By Sam Glaser LOS ANGELES — During the Sukkot holiday, the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles erupts in joyful celebration. Our forty-plus kosher restaurants all have sukkot attached. There’s a sukkah on top of Ralph’s supermarket. One could conceivably sukkah hop to a different hut every five minutes and not exhaust the inventory. Google “Sukkah’s […]
The Joys of Sukkot Read More »
Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East, Sam Glaser, USA
Other items in this column include: *Ethnic Studies *Political Bytes *San Diego Jewish World news *In memoriam By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School, now observing a nine-day holiday for Sukkot, will delay the resumption of its in-person classes until Wednesday, Oct. 14, two days after the holiday period’s
Soille returns temporarily to distance learning Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sheryl Rowling, USA
By Beth Sirull SAN DIEGO — It has been more than six months since the original “shelter in place” order. Back in March, many of us thought we would be working at home for a few weeks or months and then things would return to “normal.” But here we are still largely at home, with
$2.3 million worth of COVID-19 assistance Read More »
Lifestyles, San Diego County
Less than a month after the normalization agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain has also joined the peace train. I am all for it; peace and normalization are always better than war and animosity. But to be honest, I don’t see that the rest of the world is so excited about it, and I think this shows how isolated we are in the world. Despite the fact that Israel has established connections with countries that were previously enemies, no one is cheering, no one is sounding the festive trumpets. For all our efforts to be accepted, Israel, and Jews (though they may not recognize it), are excluded from the family of nations. [Michael Laitman, Ph.D]
What the world wants from the Jews Read More »
Lifestyles, Middle East
One of the most powerful ideas in Judaism, a notion born out of the creation story, is that of creating order out of chaos. At Camp Alonim, we drew inspiration from this age-old Jewish wisdom, and adapted it to our world today to continue building community during a time of chaos. [Aaron Goldberg]
The Magic of Camp in a Different Kind of Summer Read More »
Judaism, Lifestyles, Travel and Food
As we sit in our homes by ourselves month after month without in-person social interactions, we become acutely, even overly, aware of ourselves. Because we have only ourselves and our own responses, we have a tendency to become self-centered by default. And since there is no one to interact with, all of our ideas, thoughts, and feelings are experienced without feedback. This is where self-reflection can become dysfunctional. Like cows ruminating their cud, we can become obsessive and compulsive, reexamining the same thing over and over, driving ourselves nuts. Without another person to assess and appraise the conclusions we come to, we may leave reality behind as we follow some increasingly irrational tangent. [Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D]
The adverse impacts of isolation Read More »
Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz
The South African Jewish American Community, better known as SAJAC, has issued its annual magazine for 2020, reporting that San Diego State University Prof. David B. Cline is conducting oral history interviews with community members. The magazine’s writers also offer suggestions on coping with COVID19, and Alzheimer’s Disease, and additionally they profile young entrepreneurs, visual artists, and poets, among other articles. [Donald H. Harrison, “Our Shtetl San Diego County”
Study underway of S.D.’s South African Jews Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Lifestyles, San Diego CountyReleased today on a variety of streaming services , Extra Innings is the story of a boy who was a very talented baseball player, whose Orthodox Jewish parents not only discouraged him from this pursuit, but also refused to attend any of his games. This was sad because the young man, modeled on writer/ director Albert Dabah’s own life, had natural talent, both as an outfielder and as a batter. [Movie review by Donald H. Harrison]
‘Extra Innings’ is not only a baseball story Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & BroadcastThink about it, a reality where you need two breadwinners to sustain a family simply makes no sense. Both parents stay out most of the day, and by the time they get home they are exhausted and barely have energy to dedicate their attention to their children. And in families with only one breadwinner the situation is of course much worse, both because there is only one parent to raise the children, and because single parents often have to work two jobs just to provide for the basic needs of the family. [Michael Laitman, Ph.D]
Family Life in a Changing Job Market Read More »
Lifestyles
The most spectacular woman I ever met in my life was not a raving beauty, nor femme fatale. She was a trim, blonde, middle-aged woman of unremarkable features. She had not achieved the political accomplishments of a Golda Mier, and lacked the poetic soul of a Maya Angelou.She was a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney. Spectacular is an accurate description of Gladys Towle Root and paradoxical would be the correct adjective to describe her. [Ira Spector]
The Root Cause of His Tennis Garb Read More »
Lifestyles, USAWhen things go wrong, people look heavenward for answers and comfort. Since ancient times people have looked for something to hold onto in moments of crisis and distress, so it is only natural that this pandemic has triggered a search for an upper force, as studies confirm. This outcry will accelerate our discovery of the meaning of life and help us internalize an answer that will be found in the power of love between us. [Michael Laitman, Ph.D]
Faith and Belief in Times of Crisis Read More »
Lifestyles
After I had completed active duty, the law required that for the next four years I attend monthly weekend duty and two weeks annual active duty at a base in my home environs. I lived in New York City and worked for American Airlines, so I had free air transportation and I was able to get assigned to the Captain of the Port office on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco Bay. This was an important and busy command center that controlled all the ship and shore activity in and around the Bay, assuring that everything flowed smoothly and legally. [Ira Spector]
San Francisco Bay by Sea and Air Read More »
Lifestyles, USAWe are about to celebrate the Jewish New Year, a Rosh Hashanah like no other. Synagogues across America and the world are adjusting their services to the Covid-19 restrictions limiting physical gatherings. Besides the loss of lives, individual members and entire congregations have been deeply affected by the pandemic’s economic blows, wreaking havoc in rippling waves, which have fueled anti-Semites to blame Jews for the creation and spread of the virus. A somber future looks like the most realistic scenario, but this can definitely be changed if only we will see our fate as a single, seamlessly-shared project. [Michael Laitman, Ph.D]
Covid19, Jewish divisions: somber prospects for 5781 Read More »
Jewish Religion, LifestylesWe were greeted at the door by our neatly attired host whose every stitch of tennis clothing he wore from his cap down to his sneakers and socks had a company logo emblazoned on them. He was a man about my age and height but considerably slender with no unusual features to distinguish him. We sat down for a respectful minute or two by the poolside patio, met his blonde attractive wife, and in very short order I detected the ”Holier than thou” waves emitting from the aura surrounding him. [Ira Spector]
Clearly no love in this tennis match Read More »
Lifestyles, Sports & Competitions