Ruth Harber of Valley Center and Anne Frank, one of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust, share a similar life as young teenagers: both spent two years in hiding from the Nazis in the early 1940s. Although their lives mirror one another, Anne died in a concentration camp, but Ruth survived. [Robert Lerner]
Museum honors Holocaust survivor Ruth Harber Read More »
International, Jewish History, San Diego County
This parsha opens the Book of Exodus. It covers the development of enslavement of the Israelites, the early life of Moses, his escape to Midian and marriage there, his recruitment by God to lead the Israelites, and his earliest encounter with Pharaoh. I have chosen to pursue three passages, with regard to their originality in the Torah text. [Irv Jacobs, MD]
Bible’s account of Moses’ early life has antecedents Read More »
Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion
A relatively few Jewish Democrats were endorsed by the San Diego County Democratic Party for offices on the March 3 primary ballot. In many races, they were passed over for their opponents. [Donald H. Harrison]
County Democrats endorse some Jewish candidates Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County
Mendek Rubin was born in 1924 in Jaworzno, Poland, a town with over 2,000 Jews, about 15 miles from Auschwitz. He died in Carmel in 2012. When his daughter Myra was putting his papers in order she came across a manuscript In Quest of the Eternal Sunshine. It was a surprise and not a surprise. It was a surprise to find it, but she had already helped her father edit it decades earlier. She worked on the manuscript for a few days but the task was incompatible with raising her two children. And, “in the intervening years” she had “completely forgotten it existed.” [Oliver B. Pollak]
Posthumous Holocaust memoir a family affair Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak
Just as the Latino and Jewish communities share so much in common, so do the United States and Israel. We share common roots as nations of immigrants. We share core values at the heart of our democracies – a free press, civil rights, an independent judiciary and more. [Georgette Gomez]
Congressional candidate Gomez on Jews, Israel Read More »
Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, USA
– In Exodus 3:11, after God has asked him to go to Pharaoh in Egypt, Moses asks: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should take the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Hashem answers simply, “I will be with you.” Not just with you, near you. But to be one with you, to experience fully your struggle, your anguish and your pain in accomplishing what is being asked of you. Hashem is saying, I believe, “I will be one with you just as you are one with the people for whom you care so much.” [Michael Mantell, PhD]
God pleased with Moses’ compassion, empathy Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael MantellBetween Jan. 21 and March 11, American Jews may participate in the selection of U.S. delegates to the World Zionist Congress, which will meet in Jerusalem from Oct. 20-22 to help set policy for three major Jewish organizations: the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish National Fund, and the Jewish Agency for Israel. The Congress’s policy decisions will influence how approximately $1 billion is allocated. [Donald H. Harrison]
Balloting begins Jan. 21 for World Zionist Congress Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA
A span of 31 years separates the late Max Weinstock’s birth from that of Ursula Israelski, but both were profoundly affected by the Holocaust. They are among the featured South Bay residents, living and dead, whose lives are celebrated at the year-long “Project RUTH: Remember Us The Holocaust” exhibit now on display at Chula Vista’s main library, 365 F. Street, Chula Vista. [Donald H. Harrison]
Diverse stories at Chula Vista Holocaust exhibit Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County
For the first time, I read the courageous secret diary of a man and wife who did what they could to record what they saw, they heard, and they felt living in Nazi Germany. They had been denounced. They had barely escaped the concentration camps, the Gestapo, and probable death for being in opposition to Hitler. They knew what they had to do, what they could still do, even if they could not shape the present. They hoped their diary might shape the future when another Hitler could arise somewhere in the world in another vaunted high cultured and “free” society. The diary, a series of volumes that remained hidden long after the war had ended, eventually ran to almost 1,000 pages. [Jerry Klinger]
German’s diary tells of opposition to Hitler Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History
I have very mixed feelings about this book {“We Were the Lucky Ones”]. On the one hand, it is a hearfelt attempt to reconstruct the experiences of various members of the author’s family (grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins) during the Holocaust. On the other, however, the writing does not flow easily, and the fact that the narrative is mainly (though not solely) in the present tense jars on my sensibilities as a reader. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
‘Lucky Ones’ suffers from poor writing, editing Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish History, USA
The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel is without doubt the best Bible commentary in English. I say this after using over a hundred such books while writing my own books on the Bible, such as my many volumes on the differences between the Hebrew Bible and its Aramaic translation called Onkelos. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Eureka! Koren Tanakh best Bible commentary ever Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion
An eerie moment during the opening of an exhibit on Holocaust survivors who settled in the South Bay occurred when organizer Sandy Scheller, giving a speech at the podium, took a phone call, which she pretended was from her late mother, Ruth Sax, whose first name serves as an acronym for the exhibit’s title: “Project Ruth: Remember Us The Holocaust.” [Donald H. Harrison]
Chula Vista opens Holocaust exhibit Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education
On 10 of the 17 days we spent on a transcanal cruise between Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and San Diego, we celebrated Chanukah. Yes, 10 days of Chanukah. [Irv Jacobs, MD]
Cruise ship celebrated Chanukah for 10 days Read More »
Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion, Travel and Food
StandWithUs, a national organization combating anti-Semitism on American college campuses, has congratulated San Diego State University for blocking a speaking invitation to Ava Muhammad, who is a spokeswoman for Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan. [Donald H. Harrison]
SDSU wins plaudits for blocking anti-Semitic speaker Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA