Jewish History

A new blow to Iran’s forgotten Jews

Next week, an online event organized by the human rights group “3 Generations” will feature New York Times op-ed columnist Roger Cohen, who sparked an international furor in 2009 when he visited Iran and announced that the oppressed Jews there were not really so oppressed, after all.  Cohen’s assertion that Iranian Jews were “living, working and worshiping in relative tranquility” was met with scorn across the political spectrum. Jeffrey Goldberg, in The Atlantic, called him “credulous.”  The Anti-Defamation League charged Cohen with viewing Iran through “dangerous rose-colored lenses.” J.J. Goldberg, in The Forward, characterized Cohen as “simply naive, and dangerously so.” [Rafael Medoff, Ph.D]

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International, Jewish History, Middle East, USA

Streaming Jewish programs (Oct. 18-23)

Compiled by Laurie Baron, Ph.D SAN DIEGO — All times are Pacific Daylight Time. Sunday, October 18 8 am  Luca Ascoli, “The Jews of Italy,” Sephardic World. 8 am  Yevilah McCoy, “Keynote Address,” Jewish Coalition for Racial Equity Virtual Conference. 8 am Moshe Halbertal and Jonathan Sacks, “Strange New World- Conversations in Times of Crisis- Religious

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Lifestyles, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Sports & Competitions, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

Former San Diegan aids Sephardim seeking Spanish citizenship

UPDATE: March 14, 2026 — Nichole Martinez Kruse reports that she has closed the Welcome Home Sefardi business and therefore is no longer offering to facilitate for a fee citizenship applications for Portugal and Spain. — Editor, San Diego Jewish World. By Nichole Martinez Kruse ZARAGOSA, Spain — Throughout my life, I was drawn to

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County

Crypto Jews: Finding and Embracing their Roots

By Mimi Pollack L’Chaim San Diego Magazine SAN DIEGO — My late fiancé, an 8th generation New Mexican, used to tell me about the secret or crypto Jews of New Mexico. He was convinced that although he was raised Catholic, some of his ancestors were “Conversos” or secret Jews who came to New Mexico when

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Jewish History, Mimi Pollack, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

Stop Burning Masks: Choose Life Over Death

By Rabbi Benjamin Herman MIAMI, Florida — In seeing footage of members of the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn publicly burning masks has filled me with outrage and disgust. I recognize that this came in reaction to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s increasing restrictions largely affecting Orthodox Jewish communities where COVID is spreading like wildfire. Yet I

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Jewish History, Jewish Religion, USA

Facebook to ban Holocaust denial

NEW YORK (Press Release) — The Anti-Defamation League is relieved by Facebook’s announcement that it was updating its hate speech policy to prohibit any content “that denies or distorts the Holocaust.” This comes after nearly a decade of ADL advocating for such changes and just weeks before the 2020 presidential election, where users have been

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Business & Finance, International, Jewish History, USA

Streaming Jewish programs (Oct. 11-16)

  Compiled by Laurie Baron, Ph.D All times Pacific Daylight Time Sunday, October 11 11am  Mikhal Dekel, “Tehran Children: A Holocaust Refugee Odyssey,” Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum. Monday, October 12 10 am   Elai Rettig, “Israel’s ‘Special Relationship’ with the US,” Israel Center, Washington University. 10 am  Eliezer Diamond, “Generosity, Gratitude, and Faith: Rav Eliyahu Dessler’s

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Lifestyles, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

Ashkenazi genetics forum set for Oct 15

  By Franklin Gaylis MD, FACS  SAN DIEGO — The South African Jewish American Community (SAJAC) is sponsoring a virtual presentation from 4-6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 15,  addressing genetic disorders related to our Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. The goal of this presentation is to increase an awareness of diseases caused by genetic abnormalities amongst Ashkenazi Jews,

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Jewish History, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Two Unspoken Causes of Anti-Semitism

By Arkady Mamaysky TARRYTOWN, New York — Starting from very ancient times, world history presents many examples of dictators who desired world domination, or at least domination of as big a part of the world as possible. The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Roman empires are some ancient examples of this. More recent examples are the Spanish,

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Arkady Mamaysky, International, Jewish History, Middle East, USA

Streaming Jewish Programs (Oct. 4-9)

By Laurie Baron  SAN DIEGO — All Times Are Pacific Daylight Time Sunday, October 4 10 a.m.  Moshe Halbertal and Eva Illouz, “Can Home Be a Shelter in Times of Pandemic?” The Reading Room, National Library of Israel. Monday, October 5 8:30 a.m.  Yossi Beilin and Ido Aharoni, “The Future of Middle East Peace,” Temple

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Business & Finance, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Preserving Morocco’s multicultural identity

By Yossef Ben-Meir and Ellen Hernandez MARRAKECH, Morocco — Harnessing the experiences and the history of religious and ethnic groups in Morocco must be a priority before the holders of that knowledge are lost to time. Moroccan-based civil associations, with the right support, are in an ideal position to gather and disseminate this knowledge for

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International, Jewish History, Middle East, Yossef Ben-Meir