Judaism

Holocaust education planned throughout county

There will be an emphasis on Holocaust education in December and January.  The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum of Washington D.C. puts on a presentation Dec. 5 at Congregation Beth El about the experience of deaf people under the Nazis.  The main Chula Vista Library prepares for an exhibition that begins Jan. 12 on Survivors who immigrated to the South Bay. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

IDF reservists to undergo therapy in San Diego

Three congregations and the Jewish Federation of San Diego County are preparing for the visit of an Israel Defense Force reserve unit whose members have been through the stress of battle and now need rest and relaxation to help them cope with symptoms of PTSD. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education

The love story of Isaac and Rebecca

If you’re looking for a love story, this week in Toldot, we read a magnificent one, in fact the first. You see, we are told that husband and wife are to, “cleave to each other and become one flesh.” This is precisely what Isaac and Rebecca teach us so perfectly. In fact, they even prayed as one. We see this in the gematria of Yitzhak יצחק and  Rebecca רבקה totaling 515, which equals to the gematria of בשר אחד or “one flesh.” Even more, 515 is also the gematria of tefilah תפלה. [Michael Mantell, PhD]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Shabbat in Temple times started at daybreak

If people would take the time to look at the bulletin of an Orthodox Synagogue, they would find something very curious. The women are instructed to light candles several minutes before the men are scheduled to attend the Mincha service, and Mincha takes place about fifteen minutes before the onset of the Sabbath. Thus, remarkably, this schedule obligates women to start the Sabbath long before men do so. Simply stated, most Jews understand that the current practice is that the Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday evening, but the rabbis required the lighting of the Sabbath candles eighteen minutes before sunset on Friday evening and set the end of the Sabbath and the saying of the Havdalah service forty-two minutes after sunset on Saturday night. This seems straightforward, but it isn’t. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

What local Jewish candidates are telling voters

From time to time, we’ll be checking the websites, Facebook pages, and news releases of local Jewish candidates to see what they are emphasizing to voters.  As they are competing in contests for federal, state, county, and city offices, it is natural that they address different kinds of issues. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, The World We Share

JFS official tells DHS abuses of asylum seekers

Attorney Kate Clark, who serves as the senior director of immigration services for Jewish Family Service, told a congressional panel on Friday that officials of the Department of Homeland Security at the southern border routinely ignore DHS’s own regulations concerning the protection of unaccompanied minors and individuals with significant medical issues. Furthermore, she said, the Remain-in-Mexico program “has caused unnecessary suffering and harm to over 55,000 asylum seekers forced to return to Mexico and has completely overwhelmed the U.S. immigration courts. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Historian tells of FDR’s anti-Semitism

Vice President Henry Wallace, an eye-witness to the event, recorded in his diary that when President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill met in mid-1943, Churchill raised the “Jewish question” to which Roosevelt replied the Jews should be spread as thinly as possible all over the world, noting that he tried this method where he lived—Meriwether County, Georgia and Hyde Park, New York and his neighbors appreciated it. This anecdote encapsulates the mindset of Franklin Roosevelt. [Fred Reiss, EdD]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, International, Jewish History, USA

Federation chips in $100,000 for JCC Maccabi Games

Board members of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County have voted unanimously to contribute $100,000 to help the Lawrence Family JCC to host the August 2-7, 2020 JCC Maccabi Games which are expected to bring to San Diego 2,000 athletes from all over the world. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Judaism, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions