Jewish History

Western Jewish Studies Association Honors Laurie Baron

Professor Lawrence (Laurie) Baron has been its President for every one of those 30 years.  As he puts it, “The WJSA doesn’t have term limits, only life sentences.” If put to a vote, conference participants would have rejected Laurie’s contention that, “No one over 77 should be president of anything.” [Alan Levenson]

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International, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Non-Profit Organization Challenges CAIR-California’s Suitability to Receive Federal Refugee Funds

A San Francisco-based nonprofit organization, the Intelligent Advocacy Network (IAN), has filed a letter of objection with the U.S. Department of Justice challenging the Council of American Islamic Relations-California as an agency qualified to help Afghan refugees to settle in the United States. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Jewish Biography: Eduard Gans, Judaism’s Defender Then Defector

In 1819 the Society for the Culture and Science of the Jews was organized in Berlin, whose president from 1821-1824 was the lawyer Dr. Eduard Gans. The Society published the journal Zeitschrift für Wissenschaft des Judenthums (Journal of the Science of Judaism), in which the purpose of the union was formulated as “the dissemination among the Jews of European education and scientific knowledge of Judaism in order to prepare in this way a painless transition from the Middle Ages to modernity, especially in order to avoid mass conversions to Christianity.” [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Wayne Dosick, San Diego’s Longest Serving Rabbi, Dead at 77

His wife, Ellen Kaufman, told San Diego Jewish World that the Rabbi was working at the couple’s dining room table at their home in Carlsbad when he suffered the heart attack about 9 p.m. Friday, March 14.  He was preparing a sermon on the Torah portion Ki Tissa for Saturday morning Shabbat services when he was stricken. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

A Tour of the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation

The Center is situated overlooking the beach at the point where Jaffa joins Tel-Aviv and where young Shimon Persky (later Peres) disembarked from the ship bringing him from Belorussia to Mandatory Palestine in 1934. After studying agriculture at the Ben Shemen school and helping to found Kibbutz Ma’alot in the Jordan valley, Peres was selected by Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, to acquire arms for the nascent State of Israel. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Technology, Travel and Food

The Soille Family Makes an Impact in San Diego

Rabbi Soille davened at the Beth Jacob synagogue which was located at the time in North Park.  While the synagogue did not have a mechitza, Rabbi Soille would daven in the front area by the bimah which was surrounded by a metal rod iron wall.  Rabbi Soille was very close with the Rabbi of the synagogue, Rabbi Baruch Stern, and they would eat over at each other’s homes on Shabbat. [Avraham Dimenstein]

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International, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USA

OU Gala Marks Organization’s 125th Anniversary

From its beginnings as a kosher certification agency to its ongoing enrichment of Jewish life, advancement of community-driven solutions, and building a growing, religiously vibrant, and caring community, the OU’s achievements were showcased at a recent gala celebrating its 125-year legacy and honoring the people behind its success. [Press Release]

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Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, Press Release, USA

The Soille Family Hides During the Holocaust

Esther Soille decided to go up the ladder through the back window to the apartment, for she believed that if the Nazis found a man up there, they would shoot immediately but would hesitate for a woman. [Avraham Dimenstein]

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Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Researcher Assembles Biographies of the Late Rabbi Henry & Rebbetzin Esther Soille

All the Jewish fundraisers knew they could count on a sizable donation by stopping by the second floor of the mustard-colored apartment building at 4501 Ohio St. in the North Park district of San Diego.  This had been the residence of Rabbi Henry and Esther Soille (pronounced Swall) since the early 1960’s. [Avraham Dimenstein]

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish Biography: Semyon Semkovsky, Ukrainian Philosopher

The only philosopher in Soviet Russia who spoke in defense of quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity and proved that the new theories do not contradict Marx’s philosophy, was Semyon Semkovsky, Doctor of Philosophy, Academician of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, International, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Adrien Brody Speaks Out about Antisemitism

“I’m here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war and systematic oppression and of antisemitism and racism and I believe, and I pray for a healthier and a happier and a more inclusive world. And I believe if the past can teach us anything, it’s a reminder to not let hate go unchecked.” [Cailin Acosta quoting Adrien Brody]

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Antisemitism, Cailin Acosta, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast