VILNIUS, Lithuania (Press Release) — Today marks the 300th birth anniversary of Vilna Gaon Elijah ben Solomon Zalman. On this occasion, the city of Vilnius offers a new possibility to explore one of the treasures of Jewish heritage in Vilnius – the Great Synagogue of Vilna. These days, when travel possibilities are limited, the new
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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Travel and Food
Today is my dad’s yahrzeit. My dad, Rabbi Dr. Nathan Drazin was born on March 16, 1906 and passed away in Israel on 28 Nisan 1976. He is well-known as a brilliant man, a scholar with a beautiful personality. He was also a hero. It is proper to remember him today. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Rabbi salutes his father, the rabbi who resisted white flight from Baltimore Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, USA
On Yom Hashoah, there were a number of Holocaust stories on my Facebook feed, mostly personal testimonies of children and grandchildren of survivors. Thankfully, my own grandparents were spared those horrors. Their families had come to the United States well before that. But I still have a great story. [Eric George Tauber]
Escaping the Holocaust with quick thinking Read More »
Eric George Tauber, International, Jewish History, USA
With social distancing policies in effect during the coronavirus pandemic, Rabbi Scott Meltzer of Ohr Shalom Synagogue and Rabbi Ralph Dalin, the community chaplain who works under auspices of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, jointly conducted an Internet observance of Yom HaShoah on Monday evening. The ceremony included such traditional prayers as the 23rd Psalm, and El Moleh Rachamim as well as a special Holocaust Kaddish during which the names of the Nazi death camps are interjected into the traditional Kaddish text. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
San Diego’s Internet Yom HaShoah commemoration Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA
In the Jewish tradition, we are commanded to remember (zachor) and not to forget (lo tishkach). This week we commemorate Yom HaShoah, the Day of Holocaust Remembrance. On this solemn occasion, 75 years after the end of World War II: We remember the six million Jewish martyrs, including 1.5 million children, who were exterminated in the Holocaust. .. [David Harris]
In a second day of Holocaust observance, the Jewish Federation of San Diego County sponsored a webcast on Monday featuring Steven Schindler in San Diego and Nicole Nocon and her daughter, Antonia, in Cottbus, Germany, the home town where Schindler’s late father, Max Shindler, was arrested as a child by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Cottbus, Germany joins San Diego in Holocaust memory Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, USA
How many tries will it take before President Trump’s speechwriters finally get it right on the Holocaust? [Rafael Medoff, PhD]
Trump’s misreading of the Holocaust Read More »
International, Jewish History, USA
Benjamin Midler, 91, a survivor of six Nazi concentration camps, led off the Jewish Federation of San Diego County’s Holocaust remembrance via a Zoom presentation narrated by daughters Nurit Kotick and Ellen Winter. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Six-camp survivor Ben Midler leads off Yom HaShoah observances in S.D. County Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, USA
Melissa Rubenstein Levin, who worked for Drasnin Communications in San Diego from 2000 to 2002, is now based in Houston, where she is handling publicity for IndieFlix. That production company recently issued three films. Angst, which includes an interview with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, deals with understanding anxiety disorders; Like “explores the impact of social media on our lives and the effects of technology on the brain,” and The Upstanders, which I recently watched, “explores cyber-bullying,” as can be seen in the trailer above. [Our Shtetl San Diego County by Donald H. Harrison]
Some advice about school bullying Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Joe Gandelman, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
You gotta love this book. Page 1 leads with my favorite “Ferguson” (shayn fergessen) joke which I have retold tirelessly for years. Fermaglich reveals that Winona Ryder, born in Winona, Minnesota and currently playing the role of Evelyn Finkel in the Netflix series The Plot Against America, based on Philip Roth’s 2004 novel of the same name, was born Winona Laura Horowitz. But this book is not about jokes and celebrities but about the real choices that the nearly three million Jews who came to America between 1880 and 1920 had to make to feel comfortable and make progress in America. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]
Book Review: A Rosenberg by any other name Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak, USA
Rabbi Eliezer Silver (1882-1968) proved to be one of the greatest rescuers of European Jewry during the Holocaust. He is credited with saving many thousands of Jewish lives. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Rabbi Eliezer Silver saved many from the Holocaust Read More »
International, Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA
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