By Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — In June 1917, in the capital of the Russian Empire, Petrograd, formerly St. Petersburg, the poet Leonid Kannegiesser wrote a poem in which he glorified the chairman of the Provisional Government Alexander Kerensky, comparing his idol to the Messiah. Kannegiesser was born into a wealthy and cultured family of […]
The Jewish War Over Red Terror Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Jewish History, Opinion
UC San Diego Literature Prof. Amelia Glaser, who has specialized in Jewish studies, will lecture on “Babyn Yar in Contemporary Ukrainian Poetry” at 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 22, at Temple Emanu-El, 6299 Capri Drive, San Diego. The lecture focuses on the Nazi execution of 33,771 Jews at a ravine Sept. 29-30, 1941, and the poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko’s memorial poem written 20 years later. [Temple Emanu-El News Release]
Lecturer to Discuss Holocaust Poetry Oct. 22 Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, Jewish History
Many readers of San Diego Jewish World know Baron via his political satire columns, but I asked my colleague to put his hat back on as a Holocaust scholar to assess how well Burns’ documentary had covered the subject.[Donald H. Harrison]
Pros and Cons of Ken Burns’ Holocaust Documentary Read More »
California, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Jewish History, Lawrence Baron, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA
Converting to Christianity was not the savior it had been for Jews, not wishing the choice of death, it had been for a millennium. The Nazis were not interested in Jewish souls. The Nazis did not believe Jews even had souls, no more than they believed dogs had souls. [Jerry Klinger]
Remembering an Austrian Artist who Fled the Holocaust Read More »
Holocaust, International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History
S.O.E. was tasked to train agents to operate behind enemy lines, support resistance groups, becoming deadly spies for the British. The agents transmitted vital information back to London using codes. An agent’s life was about six weeks before the Abwehr, the Nazi counter-espionage unit discovered them. The Nazis cracked their codes and liquidated the spies. [Jerry Klinger]
Plaque Memorializes Jewish Poet and Spy Read More »
International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History
Composer, conductor, pianist and teacher, Friedrich Gernsheim, (1839-1916), is little known today. Yet, during his lifetime, he was spoken of in the same breath as Brahms, Bruch and Reger. In fact, his works were published by the same publishers who published their compositions. [Eileen Wingard]
After a century, Gernsheim’s music makes a comeback Read More »
Eileen Wingard, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts
Last month I had the delightful opportunity to interview two bikers who were planning to participate in the Ride2Remember, a motorcycle ride created to pay tribute to Holocaust survivors and memorialize those who perished. This year, the Jewish Motorcyclist Alliance dedicated its contribution to The Butterfly Project (TBP), cofounded by San Diegans Cheryl Rattner Price and Jan Landau. {Eva Trieger}
Jewish Motorcycle Philanthropists Support The Butterfly Project Read More »
California, Eva Trieger, Holocaust, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
ESPN and ESPN+ will premiere at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept 20, The Survivor, an hour-long documentary on the murder of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics. Reporter Jeremy Schaap interviews Shaul Ladany, a teammate of the slain athletes, who has been dubbed an “ultimate survivor.” Along with his family, he had earlier in his life survived the Holocaust. [Donald H. Harrison]
Israeli Athlete Survived the Holocaust and the Munich Olympics Massacre Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish History, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & BroadcastThis man fulfilled the typical dream of Jews who wanted to remake the world and their country of residence ‒ he became prime minister of a European state. Unlike Disraeli, he was not a baptized Jew. Born May 14, 1867, in Berlin to a Jewish family, Kurt Eisner became prime minister of Bavaria at age 51. [Alex Gordon, Ph.D]
History: Bavaria’s Revolutionary Jewish Prime Minister Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Jewish History
By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Jeffry Bloom, a graduate of the University of Chicago who studied in several Orthodox yeshivas (rabbinical schools) in Israel after college, was bothered by what the scholar Leo Strauss wrote in his book Spinoza’s Critique of Religion. Strauss emigrated from Germany to the United States in
Is Judaism the Truth? Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion
While most of the book is a hoot – imagine creative adults on the floor happily expressing their inner children as they experimented with toy prototypes – there are some very serious, reflective chapters as well. In 1976, a mentally unbalanced employee killed two executives at MGA and wounded three other workers before killing himself. The man had a “hit list” and on it was Breslow, who, to take a phone call, had just stepped out of the meeting room where his two colleagues were slain. Breslow discusses the impact of that horrific event on his life. [Donald H. Harrison]
How Those Children’s Toys and Games Come Into Being Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
For the first time that I can recall, former President Trump managed to imperil, almost directly, a large bloc of American Jews in far northern Palm Beach County. The synagogue was readying to host a “beach Shabbat” when Donald Trump’s henchmen lashed out at U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart for signing the Department of Justice’s search warrant of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, 16 miles south of the judge’s synagogue. [Bruce S. Ticker]
Mar-a-Lago Raid Backlash Imperils Jewish Congregation Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Jewish History, Opinion, USA
The Jewish calendar is a lunisolar calendar because the Torah requires Passover to fall in “Hodesh Ha-Aviv,” the month of spring. If the Jewish calendar were not linked to the seasons, ruled by the Sun, the Jewish calendar would retrogress about 11 days a year, or one season every eight years. The calendar achieves this balance by adding thirty-day month 7 times every 19 years, a scheme learned during the Babylonian captivity and taught by the Greeks. Rosh Hashanah falls early or late every year compared to the secular calendar because these “make-up days” are sometimes added two years and sometimes three years apart, rather than annually. [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]
Some Little-Known Jewish Calendar Facts Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History, Jewish Religion
Project RUTH – “Remember Us: The Holocaust” – which was on exhibit for two years at the Chula Vista Public Library is in the process of closing, but even though it soon will be gone, creator and curator Sandy Scheller vowed Sunday, August 21, that its content won’t be forgotten. [Donald H. Harrison]
Curator Vows Holocaust Exhibit Will Find a Permanent Home Read More »
California, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Jewish History, San Diego County