By Rabbi Ben Kamin OCEANSIDE, California – “God’s work on earth must truly be our own,” he declared in those thick Bostonian tones at the close of his renowned Inaugural Address on the bitter cold morning of January 20, 1961. A flawed man with impeccable charm and poise, a legend larger than himself, he remains the
JFK would be 100 on May 29 Read More »
Obituaries & memorials, USABy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — I never read the book Moby Dick in my youth. Now that I have more time, I decided to read it in my dotage. I failed miserably. Even though Moby Dick is considered one of the greatest works of American literature, I found it ponderous and boring. When
Delay tasks? You’re more a Melville than a Moses Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish ReligionBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — I was in the ninth month of my first pregnancy when the Six Day War broke out, fifty years ago. I have written in some detail about this point in my life in my first novel, The Balancing Game, so if you have read it I apologize for
Pregnant and sheltered during the Six Day War Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History, Middle East
By Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — Take two Canadian offspring of Holocaust survivors, Moses Znaimer and Hindy Nosek-Abelson, and put them in Toronto TV studio and the result will be the first-ever Yiddish translation and group performance of Canada’s national anthem “O Canada” just in time for Canada Day on July 1st, which celebrates
O Canada in Yiddish to debut June 6 Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryWhat plus Why Is Unstoppable! By Rabbi Yaakov Marks SAN DIEGO — “And G-d spoke to Moshe and Aaron, saying: Each man under his flag with the signs according to the house of their fathers they will camp, at a distance and around the Tabernacle they will camp.” (Numbers 2:1-2) The Midrash Rabbah (Numbers 2:7)
Weekly Torah portion: Bamidbar Read More »
Jewish Religion, Travel and FoodCHICAGO — Harold Katz didn’t require a crash course in Hebrew before his bar mitzvah next week in Wilmette, Ill. He started preparing 76 years ago, and his skills never got rusty. Katz, 89, who lives in a North Side retirement home, was to have celebrated the occasion in Czechoslovakia back in 1941. But that
Delayed by Nazis, bar mitzvah to now be celebrated by 89-year-old Holocaust survivor Read More »
Jewish History, USABy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Someone in my synagogue asked me an interesting question about Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner: What kind of Halakhic dispensation was given to them to drive on the Sabbath to the Inauguration of the President? The same question came up recently when the Trump entourage
Ivanka: A fitting successor to Queen Esther? Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, USAAfter memorializing the Jews who once lived just north of the Mongolian border, the Chernykh family is brought to Israel by Toronto Jews as token of thanks By Renee Ghert-Zand On an evening in early May, Russian grandmother Taisya Chernykh and her family collapsed into chairs in the lobby of their Jerusalem hotel after long
Why did a Russian Orthodox family restore a Siberian Jewish cemetery? Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle EastBy Stanley Tiger SAN DIEGO — Although today his name is not a household word, it may be a measure of his success – his success in remaining private. Herman Wouk, celebrating his 102nd birthday on May 27th, is known for the value he places on his privacy, yet this extraordinary writer remains a luminary in the
Happy birthday Herman Wouk on your 102nd Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Jewish ReligionDina Merrill, the rebellious heiress who defied her super-rich parents to become a movie star, often portraying stylish wives or “the other woman,” has died at age 93. Merrill, raised in part on the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida now owned by President Donald Trump, died Monday, according to a family spokeswoman. The cause of death
R.I.P. to Dina Merrill, a beloved character actress from the 1950s and 1960s Read More »
Obituaries & memorials, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USARest in peace Sir Roger Moore. On Tuesday, the official Twitter account for one of the men who brought James Bond to life issued an official statement with the news of his death. He was 89 years old. Watch the video With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father,
LA JOLLA, California (Press Release) — When World War II came to a close in 1945, the U.S. Government recruited a few leading German scientists, who it judged could contribute to America’s space and military programs. In addition, the rationale was that if the government hadn’t done this, these top scientists, along with their scientific
Journalist Eric Lichtblau to discuss ‘Nazis next door’ Read More »
International, Jewish History, San Diego Calendar, USA
Editor’s Note: Yaakov and Toby Greenwald vividly remember what they were doing during the Six-Day War of June 1967. In these two articles, they relate their personal histories. Yaakov Greenwald is a veteran teacher of Talmud, History and Mathematics. They married in 1976, live in Efrat, and are the parents and grandparents of children
Israeli couple tells their Six-Day War memories Read More »
Jewish History, Middle East, Toby Klein Greenwald, USABy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Reform/Liberal/Progressive (henceforth Progressive) Judaism often reaches Jews that other movements don’t get to. This may not apply to the United States and a handful of other comparatively large Diaspora communities, but it’s definitely true of countries where there’re a few Jews and where the traditional congregations are too insecure
Welcoming Jews on the periphery Read More »
International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA