Judaism

Jew who posed as Catholic child tells of WWII life

A San Diegan who survived the Holocaust as a child by posing as a Catholic boy helped pay tribute Sunday to the 1.5 million children who perished during World War II under the regimes of the German Nazis and their allies.  After telling of his life, he joined listeners who painted ceramic butterflies that will be mounted by The Butterfly Project at the Grossmont Shopping Center in their memory. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, USA

George Washington: ‘To bigotry no sanction’

On August 18, 1790, Moses Seixas, the warden of Congregation Kahal Kadosh Yeshuat Israel, the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, read a message to George Washington, welcoming the newly elected first president of the United States on his post-election visit to that city.  He was accompanied by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York. Rhode Island was the last of the thirteen original states to ratify the Constitution, and Washington was visiting to celebrate the completion of the Union. [Michael Feldberg, Ph.D]

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Jewish History, USA

Seacrest Village through a resident’s camera lens

Jeanne Shenkman,  83, a retired teacher with the Grossmont High School District,  moved to Seacrest Village Retirement Community in Encinitas last May to live near her daughter.  Throughout her life, she has always been a busy person with varied interests.  For example, in addition to her teaching duties, she played violin in the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra for 42 years and served as a docent at the San Diego Natural History Museum for 15 years. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

Remembering that we were strangers

On the heels of last week’s revelation and the Ten Commandments, our Torah portion this week, Mishpatim, provides us with more laws and policies, advising us on how to live a Jewish life. One of these assertions can be found in Exodus 22, when the Torah instructs us not to “wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” [Rabbi Joshua Dorsch]

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Jewish Religion

A Word of Torah: Mishpatim-Judgments

This week’s Torah portion is titled Mishpatim, which means judgments. In this portion a whopping 53 commandments (out of a total 613 in the entire Torah) are mentioned. Twenty of the commandments mentioned are positive (thou shalt), and thirty-three are negative (thou shalt not). The portion begins by stating, “And these are the judgments that were placed before you.” The word, “And,” is of critical importance we are told by the commentaries, as it demonstrates that this week’s portion is a continuation of last week’s portion. This means in order to properly understand the portion of Mishpatim we have to look back at the portion of Yitro. [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi

Was the Prophet Isaiah one or three people?

Most people think that since Jewish ancestors placed certain books in the Hebrew Bible, this means that they are significant in some way, and this way is clear to even the average reader. Nothing is further from the truth. All of the biblical books have deep messages. Some are even obscure and difficult to understand. The book of Isaiah is an example. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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

On female slaves, cities of refuge, hospitality

This parasha contains the first body of legislation in the Torah, and is called in English the”Book of the Covenant.” It is by no means complete. In general, it emphasizes humanitarian considerations, provoked by and promised, by the divine. I have chosen three passages, with regard to seeking, via the internet, similarities with other ancient literature. [Mishpatim commentary by Irv Jacobs, M.D.]

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Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion

Victory against anti-Semitism at SDSU

Congratulations are due to San Diego State Professors Peter C. Herman and Risa Levitt Kohn, as well as to representatives of the campus Hillel, and the regional Anti-Defamation League for protesting the proposed inclusion of two anti-Semitic speakers on a planned, as yet unscheduled, panel presentation on whether African-Americans deserve reparations for the time their ancestors were enslaved and the subsequent institutional discrimination against their people. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

Deicide libel against Jews surfaces in Nova Scotia

Someone finally did it – publicly blaming the Jewish people for the crucifixion of Jesus and, even more disgracefully, applying this libel to explain Israel’s so-called occupation of the Palestinian territories. Henry M. Bradford’s words were printed on Jan. 27 in The Chronicle Herald, the daily newspaper serving Halifax in Canada’s Nova Scotia. His letter to the editor responded to a commentary about anti-Semitism by freelance journalist Ralph Surette. [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, International, Jewish History, Middle East, USA

Hadassah Magazine article prompted OH! San Diego

The March 6-8 Open House San Diego in which 93 venues will open their doors to visitors can trace its origin to an article in the Winter 2012 edition of Hadassah Magazine, which featured an article about the Open House programs in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Susanne Friestedt said the article so resonated with her that she traveled to London, headquarters for the Open House architectural movement, to learn what she would need to do to add San Diego (and environs) to the list of cities in the Open House program. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

It’s not the creed, it’s the deed

In our Parasha, Mishpatim, laws, are two of more than 30 times that the Torah warns us against mistreating the sojourner, V’ger lo teelchatz “Do not oppress the stranger”(Shemot, 23:9). We learn about the value of treating others properly, equitably, impartially and what the way we treat others reveals about ourselves. These are certainly universal values that are essential to a healthy, fair, society. How do you live, not just profess, these values? [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Ohr Shalom, other Jewish venues, rated as architectural gems

Approximately 50 cities worldwide, including San Diego and three others in the United States, offer free Open Houses at venues considered to be architecturally significant.  This year, March 6-8, San Diego will put on display 93 different locations, including Ohr Shalom Synagogue at 3rd and Laurel Streets in Bankers Hill as well as a few other places with ties to prominent members of the Jewish community. Those include the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, founded by Jonas Salk and designed by architect Louis Kahn;  the IGPP Munk Laboratory designed by the late oceanographer Walter Munk and his wife Judith Horton Munk in association with architect Lloyd Ruocco; the San Diego Central Library at the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Common, named for the co-founder of Qualcomm and his wife;  and the Hotel del Coronado, which underwent considerable expansion during the period it was owned by M. Larry Lawrence. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Haifa, San Diego scientists to probe Israeli coastal waters

Before long the historic port city of Akko, Israel, will become headquarters for a search for sunken treasures of the academic kind in a project that brings together scientists from UC San Diego and the University of Haifa.

“Along the coast of Israel, submerged settlements, ancient harbors and sunken ships tell a unique story of 11,000 years of human resilience and adaptation,” explains Assaf Yasur-Landau, director of the Leon Racanati Institute for Maritime Studies at the University of Haifa.  “I am very excited for this tremendous opportunity in which both partners – the University of Haifa and UC San Diego – join forces to create pathbreaking underwater and coastal research as well as a joint training program on the Carmel Coast.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Moses did not write the entire Torah

The rational Spanish sage Abraham ibn Ezra (1089–1164), whose views are included in most rabbinical Bibles with commentaries, stated that Moses did not write the entire Torah. Realizing that Moses was on top of the mountain alone where he died and did not descend to report what happened there even before he died, Abraham ibn Ezra states that Moses did not write all twelve passages in this chapter. He suggests that the chapter was written by Joshua who knew what occurred through prophecy. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion