Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish Family Service Pauses Migrant Shelter Service, Gives 60-Day Notice to Staff

With these changes and the cancellation of federal funding, the Migrant Shelter Services component of our Welcome the Stranger work is paused as we continue to better understand future community needs. Also, as part of these changes in federal funding and policy, Monday, we informed shelter services staff with 60 days’ notice. [Michael Hopkins and Dana Toppel]

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San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Trump’s Gaza Plan Roils the Middle East

President Trump’s vision of an eastern Mediterranean resort to rival the Riviera exposed the scope of the dangers in Gaza. He would have been better off letting his concept stay in Vegas, or Palm Beach. The very act of talking about it during a news conference last week, on Tuesday, could trigger greater hazards. [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

What Do the Ten Commandments Really Say?

The Decalogue, which most people mistakenly call “The Ten Commandments,” is contained in the fifth Exodus biblical portion, Yitro, which Moses repeats with many changes in the fifth chapter of Deuteronomy. Some Jewish philosophers, rabbis, and non-Jews disagreed over what exactly the Bible was saying in these statements. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Kushner Family’s Holocaust Saga Included in ‘Tunnel of Hope’

Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump and one of the architects of the Abraham Accords, may not have ever existed were it not for the daring escape by his grandmother Raya in September 1943 from a forced labor camp run by the Nazis in Novogrudok in today’s Belarus. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Drama Concerns Family Members’ Reactions to a Memoir Spilling Their Secrets

Other Desert Cities at Cygnet theater is the story of  family members grappling with secrets from their past. Writer Brooke Wyeth (Melanie Lora) comes home to Palm Springs after finishing her second book.  Only this time her book isn’t a novel, it’s a memoir and it’s focused on the hardest time in her family’s history, when her brother committed suicide after being implicated in an anti-war protest turned deadly.  [Sandi Masori]

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California, San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Jewish Trivia Quiz: Super Bowl

Since ‍2014, ‍radio ‍host ‍Nachum ‍Segal ‍has ‍presented ‍the ‍“Kosher ‍Halftime ‍Show” ‍as ‍an ‍online ‍alternative ‍for ‍religious ‍Jews ‍to ‍watch ‍while ‍the ‍players ‍are ‍in ‍the ‍locker ‍room ‍for ‍the ‍mid-game ‍break. ‍This ‍year’s ‍Kosher ‍Halftime ‍Show ‍broadcast ‍featured ‍singer/songwriter ‍Eli ‍Begun, ‍composer ‍of ‍such ‍songs ‍as ‍‍In ‍Our ‍Darkest ‍Times ‍and ‍‍Shabbos ‍Hayom. ‍Why ‍does ‍Nachum ‍Segal ‍provide ‍this ‍halftime ‍program ‍for ‍Jewish ‍football ‍fans? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

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Jewish Religion, Mark D. Zimmerman, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

Tuba Soloist William Nakamura Featured in TICO Concert

The tuba soloist, William Nakamura, did a fine job making the tuba, that elephant of the orchestra, sound beautiful and negotiating the hopping, kangaroo-like leaps with agility. As the printed program notes explained, the work was inspired by the kangaroo-rat of Death Valley. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish Biography: Richard Wilstätter, Nobel Prize-Winning Chemist

Richard Martin Wilstätter was born in Karlsruhe on August 13, 1872. His father was a cloth merchant. In From My Life Wilstätter writes about his origins: “My forefathers were Jews. They had made their home in Karlsruhe since 1720. […] Rabbis, teachers, and a physician were among my ancestors.” Since childhood, he has been fascinated by the natural sciences: “At the age of twelve, I had decided on chemistry and natural sciences in general.” [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

‘Mendel the Mess-Up’ Devises Plan to Ward Off Cossacks in Graphic Novel for Middle Schoolers

This graphic novel intended for Middle Schoolers tells the story of a boy who can’t do anything right, even though his intentions are good. At fault may have been the evil eye that a woman, bitter about the abduction of her own son, put on Mendel’s mother while she was pregnant. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Fiction, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Home in Israel at Last: Eli Shabari, Or Levy, and Ohad Ben Ami

Eli Sharabi, 52, Or Levy, 34, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56, were released from Hamas captivity Saturday morning, Feb. 8, after surviving 491 days in hell. Gaunt and emaciated after being starved by their barbaric captors, the three men were forced to participate in another despicable PR parade staged by Hamas terrorists. [Cory Meyer, AIPAC)

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Israel, Staff and Bylined Contributors