Jewish History

Celebrating Lag B’Omer Personally and as a Community

Prior to Lag B’Omer, I would start receiving invitations to weddings and upsherin (when a three-year-old boy receives his first haircut, allowed on Lag B’Omer). Families also plan picnics and outside gatherings as the weather has warmed up and enjoying a bonfire with smores makes the occasion more festive. [Cailin Acosta]

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Cailin Acosta, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Moshe Dayan

Courtesy of Wikipedia Moshe Dayan (May 20, 1915 – October 16, 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) during the 1956 Suez Crisis, and especially as Defense Minister during the Six-Day War in 1967, he became a worldwide fighting symbol of the new state

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International, Israel, Jewish History, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia

Jewish Biography: Arthur Kösztler and the 13th Jewish Tribe

There is no missionary in Judaism, which sharply limits the mobilization potential of this religion. Therefore, in the Khazar Khaganate, in which only a part of the elite accepted Judaism, there could not be an intensive violent spread of religion, similar to what took place in Christianity and Islam. Therefore, the Jews were so few among the Khazars that they could not by themselves be a source of intensive spread of the Jewish religion. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, International, Israel, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors

OpEd: The Lion’s Trail Passes Through Desert City of Dimona

David Ben Gurion toyed with the idea of a revived Mamshit becoming the Capital of Israel if the state ever came to be. Necessity was reality. Ben Gurion declared Israel’s independence in Tel Aviv in 1948. Dimona was too remote, too hard to get to, and endured a harsh climate [Jerry Klinger]

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Israel, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

Three Intriguing Stories Lead to One in ‘The Boy with the Star Tattoo’

The highly readable novel juxtaposes three stories: 1) love and survival in Vichy France;  2) Jewish efforts shortly after World War II to find European Jewish orphans who could be brought to Eretz Israel; and 3) the drama of Israel “stealing” its own ships from under the eyes of the French. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Jewish Fiction, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors

‘Kosher Jammers’ Links Jewish and African-American Jazz

From the 1920’s through the early 1950’s, luminaries like Harold Arlen (Hyman Arluck) Yip Harburg (Isidore Hochberg) and countless others wrote tunes that became the jazz standards that helped make Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, Teddy Wilson, et al, world famous. [Yale Strom]

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Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Our Shtetl San Diego County: Yiddishland, House of Israel Plan Movie with Musical Accompaniment

Have you ever been told you can’t do a sport the other gender can do better? Sports are always an interesting topic with the impact the human body can endure in injuries and special protection needed. Patrick Henry freshman Sivan Benami won a spot on the boy’s baseball team, proving that baseball is not just for boys. [Cailin Acosta]

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Antisemitism, Cailin Acosta, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County

Interfaith Yom HaShoah Service Brings Surprise Lutheran Apology

A notable moment during the event was provided by Rev. Karla Halvorson from the Lutheran Church of Chula Vista, who sought forgiveness from the Jewish community for her church’s historical support of the Nazi regime. She emphasized her plea by sharing impactful quotes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran minister renowned for his staunch opposition to Nazi policies and who paid with his life for his involvement in a plot to assassinate Hitler. [Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel]

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Antisemitism, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

One Hundred Years of ‘Jewish Physics’

Lenard and Stark were a member of a group of 30 physicists who put forward the concept of “German physics.” They rejected the new quantum physics and the theory of relativity as dogmatic theories irrelevant to reality. They argued that the correct approach to explaining physical phenomena should be based on classical physics, which was being crowded out by the “false” theory of relativity and quantum mechanics invented by the Jews. [Alex Gordon]

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