Judaism

Auschwitz memoir revived for 75th anniversary

As we approach the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, many books, documentaries and articles are appearing about “history’s darkest chapter.” The book Last Stop Auschwitz: My Story of Survival From Within the Camp, set for release momentarily, will certainly become one of the more defining accounts of the horrors and inhumanities perpetrated by the Nazis during the Holocaust. [Dorian De Wind]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorian de Wind, International, Jewish History

Gimbel’s WZC goals: ‘Pluralism, peace, economic justice’

In recent articles, we have been profiling San Diegans who have been nominated by various slates to serve as delegates to the World Zionist Congress, which will take place in Jerusalem Oct. 20-22  Among the nominees is Rabbi Jeremy Gimbel, the assistant rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Jews, Christians, Muslims to join in MLK salute

San Diegans of various faiths will gather at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 20, at the Marston House in Balboa Park, at 3525 Seventh Avenue (corner of Upas) to honor the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on what would have been five days past his 91st birthday. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, USA

Bible’s account of Moses’ early life has antecedents

This parsha opens the Book of Exodus. It covers the development of enslavement of the Israelites, the early life of Moses, his escape to Midian and marriage there, his recruitment by God to lead the Israelites, and his earliest encounter with Pharaoh. I have chosen to pursue three passages, with regard to their originality in the Torah text. [Irv Jacobs, MD]

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Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion

Posthumous Holocaust memoir a family affair

Mendek Rubin was born in 1924 in Jaworzno, Poland, a town with over 2,000 Jews, about 15 miles from Auschwitz. He died in Carmel in 2012. When his daughter Myra was putting his papers in order she came across a manuscript In Quest of the Eternal Sunshine. It was a surprise and not a surprise. It was a surprise to find it, but she had already helped her father edit it decades earlier. She worked on the manuscript for a few days but the task was incompatible with raising her two children. And, “in the intervening years” she had “completely forgotten it existed.” [Oliver B. Pollak]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak

God pleased with Moses’ compassion, empathy

– In Exodus 3:11, after God has asked him to go to Pharaoh in Egypt, Moses asks: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should take the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Hashem answers simply, “I will be with you.” Not just with you, near you. But to be one with you, to experience fully your struggle, your anguish and your pain in accomplishing what is being asked of you. Hashem is saying, I believe, “I will be one with you just as you are one with the people for whom you care so much.” [Michael Mantell, PhD]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Balloting begins Jan. 21 for World Zionist Congress

Between Jan. 21 and March 11, American Jews may participate in the selection of U.S. delegates to the World Zionist Congress, which will meet in Jerusalem from Oct. 20-22 to help set policy for three major Jewish organizations: the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish National Fund, and the Jewish Agency for Israel.  The Congress’s policy decisions will influence how approximately $1 billion is allocated. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Diverse stories at Chula Vista Holocaust exhibit

A span of 31 years separates the late Max Weinstock’s birth from that of Ursula Israelski, but both were profoundly affected by the Holocaust. They are among the featured South Bay residents, living and dead, whose lives are celebrated at the year-long “Project RUTH: Remember Us The Holocaust” exhibit now on display at Chula Vista’s main library, 365 F. Street, Chula Vista. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County

German’s diary tells of opposition to Hitler

For the first time, I read the courageous secret diary of a man and wife who did what they could to record what they saw, they heard, and they felt living in Nazi Germany.  They had been denounced.  They had barely escaped the concentration camps, the Gestapo, and probable death for being in opposition to Hitler.  They knew what they had to do, what they could still do, even if they could not shape the present.  They hoped their diary might shape the future when another Hitler could arise somewhere in the world in another vaunted high cultured and “free” society.  The diary, a series of volumes that remained hidden long after the war had ended, eventually ran to almost 1,000 pages. [Jerry Klinger]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History

‘Lucky Ones’ suffers from poor writing, editing

I have very mixed feelings about this book {“We Were the Lucky Ones”]. On the one hand, it is a hearfelt attempt to reconstruct the experiences of various members of the author’s family (grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins) during the Holocaust. On the other, however, the writing does not flow easily, and the fact that the narrative is mainly (though not solely) in the present tense jars on my sensibilities as a reader. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish History, USA

Eureka! Koren Tanakh best Bible commentary ever

The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel is without doubt the best Bible commentary in English. I say this after using over a hundred such books while writing my own books on the Bible, such as my many volumes on the differences between the Hebrew Bible and its Aramaic translation called Onkelos. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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