Judaism

Parashat Nitzavim: Choosing Life

The Torah reading this Shabbat asks us where we stand as we set the tone for the rest of our lives. “I have set before you, life and death, the blessing, and the curse. You shall choose life, so that you and your offspring will live.” The themes of t’shuvah, renewal, choosing life, and a recommitment to the covenant by everyone in our community resonate throughout Nitzavim. [Michael Mantell, PhD]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

UCSD Announces Holocaust Living History Workshop Schedule

How did the exploitation of men, women, and children in countless camps across Europe and North Africa fit into National Socialist ideology? What was the role of fascism in this ideology? And how did the victorious allies punish the Nazis for imprisoning and enslaving hundreds of thousands of people? All too often these questions are sidelined by the understandable focus on mass murder. Despite major advances in Holocaust historiography over the last several decades, however, scholars still grapple with these issues. [UCSD Holocaust Living History Workshop news release]

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California, Holocaust, International, Jewish Religion, San Diego County

Plaque Memorializes Jewish Poet and Spy

S.O.E. was tasked to train agents to operate behind enemy lines, support resistance groups, becoming deadly spies for the British. The agents transmitted vital information back to London using codes. An agent’s life was about six weeks before the Abwehr, the Nazi counter-espionage unit discovered them. The Nazis cracked their codes and liquidated the spies. [Jerry Klinger]

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International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History

The Shofar’s Role Through History

They were blowing the shofar, but it wasn’t Rosh Hashanah. On Jan. 5, 2021, the sound of the ram’s horn echoed in the streets of Washington, D.C., as participants in the Jericho March circled the capitol in a re-enactment of Joshua’s siege on the ancient city. For Jewish observers, it was a puzzling scene. “Are you going to do the shevarim as well?” one reporter asked a puff-cheeked protester, referring to the rhythmic blowing pattern used in Jewish tradition. He got a blank stare in return. [JNS.org]

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International, Israel, Jewish Religion, USA

After a century, Gernsheim’s music makes a comeback

Composer, conductor, pianist and teacher, Friedrich Gernsheim, (1839-1916), is little known today. Yet, during his lifetime, he was spoken of in the same breath as Brahms, Bruch and Reger. In fact, his works were published by the same publishers who published their compositions. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Jewish Motorcycle Philanthropists Support The Butterfly Project

Last month I had the delightful opportunity to interview two bikers who were planning to participate in the Ride2Remember, a motorcycle ride created to pay tribute to Holocaust survivors and memorialize those who perished. This year, the Jewish Motorcyclist Alliance dedicated its contribution to The Butterfly Project (TBP), cofounded by San Diegans Cheryl Rattner Price and Jan Landau. {Eva Trieger}

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California, Eva Trieger, Holocaust, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Israeli Athlete Survived the Holocaust and the Munich Olympics Massacre

ESPN and ESPN+ will premiere at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept 20, The Survivor, an hour-long documentary on the murder of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics. Reporter Jeremy Schaap interviews Shaul Ladany, a teammate of the slain athletes, who has been dubbed an “ultimate survivor.”  Along with his family, he had earlier in his life survived the Holocaust. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish History, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Rosh Hashanah is Not a Biblical Holiday

Rosh Hashanah is not a biblical holiday, although it replaced a biblical one. It is clearly different from the holiday it changed. The biblical holiday, Yom Teruah, was a one-day festival that had totally other purposes than Rosh Hashanah that is celebrated for two days and focuses on the onset of a year, repentance, and commitment to live the next year properly.  These ideas were not even suggested in Yom Teruah that concentrated on months and the number seven. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

History: Bavaria’s Revolutionary Jewish Prime Minister

This man fulfilled the typical dream of Jews who wanted to remake the world and their country of residence ‒ he became prime minister of a European state. Unlike Disraeli, he was not a baptized Jew.  Born May 14, 1867, in Berlin to a Jewish family, Kurt Eisner became prime minister of Bavaria at age 51. [Alex Gordon, Ph.D]

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Alex Gordon, International, Jewish History

Satire: If Queen Elizabeth Were Jewish

I am finding the 11 days of mourning ceremonies between the death of Queen Elizabeth II and her burial next Monday archaic, pompous, and tedious. If only she were Jewish, we would be spared the redundant rituals, and much time and money could be saved not only by the United Kingdom but also by all the countries dispatching their leaders and reporters to cover the event.     [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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International, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

‘My Mother’s Sabbath Days:’ An Eye-Opening Story by Yiddish Writer Chaim Grade

By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — My Mother’s Sabbath Days is a beautiful, fascinating, and eye-opening story by the Yiddish writer Chaim Grade (1910-1982). His name is pronounced gra, as in open your mouth and say ah, and de at the end pronounced as in eh, the word said in surprise. Grade

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

Parashat Ki Teitzei: Our Struggle With Doubt

By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. 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, and male

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Is Judaism the Truth?

By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Jeffry Bloom, a graduate of the University of Chicago who studied in several Orthodox yeshivas (rabbinical schools) in Israel after college, was bothered by what the scholar Leo Strauss wrote in his book Spinoza’s Critique of Religion. Strauss emigrated from Germany to the United States in

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion