By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — In this week’s parasha Jacob wrestles with a Divine Being. Before releasing him, Jacob demands that the Being bless him. The Divine Being declares: “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human and have prevailed.” (Gen. 32:29) Theories […]
Eye witnesses may disagree without lying Read More »
Jewish Religion, USABy Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO –A Rabbi was giving a lecture and commented that everything mentioned in the Torah teaches us a deep eternal lesson that has a dramatic impact on our lives today and for all time. Every word of Torah is precious. A scoffer in the audience sneered,”What great lesson do we
Everything in the Torah has importance Read More »
Jewish ReligionNEW YORK (Press Release)– Shurat HaDin, a civil rights organization based in Israel, has filed a whistleblower action against the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In its 38 page complaint, the group provides substantial evidence that PCUSA violated its non-profit tax-exempt status for engaging in a range of prohibited activities
Tax status challenge to Presbyterian Church USA Read More »
Jewish History, Middle East, USASAN DIEGO (Press Release) — Congregation Beth Israel will officially install Rabbi Jordie Gerson as its assistant rabbi in a Shabbat celebration on Friday, December 5 at 6:15 p.m. Rabbi Gerson started as assistant rabbi of Beth Israel in July. Rabbi Gerson’s father, Rabbi Gary Gerson, rabbi emeritus of Oak Park Temple in Oak Park, Illinois
CBI’s Rabbi Jodie Gerson to be installed Dec. 5 Read More »
Jewish Religion, San Diego Calendar, San Diego CountyNEW YORK (WJC) — A lawmaker of Venezuela’s governing party recently told Lebanese television that Zionists had bankrolled Hitler prior to World War II and suggested that “no representatives of global Zionism” had been killed during the Nazi Holocaust for that reason. Speaking in Arabic, Adel El Zabayar, a member of Venezuela’s National Assembly born
Venezuelan lawmaker: Zionists, Bushes funded Hitler Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle East, USA
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (Press Release) – Former Prisoner of Zion Yosef Mendelevitch made an emotional return to the city where he was imprisoned in the 1970s to join hundreds of Jews from across Russia for the 4th Annual Limmud FSU (former Soviet Union) St. Petersburg during the Nov. 28-30 weekend. The three-day Jewish learning festival, at the
Former prisoner Mendelevitch returns to Russia Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle East
By Anav Silverman JERUSALEM (Tazpit) — Although the Israel Border Police have been very busy in Jerusalem amid the terrorist attacks that have engulfed the city in the recent month, a group of border policemen took the time between shifts to celebrate a very important birthday to Leah Genzel, 79, a Holocaust survivor living in
Border police ‘adopt’ Holocaust survivors Read More »
Jewish History, Middle EastBy Jennie Starr SAN DIEGO — Faced with Jewish flight from institutional affiliation and a modern interfaith marriage rate nearing 60 percent, we need new cultural entry-points to the Jewish community to inspire Jews to engage in Jewish life and educate the next generation. There are communities in the United States where the majority of
Creating new portals to Jewish life Read More »
Jewish Religion, San Diego County
BERN, Switzerland(WJC)–The Kunstmuseum Bern, which earlier this week accepted the Gurlitt bequest, has published a list of all art works found in the possession of the late Cornelius Gurlitt. The museum was named as sole heir to the collection and on Monday reluctantly accepted the bequest, pledging total transparency to head off any criticism over
Bern museum publishes list of Gurlitt art collection Read More »
Jewish HistoryVATICAN CITY (WJC) — Pope Francis has reiterated his position to open the secret Vatican archives covering the period of World War II to allow researchers to assess the role played by Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust. In an extensive interview with the Israeli newspaper ‘Yediot Ahronot’, Francis said there was “an agreement between
Pope Francis willing to open Pius XII archives Read More »
Jewish HistoryBy Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO– A man once came to Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky (1913-1979), the rosh yeshiva (dean) of Ponovezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, regarding a boy in the yeshiva who had been proposed as a match for his daughter. He asked the rosh yeshiva how many hours a day the boy learned; was he
Questions the father of the bride- to- be should ask Read More »
Jewish ReligionISTANBUL, Turkey (WJC)– A provincial governor of Turkey whose anger at Israel led him to call for turning a synagogue into a museum, has apologized to the country’s chief rabbi – though he claimed he was misunderstood. Dursun Şahin, governor of the northwestern Edirne province, offered an “apology” that expressed “profound sadness” that his words
Turkish governor apologizes to chief rabbi Read More »
Jewish History, Middle EastBy Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — Thanksgiving is a day when Americans of all faiths sit at one spiritual table with many of the same trimmings and family customs. Thanksgiving liberates us from specific theological claims and allows us to contemplate the common creed of gratitude. It’s the only pure festival and nobody is fighting
Giving thanks for Thanksgiv’g Read More »
Jewish Religion, USABy Jack Forman LA JOLLA, California — King David’s rich and full life is meticulously detailed in Samuel I and II and Chronicles, and his last years are described at the beginning of Kings I. He is a larger-than-life figure who plays a central role in Judaism because it is from King David’s lineage, according
Rabbi Wolpe delves into King David’s lives Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History