Jewish History

Assassinated Gay Jewish Political Leader Harvey Milk Is Honored by the U.S. Navy

The “christening” ceremony featured a principal ceremonial address by Milk’s nephew, Stuart Milk, as well as remarks by Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro; Vice Admiral Jeffrey Hughes, deputy chief of naval operations for warfighting development; and Rear Adm. Michael Wettlaufer, commander of the Military Sealift Command. Sponsors of the ship were U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who had served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors with Milk, and Paula Neira, clinical program director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Transgender Health. Neira shattered a bottle of sparkling wine across the ship’s bow in a time-honored Navy tradition. [Donald H. Harrison]

Assassinated Gay Jewish Political Leader Harvey Milk Is Honored by the U.S. Navy Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Celebrities, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Jewish World War II Heroes Finally Rest Under the Star of David

By Dorian de Wind The Moderate Voice AUSTIN, Texas — Reminiscing about a 2015 visit to the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, in Margraten, I wrote, “Walking among the more than 8,000 white marble crosses and Star of David headstones laid out in long, silent curves across the pristine verdant lawn, we could not be

Jewish World War II Heroes Finally Rest Under the Star of David Read More »

Dorian de Wind, International, Jewish History, USA

Centuries of Despicable Behavior Against Jews

By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Dr. Emily Michelson, senior lecturer in history at the University of St. Andrews, describes the over two and a half centuries when the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, Italy, forced Rome’s Jews to attend weekly hostile sermons. The Church’s aim was to convert the Jews to

Centuries of Despicable Behavior Against Jews Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History

Operation Mincemeat and the Holocaust

By Jerry Klinger The words together will offend someone, perhaps more than just one someone. The Holocaust was a horror that converted millions of Jews into mincemeat. Operation Mincemeat was an impossibly successful British military operation that saved at least a million Jews from being exterminated. April 24, in Hackney, London, a black polished historical

Operation Mincemeat and the Holocaust Read More »

Holocaust, International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History

To Whom Was the Promised Land Promised?

By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Professor Abraham A. Sion — author of the interesting, significant, and eye-opening book “To Whom Was The Promised Land Promised?” — knows the subject of the Israeli and Arab claims to the land of Israel better than most people. He served as deputy state attorney for

To Whom Was the Promised Land Promised? Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Middle East

A Simple Paver, Jews, the Environment, and Oceanography

By Jerry Klinger HUTCHINSON ISLAND, Florida — The Florida Coast Oceanographic Center is located on picturesque Hutchinson Island between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian River. It is the home of the Florida Oceanographic Society, whose mission is to “inspire environmental stewardship of Florida’s coastal ecosystems through education, research, and advocacy.” The environment of tomorrow

A Simple Paver, Jews, the Environment, and Oceanography Read More »

Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, USA

Founded by an Antisemite, Ford Motor Co’s Leaders Became Pro-Zionists

We’re interested in the turnaround of the Ford family, starting with automotive pioneer Henry Ford, who was a vicious antisemite, and continuing with his grandson Henry Ford II, known as “Hank the Deuce,” who became a large supporter of Jewish and Zionist causes, and onto Bill Ford, Ford Motor Co’s current executive chairman. who traveled in 2019 to Tel Aviv to inaugurate a new Ford Research Center there. [Donald H. Harrison]

Founded by an Antisemite, Ford Motor Co’s Leaders Became Pro-Zionists Read More »

Business & Finance, California, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Technology, Travel and Food, USA

Jewish Philosophers Believed in Truth, Whatever Its Source Might Be

Rabbi Samuel is also a prodigious author of books on Jewish religion, Jewish ethics, philosophy, and social issues. A recent book was God and the Pandemic, A Judaic Reflection on the Coronavirus.” Other works include sets of books on how both Philo and Maimonides understood each of the five books of the Torah. The two interpreters of the Jewish religion lived respectively in 1st Century Alexandria, Egypt, and in 12th Century Spain. [Donald H. Harrison]

Jewish Philosophers Believed in Truth, Whatever Its Source Might Be Read More »

California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Purim is Practiced Today Differently Than the Biblical Requirement

By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — The current practice is that Purim is celebrated as a one-day holiday. Cities that were walled at the time of Joshua’s conquest of Israel – most notably Jerusalem – celebrate Purim on Adar 15, as a commemoration of the end of hostilities in the walled city

Purim is Practiced Today Differently Than the Biblical Requirement Read More »

Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion

Camp Leader at Auschwitz Details How She Helped Other Jewish Prisoners

If you hear of a Jew appointed to a position of authority at one of the Nazi concentration camps, what word comes immediately to mind? Is it “collaborator?” In “The Nazis Knew My Name,” the late Magda Hellinger tells of her experience being appointed first as a block leader and later as a camp leader by the Nazis during her three year incarceration in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp complex.  She relates that it was never her choice to be a block or camp leader, and that had she refused, she most likely would have been severely disciplined or sent to the gas chambers.  As a leader, she was expected to keep order in the block, and later in a full camp, or else.  [Donald H. Harrison]

Camp Leader at Auschwitz Details How She Helped Other Jewish Prisoners Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History

There’s More Than One Kind of Mikvah for Conversion Ceremonies

However, there are other ways that the process of conversion can be completed, much closer to home, as Dr. Mark Scheller, an anesthesiologist, learned in 2015 when he waded from the shore of Chula Vista’s Bayside Park into the cold waters of San Diego Bay. [Donald H. Harrison]

There’s More Than One Kind of Mikvah for Conversion Ceremonies Read More »

California, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA