Judaism

A Holocaust exhibit takes to webcasting

The Remember Us The Holocaust (RUTH) exhibit at the Chula Vista Heritage Museum, located in Chula Vista’s main library, was barely a fourth of the way into its anticipated year-long run, when the Covid-19 pandemic forced it closure.   Sandra Scheller, the exhibit’s curator and daughter of the late Ruth Sax, a Holocaust survivor, remained undaunted.  She slowly but thoroughly transformed the exhibit into a virtual experience. {Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Congresswoman Davis protests ICE’s plan for foreign students

President Donald J. Trump’s policies toward foreign students are “extreme,” “unnecessary,” and “cruel,” said Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) in leading 136 members of Congress to urge the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to rescind a decision to deport foreign students who during the coronavirus pandemic take courses on-line rather than in person. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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

Bill Harrison, z”l, has a place of his own

When my brother  Bill Harrison and I were growing up in New Rochelle, New York, we shared a room.  As you walked in, his bed was against the wall on the right, and mine was against the wall on the left.  Bill, who was five years older than I am, grew tired of me crossing over to his side of the room where I would inspect his things, and sometimes play with his “grown-up” stuff.  So he did what any big brother might do, he banned me from his side of the room. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, Obituaries & memorials

Judges in Book of Judges did not judge

Rabbi Michael Hattin’s new 207-page book  Judges has 19 chapters, two less than the biblical Book of Judges. Judges is part of a series of Maggid Books, a division of Koren Publishers Jerusalem, that uses an interdisciplinary approach incorporating traditional rabbinic interpretations with scholarly literary techniques to explore the characters, themes, and text of the Hebrew Bible. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

Short story: Dirty Dishes

The summer of 1965, I was not quite 17, not quite 5-foot-7, and not quite a college freshman. I was also broke, and I was convinced that I held the school record for number of crushes on girls who couldn’t quite remember who I was when I called for a date. I couldn’t do anything about my age or height, but I decided to solve my other two problems with a summer job at a Catskill Mountains hotel, piling up tips and meeting girls – Jewish preferred, but not required. [Michael Ginsberg]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Michael Ginsberg, USA

A Word of Torah: Strong women of Judaism

This week when thinking about these catastrophes I couldn’t help but think about the triumph of one particular segment of the Jewish people; Jewish women. The major failures that come to mind include the story of the Golden Calf, the Spies, the Rebellion of Korach and his cohorts, and consorting with the Midianites. The lack of participation by the Jewish women is in stark contrast to their Jewish brethren. [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]

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Jewish Religion, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi

Jew-hatred, then and now

Jew-hatred (politely termed anti-Semitism) has returned to the US and the West, jolting some Jews but befuddling others who fail to recognize the phenomenon. We baby boomers grew up in era of acceptance of the Jewish community. But this ancient hatred has reverted to the mean as the shock of the Holocaust has receded and Israel has become a powerful nation. [Steve Kramer]

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International, Jewish History, Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA

Why the great Talmudists valued contrary opinions

The Talmud has always been a champion of free speech. It is a unique document of human history where rabbis engage philosophers, wise women, emperors, Roman centurions, and a host of other people as they debate the meaning of life and the message of Judaism. Rabbinical discourse is dialectical. It presents a no-hold-bars approach to virtually any topic, from war and peace to the laws governing sexual relations. But be forewarned: the Talmud is not for the faint of heart. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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International, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA

Torah for children: Pinchas

This week’s Torah Parasha, Pinchas, is all about family. We’ll start with a quick history lesson. In the first book of the Torah, we’re introduced to the families of several important people: 1) Abraham and his wife, Sarah, 2) their son, Isaac, who marries Rebecca, and 3) Isaac’s son Jacob. Jacob marries two women, which was okay back then, and winds up with twelve sons (and a daughter). It is the families of those twelve sons who appear, many years later, in this week’s reading. God is about to divide up the land among these different families. Moses is told to make a list of the different members of each family. This is such an important idea, that this entire parasha is mainly a listing of those names. (Marcia Berneger)

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Jewish Religion, Marcia Berneger

Moses knew how to relinquish leadership

There’s a Jewish maxim, “Every generation receives the leader it deserves.” Parasha Pinchas seems to provide a foundation for this old adage. The parasha distinguishes between the leadership of Moses, who in today’s language would be described as a wise, dauntless, self-aware, “we” not “me,” conscious leader, and Joshua, of whom the Talmud, in Baba Batra 75A, says, “The Elders of that generation said: The countenance of Moses was like that of the sun; the countenance of Joshua like that of the moon. Alas, for such shame!” [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell