Judaism

The Mt. Soledad cross case in retrospect

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Morris Casuto, the retired executive director of the San Diego Region’s Anti-Defamation League, suggests that in retrospect San Diego’s quarter-century-long battle over the Mt. Soledad Cross was a win for civil government. Originally, the large Latin cross atop Mount Soledad was upon public property.  Several levels of courts declared that

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, USA

Czech harpsichordist Zuzana Ruzickova dies aged 90

PRAGUE, Czech Republic — Czech harpsichordist Zuzana Ruzickova, the world’s first soloist to record Johann Sebastian Bach’s complete works for keyboard instruments, died aged 90 on Wednesday, Czech media said. Ruzickova, who recorded Bach’s complete work on 35 records between 1965 and 1975, died in a Prague hospital after a short illness. Get The Times

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International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials

Mitchell Flint, US aviator who helped found Israeli Air Force, dies at 94

LOS ANGELES — He flew bombing missions for the U.S. during World War II and then came back to America to study law. But the escalating conflict between the newly declared State of Israel and its Arab neighbors had already gotten under Mitchell Flint’s skin. “I’m Jewish, Israel desperately needed fighter pilots, so I thought

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Jewish History, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, USA

Rabbi Joshua Haberman, champion of adult Jewish education, dies at 98

Rabbi Joshua Haberman, rabbi emeritus of the Washington Hebrew Congregation and founder of the Foundation for Jewish Studies, died this week at 98. Haberman, who represented the Jewish community during the memorial service for the victims of 9/11 held at the National Cathedral, died Sunday at his home in Washington, DC, following a rabbinic career

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Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, USA

#Parasha like a one-to-one discussion

#Parasha: Weekly Insights from a Leading Israeli Journalist by Sivan Rahav-Meir, Menorah Books, Jerusalem, © 2017, ISBN 978-1-59264-480-3, p. 321, plus glossary of Names, $24.95 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – Sivan Rahav-Meir, the author of #Parasha, is an anchorwoman on Israeli Channel 2, a columnist for Yediot Aḥaronot, Israel’s largest newspaper, and a weekly radio

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion

Einstein, the pacifist, urged an atom bomb

Einstein’s Pacifism and World War I by Virginia Iris Holmes.  Syracuse University Press, 2017, 332pp. By David Strom SAN DIEGO — “Where have all the idiots gone? Gone to government,  every one.” (This verse is a parody on the anti-war song “Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?”). If Einstein was alive today, I am certain he

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History

‘Israel must recognize Reform Movement’s rights at Western Wall’

Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, which represents Reform congregations in North America, penned an open letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Sunday, demanding he recognize the Reform Movement”s “rights” to a non-traditional prayer space at the Western Wall and official recognition by the State of Israel. The Reform Movement, represented in

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Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

Unique calendar can tell yahrzeits far into the future

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Former high school physics teacher Fred Reiss has liked series of numbers since he was a little boy.  He recalls that he was approximately six years old when he would stand on the front porch of his aunt’s house in South Philadelphia and count the number of students

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion

Take a bite out of Montreal’s rich history — and burn some calories, too

Katherine Romanow, left, creator of the Beyond the Bagel walking food tour by the Museum of Jewish Montreal. (Robert Sarner/Times of Israel) MONTREAL — On a recent Saturday afternoon in Montreal, tour guide Olivia Maccioni resembles a shepherd tending to her flock. Walking south on Saint Laurent Boulevard, a major thoroughfare which once divided the

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International, Jewish History, Travel and Food

Iraqi cleric praises Jews, says Muslims seen as ‘world’s headache’

An Iraqi cleric recently praised the Jewish people for having emerged from the Holocaust following World War II and managed to win the “respect of the world through science,” while Muslims are seen as having become “the world’s headache.” In a sermon posted to YouTube last month titled “Don’t Be Mad. Strong Words. Imitate the

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Jewish History, Middle East

Irving Berlin: The Story of the Man Behind ‘God Bless America’

Irving Berlin created music without formal training. And by himself. In 1918, while serving in the U.S. Army, he wrote the one and only “God Bless America.” When at first he couldn’t sell the song, he did what many songwriters do when such things happen: He stuck it in a drawer. Berlin dusted the tune

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Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

Tashlich services draw veteran and new rabbis

Story by Donald H. Harrison; Photos by Shor M. Masori SAN DIEGO — Two rabbis new to the San Diego scene made their Tashlich debuts on Thursday, the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah at Lake Murray. Tifereth Israel Synagogue and Temple Emanu-El, respectively Conservative and Reform, held their annual joint services. Rabbi Joshua Dorsch, wearing the

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Jewish Religion, San Diego County