By Loren Kantor STUDIO CITY, California –My paternal grandfather was a Torah scribe. He spent his days carefully drawing the Hebrew letters that made up the Torah, the most sacred of Jewish texts. Writing on thin parchment paper made from the skin of a kosher animal, he began by carefully marking thin pencil lines that […]
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Jewish Religion, Music and Visual Arts
By Loren Kantor STUDIO CITY, California — Simon Wiesenthal was an Austrian Jewish Holocaust survivor who came to prominence after World War II as a Nazi hunter. With the aid of the Israeli, Austrian and West German governments he helped capture nearly 1,100 Nazi war criminals. Wiesenthal was born in 1908 in Lvov (in
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Jewish History, Music and Visual Arts
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–Skot Golden-Needham shyly approached the aron kodesh on Sunday, Dec. 8, with his kindergarten teacher Lori Bunshaft. Then, turning around, he displayed the model aron kodesh that he made and Mora Lori showed another one fashioned by one of his classmates. It was hard to tell what was brighter,
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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music and Visual Arts
By Arlene S. Moskowitz, JD and Joel A. Moskowitz, MD LA JOLLA, California –A prescription for Jews: Singing is good for your health, spiritual and physical. At the recent Society for Neuroscience meeting at the San Diego Convention Center, there was a section that emphasized the benefits of music. New findings: …. “that musicians have
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Music and Visual Arts
By Loren Kantor STUDIO CITY, California — From 1977 to 1986, Woody Allen had a filmmaking run so impressive it’s been equaled only by the likes of Billy Wilder and Preston Sturges. Allen’s films included Annie Hall, Manhattan, Broadway Danny Rose, Zelig, Purple Rose of Cairo and Hannah and Her Sisters. Woody was an antidote to the Spielberg/Lucas
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Music and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Sandy Golden SAN DIEGO — Good vs. Evil: Over the past several days we have seen and heard increasing evidence of both, as a result of the horrific happening after the Boston Marathon—-the vicious, vindictive planning that went into the destruction and deaths that resulted –and –the display of heroism, compassion and selfless acts
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Music and Visual Arts
Editor Donald H. Harrison is back from a roundtrip cruise between San Diego and the Hawaiian Islands. This is the sixth in a series of articles based on that experience. By Donald H. Harrison ABOARD MS ZAANDAM– Violinist Michael Bacala says he was inspired as a child by the Rocky movies starring Sylvester Stallone, especially
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Donald H. Harrison, Music and Visual Arts, Travel and Food
By Loren Kantor STUDIO CITY, California –Billy Wilder is one of Hollywood’s all-time great filmmakers. His movies ranged from film noir to screwball comedy and they were known for tight plots and memorable dialogue. Wilder despised sentiment and he sought to tell stories as simply and elegantly as possible. To Wilder, “the best director is
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Music and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & BroadcastBy Joel A Moskowitz M D LA JOLLA, California — Claudia Stevens, a multi-talented actress, singer, drummer, and historian brought to life “Madame F” on Monday evening, Nov. 26, at the Recital Hall of Mandeville Auditorium UCSD. Madame F is the abbreviated name for Fanja Fanelson (Goldstein) who was an award winning pianist. While she
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International, Jewish History, Music and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Congregation Beth Israel closed out the celebration of its sesquicentennial year with a nostalgic concert by Mandy Patinkin on Saturday evening, November 17, at Irwin M. Jacobs Qualcomm Hall. Patinkin, who has had starring roles on Broadway, in movies and in television series, took the Qualcomm stage following
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Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, Donald H. Harrison, Music and Visual Arts, San Diego County
By Loren Kantor STUDIO CITY, California — Manhattan is a sweet little gem of a movie made by Woody Allen in 1979. Shot in gorgeous black & white, the film opens with a stunning montage of New York set to the strains of Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue. Unlike Scorsese’s gritty Mean Streets & Sidney
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Music and Visual Arts, USA
By Loren Kantor STUDIO CITY, California — In Jewish Mystical Teaching, the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet are the energetic building blocks of creation. Like the periodic table of elements, God formed all things in the universe through combinations of Hebrew letters (just as atoms of oxygen and hydrogen combine to form a molecule
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Middle East, Music and Visual Arts
By Loren Kantor Editor’s Note: Loren Kantor often chooses Jews and Jewish themes as topics for his woodcuts. He’s agreed to share images from his work–and the stories behind them– with San Diego Jewish World. Magician Harry Houdini is the fifth topic in the series. STUDIO CITY, California — His name is synonymous with magic,
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Music and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Loren Kantor Editor’s Note: Loren Kantor often chooses Jews and Jewish themes as topics for his woodcuts. He’s agreed to share images from his work–and the stories behind them– with San Diego Jewish World. Actor Edward G. Robinson is the fourth topic in the series. STUDIO CITY, California–Edward G. Robinson was born
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Music and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast