI News Tel Aviv [Israel], August 28 (ANI/TPS): In preparation for the upcoming Yom Kippur holiday – the Jewish Day of Atonement – Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development emphasized to the public the importance of observing the custom of redeeming atonements with money and not chickens. In the days between Rosh
Israelis asked to avoid using live chickens in annual atonement ritual Read More »
Jewish Religion
The plot is simple. The fictional Milia Gottstein-Lasker, the Israeli-based director of the Survivors Campaign who is known in Lithuania as a public enemy, receives an invitation from Darius Vidas, an idealistic Lithuanian professor, to keynote a conference titled “Our Neighbors, Our Friends” about the historic Lithuanian Jewish community that was all but totally wiped out in the Holocaust. [Donald H. Harrison]
Powerful Novel Indicts Lithuanian Role in the Holocaust Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History
A seven-hour mediation. A secret recording device. Accusations of extortion. These are the latest twists in the ongoing, ugly saga over control of the Southern California synagogue that survived a 2019 mass shooting only to face a federal fraud conviction of its founding rabbi. [Louis Keene, the Forward]
Fraud, Betrayal and Spy Gear: Inside the Messy Battle for Chabad of Poway Read More »
California, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, USA
(Press Release) Sefaria unveiled a groundbreaking digital collaboration, the “Global Community Torah,” that is a unique opportunity for anyone to have a small part in “writing” a Torah—all 304,805 letters. The ambitious project launched at a virtual 10th anniversary celebration for Sefaria, the non-profit organization that digitizes and freely shares Jewish texts in Hebrew and
Sefaria Launches First-Ever ‘Global Community Torah’ Digital Writing Project Read More »
Jewish Religion, USAParshat Ki Teitzei 5783 By Rabbi Daniel Reich LA JOLLA, California — Our tradition tells us that there are 613 Mitzvot contained in the Torah, spread out among its 54 Parshas. So one might have assumed that these 613 statues are evenly distributed throughout the Torah, coming to approximately 11 or 12 Mitzvot per Parsha.
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — This week’s parasha, literally meaning, “When you go out…” opens with a description of facing war with enemies. Maimonides tells us that 72 mitzvot spring from this week’s Torah portion, from weights and measures and collecting debts in a righteous way, to proper ways to divorce, keeping promises,
Parashat Ki Teitzei: Refining Our Souls Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell