-USC news service- SAN DIEGO — Erna Viterbi, philanthropist, joint namesake of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and wife of USC trustee Andrew Viterbi, died in San Diego on Feb. 17. She was 81. “For well over five decades, Erna was Andy’s beloved wife and trusted partner as they built an extraordinary life […]
Erna Finci Viterbi (1934-2015) Read More »
Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County
By Lee Bender JERUSALEM — The Mount of Olives (Har Hazeitim in Hebrew) in Jerusalem has been used as a Jewish cemetery for more than 3,000 years. Approximately 150,000 Jewish people are buried there including some of the greatest Jewish leaders, prophets, and rabbis of all time. Thus the Mount of Olives is by far
What’s at stake in battle for the Mount of Olives Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East
By Miriam Raftery East County Magazine SAN DIEGO’S EAST COUNTY (SDONA)—Last week, a young Jewish man was shot and killed outside a Copenhagen synagogue. In Paris, as many as 250 Jewish graves were desecrated. At the University of California in Davis, California earlier this month, swastikas were sprayed on a Jewish fraternity houseafter a demonstration by
The rising global tide of anti – Semitism Read More »
International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Miriam Raftery, USABy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –Shirley MacLaine is a better actress than she is a philosopher or theologian. Jewish groups are justifiably upset with some comments she penned in her new memoir, “What If… A Lifetime of Questions, Speculations, Reasonable Guesses, and a Few Things I Know For Sure.” The quote that is
No Oscar for Shirley MacLaine’s theology Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — According to the Torah, Jews are forbidden to charge other Jews interest when they loan them money: “If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, do not act toward them as a creditor: exact no interest from him.” (Ex. 22:24) In the Talmud the
Tzedakah is not only a material gift Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Jenn Lindsay ROME, Italy –I was recently asked to tell the story of my Jewish journey. I think of this journey in terms of steps: discovery, exploration, commitment, deepening, challenge, compromise, and simplicity. Until now I restrained myself from writing too explicitly about my Jewish journey because it has been a circuitous path, perhaps
Scholar of religion tells her Jewish journey Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA
By Anav Silverman JERUSALEM (Tazpit)–The only museum in the world, dedicated to the history of the Ancient Near East from a biblical perspective, has a new exhibition examining the Babylonian exile of the Jewish people as never seen before. The Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem has amassed a collection of over 100 cuneiform tablets, original
If we forget thee, O Babylon Read More »
Jewish History, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal (Eulogy delivered Monday, Feb. 9, 2015 at El Camino Cemetery, San Diego) SAN DIEGO — According to legend a certain Aran, jealous of Ibn Gabriol’s genius and accomplishments, killed him in a fit of jealousy and buried his body secretly beneath a tree. The legend continues that sometime after, people began
Marc Allen Rose (1938-2015) Read More »
Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials
By Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO– There is nothing physically imposing about Lou Dunst—a cherubic, dignified man with a sweet smile yet deep sorrowful eyes. At times, when he walks slowly by, it seems that a stiff wind could knock him down. But then you realize that not even the wind could do such a
The Nazis thought he’d never hold a Torah again Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, USA
By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO–There are entire libraries containing books written as commentaries on the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible). Many are difficult for the lay reader to access. Some are densely written in very small font, heavily notated and footnoted. Layout can be problematic; Bible verse and relevant commentary intersecting
Shall we judge a book by its author? Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle EastBy Rabbi Rafi Andrusier LA MESA, California — What is religion all about? We always hear of the fellow who found G-d while incarcerated. Was G-d “not found” while in the free world? (Had the inmate found G-d earlier, he may not be sitting in prison in the first place.) So is that truly the case;
Are God and religion crutches? Read More »
Jewish ReligionNEW YORK (Press Release)– The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Friday, Feb. 6, expressed its outrage to Allseas USA, the U.S. affiliate of the Dutch company, Allseas Group SA, which named its newest ship after a convicted Nazi war criminal and SS member, the father of the company’s owner. ADL urged the maritime construction service company to rename
ADL protests ship named for Nazi war criminal Read More »
International, Jewish Religion, USA
By Jenn Lindsay VATICAN CITY — We were on our way to meet Pope Francis. We—the participants in the 50th anniversary meeting of the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies—departed together from the Urbaniana campus and rode an escalator cut inside the Janiculum Hill that dumped us out in front of the colonnades of Saint
The Pope and ‘the Jewess’ Read More »
International, Jewish Religion, The World We ShareBy Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — At this moment in the Hebrew cycle of Torah readings, the narrative of the Ten Commandments is front and center: in synagogues all over the world, “The Revelation” will be chanted from the Torah scroll and many people will actually stand up during the interlude when the Ten
Which Command of the Ten is most important? Read More »
Jewish Religion