Lifestyles

Parsha Devarim: The art of veiled criticism

Watergate, Tiananmen Square, and Tehran shootings—mere mention of these names evokes national trauma and profound questions of leadership and moral conduct. In his final address to the Israelites on the threshold of the Promised Land, Moses similarly invokes specific places to allude to past national failings without shaming the people directly. (Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel)

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Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Why I support the Mantells’ quest to be named ‘America’s Favorite Couple’

This competition, created by Variety, is raising funds for globally responsible and important causes. The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and Oceana are the recipients.  Both of these worthy groups nurture people and provide stewardship for our environment. [Eva Trieger]

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Eva Trieger, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Jewish biography: Marc Bloch, social historian

Bloch transferred Durkheim’s anti-dogmatism to historical science, abandoning the description of “great men” in favor of the analysis of collective thinking. Bloch was deeply influenced by Durkheim, who also believed that links between historians and sociologists were more significant than their differences. (Alex Gordon)

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Alex Gordon, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Governor Newsom approves $80 million in annual support for the security of at-risk organizations

For years, the California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program has been funded one budget cycle at a time. The program began 10 years ago, and each year since Jewish California returned to Sacramento to make the case all over again. [David Bocarsly]

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California, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish Women of Color to enjoy a retreat in Escondido

It is precisely against this backdrop of collective trauma that the JOC Women’s Retreat 2026: A Joyful, Restorative Retreat for Jewish Women of Color becomes essential. Scheduled midweek from August 25–27, 2026, this gathering offers a vital time away—a dedicated space to heal, relax, and build spiritual resilience. (Barrett Holman Leak)

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Antisemitism, Barrett Holman Leak, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

What I learned in London in June 2026

Attacks on Jews have set alarm bells ringing in Jewish communities around England, and especially in London. Though from what I see in the media physical violence seems to be far more prevalent in England today than it was in the past. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Antisemitism, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Israel, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

How rabbis write their High Holy Days sermons

“This year, I will get all my High Holiday sermons done by July, and then I will be able to just edit or update them closer to the date to reflect any changes in the world.” Once this plan is put into your Rabbi’s mind, they will immediately abandon it and never speak of it again, until the following May. [Joshua Kail]

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Israel, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Our journey from U.S. residents to Israeli citizens

In the summer of 1991, we sold our house and car and made Aliyah with our two young sons. Our sons struggled at first in school but by the following September they were acclimated and had many friends. They were speaking Hebrew ok by then; Michal and I still speak only simple Hebrew, but English is quite common.

We moved from our 1st-year rental in Ra’anana and bought a house in Alfe Menashe, just over the Green Line, the informal border separating Israel from Judea and Samaria – the Jewish homeland. [Steve Kramer].

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Antisemitism, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food, USA

Jewish biography: Karl Schwarzchild, astrophysicist

His work on the theory of relativity contained the first exact solutions to the equations of general relativity with spherical symmetry—the so-called Schwarzschild inner solution for a non-rotating spherical body of homogeneous fluid and the Schwarzschild outer solution for static empty space around a spherically symmetric body (the latter is now usually referred to simply as the Schwarzschild solution). [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, International, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

JCC Camp aromas will trigger future memories

Years from now, one of those familiar scents may suddenly bring a camper back to the friendships they formed, the counselor who believed in them, the joy of singing Shabbat together, and the discovery that being Jewish is not simply something you learn, it is something you live. [Betzy Lynch]

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Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Opinion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors