Judaism

Yom HaShoah Observances Held Throughout San Diego County

I toured Holocaust observances at various venues in San Diego County, starting on Tuesday with a visit to Seacrest Village Retirement Community in Encinitas.  Among the residents are Charlotte Marx, who is the oldest at 104; Debby Stauber, Marguerite Morris, and Lee Drasnin.  They watched a video that was presented at Sunday’s Yom HaShoah observance at the Lawrence Family JCC, and shared with me their ideas for Holocaust education, awareness, and a permanent Holocaust museum. [Sandra Scheller]

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California, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Sandra Scheller, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

A Backyard of Blessings: The Impact of the San Diego Jewish Experience

Editor’s note: Rabbi Eric Ertel has shared the following message regarding the San Diego Jewish Experience’s 2023 Campaign: The San Diego Jewish Experience is having its most impactful year to date. Now that student life is back to normal, SAJE has been able to meet and form strong bonds with record breaking numbers of students

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Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County

A Short History of Holocaust Survivors in San Diego

The Holocaust did not simply end the day Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies.  Survivors torn from their homes, their families, and their health, needed to be nursed back into physical and mental health and resettled in countries where they would be accepted and given a chance to reconstruct their lives. One San Diegan who was intimately involved in this process was Army Lt. Al Hutler, a Jew whose compassionate administration of a Displaced Persons camp helped thousands of people make those adjustments. After leaving the Army, Hutler moved to San Diego where he served as the executive director of the Jewish Federation from 1946 to 1958. He was among those San Diegans who put out the welcoming mat for the survivors of the Nazi scourge. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, San Diego County

Overcoming Two Decades of Opposition, UCSD’s Jewish Students Finally Have Their Hillel Center

Parry oversees Hillel operations at UC San Diego, San Digo State University, Cal State San Marcos, and the University of San Diego.  She recalled that while she was a Class of 2008 political science student at UC San Diego that the proposed center had been opposed for a long time by neighbors in La Jolla.  At least some of them were motivated by the same kind of antisemitism that delayed construction of an eruv by Congregation Adat Yeshurun.  With City Hall appeals, environmental reviews, and court battles, the opponents were successful delaying construction for 20 years, but eventually the courts gave Hillel the go-ahead to build on the land it had purchased. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Parashat Shemini: Connecting in a Humble Way

By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — The week’s Torah reading, Shemini, immediately following our Passover holiday, is filled with emotional and spiritual complexities that accentuate the importance of ritual, structure, awe, and reverence…all aimed at helping us connect with Hashem in a humble way. After this intense holiday period, do we really need

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

B’Shalom: Leonard da Vinci a landsman?  Goldman v. Jordan.  Lawson-Remer et al v. Nathan Fletcher

News of Jewish interest broke on Tuesday at the International, National, State and Local Levels: [Donald H.Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

Touching the Past, for Today: Louisiana’s Rosenwald Schools

By Jerry Klinger Julius Rosenwald was a first-generation Jewish American. He was born in 1862 in Springfield, Illinois, just a few blocks from where Abraham Lincoln lived. Rosenwald grew up and achieved the American dream. He became very wealthy through hard work, skill, and luck. He was a modest man with a philanthropic bent shaped

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Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Opinion, USA