SAN DIEGO (SDONA)–After decades of delays, Jonas Salk Elementary School in Mira Mesa will open its doors to students for the first time Tuesday as the San Diego Unified School District begins its new academic year. The $24 million school is named after Dr. Jonas Salk, who invented the first successful polio vaccine and later […]
School named for Jonas Salk to open Read More »
Jewish History, San Diego County, USA
Uncovered by Leah Lax; She Writes Press; © 2015; ISBN 978-1631529955; $16.95 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – This touchingly written, respectful yet controversial, woman’s odyssey from unhappy, repressed childhood to Hasidism and thence, in middle age, to freedom and the personal security found in lesbianism, is bound to be earnestly debated by readers.
Memoir relates journey from Hasidism to lesbianism Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish HistoryBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — Parashat Ki Tavo contains a list of blessings and curses. If the Israelites are faithful to the Covenant and obedient to God they will receive the blessings. If they turn away from God and don’t observe the mitzvot they will receive the curses instead. In introducing the blessings
Where can you find true blessings? Read More »
Jewish Religion
Saying Goodbye to Mom By Saul Schwartz WASHINGTON, D.C. — My mother, Geraldine Myra (Young) Schwartz, lived most of her life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before she retired to San Diego with her husband, Norman Schwartz, 20 years ago. This is the story of her last few months and what I learned from about life from her
Geraldine Myra Schwartz, 1933-2015 Read More »
Obituaries & memorials, San Diego CountyBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Rosh Hashanah is almost here! According to Jewish mystical tradition, Elul is a period of spiritual awakening. The name of Elul is an acrostic for: אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי “I belong to my beloved and my beloved belongs to me …” (Song of Songs 6:3). Hence, the time of
When God and humankind are lovers Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Natasha Josefowitz, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — It is interesting that while living in Paris, my parents resisted any French influence and continued their Russian way of life: eating Russian food, reading Russian newspapers and books, having Russian friends, and speaking Russian at home. My first tongue was Russian. In the U.S., they did the same
A musical Russian enclave in Beverly Hills Read More »
Jewish History, Natasha Josefowitz
LA JOLLA, California — Judge Murry Luftig, long-time resident of San Diego, passed away on August 27 at the age of 92. He is survived by his wife of sixty-eight years, Rita Luftig, and his children, Vicki Pierce, Mitchell Luftig, Andrea Ferber, and Laura Luftig, along with seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Judge Luftig
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Obituaries & memorials, San Diego CountyBy Michael R. Mantell, PhD SAN DIEGO — There is nothing so Jewish as self-improvement. And all this time, you thought gefilte fish or bagels and lox were the ultimate Jewish experience. No, you see, when it comes to improving yourself, making yourself into an elevated, more refined, more civil person, nothing in psychology has ever
Spiritual self- improving, Jewish style Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
The Jews That I Knew: Voices From the Invisible Ghetto by Ed Schwartz; Create Space © 2014, ISBN 979-1500-1507-61; 96 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – From its cover to its conclusion, too few pages later, this is a quirky yet enjoyable book. You might get the idea looking at the cover that
Only a shlemiel would judge this book by its cover Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, USA
By Eileen Wingard SHANGHAI, China — In the Ohel Moshe Synagogue, now a museum, the maroon velvet curtain of the Torah Ark bears a gold embroidered inscription: “Tribute to Hongkew People Who Provided Refuge to Jews In Time of Need.” This house of worship was part of the hub of Jewish life in the ghetto
3 waves of Jews came to Shanghai Read More »
Eileen Wingard, International, Jewish HistoryVatican demands removal from Palestinian flag bid at U.N.(BreakingIsraelNews.com/JNS.org) Despite its recognition of a “State of Palestine,” the Vatican has requested it be removed from a Palestinian-prepared United Nations General Assembly draft resolution that calls for the flags of “Palestine” and the Holy See to be flown at U.N. headquarters in New York City. The
Jewish news briefs: August 26, 2015 Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USAChanging the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History by Marc B. Shapiro, Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, Portland, Oregon; ISBN 978-1-904113-60-7 ©2015, $19.95, p. 285, plus bibliography and index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — Changing the Immutable by Marc B. Shapiro, who holds the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Chair in Judaic Studies at
Censorship in the haredi community Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish ReligionBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson DOMEYROT, France — I know I’ve written about this subject before, but it’s one that simply isn’t going to go away, and in fact is getting worse every day, every hour, every minute. Many of these unfortunates come from Africa, from countries where conflicts, poverty, corruption and hopelessness are endemic. Others come from
Jews can empathize with refugees Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History, Middle East, The World We Share
By Donald H. Harrison CARLSBAD, California – Chabad of La Costa on Sunday, Aug. 23, celebrated the completion of what its spiritual leader, Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort, called the “floor of the present” containing an 88-seat sanctuary, offices, a small library, and a kosher kitchen. Already roughly constructed, but needing such important finishing touches as an
Chabad of La Costa celebrates ‘floor of the present’ Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi