Jewish Religion

Yiddishists sponsor free Shabbat dinner, concert

SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — The Yiddish Arts and Academics Association of North America (YAAANA) will debut in San Diego with a free Shabbat dinner and concert and klezmer concert by Yale Strom beginning at 7 p.m., Friday, at the Costa Verde Village Clubhouse, 8720 Costa Verde Blvd., San Diego. According to its founder, Jana Mazurkiewicz, […]

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Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego Calendar

Texas inmate wins Orthodox Jews the right to kosher meals in prison

FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas inmate has won a 12-year battle with the state over access to kosher meals in prison. Inmate Max Moussazadeh dropped his federal lawsuit against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice after persuading the state to provide kosher food not only to him but to all Orthodox Jewish inmates in

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Jewish Religion, USA

Passover Seder at United Nations

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, held a Passover Seder at the UN with the participation of dozens of ambassadors from various countries. Danon told the ambassadors about the meaning of the Passover holiday and explained to them the holiday’s customs. Afterwards, ambassadors read excerpts from the Haggadah and ate the traditional holiday

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International, Jewish Religion, Middle East

Int’l Fellowship of Christians, Jews provide funds for Pesach to needy Jews in Israel, Former Soviet Union

JERUSALEM (Press Release) – More than 150,000 needy Israelis and 200,000 needy Jews in the former Soviet Union, from all walks of life, will receive food and clothing for the Passover holiday, thanks to International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship). The Fellowship will distribute more than $2.8 million in Passover aid to needy Israelis, including

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International, Jewish Religion, Middle East

The Last Passover in Cairo

Editor’s Note:  San Diego Jewish World is pleased to republish a Passover monologue written by San Diego playwright Janet S. Tiger, who was the recent subject of a feature story on these pages.  By Janet S. Tiger (A man comes out, in Army fatigues, he is holding a box of matzohs.  He speaks calmly, with

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Jewish Religion

500-year-old ‘Prague Haggadah’ found

Just prior to Pesach (Passover), the National Library of Israel revealed that it had acquired the velum Prague Haggadah two months ago, when the library purchased the famed Valmadonna Collection of Judaica. The Haggadah was printed in Prague in 1556. A previous Haggadah was printed in 1526, but no copy survived. Several elements of the

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East

‘Baseball Shabbat’ anticipates MLB’s 2017 season

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – In anticipation of opening day of the 2017 Major League Baseball season, congregants of Tifereth Israel Synagogue themed their Kabbalat Shabbat services on Friday night, March 31, around the American pastime.  Traditional Shabbat evening prayers were mixed with meditations on baseball; a baseball trivia quiz took the place

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David Ogul, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions

Sculptor’s work on refugees takes on increased resonance in new London exhibit

Drawing on the Old Testament as inspiration, the late Chaim Stephenson crafted compassionate scenes of familial pain and drama By Anne Joseph LONDON –Acclaimed Anglo-Israeli artist and self-taught sculptor Chaim Stephenson had a lifelong sympathy for people driven from their homes. In a career that spanned over 60 years, he produced a huge body of

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International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

NYC takes harder line on controversial circumcision practice

Health department will now ban mohels linked to newborn herpes cases without testing for virus. By Amy Sara Clark Women visit an infant following his bris ceremony. GETTY IMAGES One day after the city’s health commissioner confirmed that two mohels have been banned from practicing the risky circumcision ritual metzitzah b’peh, the health department has

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Jewish Religion, USA

CHURACHANDPUR, India (Press Release) – The Bnei Menashe community throughout the remote northeastern Indian state of Manipur today began preparing for Passover – including by baking matzah, the holiday’s traditional unleavened bread – at the Shavei Israel Hebrew Center in Churachandpur. “The experience of seeing the entire community kneading, rolling, and then baking the dough – all

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International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Travel and Food

Weekly Torah portion: Vayikra

Love Yourself as You Would Your Neighbor! By Rabbi Yaakov Marks SAN DIEGO — The momentous occasion had arrived. After months of dedicated and selfless work, the Mishkan (the portable tabernacle) was completed and assembled. Moshe and all the people stood in awe and trepidation as they watched G-d’s glory descend and rest upon the

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Jewish Religion

Tens of Thousands of Orthodox Jews Protest Israel’s Military Draft Law

JERUSALEM, March 29, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews gathered yesterday (Tuesday) to protest Israel’s Military Draft Law, resulting in the forced enlistment of many Orthodox Jews. The protestors also decried Israel’s brutal tactics to crack down peaceful protestors. The demonstration was organized by the Edah HaChareidis – a Rabbinic umbrella association

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Jewish Religion, Middle East

A haggada for those who want more

Redemption, Then and Now: Pesaḥ Haggada with Essays and Commentary by Rabbi Benjamin Blech;  Menorah Books, Jerusalem, © 2017, ISBN 978-1-940516-73-8, p. 310, $24.95 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California –  Considering the long arc of Jewish history, the Haggada, a book containing the Passover Seder, the traditional ordered meal recreating God’s redemptive acts through the

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion