Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel of Temple Beth Shalom of Chula Vista has composed the following special prayer for recitation during the time of the coronavirus pandemic.
Oh God Who dwells among us as in Heaven,
grant us wisdom, understanding and knowledge;
help us eradicate the coronavirus that threatens all people. …
A Coronavirus Prayer Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
One of the most tragic occurrences in Judaism’s long history is the frequent absorption of alien, often heathen and Christian notions. For example, many people do not realize that when they say “gosh almighty” they are speaking about the Christian Holy Ghost and when they say “bloody” they are talking about the blood of Jesus or when they say “knock on wood” they are referring to the crucifixion cross. This occurred not only among the uneducated masses; rabbis fell prey to this phenomenon as well, simply because they did not know Jewish history or understand the processes involved in the assimilation and rationalization of beliefs to correspond with what is being said around them or a person’s perception of proper Jewish thinking. The story of Rabbi Hasdai Crescas and his impassioned battle against Christianity is a good example of this phenomenon.[Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
The Life and Time of Hasdai Crescas Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
It’s not every day that Charles Wax, owner of Waxie Sanitary Supply, receives phone calls from mayors, county supervisors, or governors. But these are not everyday times. As the largest privately owned janitorial and sanitary supply company in America, Waxie Sanitary Supply stocks the bathrooms and janitorial supply cabinets of many schools, hospitals, government office buildings, prisons, and other institutions throughout the nine western states. To do so, it has 200 delivery vehicles stationed at 25 regional warehouses. Headquarters for the entire operation is in the Kearny Mesa neighborhood of San Diego. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Waxie hires staff as demand for toilet paper, supplies swells Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County
Wow! What a long and involved Torah reading this week! Just look at the title of this article; it took up a significant portion of this page. This week we read a double portion plus a special additional reading, which has to do with the impending month of Nissan. Let’s start at the beginning. The first portion we read is titled VaYakhel / And (Moses) Assembled. [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]
A Word of Torah: Vayakhel/ Pikudei/HaChodesh Read More »
Jewish Religion, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi
Located south of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and about a kilometer west of Israel’s border with Jordan, Kfar Ruppin, a kibbutz with San Diego connections, is the subject of an enchanting memoir by Rachel Biale, a Berkeley, California, resident who grew up there. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Kibbutz with San Diego connections subject of new memoir Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food
Like apparently in most other countries, life is coming to a near-standstill in Israel. But, as I’ve written before, unlike in most other countries, the coronavirus crisis in Israel is interwoven with the political crisis that, after three general elections within a year, still has only a transition government with its long-serving prime minister desperately clinging to power. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]
Coronavirus in Israel complicated by government crisis Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East
This parasha deals with the actual construction of the Tabernacle, with the lavish materials provided as gifts by the Israelite population. The work was performed under the guidance of the designated skilled craftsmen, Bezalel and Oholiab. I have chosen three passages, from which I have sought Internet sources for comparison with our Hebrew texts. [Irv Jacobs, MD]
Biblical craftsmen, donors and cherubim Read More »
Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion
San Diego City Council candidate Joe Leventhal served on the City of San Diego’s Ethics Commission for only a year before resigning to run for office, but he’s proud that he has left behind what he says colleagues on the commission refer informally to as the “Leventhal Amendment.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Local Jewish candidates series: Joe Leventhal Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, USA
There isn’t a Torah parsasha that doesn’t have an exact link to what’s going on in the world during the week we read its teachings. This week we read from Vayakhel and Pekudei and, lo and behold, once again we experience an inspirational nexus with our contemporary lives and a biblical passage. [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]
Learning, following Torah when synagogues are closed Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
The plague has interested me for over 60 years. On my shelves I have Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year 1665; William H. McNeill, Plagues and Peoples (1976); John Aberth, the author of The Black Death, The Great Mortality of 1348-1350 (2005), the first of his several studies on mass mortality; Teofilo F. Ruiz, The Terror of History, on the Uncertainties of Life in Western Civilization (2011); and Rachel Kadish, The Weight of Ink (2017). I knew people who suffered through the 1918 Influenza epidemic. And I know three of the above mentioned authors. One of the first books I received as a gift was Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]
Books, Internet tell of plagues through history Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak, USAe are definitely in uncharted territory. Today (Tuesday, March 17), for the first time, I had to livestream a funeral because of coronavirus and social distancing that is being mandated by governmental agencies across the country. My team spent hours yesterday developing Chabad Virtual Academy; a place where anyone, anywhere, can log in and participate in a class on varied Jewish subjects, or watch them at a later time. In this regard we are not unique. Thousands of institutions are doing the same; allowing people unfettered access to everything from Torah classes to opera. [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]
Acts of joy might help overcome the coronavirus Read More »
Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi
With the coronavirus threatening people’s health in the first major pandemic we have seen in over a hundred years, Jewish tradition has much to say about the importance of handwashing. As a “priestly people,” (Exodus 19:6), priests in the Torah were always instructed to wash their hands whenever they enter into the Tent of Meeting or upon entering the Temple.
Just how serious is this precept? [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Torah laws foresaw need for good hygiene Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Science, Medicine, & Education
Attorney Joe Leventhal, who is seeking election in the 5th San Diego City Council District, once served as a “gatekeeper” for U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, deciding what memos should go to him, which should first be vetted by others, and reading his proposed speeches for accuracy. It was a pretty heady job for a young lawyer, just 26 years old. Previously having served on the staff of U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson (R-Illinois), he had observed then that “Washington at the highest levels of government is actually run by all of these folks under 40, even under 30 — the Administration, Capitol Hill, even at the Supreme Court. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Council candidate tells of being Cheney’s gatekeeper Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, USARemarkably, although Yehuda Halevi’s well-known book is filled with illogical ideas, many Jews call the poet a philosopher and rabbi, although he was neither, and praise his book. I will show some of the illogical matters. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Yehuda Halevi did not live up to his reputation Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion