This week’s Torah portion focuses on an old but familiar theme: the social laws known as Mishpatim. In this Parsha, we discover that the God of Exodus is the God of history and of political liberation more than he is the God of nature. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Parshat Mishpatim 2026 Read More »
Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Opinion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Claude described himself as a “Jew and an Alsatian, thus doubly Alsatian and doubly Jewish”. He associated the wanderings of the Jewish people with the suffering of the inhabitants of Alsace, a land of discord between France and Germany. [Alex Gordon]
Jewish Biography: Claude Vigee: the wandering Jewish poet Read More »
Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
The year was 1940, and the Germans were starting to invade Denmark, and 10-year-old Bamse was just as confused as all the other Danes.
Bamse is Danish for Teddy. Bamse’s older brother, Orlando, becomes involved in the resistance and eventually goes to jail. As he was in the hospital, Bamse brought him clothes, and he escaped. [Cailin Acosta]
Jewish Book Review: Hitler’s Canary tells of a daring wartime adventure Read More »
Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Cailin Acosta, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors
This brief story captures the heart of the Jewish value of arevut, shared responsibility. In life, we often imagine that we are accountable only for ourselves, that “our seat” is private. Judaism insists otherwise. What we do affects those around us. Our fates are intertwined. We rise or fall together. [Betzy Lynch]
Something neither of us could build alone Read More »
International, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Opinion, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors
The gate opened. I chose to go in. Nathaniel Isaacs led me to Alan Barnett, the Chairman of the Canterbury Jewish Historical Society. The gate opened wider. I encountered Henry Hart, Jacob the Jew, and Isaac Nathan in political and social controversy. I encountered P.C. challenges, sadly not overcome, and opportunities to respond to antisemitism by doing what the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation does best: creating and placing permanent Jewish historical markers that affirm Jewish presence, contributions, and commonality. [Jerry Klinger]
The Old Canterbury (U.K.) Jewish Cemetery Behind the gate – an entire world Read More »
International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Tuesday, Feb. 3, the La Mesa City Council broke ground on the construction of the La Mesa downtown district sign in the village. I could not attend. But we purchased tiles many years ago, and Ceramic Café at Grossmont Center hosted a tile event for those who purchased tiles to be painted and would be fired for the district sign. [Cailin Acosta]
Our Shtetl: leaving a legacy Read More »
Cailin Acosta, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego Calendar, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors
The San Diego Symphony, conducted by its Artistic Director, Raphael Payare, whose contract was just renewed until the 2029-30 season, delivered a stunning performance of Gustav Mahler’s 7th Symphony to a full house on Sunday, February 1, in the newly named Miller Family Theater of the Jacobs Music Center. [Eileen Wingard]
Review of Gustav Mahler’s 7th Symphony concert perfomance to a full house Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Fast forward fifty years, and our Tu B’Shvat experience is quite different. Here in Eretz Yisrael, not only are the major holidays celebrated throughout the country and across all lines, but even the minor festivals have been transformed into major events. [Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky]
Parshas Yisro – Here Comes the Sunshine Read More »
California, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USARichard Zimler’s 1996 debut, The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, is a towering achievement in this genre. It is a work that breathes life into the suffocating atmosphere of 16th-century Portugal, weaving a narrative that is simultaneously a grisly locked-room mystery, a pulse-pounding thriller, and a profound meditation on Jewish mysticism. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Light Amidst the Pyres: A Review of Richard Zimler’s The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon Read More »
Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Throughout this book, which is based on extensive research, interviews with survivors, and far-reaching travel to almost all the places mentioned, the writer inserts his own personal insights and experiences, giving the reader a unique and lively account of how events developed and what people experienced. [Dorothea Sefer-Vanson]
Nuremberg (directed by James Vanderbilt) does not grossly falsify history. It does something subtler and more contemporary: it persuades us that ethics has finally arrived—precisely because it arrives after everything that truly mattered has already happened. [Sam Ben-Meir]
Too Late for Ethics: Nuremberg, Fidelity, and the Consolation of Judgment Read More »
Holocaust, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Because I live in the intersection of being both Black and Jewish, I have learned about my identity over the years, both through experience, stories handed down to me, education, and reading. [Barrett Holman Leak]
REVIEW: Black and Jewish: An Interwoven History, Part 1 – Let My People Go Read More »
Antisemitism, Barrett Holman Leak, California, Holocaust, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Opinion, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & BroadcastAs might be expected after Kristallnacht, for American Jews the fate of European Jews during the Holocaust was of little interest, a secondary issue. No Jewish solidarity was shown by them. Their reaction was “disproportionate,” ignoring the dangers facing the Jewish people in Europe. [Alex Gordon]
American Jews in the face of Jewish catastrophes Read More »
Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
Von Wilpert emphasized the critical role education plays in the prevention of hate crimes and announced she will fight for the Remember Us The Holocaust exhibit to be a traveling exhibit throughout all San Diego libraries. (Press Release)