NEW YORK (Press Release)–Dr. Stephen Hazan Arnoff, who successfully expanded programing and grew the 14th Street Y in New York while executive director there before going on to become the first director of the Office of Culture, Community, and Society at Shalem College in Jerusalem, has been chosen to succeed Allan Finkelstein as president and […]
JCC Assn. names Arnoff as new executive director Read More »
Jewish Religion, USA
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) – Rabbi Jonah Pesner will serve as the Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC), the Washington, D.C. advocacy and social justice arm of North America’s largest Jewish Movement. Rabbi Pesner, an accomplished advocate with broad experience leading social justice campaigns, comes to the RAC with a mandate to deepen
Rabbi Jonah Pesner to direct Religious Action Center Read More »
Jewish Religion, USAEditor’s Note: The following eulogy is extrapolated from Rabbi Rosenthal’s notes. A Eulogy by Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal Tifereth Israel Synagogue SAN DIEGO — When we recite the Yizkor prayer for a mother, we refer to a mother who has passed away as imi morati, my mother, my teacher. In this simple phrase we have a
Sylvia Borkat, 101, z”l Read More »
David Ogul, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County
SAN DIEGO (Press Release)–Rabbi David Lau, Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi of Israel, will give a free lecture at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 20, at the La Jolla Marriott Hotel, 440 La Jolla Village Drive, in a program sponsored by Chabad of University City. Although there is no admission fee required, Chabad has asked for an $18 donation to cover
Israel’s Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi heads for S.D. Read More »
Jewish Religion, San Diego Calendar
After the Holocaust the Bells Still Ring by Joseph Polak, © 2015 Urim Publications, 141 pages, ISBN 978-965-524-162-4, $19.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—When Rabbi Joseph Polak and his mother were liberated from Bergen-Belsen, he was not yet three years old. He says that he has no actual memory of his early childhood in
The Holocaust lives inside him Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish HistoryBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–Israelis appear to like the Pope more than their Chief Rabbis. 50% of all Israelis (the highest figure in any non-Christian country) approve of the current leader of the Catholic Church and only 25% disapprove while 67% of Israelis are against the continued existence of the country’s chief rabbinate. The data
Growing disaproval for Israel’s chief rabbinate Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle EastAudacity by Melanie Crowder, Penguin Group Philomel Books, (c) 20015, 385 pages including glossary, family interview, and selected bibliography, $17.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — I suppose, if one stuck strictly to the historical facts, Clara Lemlich’s life could be summarized in a few paragraphs. She grew up in an Orthodox home in
Clara Lemlich’s life, in poetry, is thrilling reading Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish HistoryBy Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — Once, a burly, gruff looking, man who had served in the Russian army, entered a Jewish inn and ordered a meal. When Jewish boys were drafted, it was usually the end of yiddishkeit for them. The army brainwashed them to worship Mother Russia rather than G-d. He plopped
When the Chofetz Chaim saw what others didn’t Read More »
Jewish Religion
Sleeping Truth by Martin Vesole, Shalom Rav Publishing © 2013, ISBN 978-1937416027, 355 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Mary Poppins was the Disney character who sang about a spoonful of sugar helping the medicine to go down. Presenting this story of a fictional debate between a Christian evangelical and a Reform-leaning Reconstructionist rabbi, who perhaps
Debate between Christian and Jew focus of novel Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion
POWAY, California — Molly Cohen, 97, was eulogized by Rabbi Nadav Caine at Ner Tamid Synagogue here. Following is the eulogy, delivered December 29, 2014: Molly Cohen, a matriarch of San Diego’s Jewish community, died this past December 25th at the age of 97. She was her usual alert, brilliant, and giving self to
Molly Cohen, z”l (June 19th, 1917 — Dec. 25, 2014) Read More »
Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County
LOS ANGELES (Press Release) — 2014 was a year of unprecedented explosions of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel hatred. The ten worst this year shows how pervasive anti-Semitism has become around the world. The ten examples selected by the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) are tragically indicative of burgeoning threats and challenges to the Jewish people not encountered since
2014’s ten worst anti- Semitic outrages Read More »
Jewish HistoryBy Isaac Yetiv, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — In the 19th century, Wilhelm Marr , known as “the father of modern antisemitism,” coined the word “antisemitismus.” But the pathological hatred of Jews has a long history. In the antiquity, the Pharaoh who ‘didn’t know Joseph” decreed to kill all the Jewish newborn males; and Haman
Countering the anti- Semites Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle EastBy Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — Last week, I reported that there is a minhag (custom) to eat latkes on Chanukah because they are made with oil. This makes sense as oil was part of the miracle when one day’s worth of oil burned for eight days. I was rather astonished to learn this
When dairy meals were a Chanukah custom Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Anav Silverman JERUSALEM (Tazpit) –When Mark Halawa lights his family’s menorah during Chanukah, it is not without recalling his unique journey as a Kuwaiti Muslim to Orthodox Judaism. The 38-year-old businessman, who lives today in Jerusalem with his wife and family, keeping Shabbat and kosher dietary laws, began his journey 12 years ago in Canada.
A Kuwaiti Muslim’s journey to Chanukah Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East