SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — The community mikvah, providing waters for spiritual immersion for a variety of rituals, has decided to suspend its programs while its board reassesses communal needs and acceptance. With less activity in prospect during this transition, its executive director, Rabbi Lenore Bohm, will step down March 31 to pursue other opportunities. Following
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Jewish Religion, San Diego CountyThe JGuy’s Guide: The GPS for Jewish Teen Guys by Rabbi J. B. Meszler, Dr. S. Reinharz, L. Suneby, and D. Heiman, Jewish Lights Publishing; ISBN 978-1-45967-434-9 ©2013, $18.99, p. 177, plus notes By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California –A much narrower distinction existed between childhood and adulthood in the nineteenth century then it does
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Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish ReligionBy Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — Peter Kubicek is an email friend of mine who I have known for about ten years now. He lives in New York and I live in Taiwan but we meet often online to chat about current events and Jewish history, especially the Holocaust. Kubicek is a Holocaust survivor,
A tale of two Holocaust survivors Read More »
International, Jewish History, USA
SAN DIEGO (Press Release)– On April 13, 2015 various theaters, cultural organizations and memorial institutions across the country will unite to honor victims of the Holocaust by joining in Remembrance Readings for Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah). This inaugural event is led by theaters from San Diego, including the La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, North Coast
Holocaust readings planned by local theaters Read More »
Jewish History, San Diego CalendarTHESSALONIKI, Greece (WJC)– This city remembered its nearly 50,000 Jews sent to Nazi death camps during World War II. A memorial marking the 72nd anniversary of the roundup and deportation of Thessaloniki Jews was held Saturday, ahead of March 15th, the day when the first Jewish convoy left the city. Participants placed flowers on train tracks where
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International, Jewish History
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Some 20 years ago, Brian Schottlaender was serving as an associate librarian for collection services at UCLA, when Doug Greenberg invited him to visit a movie studio lot in Burbank. Greenberg took him to the trailers which then were housing the interviews that volunteers had videotaped with survivors of the
UCSD offers public access to Shoah archive Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & EducationEditor, San Diego Jewish World As we prepare for the annual Holocaust commemoration on April 19th, we are reaching out to ask for your help. We are searching for names of local Holocaust Survivors as well as those who have passed away in this last year. Although we work closely with the New Life Club,
Letter: Federation seeks to honor Shoah survivors Read More »
Jewish History, San Diego Calendar, San Diego CountyBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — Biblical leadership is hardly a democracy. God and God alone appoints most leaders. Even when the Israelites demanded a King, God had to endorse their choice. According to the midrash, there is one important exception to the rule: someone appointed as a parnas, or communal leader. Rabbi Isaac said:
Leaders need the approval of their community Read More »
Jewish ReligionEditor, San Diego Jewish World It is with deep pain that I pen this letter to you today. Earlier this week, we were horrified to hear that my brother’s 4 year old daughter, who lives in Orange County, has been diagnosed with cancer. Our family is overwhelmed grappling with such news. Tests have been conducted and
Letters: A prayer for Rochel Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion
Anti-Israel Van Driving Around San Diego Editor, San Diego Jewish World I stopped to do some shopping at the NorthPark Market – that’s it’s name, it isn’t in North Park– and I saw this truck pull in and park. Looks like it’s sponsored by some faux Jewish group called Jewish Voice for Peace – e-mail www.jvp-sandiego.org
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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USAWASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) — In response to Wednesday night’s (March 11) shooting of two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement: “We condemn in the strongest terms last night’s shooting of two Ferguson police officers and are praying for their full
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Jewish Religion, USA
HAIFA (Press Release) — A rare copy of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) that reached Israel in a circuitous fashion and was donated to the University by the late film producer and director Micha Shagrir, was reunited with its “twin,” a copy of the same edition that was already in the Rare Books Department of the
350- Year- Old Tanachs reunited Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Former World War II Prisoner of War Sy Brenner in 2012 published a memoir called The Night I Got Killed, telling about the harrowing experiences he had keeping his Jewish identity secret from his Nazi captors and serving the camp as a medic. On Monday, March 9,
Samuel Seymour “Sy” Brenner, 1922-2015 Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego CountyBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — One of the most important but also neglected customs of the year is when we observe the Yahrzeit of a loved one. It occurs with such frequency that we often will forget about the date altogether because we may have forgotten the Hebrew calendar date. According to
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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi