The Book of Life symbolizes promises from one generation to the next – – promises that ensure the long-term strength and vibrancy of our Jewish community. The Book itself is a treasured community archive and housed at the Jewish Community Foundation. [Press Release]
‘Book of Life’ Ceremony at Beth Am Aided Jewish Continuity Read More »
California, Jewish History, San Diego County, USA
September 23, 1940, German bombs smashed into a residential pub in Manor Park, Newham, a few blocks from where Lewis was stationed. Beneath the pub was a bomb shelter with 60 people trapped inside. The building burning, collapsing. A water main burst. The basement shelter was flooding, threatening to drown any survivors.
Lewis and a colleague ran to the site. [Jerry Klinger]
King George VI Personally Pinned Medal on Jewish Air Raid Warden Read More »
International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History
Try as we might, we cannot turn back the hands of time. But there are a few things we can do. We can face the world with our eyes open, and never allow ourselves to become accomplices by apathy again. [Rabbi Bernhard H. Rosenberg]
Prayers for Ukrainians and an Appeal to President Zelensky Read More »
Bernhard H. Rosenberg-Rabbi, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion
Sidney’s life changed in the theater of New York. The specialist, Dr. Emil Loch, a renowned dermatologist, reported him to the authorities as a leper. The police swept up Sidney, almost overnight. With a small suitcase that contained his life, he was sent secretly, swiftly and with as little human contact as possible to vanish into the interior of America. He was shipped to the very isolated world of Carville, Louisiana on the banks of the Mississippi River. Carville was the continental United States’ concentration camp for victims of Leprosy. Standing naked before a board of medical examiners in Carville, Sidney Maurice Levyson was assigned a number that he was to be known forever more as, patient #746. [Jerry Klinger]
Searching for Stanley Stein Read More »
Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food, USA
Members of the Jewish community who have served on the Port Commission since its creation in 1962 were Harvey Furgatch (appointed 1969), Milton “Mickey” Fredman (1970), Ben Cohen (1977) and Louis Wolfsheimer (1979), all of whom had passed away prior to my undertaking this book, and Robert Penner (1988), Lynn Schenk (1990), Stephen Cushman (1998) and Laurie Black (2007), all of whom I had the opportunity to interview. All these Jewish Port Commissioners represented the City of San Diego, except for Penner and Cohen, who were appointed by Chula Vista and Coronado respectively. [Donald H. Harrison]
Four Jews Who Served as Port Commissioners Tell of Their Tenures Read More »
Business & Finance, California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
There was a time the San Diego International Airport was known by everyone as Lindbergh Field after the aviator Charles Lindbergh, who spent a lot of time in town overseeing the construction of his airplane, “The Spirit of St. Louis,” by Ryan Aircraft. After the job was completed, Lindbergh made several stops across country en route to New York, including in St. Louis. This was where donors lived who had financed his plane. Then, on May 21, 1927, Lindbergh, the 25-year-old pilot, completed the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, in the process becoming an international celebrity. If he had simply retired on his laurels at that point in his life, the name “Lindbergh Field” today might still be emblazoned across the airport entrance. [Donald H. Harrison]
Here is a Holocaust memoir that is so well told that you feel like you are sitting in the room with Harry Lenga, listening to him as he relates the meaningful episodes of his life. His narrative, as transcribed and edited by his son Scott, is at times folksy, other times philosophical, and always interesting. [Donald H. Harrison]
H’nai Matov: Brothers Working and Surviving Together Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History
Sabine Fröhlich grew up a Catholic in Breslau, Germany, but her ancestry was Jewish. Along with her parents and her older brother Andreas, she was declared to be a Jew according to the Nazis’ bizarre racial classifications. Like self-identified Jews in Germany, she was systematically excluded from normal life—even the Catholic school which she had attended. Her parents wisely decided to send her to England, but after they made it across the border to the Netherlands, the family reunited. [Donald H. Harrison]
A German Catholic Girl Learned of Life as a Persecuted Jew Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History
If he were so inclined, Greg Smith could have a lot to brag about. Over a period of 25 years, he won seven elections to serve as the San Diego County Assessor as well as the county’s recorder and clerk. He headed a staff of between 400 and 500 county workers in the combined operations of assessor-recorder-clerk. [Donald H. Harrison]
Greg Smith: A Quarter Century as Assessor, Recorder, Clerk Read More »
Business & Finance, California, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food
It is therefore incumbent upon us to make the most of the opportunities we have now to tap into those remarkable people—and draw as much insight, wisdom, and perspective from them as we can, clear in the knowledge that it will fall to us, soon enough, to be the bearers of those stories and insights for the generations that follow. [Doron Krakow]
Appreciating Jewish Leaders and Holocaust Survivors Read More »
California, Doron Krakow, Jewish History, Middle East, Travel and Food, USA
No sooner than Cleator took over the office as acting mayor, he broke the news to me that Queen Elizabeth II of England would be visiting San Diego, and that I, as communications director, would be in charge of the city’s press arrangements for the traveling and local media. [Donald H. Harrison]
Oh, the Mishaps that Greeted Queen Elizabeth II on Her San Diego Visit! Read More »
California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, USA
Helene Meyer’s book Movie-Made Jews explores how films mirror and shape the diverse identities embraced by contemporary American Jewry. Readers of the Jewish feminist magazine Lilith and the Jewish Women’s Archive Blog will be familiar with Meyers’ insightful movie reviews. Here on a bigger canvas, she analyzes documentaries and feature films that venture beyond common cinematic stereotypes of American Jews to dramatize their attitudes towards antisemitism, assimilation, feminism, gender orientation, the Holocaust, Jewish assertiveness, and race relations. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Screening American Jewish Diversity Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Jerry Klinger It is called by some the “legend of the Little Dunkirk.” It was no legend. There are legends about the Jews in Denmark after the Nazi occupation of the country in April 1940. One popular legend was when the Nazis ordered all Danish Jews to wear the Yellow Star of David Armband,
Saving the Jews of Denmark Read More »
Holocaust, International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, USA
By Gedaliah Borvick JERUSALEM — When I lived in the U.S., I enjoyed the variety of architecture found in my neighborhood. Typically, the homes were colonial houses with their symmetrical front facades and accented doorways, split level homes with staggered floors, one-story ranch houses, and enchanting Tudors with pitched roofs, herringbone brickwork and touches of
The Rich Tapestry of Jerusalem Architecture Read More »
Gedaliah Borvick, Jewish History, Middle East, Travel and Food