Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish Political Briefing: Saturday Evening, Dec. 6, 2025

More than 200 cultural and public figures have signed a petition urging Israel to release convicted terrorist Marwan Barghouti from prison.  Among Jews signing the petition are singer Paul Simon and journalist Peter Beinart. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Opinion, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Our Shtetl: A Jewish Rabbit?

Freckles, my beloved angora-mix rabbit, turned 7 on December 4 — the equivalent of 57 in “rabbit years.” My super-cool 13-year-old twins proudly tell everyone that Freckles is a Jewish rabbit. While certainly not kosher, she was blessed in 2019 by then-Rabbi Josh Dorsch of Tifereth Israel Synagogue. [Cailin Acosta]

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Cailin Acosta, Holocaust, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

Jewish Political Briefing: Friday, Dec. 5, 2025

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plane was the target of four drones as he landed at the Dublin, Ireland, airport around 11 pm., Monday, Dec.1  Who sent the military-class drones and why they were sent are open questions now under investigation by Ireland’s security forces. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Middle East, News Media, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USA

Jewish Community Symphony Debuts with the Three B’s

The Jewish Community Symphony, formerly the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO), now rebranded in its new home at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, opened its 52nd season November 30, with a well-rehearsed performance of Beethoven’s Egmont Overture. [Eileen Wingard]

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

Jewish Political Briefing, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025

Although not all information at a closed-door meeting was disclosed, U.S. Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley on Thursday told select senators and congressmen that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not issue explicit “kill them all” orders prior to the second-strike Sept. 2 on an alleged drug-running boat off the Venezuelan coast. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Jewish History, News Media, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Meta Connect 2025: 2 Live Jews, 2 Architects of Connection – Consciousness in Code 

By Michael Adam Cohen in San Diego Mark Zuckerberg on one screen, The world and I on another. The Meta logo flickers behind him like a heartbeat of the empire he built. I lean in, glasses catching the glow, feeling the anticipation crackle across the digital divide. As a longtime top two percent rising creator

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Business & Finance, Jewish Celebrities, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Technology, USA

When Memory Becomes Action

Moshe teaches us that greatness doesn’t come from good intentions alone- it comes from turning compassion into concrete action. A true leader, and a true member of Klal Yisrael, is someone who shows up, who takes responsibility and asks: “What can I do to help?” Every one of us has daily opportunities to be a “do-er”- to step in, support others, and make a difference. Even small actions, when done with sincerity and courage, can have an everlasting effect. [Ilanit Zakowski]

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California, Ilanit Zakowski, Israel, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Opinion, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

A Plot Against Hitler Exposed by a Nazi Physician

A group of German nationals—all of whom were Gentile, mainly ladies of aristocratic background, but some of the gentlemen were, in pre-Hitlerian times, senior civil servants—met on September 10 for afternoon tea in Carmer Strasse. Being wartime, the fare was simple, the conversation defiantly anti-Hitler: “How to Stop the War?” [Paul Rose]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Stalin’s Postwar Terror Targeted Soviet Jews in the Name of ‘Anti-Cosmopolitanism’

“Rootless cosmopolitan” became code for “Jewish,” and dismissals swept the arts, sciences and media. The Ministry of State Security arrested Jewish industrial leaders for sabotage and, in 1953, fabricated “the Doctor’s Plot,” which accused a group of predominately Jewish doctors who treated Kremlin officials of trying to assassinate Stalin and other party leaders. [Wendy Z. Goldman]

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Antisemitism, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors

A Second Chance Coming for New Year’s Resolutions

December has arrived, and the end of 2025 is upon us. Some of my friends say that if they didn’t follow through with their Rosh Hashanah resolutions, they get a re-do on December 31st. [Cailin Acosta]

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Cailin Acosta, International, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Obituaries & memorials, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food