Jewish Religion

Editor’s E-Mail Box: November 30, 2018 (5 items)

American Jewish Committee  opens global religious freedom drive American Jewish Committee (AJC) has launched #8Nights4ReligiousRights, the global Jewish advocacy organization’s Hanukkah initiative in support of religious freedom around the world. The eight-day Hanukah holiday, which begins Sunday evening with the lighting of the first candle in the menorah, celebrates the restoration of Jewish religious freedom

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International, Jewish Religion, John McCormick, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

You’ll gladly pay the ‘price’ for this Chanukah book

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — “What?,” you say? “A Chanukah trivia book? I don’t get it. I mean sure, RASHI, RAMBAM and HAGGADAH-LAMADINGDONG, the Passover trivia book, makes sense. It’s a holiday that’s totally based on asking four questions. So why not ask 25 more? But Chanukah? No point in asking questions

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Mark D. Zimmerman

Stan Lee’s heroes, like our patriarchs, overcame flaws

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Whenever we talk about the protagonists of the Bible, we must remember that every biblical actor’s character evolves in the course of a lifetime. What each person starts out differs from what each one ultimately becomes. In the latter half of Genesis, the ancient storyteller lavished

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Editor’s E-Mail Box: November 26, 2018 (4 items)

SDSU Jewish Studies Program sponsors Chanukah concert Dec. 4 San Diego State University’s Jewish Studies Program will present a Chanukah concert, “Shimmering Lights,” featuring Yale Strom’s Broken Consort at 7 p.m., Dec. 4, in the Smith Recital Hall. Strom, who serves as artist in residence for the Jewish Studies Program, says the concert will include

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International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego Calendar, USA

Redefining who can become a Jew

The Jewish American Paradox: Embracing Choice in a Changing World by Robert H. Mnookin; © 2018; Public Affairs, Hachette Book Group; ISBN 9781610-397513; 228 pages plus 80 pages of notes, acknowledgments and index; $28 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –Author Robert Mnookin, a Harvard Law professor, argues that Jewish peoplehood should have permeable boundaries.

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

Historic question: Is turkey really kosher?

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — The question of turkey’s status as a permitted bird is a topic that comes up every Thanksgiving holiday season. Nevertheless, many Orthodox Jews I personally know will never eat turkey since there is no tradition permitting it. Clearly, the Torah does not mention turkey at all

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, The World We Share

Editor’s E-Mail Box: November 20, 2018 (3 items)

Joint Hindu- Jewish celebration held for respective festivals of lights It was standing-room only for 425 Hindus and Jews who made a bit of history celebrating both Diwali and Chanukah at the Hindu-Jewish Festival of Lights at Temple Beth-El in Northbrook, IL on November 18.  The event not only celebrated the two holidays, which occur

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International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Book review: ‘The New American Judaism’

The New American Judaism: How Jews Practice Their Religion Today by Jack Wertheimer, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, © 2018, ISBN 978-0-691-18129-5, p. 272 plus bibliography and index, $29.95.   By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – American Jewry is balkanized, divided into denominations ranging from the Haredi, who scrupulously and meticulously strive to obey both the

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion

Should we Jews call ourselves ‘Hebrews’?

By Arkady Mamaysky TARRYTOWN, New York — The word Jewish is associated with a person whose religion is Judaism. But what about individuals who are atheists but trace their ethnicity to the original Hebrew tribes? Traditionally, the following groups of people are united under the term Jewish: -descendants of the original ethnic Hebrew tribes whose religion is Judaism; -descendants

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Arkady Mamaysky, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA