Lifestyles

Therapist who also Needed to be Healed Relates Her Experience with Mental Illness

Before she was prescribed lithium, author Marcia Naomi Berger experienced manic episodes in which her mind would race all night, preventing sleep, and continue racing the next day with her speech trying to keep up. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Sweet Memories of a Short-Order Cook

The man at the grill never fully turned around, just swiveled his head slightly to acknowledge the newest person to grab a coveted spot at the counter or listen to the takeout order shouted at him by the person standing over the shoulder of somebody seated. He provided equal service to all — working-class men in coveralls, prim secretaries all made up and wearing high heels even on icy days, and Wall Street types in pinstripe suits. Nobody got special treatment. Nobody got special attention. First come, first served. [Karen Galatz]

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Karen Galatz, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USA

An Israeli-American Perspective: Different Attitudes Toward Time

I remember countless instances when passengers would arrive at the gate a solid hour before boarding, itineraries in hand and a sense of urgency and exhaustion plastered on their faces. In contrast, my Israeli passengers had a different vibe. Israelis have a more relaxed relationship with time. (Shahar Masori)

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International, Israel, Lifestyles, Shahar Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USA

Wednesday, June 19th, is Juneteenth – A Day for Reflection

On June 19, 1865, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas and ensured that all enslaved people were set free — a last chapter in America’s abominable record of state-sanctioned slavery.  According to History.com, Juneteenth which is short for June Nineteenth, became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021. [Cailin Acosta]

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Cailin Acosta, International, Lifestyles, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

A Serious Essay about European Jewish Humor

Self-criticism is inherent in a tolerant society that respects the human being as such and reflects on its mistakes and imperfections. Self-criticism is alien to an authoritarian society. Nations that are satisfied with themselves and look to other nations for faults and blame for their failures are stagnant. Jews are dissatisfied, hence they develop. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Israel, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Lesbian Breaks Free from Gur Hasidim

So, of course she tried to suppress the fact that she was physically stimulated by the touch of women and conversely deadened by the touch of men.  She took no joy in marital sex; it was a duty imposed upon her by the expectation of the Gur community.  The only benefit of having sex with her first husband was her two children, for whom her love knew no bounds. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors

OpEd: The ‘Music’ of Socialism

Why didn’t I become a socialist? Soviet socialism destroyed my family and I could not love it. But it turned out that I disliked socialism for the same reason I did not become a musician: my aunt’s piano also left Kiev.  Instead of using my absolute musical ear for music, I had to use it to listen to the atonal music of wailing, to the unmelodic moans and gloomy chords of the lamentations of the Soviet Jews. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, International, Israel, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

‘Cheesecake’ Refers to Dessert on Shavuot

As Shavuot is almost here, we eagerly anticipate the receiving of the Torah. Below I mention a few events around our town because making the journey to Mount Sinai is out of many of our budgets and that is a long plane flight. [Cailin Acosta]

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Cailin Acosta, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

Becoming “Besties” with a 105-Year-Old Seacrest Village Resident

It’s not every day you can say you are now best friends with a 105-year-old. I am happy to tell you on Friday, May 31, I can report I now have a new best friend named Charlotte Marx. I attended Marx’s 105th birthday lunch at Seacrest Village in Encinitas with a contingent from Tifereth Israel Synagogue Sisterhood. [Cailin Acosta[

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Cailin Acosta, Holocaust, International, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Embracing Midlife Friendships

To have close girlfriends at any point in our lives is a gift, but there is a quality to our more mature relationships that either did not or could not exist in our young adulthood. They tend to be real, easy, and honest, mirroring our maturation and growth. And, unlike in past decades, our topics of conversation are increasingly about us, and our midlife evolution, as opposed to our kids or careers. [Shayna Kaufmann]

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Lifestyles, San Diego County, Shayna Kaufmann, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA