By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–A number of individuals from my home town of Fall River have traveled to Ponta Delgada in the Azores to commemorate the refurbishing of a synagogue that they had financed. They also met with the one Jew still living in the islands. The story is long and interesting, and ironic from both […]
The Jews and Portuguese of Fall River Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Jewish History, USABy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — The combined Parasha Tazria-M’tzora deals with various types of ritual impurities, specifically those that our ancestors connected with skin disease. Those who contracted the various ailments described in the Torah became ritually impure, were exiled from the Israelite camp, and could only return after they were cured
The penalty against gossip Read More »
Jewish ReligionObama refuses to meet Netanyahu until after Iran nuclear deal deadline (JNS.org) President Barack Obama reportedly said he will not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu until after the June 30 deadline for a final nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. Citing anonymous sources familiar with a meeting between Obama and Jewish leaders
Jewish news briefs: April 23, 2015 Read More »
International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA
By Toby Klein Greenwald A Sabbath morning, late curled in a recliner reading a book about past lives around me more books, paintings stuffed animals and magazines the room I call a womb. Husband on the patio with coffee cup, ten feet away through the open door reading Talmud And in the silence of the
A poem for Yom Haatzmaut 2015 Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East, Toby Klein Greenwald
SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — The Men’s Club of Beth Israel of San Diego hosts Dr. Albert Ray as its featured speaker at the May 20th Dinner Forum. Dr. Ray’s presentation will cover the subject “Sex and the Torah, for Adult Audiences.” Ray received his B.A. in 1969 from Brooklyn College. He attended the Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium
Sex and the Torah lecture May 20 Read More »
Jewish Religion, San Diego CountyBy Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO –Eve Gerstle expects to be sitting in Copley Symphony Hall on the evening of May 7, as a special guest of Conductor Murry Sidlin, watching the performance of the multi-media Concert-Drama, The Defiant Requiem. This remarkable lady, who is celebrating her 101st birthday, has a particular interest in this work.
Terezin survivor to be special guest at ‘Defiant Requiem’ Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Jewish HistoryBy Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Ringo Starr was just inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Everyone knows of Brian Epstein’s role in discovering and promoting the Beatles. What role did another Jew play in Ringo’s earlier life that contributed to his future success as a Beatle A. Prior to joining the
Jewish trivia: Ringo Starr Read More »
Jewish History, Mark D. Zimmerman
By Anav Silverman JERUSALEM (Tazpit) — Ahead of Israel’s Memorial Day on April 22, the day on which the Jewish state officially remembers its fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism, a unique cookbook compiled with recipes by bereaved mothers who have lost their children to war and terror has recently been published. The cookbook, a
Cookbook recalls favorite recipes of fallen IDF soldiers Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Jewish and Israeli history is replete with both tragic and joyful events, and in fact the life of a Jew living in Israel is something of a roller-coaster existence, taking us from the depths of sorrow one day to the sublime heights of joy the next, whether it’s
An emotional roller coaster during Israel’s holidays Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History, Middle EastBy Gary Rotto SAN DIEGO — As I started out this column, my intent was to make a statement for the “ownership” of the term Holocaust. As long as I can remember, I always had a visceral reaction when this term was used by others to describe a potential disaster. To me, anything would pale in
‘Holocaust’ and ‘Shoah’ meanings and emotions Read More »
Jewish History
Deb Bowen and Cassie Brown, A Walk With Esther; Never Forget Publishing, 2015, $10. Order via http://www.abookbyme.com/Pages/default.aspx By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Many years ago, while I was serving a congregation in Rock Island, Illinois, I was privileged to work with a number of Jewish and Christian professionals in designing one of the
Children interview Survivors, write their stories Read More »
Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — As I reviewed Parashat Sh’mini, images from the Shoah (the Holocaust) flashed in my mind. Parashat Sh’mini begins with instructions about the sacrifices Israelites made in the Mishkan in the desert and later the Temple in Jerusalem: “Fire came forth from before the Lord and consumed the burnt
Why we go from mourning to celebration Read More »
Jewish HistoryBy Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California– Lou Dunst, the renowned and beloved survivor of four Nazi death camps and two aborted gas chamber murders, remembers many things. Of his innumerable escapes from certain death, he simply asserts: “Ha-Shem [God] made another miracle.” On one occasion, there was an unfathomable malfunction in the delivery of the Zyklon
Survivor believes he was saved to ‘tell the story’ Read More »
Jewish HistoryBy Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — I don’t often go in for listicles, but this one time I felt I would delve into the online meme, just to see where it might lead. Here, based on a lifetime of living in the midst of the Jewish mindset in the 20th and 21st centuries, are
18 reasons he’s chai on Judaism Read More »
Jewish Religion, Trivia, Humor & Satire