Haftorah Reading for Tzav is Jeremiah 7:21-8:3, 9:22-23 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — These selected passages were chosen by the rabbis out of a continuous rant by Jeremiah against the Judean kingdom c. 600 BCE. He was fully aware of the lost Northern Kingdom about 120 years before by Assyria. He now […]
Haftorah for March 19, 2022 Read More »
Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion
By Toby Klein Greenwald It is always amazing to me how there are families who react to unbearable tragedy by creating something deeply meaningful and beautiful for the Jewish people and, indeed, for the world. This is what the family of Esther Horgen has done. Esther, 52, was brutally murdered by a terrorist on December
Scroll of Esther Honors Another Esther, Terror Victim Esther Horgen Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Toby Klein Greenwald
By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — The current practice is that Purim is celebrated as a one-day holiday. Cities that were walled at the time of Joshua’s conquest of Israel – most notably Jerusalem – celebrate Purim on Adar 15, as a commemoration of the end of hostilities in the walled city
Purim is Practiced Today Differently Than the Biblical Requirement Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — Each week we read of stories and learn messages in the Torah to offer us the strength and direction in how to serve Hashem, our Creator, in the best way possible, to live life most optimally. He is, in the words of “Yedid Nefesh” a piyyut first
Parashat Tzav: How Do You Keep Your Fire Burning? Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
By Gedaliah Borvick JERUSALEM — I love the streets of Jerusalem whose inspiring names bring thousands of years of Jewish history to life. And yet, one of my favorite streets in central Jerusalem is named after Abraham Lincoln. Many years ago, while taking a taxi to a meeting on that block, I could not contain
Jerusalem ‘Linc-o-lin’ Street Read More »
Gedaliah Borvick, Jewish History, Middle East, USA
If you hear of a Jew appointed to a position of authority at one of the Nazi concentration camps, what word comes immediately to mind? Is it “collaborator?” In “The Nazis Knew My Name,” the late Magda Hellinger tells of her experience being appointed first as a block leader and later as a camp leader by the Nazis during her three year incarceration in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp complex. She relates that it was never her choice to be a block or camp leader, and that had she refused, she most likely would have been severely disciplined or sent to the gas chambers. As a leader, she was expected to keep order in the block, and later in a full camp, or else. [Donald H. Harrison]
Camp Leader at Auschwitz Details How She Helped Other Jewish Prisoners Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History
However, there are other ways that the process of conversion can be completed, much closer to home, as Dr. Mark Scheller, an anesthesiologist, learned in 2015 when he waded from the shore of Chula Vista’s Bayside Park into the cold waters of San Diego Bay. [Donald H. Harrison]
There’s More Than One Kind of Mikvah for Conversion Ceremonies Read More »
California, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USABy Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — Purim. It’s our happiness, fun-filled, dramatic, costume-drinking-upside down-holiday. Many have the tradition to fast on the day before Purim (Fast of Esther). Some have the custom to give three coins to charity to recall the half-shekel donated annually to the Temple during Adar (Machatzit HaShekel), and this
Purim: The Inside Face and the Outside Face Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
By Sam Glaser LOS ANGELES — The 14th of Adar, Purim, is one of my favorite holidays. I love dressing in costumes, getting together with my community and partying with friends. Hopefully, we do this more than once a year! But on Purim, the joy and communal harmony is mandated. What fun it is to
Purim: From Exodus to Esther Read More »
Jewish Religion, Sam GlaserHaftorah Reading for Vayikra is I Samuel 15:2-34. By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — This short, mainly prose, passage competes with one from Isaiah 43:21-44:23, which in Etz Hayim is the common accompanying passage to the Torah portion Vayikra. It was placed in the Conservative calendar of 2022 by contemporary rabbis to accompany
Haftorah for March 12, 2022 Read More »
Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish ReligionBy Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — This week we begin a new book of the Torah, Sefer Vayikra, the book of Leviticus, and we read the Torah reading by the same name, Parashat Vayikra. In addition, this Shabbat we read from a second Sefer Torah since it is Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat of Memory, the Shabbat observed before Purim. The
Parashat Vayikra/Shabbat Zachor: Seeking Forgiveness and Repairing Damage Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
Enthralled by the stories Cysner told, Harris immediately asked the UC Santa Barbara History Department if she could change her dissertation subject so that it could be based upon Cysner’s experiences, both in Poland, where he was a prisoner of the Nazis, and in the Philippines, where he later became a prisoner of the Japanese. The department agreed, even though this meant changing Harris’ academic advisor and the schedule of courses to which she would commute from her home in San Diego. [Donald H. Harrison]
Cantor’s Archive Led to Book on Philippine Rescue of European Jews Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and FoodBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Urim Publications in Jerusalem and New York has just published Faith Fulfilled: Megillat Esther and The Maariv Evening Service for Purim with Commentary from the Writings of Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits. It is compiled and edited by Rabbi Dr. Reuven Mohl. The book is excellent. Rabbi Berkovits’
A Scholarly Rabbi Comments on the Book of Esther and More Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — It’s taken four parshiot to arrive here, winding our way through Terumah, Teztzaveh, Ki Tisa and Vayakhel to Pekudei and the completion of the prototype of our synagogue. As it says, “In the first month of the second year, on the first of the month, the Tabernacle
Parashat Pekudei: The Purpose of Our Modern-Day Synagogue Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell