By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — The minor holiday of Tu B’Av was celebrated this past Friday. The name Tu B’Av means the 15th of the month of Av, which, as the middle of the lunar month, coincides with the full moon. This year’s Tu B’Av also coincided with a lunar eclipse known as […]
Jewish trivia quiz: Tu B’Av Read More »
Jewish Religion, Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Garry Fabian PRAGUE, Czech Republic –Next to my own 147-year-old St. Kilda Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne, Australia, the synagogue to which I am most attached is the Alt Neue Shule here in Prague. It is nearly 900 years old, My family arrived in Prague in September 1938 after that part of Czechoslovakia called Sudentland
Prague’s Alte-Neue Synagogue has memorable history Read More »
International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Travel and FoodBy Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Protests are erupting in Israel and throughout the Jewish world as a result of the detention of a Conservative rabbi in Haifa by Israeli police, in response to a rabbinical court order. The Haifa Rabbinic Court charged the rabbi with “marrying those who are not eligible to be
Jewish trivia quiz: Marriage in Israel Read More »
Jewish Religion, Mark D. Zimmerman, Middle East, Trivia, Humor & Satire
Anger over arrest of Conservative rabbi for officiating at a non-Orthodox wedding On the very morning of the day he was to drive to Jerusalem to participate at the President’s residence on a panel on Jewish diversity and unity, Conservative Rabbi Dov “Dubi” Haiyun was awakened by police in Haifa to be questioned about officiating
Editor’s E-Mail Box: July 20, 2018 (5 items) Read More »
International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USABy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — There’s no date for the next general election in Israel but the prime minister is already campaigning at full speed. Three most current instances come to mind, 1. He has promoted legislation, just passed, that will prove that he and his party are the only authentic custodians of the Zionist
Netanyahu campaigns for reelection by going hard right Read More »
International, Jewish Religion, Middle EastDoing His Will (Osah Kirtzono) by Esti Weinstein, published in Hebrew by Kinneret, Zmora-Bitan, Dvir, 2016. By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM –The poor woman who wrote this book (and eventually committed suicide) was born into a specific sect, tantamount to a cult, of ultra-Orthodox Judaism known as the Gur Hassidim As a child and teenager the author
Suicide’s memoir indicts the Gur sect of Hassidim Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish Religion, Middle East
Visiting HaKotel on Tisha B’Av Many Jews visit the Kotel (Western Wall) on Tisha B’Av, a day of mourning and remembrance for the destruction of both the First and Second Temples and other tragedies in Jewish History. How many Jews? Newspapers report that thousands, even tens of thousands stand before the Kotel on Tisha B’Av.
Editor’s E-Mail Box: July 16, 2018 (2 items) Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East, USABy Joel H. Cohen NEW YORK — Perplexed and more than a little peeved, President Trump was on a tear about the responses he’d been receiving from rabbis and other Jewish leaders he’d invited to a gala White House event the coming weekend of July 21-22. “Almost every RSVP for the kosher extravaganza has been along
‘Just Kidding:’ Trump wants Tisha B’Av to be ‘fun again’ Read More »
Jewish Religion, Joel H. Cohen, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USABy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — The story is a familiar one. Once a man went out for a walk through the forest. To his sudden surprise, he sees a grizzly bear chasing him. After the bear traps him, he prepares himself for his last rites, he says the Shema Prayer, and
Jewish religion stands in defense of animals Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Donald H. Harrison ANGELUS OAKS, California—Along with a few other San Diegans, I visited Camp Mountain Chai in the San Bernardino Mountains last week. On arrival, I saw a Baer. It turned out that Dan Baer is the director of the camp, located 134 miles from the parking lot of the Jewish Federation of
Ruach, plenty of spirit, at Camp Mountain Chai Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA
40 rabbis tour migrant centers in Tijuana, urge U.S. welcome immigrants This week, nearly 40 rabbis from across the country toured migrant centers in Tijuana as a part of a delegation to the U.S.-Mexico border. A growing number of asylum seekers have found temporary shelter and social services in Tijuana as they try to seek
Editor’s E-Mail Box: July 6, 2018 (8 items) Read More »
International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USABy Rabbi Dow Marmur SAN DIEGO — According to the infamous forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and countless other anti-Semitic tracts, the Jews rule the world. According to Yinon Azulay, Member of Knesset on behalf of the ultra-Orthodox Sephardi political party Shas, Reform Jews are worse in his eyes than he himself
The prejudice against non- Orthodox Judaism in Israel Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA
By Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel —Rabbi Ken Spiro’s new book, Destiny, successfully guides the reader through the central themes of Judaism: the impact of Jewish values on civilization, Jewish determination, the disproportionate impact of the Jewish people, anti-Semitism and its message, the Jewish vision of history and conception of time, and [even] mankind’s ultimate
Rabbi- historian examines the destiny of the Jews Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Steve Kramer
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Perhaps it is my bias, but sometimes I think that rabbis should often talk about the lessons drawn from their own lives and not only about the morals we should glean from the legends of such rabbis of old as Shammai, Hillel, and Tarfon. This is not to
Personal blog: The joy of Jewish reading Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, USA