By Raoul Lowery Contreras SAN DIEGO — Camel caravans of nomadic Muslim Arabs in Saudi Arabia were my first exposure to Muslims. They were described to me by my grandfather when he returned from working on post-WWII oil fields in 1946-47. He was ordered home when war broke out between Saudi Arabia and the newly-born
A Jewish national hero in a Muslim nation Read More »
International, Jewish History
Cleveland Jews and the Making of a Midwestern Community contains a pair of biographical essays, which I read with considerable interest, and more than a majority of essays of the historical type, dealing with such phenomena as the growth of Jewish Orthodoxy in Cleveland; the impact of Jewish philanthropy on that city; the growth of Jewish schools; The development of feminist ideals among Jewish women’s organizations; Black-Jewish relations in Cleveland; suburbanization of Cleveland’s Jewish community; Reform Judaism in the Cleveland suburbs; and programs to assimilate into Jewish society refugees from the Soviet Union. [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]
Historians, biographers probe Jewish Cleveland Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, USA
In 2017, newlyweds Jonathan Moed and Zoe (Jurkowski) Moed went on a year-long dream trip around the world, and now Jonathan is pursuing a “passion project” to help high-tech start up entrepreneurs in developing nations realize dreams of their own. [Donald H. Harrison]
San Diegans’ dream trip leads to new website Read More »
Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
This parasha deals exclusively with orders (from God) for building the desert Tabernacle tent, including its contents and its immediate surrounding structures. Much detail is conveyed, despite which the reader remains puzzled as to how the construction could be achieved. Also, estimates of the amounts of materials prescribed suggest an unmanageable amount of weight to be carried about in the desert for 40 years. [Irv Jacobs, M.D.]
Biblical Tabernacle had parallels in other cultures Read More »
Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion
This week’s Torah portion is titled, Terumah, which means gifts. Just as last week’s portion – which dealt in detailed specifics of Torah law in everyday life – represented a dramatic shift from the portion before – which told the story of the 10 Commandments – so too this week’s portion makes another dramatic turn and conveys the specifics of building the Tabernacle. The word ‘Tabernacle’ comes from the Latin ‘tabernaculum,’ which means ‘tent.’ The Torah describes this unique mobile structure as the Mishkan (Dwelling Place) and as the Ohel Mo’ed (Tent of Meeting).
A Word of Torah: Living with the times Read More »
Jewish Religion, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi
Based on extensive research, the author describes what happened to the Paris art gallery that her grandfather, Paul Rosenberg, owned and directed in the first part of the twentieth century, until the invasion and occupation of France by the Germans in 1940. When France was taken over by the Germans all Jews, including the Rosenbergs, were deprived of their citizenship and property. In its heyday the Rosenberg Gallery exhibited the works of painters such as Matisse, Braque, Picasso and others with whom Paul Rosenberg maintained warm relations and in some cases, especially that of Picasso, a close friendship. Many of these artists were defined as ‘degenerate’ by the Nazis, although that did not prevent them from using these works for their own ends, often selling them to museums and collectors who paid handsomely for them.[Dorothea Shefer Vanson]
History tells of Nazi looting of Rosenberg gallery in Paris Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA
Two Reform rabbis from San Diego – Devorah Marcus of Temple Emanu-El and Jeremy Gimbel of Congregation Beth Israel – are among 347 rabbis who have signed a letter rejecting the “outrageous comments” made by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). In announcing he would not attend the AIPAC Policy Conference in March, Sanders, who like the rabbis is Jewish, said “I remain concerned about the platform AIPAC provides for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights. For that reason, I will not attend their conference.” In a press release, AIPAC subsequently described that comment as “truly shameful.” [Donald H. Harrison]
347 rabbis denounce Sanders’ comment about AIPAC Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, USA
This week in parasha Terumah, (“gift,” “portion’ or “offering” depending on whether you read the Jewish Publication Society, the Stone edition or the Soncino chumash ) we learn the many specific details of the building of the Tabernacle, Hashem’s dwelling place. It says in the parasha, “And they shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst” וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָֽׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם (Exodus 25:8). [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]
Why God wanted a sanctuary built Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn (1910-1995), assigned to the Fifth Marine Division, was the first Jewish chaplain the Marine Corps ever appointed. The American invading force at Iwo Jima included approximately 1,500 Jewish Marines. Rabbi Gittelsohn was in the thick of the fray, ministering to Marines of all faiths in the combat zone. He shared the fear, horror and despair of the fighting men, each of whom knew that each day might be his last. Roland Gittelsohn’s tireless efforts to comfort the wounded and encourage the fearful won him three service ribbons. [Michael Feldberg, Ph.D]
Rabbi’s sermon became popular WWII lesson Read More »
International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, USA
Esther 9:31 has been interpreted by people to state that the Judeans consented to observe this fast of 13 Adar. The verse states that the Judeans in the days of Mordecai and Esther agreed to observe Purim “just as Mordecai and Esther the queen had instructed them and just as they had accepted upon themselves and their descendants the matters of the fastings and their cry.” The problems with this interpretation, that “the fastings and their cry” are associated with Purim, are: (1) The quoted words seem to imply that the Judeans accepted the fasts and cry before agreeing to observe the two days of Purim. (2) Mordecai and Esther did not request the Judeans to fast. (3) The word is not “fast” in the singular, but “fastings” in the plural. (4) The fast of Esther on 13 Adar was introduced into Judaism centuries after the lives of Esther and Mordecai. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Esther never fasted on the Fast of Esther Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
The liberation of a prisoner-of-war camp in Manila, Philippines, in 1945 forged a bond many years later between a Jewish band leader and a Coronado civil servant. Lou Berger, a drummer and leader of the “Berger Kings,” was playing a Saturday night gig at the Town & Country Hotel in San Diego about 15 years ago for an ex-prisoners of war organization when he was introduced to Tom Crosby, a longtime purchasing agent and risk manager for the City of Coronado, who also was known as a successful volunteer springboard diving coach. [Donald H. Harrison]
Liberator and POW fast friends 75 years later Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County
A San Diegan who survived the Holocaust as a child by posing as a Catholic boy helped pay tribute Sunday to the 1.5 million children who perished during World War II under the regimes of the German Nazis and their allies. After telling of his life, he joined listeners who painted ceramic butterflies that will be mounted by The Butterfly Project at the Grossmont Shopping Center in their memory. [Donald H. Harrison]
Jew who posed as Catholic child tells of WWII life Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, USA
On August 18, 1790, Moses Seixas, the warden of Congregation Kahal Kadosh Yeshuat Israel, the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, read a message to George Washington, welcoming the newly elected first president of the United States on his post-election visit to that city. He was accompanied by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York. Rhode Island was the last of the thirteen original states to ratify the Constitution, and Washington was visiting to celebrate the completion of the Union. [Michael Feldberg, Ph.D]
George Washington: ‘To bigotry no sanction’ Read More »
Jewish History, USA
Jeanne Shenkman, 83, a retired teacher with the Grossmont High School District, moved to Seacrest Village Retirement Community in Encinitas last May to live near her daughter. Throughout her life, she has always been a busy person with varied interests. For example, in addition to her teaching duties, she played violin in the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra for 42 years and served as a docent at the San Diego Natural History Museum for 15 years. [Donald H. Harrison]
Seacrest Village through a resident’s camera lens Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA