Jewish History

EU’s Blatant Anti-Semitism

[BDS advocates] have persuaded the European Union to introduce a labeling policy on Jewish produced products and services from Judea and Samaria in Israel, frequently called “the West Bank,” and in diplomatic circles the “disputed territories.” In a unique policy, the EU is insisting that Israeli products emanating from Jewish towns, villages, and industrial areas in these areas can no longer be labeled “Made in Israel” but must be designated some other description. [Barry Shaw]

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Barry Shaw, International, Jewish History, Middle East

Sephardic family spread over nine countries

One is reminded of the saying “to save  life is to save a world” when viewing the family tree of Sa’adi Besalel Ashkenazi a-Levi (1820-1903), who was a publisher during the 19th century in the Ottoman empire city of Salonica, known today as the Greek city of Thessaloniki.  He has over 100 descendants spread across nine countries, and that doesn’t count spouses of the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so forth. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History

Connecting to ancestors and descendants

Humans have always been storytellers, whether around a firepit in some jungle or around a fireplace in an urban apartment, the children and grandchildren listen to the stories. They learn the sagas of their parents, their grandparents, and their grandparents’ grandparents, who became Indian chiefs or generals or were jailed and escaped or who started a business or a university. [Natasha Josefowitz, PhD]

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Jewish History, Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz

Holocaust education planned throughout county

There will be an emphasis on Holocaust education in December and January.  The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum of Washington D.C. puts on a presentation Dec. 5 at Congregation Beth El about the experience of deaf people under the Nazis.  The main Chula Vista Library prepares for an exhibition that begins Jan. 12 on Survivors who immigrated to the South Bay. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

IDF reservists to undergo therapy in San Diego

Three congregations and the Jewish Federation of San Diego County are preparing for the visit of an Israel Defense Force reserve unit whose members have been through the stress of battle and now need rest and relaxation to help them cope with symptoms of PTSD. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education

JFS official tells DHS abuses of asylum seekers

Attorney Kate Clark, who serves as the senior director of immigration services for Jewish Family Service, told a congressional panel on Friday that officials of the Department of Homeland Security at the southern border routinely ignore DHS’s own regulations concerning the protection of unaccompanied minors and individuals with significant medical issues. Furthermore, she said, the Remain-in-Mexico program “has caused unnecessary suffering and harm to over 55,000 asylum seekers forced to return to Mexico and has completely overwhelmed the U.S. immigration courts. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Historian tells of FDR’s anti-Semitism

Vice President Henry Wallace, an eye-witness to the event, recorded in his diary that when President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill met in mid-1943, Churchill raised the “Jewish question” to which Roosevelt replied the Jews should be spread as thinly as possible all over the world, noting that he tried this method where he lived—Meriwether County, Georgia and Hyde Park, New York and his neighbors appreciated it. This anecdote encapsulates the mindset of Franklin Roosevelt. [Fred Reiss, EdD]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, International, Jewish History, USA

Chabad of Poway’s Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein retires

Never able to shake off the painful memory of having his fingers shot off by an intruder at Chabad of Poway nor of seeing congregant Lori Gilbert-Kaye murdered and two other congregants wounded, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein has decided to retire. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Poland, other countries, had mixed Holocaust records

From the respondents to my original article, I am also glad to hear that Witold Pilecki is the most revered in Poland and has been for some time. But one respondent claimed, “There is no anti-Semitism in Poland!” I hoped that this might indeed be the case. But this comment piqued my curiosity, so I decided to check out this out for myself. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, USA

Tzipi Livni remains optimistic about Mideast peace

The former foreign minister said that it was during the Second Lebanon War that she realized that there could be no military solution to Israel’s troubles with its neighbors, only a political one.  She said when the terrorist group Hezbollah attacked settlements in the north of Israel, she was urged by then U.S. Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice to prevent her country’s military forces from destroying the duly constituted Lebanese government while retaliating against Hezbollah. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Survivors’ descendants, youth, to carry on Holocaust education

There is a continuing focus on Holocaust education in the county, with the Lawrence Family JCC and the J Company Youth Theatre announcing a planned “Remembrance Reading” at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the JCC, and second-generation Holocaust educators Sandy Scheller and Sonia Fox-Ohlbaum pledging to take to schools the concentration camp uniforms their family members had been forced to wear. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast