Lifestyles

Finding Meaning in the Last Part of Your Life

This book is billed as one for women, but in fact the issues it discusses apply equally to the genders.  In her memoir, Laura Black tells of her struggles with weight and her recognition that because of it, her parents were embarrassed by her. To demonstrate her worth, she threw herself first into business and secondly into the law, eventually combining the two to create an agency to supply lawyers on a temporary basis to law firms that were crushed with work.  Her career won her recognition and plaudits, but did not erase her negative self-image. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles

Being the First Jew They’ve Known Ain’t for Sissies

being the recipient of such “first-Jew”news imposes a heavy burden. especially if, like me, your ethnic insecurity caused you to overtip when paying a bill by credit card, because the amount would be visible next to an obviously Jewish last name. Heaven forbid if we should contribute to a “cheap-Jew” stereotype. When told I was the first of my people they’d ever met, my reaction resembled that of the fictional man ordered to ride in a handcart to the guillotine “If not for the honor,” he observed, “I’d rather walk.” [Joel H. Cohen]

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Joel H. Cohen, Lifestyles

Prejudice: How Discomfort and Fear of the Unfamiliar Lead to Discrimination

By Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — There are many types of prejudice, but they can broadly be placed into two categories: personal and institutional. Personal prejudice is not based on reason, nor on actual experience. It is a feeling rooted in suspicion, fear, and intolerance. It is a negative attitude and adverse

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Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz, Opinion, USA

Daily Life, Obituaries and Last Rites in the Age of COVID

By Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D. RICHMOND, California — COVID has changed how we mourn. Attending funerals in temples, synagogues, and decamping to the cemetery were often followed by a meal of consolation and sitting shiva. Out of town family labored to attend. Minyan and yahrzeit mark the calendar. COVID made zooming and streaming funerals commonplace

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Lifestyles, Oliver Pollak

Shooting From the Hip: The Necessity For a Cortisone Injection

By Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D. About 25 years ago, Dr. Cliff Colwell replaced my right hip. The operation was successful; it has never bothered me since. However, at the time of the procedure, he advised me that my left hip had osteoarthritis and would also need a replacement soon. Twenty-five years later, I was standing

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Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz, Science, Medicine, & Education

Sha’ar Hanegev School Superintendent Tells of Missile Zone Challenges

Special problems faced by the preschool-through-12th-grade school district in Sha’ar Hanegev (Gateway to the Negev) are security for the students in a region often targeted by missiles fired by terrorists in neighboring Gaza, and persuading the students that there are jobs and good futures for them in that rural, agricultural area. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Doctor Who Became a Rabbi Runs Chabad Shul in Rancho Bernardo

Trestman was a medical doctor long before he became a rabbi.  He still is a pulmonary specialist with the Palomar/ Pomerado Hospital Group.  But now, he is also a Chabad rabbi who, with his wife Debra, hosts Bais Betzalel Chabad of North County Inland at their home in Rancho Bernardo near the Poway city line.  At the hospital, his colleagues call him “Ken” whereas at the shul he is known by his Hebrew name “Yehuda.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA