Judaism

Holocaust answers in de Wind memoir

Not all members of today’s de Wind family, although all descendants of the Patriarch Issachar, are Jewish.

After a “mini-diaspora” from “Holland” in the late 1800s and early 1900s to places as close as Belgium and Spain and as far as Asia and the Americas, the Levys-de Winds married into other nationalities, ethnicities and religions.

But most have never forgotten their Jewish roots.

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorian de Wind, International, Jewish History

Jewish Trivia Quiz: The Shofar

Jews around the world will once again hear the sound of the shofar as Rosh Hashanah is celebrated this week. The shofar is typically made of a ram’s horn, but in Yemenite tradition the horn of a kudu is used. The shofar ceremony comprises two blessings followed by a series of blasts consisting of three different notes: tekiah–one long blast, shevarim–three broken sounds, and teruah–nine staccato notes. The total number of blasts is traditionally 100 for Ashkenazic Jews and 101 for Sephardim, with Yemenite Jews sounding 41 blasts. The shofar has also made appearances in popular movies, songs, and television programs, including which of the following? (To read more, please click the headline)

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Jewish Religion, Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Actual year of Hebrew calendar quite debatable

Many people, secular and religious, of different cultures and worldviews, have attempted to calculate the age of the world. There is no agreement between them, simply because it is an impossible task. Christians, Muslims, and Jews have tried to do the calculation based on a literal reading of the Bible and have come up with different times. The following shows the impossibility by focusing on the widely used Jewish version.

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

Tuskegee Civil Rights Trail is dedicated

Friday, September 20, 2019, in the Tuskegee City Municipal Center, the 13-marker Tuskegee Civil Rights and Historic Trail was dedicated.  The Trail was the ten-year dream of Tuskegee University History professor and Archivist Dana Chandler.  The Trail will be included in the U.S. Park Service’s Civil Rights trails. The Trail came to be because of a biracial, multi-religious partnership in Tuskegee, Alabama.

It had been a long-frustrated dream because Dr. Chandler was unable to find funding to create the system.  Grant monies did not come through. State and local funding did not happen. Private funding seemed impossible, until, with indomitable persistence he spoke with the President of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, Jerry Klinger, about his idea. (To read more, please click on headline.)

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Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, USA

Our Shtetl San Diego County: September 27, 2019

Items in this column include:
*Gun Show this weekend and next year seem a legal certainty
*Political dots and dashes
*Jewish community conundrum: safety vs. welcoming the stranger
*Laura Walcher shares lighter memories of the ate George Mitrovich
*A speaking engagement at Congregation Beth Israel
*As we enter the Jewish New Year

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego Calendar, San Diego County

Global Jewish population estimated at 14.8 million

As we prepare to welcome the Jewish year 5780, the number of Jews worldwide stands at 14.8 million, compared to 14.7 million in 5779. Of these, 8.1 million live outside Israel (including 5.7 million in the United States). In Israel, the number of Jews is 6.7 million (compared to 6.6 million in 5779). The updated estimates were published by Professor Sergio Della Pergola of Hebrew University in the American Jewish Year Book 2019. (To read more please click headline.)

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International, Judaism, Middle East, USA

Notes on Torah reading for September 28, 2019

The thrust of this parasha is modeled after the format of an ancient covenant treaty. The scene is set in the Plains of Moab on the east side of the Jordan, shortly before the death of Moses.  This is to be followed by entrance to the promised land under Joshua’s leadership.

A word about ancient covenants.  Unlike modern times wherein parties sign an arranged legal contract, the ancients performed ceremonies, characterized by proclamations, writings of the terms, proclamations of blessings and curses, erection of steles, and sacrifices.  Curses include acts that symbolized the fate of violators.  They would cut up the body of an animal, then the parties passed between the pieces, symbolizing what would happen to either if he/she violated the treaty.   

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Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion

An Orthodox guide to workplace behavior

Making It All Work: A Practical Guide to Hashkafah & Halacha in the Workplace by Avi Wasserman and Miryam Wasserman; Philipp Feldheim publisher;  ISBN-10: 16802-50310; 538 pages; Price $25.00 By Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel  CHULA VISTA, California — The authors of Making It All Work present the Orthodox Jewish community with an interesting book about some

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Rabbi Phillips authors tome on Jewish philosophy and theology

By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin JERUSALEM — Judaism Reclaimed: Philosophy and Theology in the Torah by Shmuel Phillips, a rabbi and lawyer with a law degree from the University of London, is a book filled with interesting information inspired by his understanding of the views of Maimonides and Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch. The book has

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

Our Shtetl San Diego County: September 24, 2019

Items in today’s column include:
*Tel Aviv Foundation applauds San Diegans’ philanthropy
*Father Joe Carroll endorses Joe Leventhal for City Council
*Rabbi Dorsch and Cantor Leberman star in Tifereth Israel High Holy Days video
*Israeli Idol Haggit Yaso to perform at StandWithUs gala
*Meet the Family Eilfort

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

Our Shtetl San Diego County: September 23, 2019

Items in today’s column: *Climate warming emergency drives Micah Perlin’s Assembly candidacy *Personal wealth vs. political endorsements in 53rd C.D. race *Some of the honorable traits animals share with humans *A play about immigration has premiered at the Old Globe Theatre *Mazel tov! Mazel tov! *Passages By Donald H. Harrison Climate warming emergency drives Micah

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast