This 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
By Jerry Klinger Passing through Indianapolis in early August, I had to stop at the Greatest Car Racing Track in the World, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I wanted to see “it.” The “it” was more than the dedicatory paver/brick I had placed for the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation outside the Museum. The big
Jews, the Indianapolis 500, and the Story of a Brick Read More »
Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Opinion, USA
By Selwyn Isakow SAN DIEGO — This week we mark Tisha B’Av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. So many tragedies have happened to the Jewish people on this date – the 9th of Av, including the destruction of the First Temple of Jerusalem by the Greeks, and 656 years later the Romans destroyed
Tisha B’Av Reflections: Building a Better Future Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Opinion, San Diego County
By Gedaliah Borvick JERUSALEM — Israel enjoys a strong relationship with the Czech Republic and Slovakia, two countries that comprise the former Czechoslovakia. To understand the root of this special relationship, let’s go back over 130 years and focus on Tomas Masaryk. The name Masaryk may ring a bell, as streets in over half a
Like Father, Like Son Read More »
Gedaliah Borvick, International, Israel, Jewish History, Middle East
By Jerry Klinger Recently, the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation’s U.K. branch placed a new historical, interpretive marker in Whitechapel, London. The marker was placed on a building that replaced the Adler House. The Adler House was named in honor of the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, Hermann Adler, 1891-1911. The text of the
Whitechapel: ‘Centre of Jewish Immigrant Life’ Read More »
International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish HistoryThe Book of Jewish Knowledge, Rabbi Yanki Tauber, ed., The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, Brooklyn, NY, ©2022, ISBN 978-1-63668-012-5 p. 432, plus Appendices, $69.75. By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – Is it feasible to adequately convey the skills, information, and wisdom acquired by the Jewish people who, after nearly 4,000 years of living in
Surveying the Full Range of Jewish Life Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History, Jewish Religion
A member of the Jewish community, known for his self-deprecating sense of humor, Kolender grew up at the Reform Congregation Beth Israel. However, when it was time for his bar mitzvah, he honored his grandfather’s wishes and had it at Beth Jacob Congregation, which is Orthodox. “The rabbi there was Baruch Stern, and it was the first bar mitzvah for him after the war,” Kolender told me back in 1996 when I profiled him for the now defunct San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage. Rabbi Stern’s children “had been killed in front of him by the Nazis, and he started crying and I started crying, and I’m not sure if we ever did get through the whole thing. It was something I never will forget.” [Donald H. Harrison]
Kolender Was City’s First Jewish Police Chief, County’s First Jewish Sheriff Read More »
California, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — Dr. Richard A. Freund passed away in Charlottesville, Virginia on July 14, 2022 from complications arising from the rejection of a bone marrow transplant he had received 18 years ago. He held an MA, PhD, and rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Bertram and Gladys Aaron
Jewish Studies Scholar Richard Freund (1955-2022) Read More »
Jewish History, Lawrence Baron, San Diego County, USA
A highlight of the proceedings was a ten-minute video, Jews in Medicine: A Legacy of Healing and Hope, much of it based on the book written by Dr. Ron Eisenberg, Jews inMedicine: Contributions to Health and Healing Through the Ages (Urim Publications, 2019). [Eileen Wingard]
Genesis Prize Ceremony Relied on Work of Doctor/ Author Ron Eisenberg Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Jewish History, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education