Judaism

Redefining who can become a Jew

The Jewish American Paradox: Embracing Choice in a Changing World by Robert H. Mnookin; © 2018; Public Affairs, Hachette Book Group; ISBN 9781610-397513; 228 pages plus 80 pages of notes, acknowledgments and index; $28 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –Author Robert Mnookin, a Harvard Law professor, argues that Jewish peoplehood should have permeable boundaries. […]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

Historic question: Is turkey really kosher?

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — The question of turkey’s status as a permitted bird is a topic that comes up every Thanksgiving holiday season. Nevertheless, many Orthodox Jews I personally know will never eat turkey since there is no tradition permitting it. Clearly, the Torah does not mention turkey at all

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, The World We Share

Editor’s E-Mail Box: November 20, 2018 (3 items)

Joint Hindu- Jewish celebration held for respective festivals of lights It was standing-room only for 425 Hindus and Jews who made a bit of history celebrating both Diwali and Chanukah at the Hindu-Jewish Festival of Lights at Temple Beth-El in Northbrook, IL on November 18.  The event not only celebrated the two holidays, which occur

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International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Veracity questioned of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz’

By Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — In a personal blog post I published in September I asked my readers if the current bestseller The Tattooist of Auschwitz, a Holocaust sex and romance “novel” concocted by a well-intentioned but somewhat nervy non-Jewish screenwriter in Australia, was ever going to be called in question by literary critics

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History

Book review: ‘The New American Judaism’

The New American Judaism: How Jews Practice Their Religion Today by Jack Wertheimer, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, © 2018, ISBN 978-0-691-18129-5, p. 272 plus bibliography and index, $29.95.   By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – American Jewry is balkanized, divided into denominations ranging from the Haredi, who scrupulously and meticulously strive to obey both the

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion

Women of the Wall envoy details struggle for equality

By David Ogul SAN DIEGO — It’s all about equality. That was the message from Cheryl Temkin, an executive member of the Speakers Bureau for the Jerusalem-based Women of the Wall, who was the featured speaker Nov. 16 at Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego following Kabbalat Shabbat services. Just months after Israeli paratroopers liberated Jerusalem’s

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David Ogul, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County

This life in academia makes for pleasant reading

Holocaust Survivor to Harvard Dean: Memoirs of a Refugee’s Progress by Michael Shinagel © 2016, Xlibris, ISBN 9781524-509606; 150 pages plus Index; Available on Amazon. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO —  Having served for nearly four decades as dean of the Harvard Extension School – the longest known deanship in Harvard’s history – author

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education

We came to Pittsburgh

By Doron Krakow PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — On Tuesday, more than 100 Jewish community leaders from across the continent gathered in Pittsburgh for a day of solidarity with the beleaguered Jewish community there, just 17 days after the massacre of Jews at prayer at the Tree of Life Synagogue on Squirrel Hill. We came representing Jewish federations, Jewish family

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Jewish History, USA

Hadassah urges national education on Holocaust

By Janice Weinman NEW YORK — Anti-Semitism has been called the oldest form of hatred.  In America, we are now witnessing a horrifying escalation of anti-Semitic violence, such as cemetery desecration, vandalization of Jewish schools and synagogues and inflammatory anti-Zionist rhetoric on college campuses.  This week, CBS News reported the existence of a prom night

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Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Should we Jews call ourselves ‘Hebrews’?

By Arkady Mamaysky TARRYTOWN, New York — The word Jewish is associated with a person whose religion is Judaism. But what about individuals who are atheists but trace their ethnicity to the original Hebrew tribes? Traditionally, the following groups of people are united under the term Jewish: -descendants of the original ethnic Hebrew tribes whose religion is Judaism; -descendants

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Arkady Mamaysky, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

Jews of the U.S. military honored at Veterans Museum

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – A famous U.S. Navy admiral, two U.S. Air Force officers, and a U.S. Army major currently are being saluted in a display sponsored by the Jewish War Veterans of San Diego at the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center in Balboa Park. Honored are Admiral Hyman J.  Rickover, Army

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Travel and Food, USA

Online dealers sell historic Judaic, Nazi artifacts

By Oliver B. Pollak RICHMOND, California — Combining the keyword “Hitler” and “Highest Price” on AbeBooks founded in 1995 and owned by Amazon since 2008 produces an amazing Judaica juxtaposition priced between $180,000 and $527,815. For less than $1.5 million you could own three unique 20th century works on Palestine, Mein Kampf and Einstein, and

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak, Science, Medicine, & Education