Easing from online to in-person worship, Tifereth Israel Synagogue will hold an outdoor minyan at 7:15 a.m. Monday, June 8, as a first step towards resuming normal worship activities, Rabbi Josh Dorsch has announced. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Tifereth Israel eases into in-person worship Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, USA
This week has been very tough. I saw THE video. I couldn’t believe my eyes; a man sworn to protect and serve kneeling nonchalantly upon another man’s neck. An officer of the law casually draining the life from another human being while the human being begged for breath. The perpetrator’s apparent boredom is at the same time chilling and boils the blood! [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]
Racists beware: God will hold you to account Read More »
Jewish Religion, USA, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi
The Black Lives Matter announcement of a march in La Jolla at 1 p.m., Friday, June 12, reads, in part: “The protests cannot remain only in areas with likeminded people. La Jolla is a predominantly white and rich area desperate for awareness. They have the power to sway leaders and thus we must educate them. These minds cannot remain sheltered.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
La Jolla prepares to welcome BLM marchers Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
About a year ago, I, as the president of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, had funded one more historical marker. It recognized the collaborative efforts of Julius Rosenwald, a Chicago retail industrialist philanthropist and Booker T. Washington, the Black American educator, and President of Tuskegee University in Alabama. The two men had come together as Americans, as equals. They joined to work for the mutual betterment of Black Americans through education and educational opportunity. [Jerry Klinger]
Rosenwald schools: Black-Jewish cooperation changed education Read More »
Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
Professor Laurie Baron has compiled a list of lectures on Jewish topics viewable on the Internet
Streaming Jewish lectures for the week of June 7 Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron
Numbers 4:21-7: 89 I have chosen three passages from these readings, for comparison with ancient pagan practices, from material on the internet. I must inform the reader that it often is difficult to pull from internet the information desired. I repeatedly re-phrase and simplify my questions, often with little or no yield. My reports reflect the limited information I find. I also make no pretense to be as academic as a university scholar. [Irv Jacobs, M.D.]
Ancient laws regarding wrongdoing, adultery, and nazarites Read More »
International, Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion, Middle East
Rabbi Devorah Marcus of Temple Emanu-El offered this reflection in the aftermath of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd: “My hope is that we will not let this moment fade into obscurity and apathy as we move on to other pieces of news, of suffering, of tweets. My hope is that we will take this moment of brokenness and build in the cracks a garden seeded with our hope, our commitment to our neighbors and our community, and that we will reach out to everyone who is afraid right now for themselves, their children, and our world, and offer each other our comfort and our love. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Where now after the George Floyd killing? Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA
“The holiday commemorates the day upon which the Ten Commandments were given to the Jewish people beneath Mount Sinai over 3,000 years ago,” said Aviation Electronics Mate 2nd Class Michael Eskenazi, from San Diego, Truman’s Jewish lay leader. “It occurs precisely seven weeks and a day after the beginning of Passover.” The service, sponsored by Truman’s Command Religious Ministries Department was open to the entire crew, as the holiday provides an opportunity to build a community around religion and culture. [U.S. Navy press release by Tamara Vaughn]
San Diegan leads Shavuot service aboard USS Truman Read More »
Jewish Religion, Travel and Food, USA
In this week’s parasha, Naso, we are introduced to the Birkat Kohanim, the “Priestly Blessing.” We’re all familiar with it. We’ve heard it said, recited it ourselves, and given it to others, many times. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]
In contemplation of the ‘Priestly Blessing’ Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
My column yesterday dealt with reactions from various individuals and organizations within the Jewish community to the police killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, and what role the Jewish community might play in helping to heal the divisions in our society. I will continue to bring to readers such thoughts and suggestions. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Continuing the Jewish fight against racism Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, USA
To say that Black Lives Matter does NOT take away from the fact that ALL life is precious, it merely emphasizes the fact that Black lives are under attack in disproportionate numbers and attention needs to be drawn to it. To say Black Lives Matter is to say that unarmed African Americans are three times more likely to killed by police than their White counterparts even though they are 1.3 times more likely to be unarmed than their White counterparts. [Rabbi Carlos Huerta]
Jews and the Black Lives Matter movement Read More »
Jewish History, USA
Author Jacqueline Saper, part of a Jewish family, the daughter of an Iranian university professor and a British mother, an assistant airport manager, describes growing up in a wealthy and idyllic setting, a large house with opulent furnishings in the Tehran neighborhood of Yousefabad, dining in the best restaurants, attending private schools, travelling back and forth between England and Iran, and surrounded by maids and household laborers. [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]
Modern woman tells of life under the ayatollahs Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History, Middle East
Imagine if President Trump tweeted a salute to Shavuot that included a critique of individual commandments. Here’s how I envisioned the president’s take on the holiday {Satire by Joel H. Cohen]
Satire: Trump critiques the Ten Commandments Read More »
Jewish Religion, Joel H. Cohen, Trivia, Humor & SatireHere in San Diego County, peaceful demonstrators honored the memory of George Floyd, the African-American victim of a white Minneapolis policeman who continuously and fatally pushed his knee into Floyd’s neck, hampering the prone man’s ability to breathe. The demonstrators’ cries for racial justice were heart-felt, appropriate, and in need of urgent redress. Also, here in San Diego County, particularly in La Mesa, rioters of diverse racial backgrounds dishonored George Floyd, using his unwarranted death as an excuse for arson and looting. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
George Floyd honored, dishonored by protests, riots Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA