Science, Medicine, & Education

Coronavirus from the medical profession’s viewpoints

Six doctors and two nurses participated in a coronavirus Zoom forum moderated on Wednesday night for Tifereth Israel Synagogue members by the Conservative congregation’s program director Beth Klareich. Speaking from the perspective of being both a recovered coronavirus patient and a physician was Dr. Seth Krosner, an emergency and trauma surgeon at Scripps Mercy Hospital. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Never Again Education Act passage hailed

Jewish and pro-Israel organizations responded favorably to the passage in the U.S. Senate of the Never Again Education Act, H.R. 943, which would provide federal funding to help give teachers across the country the necessary resources to teach about the Holocaust in their classrooms. The bill passed the House on January 27 and now goes to the President for his signature.  Following are comments from some of the organizations {Compiled from news releases]

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International, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

What was the Spanish Flu?

Between, January 1918 and December 1920 more people were killed by the Spanish flu than all the people who died during World War I soldiers and civilians, 50 million, about a tenth of the world population of 500 million at that time. The flu struck just prior to the end of World War I (1914-1918) when conditions in the US and world-wide were terrible: weak, hungry, overworked people living in overcrowded conditions. There were lots of movement of people around the world, such as soldiers moving from country to country. There was no concept of mitigation and isolation. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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International, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Some advice if you see a Nazi or a Klansman

So, imagine you are shopping, and into the store comes someone who is wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood, or a face mask with a swastika on it, as happened respectively at a Vons and a Food4Less outlet in Santee recently.  What should you do? [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food

Hillel webcast ponders ethics of pandemic

During what Hillel of San Diego described as a webcast report from the front lines on Monday, May 4, UC San Diego student Bianca Kermani posed a question to San Diego State University graduate Sheryl Warfield, who is now working as a nurse in the intensive care unit of the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona. “What flaws have you noticed in the system?” she asked. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Ancient camel milk and urine remedy not recommended today

This past week one article from the Middle East created an uproar of discussion., Sabili Mehdi is the chairman of prophetic medicine society and has over 60,000 followers. In a video, Sabili urges his followers to drink camel urine, but it must be taken “fresh and warm.” [i] [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

The harm of SIGH-ence

If you’re like most folks who read websites, magazines and newspapers, listen to a myriad of podcasts or TV news broadcasts with experts from all walks of life, you may be totally confused by the sensationalism and shock tactics covering COVID-19, mental wellbeing, physical health, obesity, exercise, nutrition, stress and a whole host of other related topics. Much of it is twaddle, claptrap, and sheer poppycock. And we don’t need research to tell us that stuff isn’t good for you health. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Lifestyles, Michael Mantell, Science, Medicine, & Education

Yesterday’s ‘duck and cover’ and today’s coronavirus

We wonder, “Did we really think hiding under our desk would protect us from a nuclear explosion?” Our teachers and parents realized that doing something, however minimal, might confer a degree of protection from a potential oncoming nuclear fireball that was likely to cause serious injury or death. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Ancient views on menstruation, epidemics STDs

Leviticus 12-15 – The text deals with purification procedures after menstruation and childbirth; evaluating and separating out various skin lesions, and stains on objects, to sort the serious from the benign; the purification of a healed leper/leprous lesion; and dealings with venereal discharges, benign or serious. [Irv Jacobs, MD]

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International, Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Ritual purity and the coronavirus

When I was a young yeshiva student, I would get up every day and bathe in the hot mikveh (similar to a jacuzzi) around 5:00 in the morning. Then I would walk to the yeshiva hall and study the entire Mishnah while observing the sunrise. By my second year, I had completed the study of the Mishnah with its commentaries. This experience afforded me the opportunity to study the laws of animal sacrifices. Most people might be surprised to see how the sacrificial cult influenced the origins of Jewish prayer—especially with respect to the role of intentionality, for one stray thought, could invalidate a sacrifice.   [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Science, Medicine, & Education

Some advice about school bullying

Melissa Rubenstein Levin, who worked for Drasnin Communications in San Diego from 2000 to 2002, is now based in Houston, where she is handling publicity for IndieFlix. That production company recently issued three films.  Angst, which includes an interview with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, deals with understanding anxiety disorders; Like “explores the impact of social media on our lives and the effects of technology on the brain,” and The Upstanders, which I recently watched, “explores cyber-bullying,” as can be seen in the trailer above. [Our Shtetl San Diego County by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Joe Gandelman, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Voting by proxy in Congress during pandemic?

Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) says she is in a favor of  a proposal that would permit voting by proxy in Congress as long as the requirement of social distancing is in effect or if similar emergencies should occur. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Helping children’s emotions through COVID19

In this installment of my emotional education series aimed at helping readers live healthier through COVID19, I’m going to focus on younger children, a group that is often left out of our focus. This one finding alone from Roberto Olivardia, a lecturer in psychology at Harvard Medical School, is why paying attention to youngsters now is especially important. He reported that as many as 1% of children may suffer from “maskaphobia,” a fear that continues for longer than six months. While usually thought of in relation to costumes and superheroes, in today’s mask-filled streets it is linked to COVID19. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Lifestyles, Michael Mantell, Science, Medicine, & Education