Judaism

‘Baseball Shabbat’ anticipates MLB’s 2017 season

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – In anticipation of opening day of the 2017 Major League Baseball season, congregants of Tifereth Israel Synagogue themed their Kabbalat Shabbat services on Friday night, March 31, around the American pastime.  Traditional Shabbat evening prayers were mixed with meditations on baseball; a baseball trivia quiz took the place […]

‘Baseball Shabbat’ anticipates MLB’s 2017 season Read More »

David Ogul, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions

Sculptor’s work on refugees takes on increased resonance in new London exhibit

Drawing on the Old Testament as inspiration, the late Chaim Stephenson crafted compassionate scenes of familial pain and drama By Anne Joseph LONDON –Acclaimed Anglo-Israeli artist and self-taught sculptor Chaim Stephenson had a lifelong sympathy for people driven from their homes. In a career that spanned over 60 years, he produced a huge body of

Sculptor’s work on refugees takes on increased resonance in new London exhibit Read More »

International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

NYC takes harder line on controversial circumcision practice

Health department will now ban mohels linked to newborn herpes cases without testing for virus. By Amy Sara Clark Women visit an infant following his bris ceremony. GETTY IMAGES One day after the city’s health commissioner confirmed that two mohels have been banned from practicing the risky circumcision ritual metzitzah b’peh, the health department has

NYC takes harder line on controversial circumcision practice Read More »

Jewish Religion, USA

CHURACHANDPUR, India (Press Release) – The Bnei Menashe community throughout the remote northeastern Indian state of Manipur today began preparing for Passover – including by baking matzah, the holiday’s traditional unleavened bread – at the Shavei Israel Hebrew Center in Churachandpur. “The experience of seeing the entire community kneading, rolling, and then baking the dough – all

Read More »

International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Travel and Food

Weekly Torah portion: Vayikra

Love Yourself as You Would Your Neighbor! By Rabbi Yaakov Marks SAN DIEGO — The momentous occasion had arrived. After months of dedicated and selfless work, the Mishkan (the portable tabernacle) was completed and assembled. Moshe and all the people stood in awe and trepidation as they watched G-d’s glory descend and rest upon the

Weekly Torah portion: Vayikra Read More »

Jewish Religion

Tens of Thousands of Orthodox Jews Protest Israel’s Military Draft Law

JERUSALEM, March 29, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews gathered yesterday (Tuesday) to protest Israel’s Military Draft Law, resulting in the forced enlistment of many Orthodox Jews. The protestors also decried Israel’s brutal tactics to crack down peaceful protestors. The demonstration was organized by the Edah HaChareidis – a Rabbinic umbrella association

Tens of Thousands of Orthodox Jews Protest Israel’s Military Draft Law Read More »

Jewish Religion, Middle East

Book stamps through World War II history

Fleeing From The Fuhrer: A Postal History of Refugees From the Nazis by Charmian Brinson and William Kaczynski; The History Press; © 2011; 191 pages including index; ISBN 9780752-461953; 17.99 British currency. By Donald H. Harrison   SAN DIEGO – I must acknowledge cousins Herb and Susie Rheingruber’s kind gift of this book to me;

Book stamps through World War II history Read More »

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

Comedian unwraps Holocaust denial with apparel line

Nathan Fielder pledges $150,000 to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Center at Sunday’s first brick-and-mortar pop-up of jacket company Summit Ice By Yaakov Schwartz Nathan Fielder wears one of his Summit Ice jackets on Conan O’Brien’s show, October 2015. (YouTube) When comedian Nathan Fielder found out that his favorite jacket company paid postmortem tribute to a

Comedian unwraps Holocaust denial with apparel line Read More »

Jewish History, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Passport Wallenberg used to save Jews in WWII to be auctioned

Bidding at LA auction house to start at $8,000 for fake permit issued by Swedish Embassy in Budapest in September 1944 By Sue Surkes Raoul Wallenberg (Wikimedia Commons) A rare passport signed by Raoul Wallenberg — the man who saved tens of thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from deportation to the gas chambers —

Passport Wallenberg used to save Jews in WWII to be auctioned Read More »

International, Jewish History, USA

A haggada for those who want more

Redemption, Then and Now: Pesaḥ Haggada with Essays and Commentary by Rabbi Benjamin Blech;  Menorah Books, Jerusalem, © 2017, ISBN 978-1-940516-73-8, p. 310, $24.95 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California –  Considering the long arc of Jewish history, the Haggada, a book containing the Passover Seder, the traditional ordered meal recreating God’s redemptive acts through the

A haggada for those who want more Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion

Every 83 seconds: Anti-Semitic post uploaded to social media

Over the course of 2016, a World Jewish Congress survey finds, more than 382,000 anti-Semitic posts were uploaded to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, blogs and other social media forums. The research, conducted together with Vigo Social Intelligence, showed that an overwhelming 63 percent of all anti-Semitic content online can be found on Twitter. More than

Every 83 seconds: Anti-Semitic post uploaded to social media Read More »

International, Jewish History