Why is Israel bashing like hockey in Canada, drinking furniture stripper methanol in Russia or shooting in the US – why is it such a popular pastime? The media and politicians rarely miss a chance to rage against Israel, never seeming cognizant of the following facts and arguments: [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]
The ‘Woke’ and the Left’s Israel Problem Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle East, USA
About a year ago, I, as the president of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, had funded one more historical marker. It recognized the collaborative efforts of Julius Rosenwald, a Chicago retail industrialist philanthropist and Booker T. Washington, the Black American educator, and President of Tuskegee University in Alabama. The two men had come together as Americans, as equals. They joined to work for the mutual betterment of Black Americans through education and educational opportunity. [Jerry Klinger]
Rosenwald schools: Black-Jewish cooperation changed education Read More »
Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
Professor Laurie Baron has compiled a list of lectures on Jewish topics viewable on the Internet
Streaming Jewish lectures for the week of June 7 Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron
Rabbi Devorah Marcus of Temple Emanu-El offered this reflection in the aftermath of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd: “My hope is that we will not let this moment fade into obscurity and apathy as we move on to other pieces of news, of suffering, of tweets. My hope is that we will take this moment of brokenness and build in the cracks a garden seeded with our hope, our commitment to our neighbors and our community, and that we will reach out to everyone who is afraid right now for themselves, their children, and our world, and offer each other our comfort and our love. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Where now after the George Floyd killing? Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA
To say that Black Lives Matter does NOT take away from the fact that ALL life is precious, it merely emphasizes the fact that Black lives are under attack in disproportionate numbers and attention needs to be drawn to it. To say Black Lives Matter is to say that unarmed African Americans are three times more likely to killed by police than their White counterparts even though they are 1.3 times more likely to be unarmed than their White counterparts. [Rabbi Carlos Huerta]
Jews and the Black Lives Matter movement Read More »
Jewish History, USA
Author Jacqueline Saper, part of a Jewish family, the daughter of an Iranian university professor and a British mother, an assistant airport manager, describes growing up in a wealthy and idyllic setting, a large house with opulent furnishings in the Tehran neighborhood of Yousefabad, dining in the best restaurants, attending private schools, travelling back and forth between England and Iran, and surrounded by maids and household laborers. [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]
Modern woman tells of life under the ayatollahs Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History, Middle East
Here in San Diego County, peaceful demonstrators honored the memory of George Floyd, the African-American victim of a white Minneapolis policeman who continuously and fatally pushed his knee into Floyd’s neck, hampering the prone man’s ability to breathe. The demonstrators’ cries for racial justice were heart-felt, appropriate, and in need of urgent redress. Also, here in San Diego County, particularly in La Mesa, rioters of diverse racial backgrounds dishonored George Floyd, using his unwarranted death as an excuse for arson and looting. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
George Floyd honored, dishonored by protests, riots Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USAStandWithUs, the international organization that battles anti-Semitism on college, high school, and middle school campuses, is engaged in a drive to prevent wording of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) anti-Israel movement from being restored to a proposed, ethnic studies model curriculum (ESMC) for schools throughout California. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
California battle resumes over ethnic studies Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Sam Litvin, Science, Medicine, & Education, USAWant to catch a lecture online on a Jewish topic? Laurie Baron provides links to some interesting ones.
Streaming Jewish lectures for the week of May 31, 2020 Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & BroadcastReps. Susan Davis (D-San Diego) and Mike Turner (R-Ohio) are co-sponsoring legislation to shine more light on the extent of sexual assault in the military. Among other provisions, the proposed legislation would require Judge Advocates General of each Armed Service to assess how well current laws and regulations dealing with the subject are working and make recommendations for further improvement. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Susan Davis urges steps to curb sexual assaults in military Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food, USA
The current observance of Shavuot has no relationship to its biblical ancestor and doesn’t even occur at the same time. Very few people know the truth about this day. Most Jews think Shavuot recalls the day the Torah was revealed to the Israelites during the days of Moses. This is not true. This significance was given to the holiday in the middle ages when the holiday had lost one of its original purposes; the sacrifice prescribed for the day was discontinued when the second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. I am not advocating that Jews should not observe Shavuot. Judaism today is not Torah Judaism. It is Rabbinic Judaism. Jews observe the Torah as it is interpreted by the rabbis. I observe Shavuot. The purpose of this article is simply to reveal its historical development. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Biblical Shavuot and its practice today Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion
Marione Ingram was born in Hamburg in 1938 to a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father, and so was defined as a ‘mischling’ (half-breed) by the Nazi authorities. Her autobiographical book begins with her account of having been sent by her mother when she was eight years old to take her younger sister to their aunt. She decided to return unbidden and found her mother in the throes of an attempt to commit suicide by putting her head in their gas oven. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
A ‘Mischling’ growing up in WWII Hamburg Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish History
Beth Jacob Congregation will hold outdoor weekday prayer services by reservation only beginning on Sunday morning, its rabbis and lay leaders announced. No decision has yet been reached on resuming Shabbat services, which normally attract far larger crowds than weekday services. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Beth Jacob to begin highly regulated prayer sessions Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, USA
Thousands of protesters were met by police with tear gas and water cannons in the streets of Hong Kong as China imposed new national security laws over Hong Kong, bypassing the territory’s legislature which normally would deal with such issues. The Jewish community in Hong Kong dates to the mid-1880’s. The Sassoon family of Iraq were among the first people to establish a business outpost in Hong Kong, which played a significant role in the growth of the territory. Another Jew who had an impact in Hong Kong was Matthew Nathan, who is remembered for Nathan’s Folly? What does that refer to? [Mark D. Zimmerman]
Jewish trivia quiz: Hong Kong Read More »
International, Jewish History, Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire