Judaism

Cerullo’s ‘theme park’ will target Jews for conversion

By Gary Rotto SAN DIEGO — Imagine a resort for evangelicals.  Imagine a theme park like setting encompassing 18 acres a Jewish World Outreach Pavilion, attractions named Wings over Israel, March of Prophecy, and Walk Through the Bible, along with “the Wailing Wall and Plaza” and a training center for evangelist outreach to Jews. This is […]

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Jewish Religion, San Diego County

From the Jewish Library: ‘Timechart History…’

The Timechart History of Jewish Civilization, edited and designed by Meredith MacArdle, World Press Ltd., 2010, Consultant: Judy Gold, Director, London Jewish Cultural Center By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — This is a  large coffee table sized book that opens with a spectacular full color, sixteen page, unfolding panel which is eleven feet long.  It

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History

Shabbat not well attended? Five questions to ask

  By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – If the Shabbat services at your synagogue are not well attended, then you should ask five questions in reexamining how they are conducted, according to Rabbi Steven Wernick, chief executive officer of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. Wernick served as scholar in residence Jan. 22-23 at

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion

Book of the Dead, Yom Kippur and Verdi’s Requiem

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — I know I’ve written before about Verdi’s Requiem, the role it played in my childhood and musical education in general, about the impression made on me when I read of its performance by prisoners in Theresienstadt and finally being privileged to attend a performance of the reconstruction of

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

AMCHA Initiative database tracks anti- Semitic incidents

By Tammi Rossman-Benjamin SANTA CRUZ, California– As a resource to current and prospective students, parents, university administrators, elected officials, researchers, and donors, AMCHA Initiative has unveiled a database that chronicles anti-Semitic incidents that occurred over the past academic year by state and university. The incidents are organized into three categories: Targeting Jewish Students and Staff, Anti-Semitic Expression and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions

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Jewish History, USA

Book explains the laws of Kashrut

The Practical Guide to the Laws of Kashrut by Rabbi Pinchas Cohen, Maggid Books, Jerusalem;  ISBN 978-1-59264-434-6 ©2015, $17.95, p. 75, plus glossary and figures By Fred Reiss, Ed.D.   WINCHESTER, California–The Hebrew word kosher means “proper” or “fit,” and in the case of food, the term kosher refers to food that God says is

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion

Weekly Torah portion: Bo

It’s Good Enough, Until It’s Not By Rabbi Yaakov Marks SAN DIEGO –The Egyptians were given ample opportunities to free the Jewish people. They seemed to understand that keeping the Jews as slaves was ethically wrong but their tremendous power and lust for wealth and luxury kept them from doing what was appropriate. Relinquishing the

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Jewish Religion

Lashon Hara and the snarling dogs of ancient Egypt

By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — I am currently team teaching the Ethics class of the Melton Jewish education program that Tifereth Israel Synagogue is sharing with Temple Emanu-El. Last week’s session was about lashon hara, slander, gossip, and tale bearing. Some Jewish authorities hold that you can’t say anything about anyone even if the information

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Jewish Religion