The boy greeted every passenger who got on the bus with either, “Please make sure your mask stays on properly. I don’t want my Saba and Safta (grandfather and grandmother) to get sick,” or “Thank you for wearing a mask. Because of you, my Saba and Safta hopefully won’t get sick.” [Barry Shaw]
Boy campaigns in Israel to save lives Read More »
Barry Shaw, Lifestyles, Middle East
A short while ago, I visited a third world country. Visas were no longer necessary, but that may change after the next election. The country’s name is South-Eastern Florida. I was there to reunite with long lost Jewish friends of fifty years ago from the New York City area. We had scattered to all corners of the United States seeking fortune, fame, and families. I found some of my comrades via the Internet. I also sought out several cousins who had relocated to this sun-drenched nation. [Ira Spector]
Humor: NY retiree to California examines Florida brethren Read More »
Lifestyles, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA
When my brother Bill Harrison and I were growing up in New Rochelle, New York, we shared a room. As you walked in, his bed was against the wall on the right, and mine was against the wall on the left. Bill, who was five years older than I am, grew tired of me crossing over to his side of the room where I would inspect his things, and sometimes play with his “grown-up” stuff. So he did what any big brother might do, he banned me from his side of the room. [Donald H. Harrison]
Bill Harrison, z”l, has a place of his own Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, Obituaries & memorials
The summer of 1965, I was not quite 17, not quite 5-foot-7, and not quite a college freshman. I was also broke, and I was convinced that I held the school record for number of crushes on girls who couldn’t quite remember who I was when I called for a date. I couldn’t do anything about my age or height, but I decided to solve my other two problems with a summer job at a Catskill Mountains hotel, piling up tips and meeting girls – Jewish preferred, but not required. [Michael Ginsberg]
Short story: Dirty Dishes Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Michael Ginsberg, USA
In December 2001, I was semi-kidnapped by a taxi driver in the state of Karnataka, a remote area in Southeast India. Although scary at the time, it ended being one of many adventures/ stories that happened during the three weeks I was in India, studying with His Holiness (HH) the Dalai Lama. [Mimi Pollack]
Adventures of a Jewish Buddhist Read More »
International, Lifestyles, Mimi Pollack, Travel and Food
The euphoria lasted exactly two weeks. As June progressed the general rejoicing and premature self-congratulation on the part of the government came to an abrupt stop. The dreaded second wave had arrived. The curve which had been flattened reared its ugly head again, and alarm bells started ringing as the number of infections rose drastically. The idea of returning to the theatre and the concert hall vanished like the proverbial mirage. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Between Hunkering Down and Resurgence Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Lifestyles, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
We absolutely do not feel personally safe in the current national environment. And a horrifying number are frightfully sick while an explicable number are losing their lives. We have both viral illness and viral racial injustice–they have eerily converged into an uncommon veil of American disease, distrust, disavowal–but, yes, hope. We the people, the authentic American body-psyche, have become the default leadership of our complex nation. Knowing that we’ve been forgotten, many of us have decided to remember what principles this country telegraphed when we threw off the shackles of royal colonialism. [Ben Kamin]
Many broken Americans respond with dignity, patience Read More »
Lifestyles, San Diego County, USA
By itself, coronavirus is a respiratory disease. Add to coronavirus one’s particular thoughts and it may become a roiling emotional and social pandemic as well. Recognizing the indicators of mental distress in yourself and in others can often lead to creating internal strength and a healthier community around you. [Michael R. Mantell, PhD]
How to be a COVID Battle Buddy Read More »
Lifestyles, Michael Mantell
Given the assault on “whiteness” that we see today, some people of the ultra-left claim that chess is a racist game since it pits the “whites” vs. the “blacks.” To certain individuals, this game accentuates the problems some see in race relations. To make matters further complicated, the white pieces go before the black pieces. This is perceived by those who consider themselves “woke” (people who are super-sensitive to racism) as a “racially biased.” [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
White moves first; is chess racist? Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Lifestyles, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA
When we talk about the Declaration of Independence and the freedom it envisioned for the people of the United States, our conversations are likely to turn to the two great issues facing our country today: the coronavirus pandemic and the racial justice movement. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
American independence, coronavirus, and racial justice Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, San Diego County, USA
As I focus on the debate among Jews about the relationship our community ought to have with the Black Lives Matter movement, I realize that discussion is driven by how traumatized our entire Jewish people have been by the Holocaust and its aftershocks. In my view, both the Jewish Right and the Jewish Left have patterned their behavior on what they have learned — and suffered — as a result of the Nazis’ slaughter of our Six Million ancestors, relatives, and friends. [Donald H. Harrison]
Dueling Holocaust imperatives: Never again vs. Never ever Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education
The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute has put together a valuable resource for Jewish organizations and schools to distribute to parents of teens called Parenting in a Pandemic: A Guide for the Perplexed. The contributors include medical doctors, licensed social workers and scholars and covers a wide variety of topics. [Marcia Berneger]
Tips for parenting teens during a pandemic Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Lifestyles, Marcia Berneger
Albert Cohen wrote (or at least published) this book when he was about sixty years old. I don’t know when his mother died, but – as its title implies – the book is about his late mother and her devotion to him, embellished by his evidently deep-rooted sense of guilt at not having been as kind to her as he felt should have been in her lifetime. (Dorothea Shefer-Vanson)
French Jewish author details a son’s deep regret Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Lifestyles
I often had business lunches and dinners out, and then there were all the lectures, plays, and concerts that our retirement community bus took us to several times a week. I complained I was too busy, running from one event to another, and had no time in between. I clocked around 10,000 steps on my Apple Watch every day. I felt invulnerable and ageless (as long as I didn’t look at that incongruent image reflected in the mirror). Then…BOOM! The pandemic struck, and we were confined to our apartments with all public areas closed, no dining room, no gym, no pool, no beach walks, no meeting friends, no going anywhere. So in just a few months I went from my mid-twenties to my mid-nineties. [Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D]
Feeling seven decades older during the pandemic Read More »
Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz, San Diego County