SAN DIEGO — Sgt. Alfred Menaker, a World War II veteran, died May 16, 2015 at the age of 95. Born in Philadelphia, PA he moved to San Diego in 1974 with his, Thelma, a former commander of the Jewish Auxiliary Post 185 . Alfred and Thelma were married for 68 years before her passing
Alfred Menaker, JWV, 1920-2015 Read More »
Obituaries & memorials, San Diego CountyOut of the Shoebox, an Autobiographical Mystery Historical Novel by Yaron Reshef, translated from the Hebrew by Nina R. Davis and Shira E. Davis, Amazon, 2014 By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel– Yaron Reshef begins his book, which has been expertly translated by Nina and Shira Davis, with a declaration regarding the sequence of chance
Finding one’s roots can be bitter and sweet Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish HistoryBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — I am not a grammarian. In fact, while in Seminary I barely passed my Biblical grammar exam. However, I did find two interesting commentaries on a grammatical detail of this week’s parasha that I thought were worth sharing. “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelites:
Ethical lessons in a Torah portion’s grammar Read More »
Jewish Religion
-Sixth in a series- Exit 2: Morena Boulevard, Immaculata Church By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — That such a man should be knighted by the Pope was not surprising. The retired colonel had donated substantial sums of money not only to the Catholic-run University of San Diego, but also to other universities founded under religious auspices, including
I-8 Jewish Travel: A ceremony at the Immaculata Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and FoodBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — Sefer B’midbar (Numbers) details the experiences of the Israelites as they wandered through the desert. The book begins with a census, “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by the clans of its ancestral houses, listing the names, every male, head by head.” (Num. 1:2) God told
On our ancestors’ shoulders and own two feet Read More »
Jewish Religion
-Fifth in a Series- Exit 2: Morena Boulevard: University of San Diego By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – In the news and in movie theaters that show such films as The Lady in Gold, perplexing questions continue to arise about who is the rightful owner of art works seized by the Nazis before and during
I-8 Jewish travel — University of San Diego Law School Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Travel and Food, USAUnusual Bible Interpretations: Joshua by Israel Drazin, Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem; ISBN 978-965-229-709-9 ©2015, $24.95, p. 174, plus references and index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — The Book of Joshua is part of a collection of biblical books, which include Deuteronomy, Judges, Samuel, Jeremiah, and Kings, called Deuteronomic history because these books are believed
Did Book of Joshua author really know Torah? Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion“Whosoever saves a single life saves an entire universe —Mishna, Sanhedrin 4:5 By Joe Spier CALGARY, Alberta, Canada — When Soviet troops entered the Auschwitz extermination camp on January 27, 1945, they found 7,000 survivors from the more than one million who had passed under its gates. Auschwitz has become a symbol for the Holocaust
An Auschwitz love story Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — At the end of parashat B’har we find the following words: “You shall not make idols for yourselves, or set up for yourselves carved images or pillars, or place figured stones in your land to worship upon, for I the LORD am your God. You shall keep My
Shabbat and the prohibition of idol worship Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Garry Fabian MELBOURNE, Australia — The lights of the B’nai B’rith Menorah were snuffed out across Europe in the late 1930’s, when the forces gathering to inflict the tragedy of the Holocaust disbanded the organisation. The majority of European B’nai B’rith members perished in the Holocaust, but a handful managed to find safe havens in
B’nai B’rith marks 70th year in Australia Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryMemory is Our Home by Suzanna Eibuszyc; Ibidem Press (c) 2015; ISBN 978-3-8382-0712-4; 250 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–The voices of first generation and second generation Holocaust survivors are interwoven in this family remembrance covering pre-war life in Poland, escape from the Nazis to the Soviet Union and its eastern Republics; a return
Book review: ‘Memory is Our Home’ Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History
Editor’s Note: In my quest to find Jewish stories wherever I go, I decided there is no place like home to illustrate the concept that “there is a Jewish story everywhere.” Interstate 8 roughly follows the traditional route that settlers took in their covered wagons in the mid-19th century to get to San Diego from
I-8 Jewish travel: Valley View Casino Center Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Travel and Food
By David Leyva NATIONAL CITY, California– D-A-V-I-D L-E-Y-V-A, that is how I learned to spell my name and last name. What I did not know was where these came from. I am the 7th in a long line of men in my family named David Leyva, a family fact of which I was not entirely aware
Descendant of Sephardic Jews returns home Read More »
International, Jewish History, San Diego County, USABy Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — When Maya Mikhaylovna Plisetskaya was eleven years old her father was executed as an “enemy of the people” by the Stalinist regime governing the USSR. Her mother was sent to a prison camp. Though the family was originally from Lithuania, Maya was born in Moscow on November 20, 1925.
Maya Mikhaylovna Plisetskaya (1925-2015) Read More »
Obituaries & memorials