Yiddishland, a La Jolla nonprofit dedicated to spreading knowledge of Yiddish and Yiddishkeit, has issued a guide to help people determine what level of Yiddish speaker they are. [SDJW]
Yiddishland Offering Classes, Songs, to Teach Yiddish Read More »
International, Judaism, Lifestyles, San Diego County, USA
Comic-Con@Home once again took place online this past summer due to Covid fears. However, Comic-Con also hosted a live convention in San Diego this year, perplexingly on Thanksgiving weekend. So, I took my tryptophan-laden self, picked up my recently Black Friday bruised wallet, and headed downtown to see an all new and all different Con, one from 30 years ago. [Shor M. Masori]
Comic-Con on the Come-Up Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Shor M. Masori
Strom is known in the modern Jewish world, and certainly around San Diego, for his accomplishments as a violinist, composer, filmmaker, writer, photographer, and playwright. He’s conducted significant research in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans among the Jewish and Roma communities, as well as toured with his klezmer band Hot Pstromi Trio. They compose their own New Jewish music combining klezmer with Chasidic nigunim, Roma, jazz, classical, Balkan and Sephardic motifs. [Danielle Levsky]
Music Was The Flashlight: A Profile of Yale Strom Read More »
Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
Spending time in Orange County gives one a new perspective on life as it is lived by former Israelis in America. Like all other ethnic groups, they tend to gather together in groups, associate socially with one another, speak their own language and maintain their traditional habits. So, although it came as something of a surprise to find that our son and his partner seem to associate almost entirely with former Israelis, what was surprising was to discover how varied their lives are. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Varied Lives of Israeli Expatriates in Southern California Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Lifestyles, Middle East, USA
This is a painful book to read, dealing as it does in the mentally abusive treatment author Portnoy said she suffered at the hands of her parents, brother, boyfriend, and college administrators both in the United States and Israel. There seemed no end to Portnoy’s complaints. [Donald H. Harrison]
Memoir Tells of Climb from Abuse and Low Self-Esteem Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles
The great Jewish texts and sources are an enormous trove of knowledge, insights, traditions, and wisdom. His months at Pardes will barely scratch the surface and are tantamount to studying the initial pages of the first volume of a 32-volume encyclopedia—just enough to know that he’ll hardly know anything. But through these months, he will have evolved both respect and appreciation for the works’ scope and breadth. [Doron Krakow]
3 Subjects Worthy of Deep Study: Torah, JCC’s, Mideast History Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
The Judaic meaning of gratitude must go beyond the mere recognition of God’s countless blessings we experience in our lives. What exactly does “thanksgiving” mean? Thanksgiving comes from two words, “thanks,” and “giving.” True Thanksgiving involves a willingness to share God’s blessings and create blessing in the lives of others around us. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Thanksgiving = Thanks + Giving Read More »
Lifestyles, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USABy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson ORANGE, California — Coming to the U.S. from Israel (or Europe, come to that) one of the first things that strikes you is how big everything (and everyone) is. Well, in California, where i am just now, everything is even bigger. Not necessarily better, but definitely bigger The roads and freeways are
California Dreaming Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Lifestyles, Travel and Food
Over the past 50 years, my wife Bonnie and I have shared our homes with six cats. The first was a beautiful seal point Siamese paradoxically named Whitey bequeathed to us by friends intent on stopping their baby from playing in her litter box. In one of her former lives she must have been a dog. She fetched balled up pieces of paper, followed us around like a shadow, and emitted piercing yowls. Siamese are lookers, not singers! [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Mercury Baron: Our Last Cat (For Now) Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Lifestyles, San Diego County, The World We Share
Jewish books from the PJ Library are mailed free every month to 680,000 Jewish children to be read to them at bedtime by their parents or guardians. Yes, you can thank Harold Grinspoon, the Massachusetts real estate entrepreneur who funds much of this philanthropy, along with Winnie Sandler Grinspoon, his daughter-in-law who serves as president of his Foundation. [Donald H. Harrison]
Dolly Parton Inspired the PJ Library Program for Jewish Children Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Judaism, Lifestyles, USA
The senior program at the Lawrence Family JCC is among the 26 programs receiving financial grants from the San Diego Seniors Community Foundation (SDSCF), it was announced Thursday, Nov. 18. [San Diego Seniors Community Foundation news release]
Lawrence Family JCC Senior Program Receives Chanukah Grant Read More »
Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County
Shoulds are injunctions carried over from earlier in life, from parents, teachers, religious leaders, and other authority figures. Some have become dispensable. As we grow older, we shed many of these shoulds. [Natasha Josefowitz]
Gaining Freedom from Old “Shoulds’ Read More »
Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz
Ira Spector, who contributed more than 30 columns to this publication on subjects including his childhood in Brooklyn, his service in the Coast Guard, his extensive travels, interesting personalities he had met, and his flamboyant tennis game, died Oct. 14, just four days shy of his 88th birthday. [SDJW]
Ira Spector (1933-2021) Read More »
International, Lifestyles, Middle East, Travel and Food, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. Ever since the 1950s when Albert Ellis, Ph.D., an early teacher and mentor of mine, developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy/Coaching, the mental health field has not been the same. Thankfully. Instead of spending months and even years gazing inward and backward with no real behavior change in sight, folks experiencing
The ABCs of a Healthy Mindset Read More »
Lifestyles, Michael Mantell