By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – It was Erev Shavuot on Saturday evening, June 8. Once again we were talking about two women in the Bible during the customary evening study session at Tifereth Israel Synagogue. This time, however, the two women we discussed were not Ruth and Naomi, as is perhaps traditional. Instead, […]
This Shavuot study focused on two other women Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego CountyBy Rabbi Joshua Dorsch SAN DIEGO –According to tradition, it is not a coincidence that this week’s Torah portion, Bamidbar, is read prior to the celebration of Shavuot. That is because Bamidbar means “the desert, and on Shavuot, we celebrate God giving the Torah to the Jewish people, in the desert. Being as that God
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Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — During the holiday of Shavuot, the practice in many synagogues is to read the beautiful biblical book Ruth. Various reasons attempt to explain the practice including that Ruth is said to have converted to Judaism around the time of Shavuot and so did the Israelites when
Shavuot and the reading of the Book of Ruth Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
By Donald H. Harrison LA JOLLA, California – “From generation to generation” is a popular saying among Jews to indicate how Torah learning has been passed down from parent to child through the millennia. At Congregation Adat Yeshurun on Sunday night, the saying was happily augmented with another:
Adat Yeshurun celebrates families with circus gala Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jacob Kamaras, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego CountyBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Whether one agrees with Michael Shapiro’s listings in his 1995 book The Jewish 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Jews of all Time or not, the book should make us think not only whether we would agree with his selections, whether we would delete
Who’d be on your ‘Top 100’ list of Jews? Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Joshua Dorsch SAN DIEGO –Our Torah portion this week, BeChukotai, provides us with a list of rewards for those who follow God’s commandments. Leviticus 23:6 says “If you pursue my laws and keep my commandments and observe them, I will give you rain in its proper time and the land will yield its
Weekly Torah portion: BeChukotai Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Rabbi Devorah Marcus, spiritual leader of Temple Emanu-El, told the graduating class of Community Jewish High on Tuesday evening that in the five years since their b’nai mitzvahs, she hopes that they gained more than Jewish information by attending the voluntary supplemental high school which primarily draws students
Jewish wisdom following a tough academic year Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Shor M. Masori
SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — From generation to generation, Jewish continuity so often hinges on the foundational Jewish lifecycle events. Whether they are festive or somber, these are the moments that matter. They produce the memories that last a lifetime — memories which intimately shape Jewish identity and practice. Indeed, many Jews never forget when
Can’t afford a bar mitzvah? Now there’s help Read More »
Jewish Religion, San Diego CountyBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Young Abraham differed from what we think. Everything written about Abraham as a young man is midrashic. They are imaginative events, not based on anything in the Torah. A close reading of the Torah reveals a totally different young Abraham than the fictional midrashic accounts. What
What was biblical Abraham like as a youngster? Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School honored two Holocaust survivors at a Memorial Day gala on Monday, May 27, with keynote speaker Elizabeth Robbins, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, spelling out the connection. “I think Rabbi [and Headmaster Simcha] Weiser picked the best possible day to honor Fanny
Soille gala honors U.S. soldiers, Shoah survivors Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Longtime San Diego residents Robert and Helaine Baum were doing some Spring cleaning and found hundreds of pins and patches that they had collected over the years, then put away, and forgot. Their wide-ranging collection included memorabilia from the worlds of politics, sports, broadcasting, the labor movement, local
Jewish pins and a badge help document our past Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida –Many religious people of all faiths accept the Five Books of Moses, the Torah, as a divine document. They see that the Torah has many stories and are convinced that they understand the stories which teach them lessons. The truth is different. While the Torah relates
Puzzling an obscure Biblical passage Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Joshua Dorsch SAN DIEGO — This week’s Torah portion, BeHar, discusses the sabbatical year. It teaches us that for “Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the produce thereof. But the seventh year shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the
Weekly Torah Portion: BeHar Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — There are remarkable similarities between the biblical story of the flood and the more ancient version of Gilgamesh. The Babylonian epic Gilgamesh was written on twelve tablets around 2000 BCE and has survived in several versions. It was discovered in 1839 among the ruins of a
The floods of Gilgamesh and the Bible Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Middle East