Amazon and Netflix feature a myriad of Holocaust feature films and documentaries. Here are a few recommended Holocaust films that you can stream. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Streaming Holocaust content Read More »
International, Jewish History, Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
The BBC film Children of Wandermere is a heart- rending and at the same time heart-warming film of the incredible rescue mission of 300 children from ages 3 to 16 who survived the death camps of Germany in 1945. The first group of youngsters was flown for eight hours seated on the floor of a converted RAF bomber. They only had the clothes on their backs and some meager possessions. Until the Red Cross provided clothes, all the children went around in their underwear. [Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel]
‘Children of Windermere’ a riveting dramatization Read More »
Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, International, Jewish History, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Suzanne Choney posted a photo on Facebook today of her parents, Rosa Rubel and Icek Choinowski, who 75 years ago today were “among 60,000 human beings being liberated from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany.” Choney added, “I know we all have so much to worry about now. But I think of my parents, known in America as Rose and Irving Choney, the bravery of the Allies and the good people everywhere, and the evil faced by millions. And I remember. Just as all of us will remember this time.” The photo, at left, of her parents was taken in London in 1947, two years after their liberation. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Remembering dear ones of now and then Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA
Federal relief funds for local universities and colleges and for their students in need during the coronavirus pandemic were announced on Monday by Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego). In total, 23 institutions of higher learning in the count are receiving grant totaling $137,435,195, and will be required to distribute at least $71,360,718 in grants to students to pay for housing food, and other essentials. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Congresswoman Davis announces financial help for students Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
Americans emphatically state that American Armed Forces liberated the notorious Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Some Germans say it never happened. [Jerry Klinger]
Buchenwald’s liberation is Germany’s political football Read More »
International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History
Ever since the coronavirus started, many of my congregants asked me whether this year might be the year of the Messiah’s arrival. A couple of days I ago, I came across an earlier article about how the Israeli Health Ministry Yaakov Litzman has done a poor job in managing the coronavirus crisis that we see in the Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) community in Israel. The pandemic has impacted their community, as much as four to eight times faster than elsewhere in Israel. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Will the Messiah come this year? Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Nicolas Pantelick MARRAKECH, Moroccoa — Meandering through the dusty foothills of the Moroccan Atlas Mountains, I played an earnest game of speculation. I knew of my destination, its history and constitution, but had yet to see it or feel the restless potential it encapsulated. The gentle hum of the engine, propelling me past the
Jewish-Muslim partnership flourishes in Morocco Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, Yossef Ben-MeirI should have compiled this list during March for Women’s History Month, but better late than never. I’ve been doing research for the past 2 years on American Jewish women directors and wanted to share some of the films by the pioneers that you can stream at home. Although a considerable number of women directed films during the silent era, those numbers dwindled to two, Dorothy Arzner and Ida Lupino, between 1930 and 1960. The decline of the studio system and the political and social movements of the 60s opened up opportunities for more women directors in the next decade. Jewish women were disproportionately represented in their ranks. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
The pioneering American Jewish women directors Read More »
Jewish History, Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA
The watercolor has been in my family seemingly forever. It used to hang in my parents’ apartment in Tel Aviv, but it has been in my different homes in California for decades. In it a young girl of five or six years faces the painter with a slight pout and a high forehead crowned by a white ribbon. The sadness along her lip line is unmistakable. One can imagine small pools of tears about to gather in her big dark eyes. She is wearing a summer dress, but the painter chose to focus on her face and in quick brush strokes drew two blue straps over small shoulders that are colored a distinctive pink. [Varda Levy]
The tapestries that bind us Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA
Laurie Baron rounds up national podcasts on Jewish topics for those interested in deepening their education.
Ed [Richard]was understandably deeply moved by the dedication ceremony, and profoundly touched when he saw us using the Torah that he had donated in loving memory of his amazing parents. And so, a few years later, when Ed had an Aliyah, and when we made the blessing for him following his Aliyah, he whispered to me, “I want to donate another Torah.” “What?!” I exclaimed. I was sure I must have misheard. NOBODY donates two Torahs! [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]
Remarkable history of Holocaust Torah at Chabad of La Costa Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi
Jonathan Pollard’s second wife, Esther, has advanced metastatic cancer and is fighting for her life, while Jonathan cannot be with her much of the time.According to various news reports, Israeli officials and, in America, the Orthodox Union, Agudath Israel, and the Coalition for Jewish Values, have asked President Trump to lift his parole on “humanitarian grounds.” Based on his release date of November 20, 2015, Pollard’s difficult parole conditions would end in November, 2020. There was a time when Israeli MK’s reached across the aisle to try to help the Pollards. [Toby Klein Greenwald]
Pollard case recalls two women’s bipartisanship Read More »
Jewish History, Middle East, Toby Klein Greenwald, USAAs I began thinking about social distancing, I wondered: What does Jewish tradition have to say about the new phenomena of “social distancing”? Surprisingly, our religious traditions have a lot to say about this matter. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Social distancing in Jewish tradition Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
Located south of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and about a kilometer west of Israel’s border with Jordan, Kfar Ruppin, a kibbutz with San Diego connections, is the subject of an enchanting memoir by Rachel Biale, a Berkeley, California, resident who grew up there. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Kibbutz with San Diego connections subject of new memoir Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food