San Diego County

Hebrew Day School Student Wins Invitation to State Science Fair

Imagine that you built a bridge out of Jengo blocks, and you wanted to see who could more accurately and more quickly replicate your bridge.  Would it be students between the ages of 7 and 13 who watched a 20-second video of you building the bridge, step by step?  Or would it be students of the same age range who simply viewed the bridge for 20 seconds and then, after it was removed from view, started building a copy from memory? [Donald H. Harrison]

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

B’Shalom: Jewish MLB Players; Sabras, Jewish Political & Celebrity News

As the Major League Baseball season is about to get underway, I’m disappointed to report that our San Diego Padres do not have any Jewish player on the roster. However, there are eight Jewish players on National League teams that the Padres will play during the regular season. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, USA

Obituaries: Women’s Museum Honorees Natasha Josefowitz, Rosalie Schwartz

SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — Two honorees of the Women’s Museum of California died on March 15. One was author and columnist Natasha Josefowitz who was 96.  Lucid until the end, she had been writing columns for La Jolla Village News and San Diego Jewish World through the end of February.  An archive of her articles that appeared on

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Natasha Josefowitz, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Former Jewish Assemblyman Howard Wayne Tells How His Anti-Pollution Bill Became Law

Over coffee, Wayne explained to me that water from the higher elevations runs off regularly into the Bay.  Sometimes it’s rainwater; other times it is water from people watering their lawns, or hosing off their driveways, or washing their cars.  This water heads downhill, picking up whatever debris and pet excrement may lay in its path.  Eventually, the polluted water may find its way into a storm drain and then flow down to Mission Bay or to any of the beaches along the Pacific Coast. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, The World We Share

B’Shalom: Body Image, Military History, Baseball Classic, Jewish Political News

Kristine Schomaker’s eating disorder had made her feel “othered” since her girlhood. She tried to imagine herself as a slender blonde but when she looked into the mirror, she saw herself as she was, a very large woman. Rather than hide from her physical presence, she decided to embrace it. She invited 59 fellow artists to depict her in the nude. Sculptures, photographs, paintings, and drawings in various media resulted in an exhibition now being shown through April 13 at the Mesa College Art Gallery. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, USA

The Story Behind a San Diego Couple’s Historic Gift to Israel

Documentary filmmaker Matthew Mishory has done a deep dive into the background of a San Diego couple who lived quietly, scrimped to such a point that they even reused their paper towels, and through their daughter made the largest philanthropic donation to Israel in the history of the Jewish state: $500 million. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, Israel, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

San Diegans Gather for a Night of Unity and Hope in Defiance of Antisemitism

By Sam Litvin SAN DIEGO — “We have been playing defense. You can’t win a war with defense, you have to have offense” proclaimed Elan Carr, the former U.S. special envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism, during last Sunday’s “Fighting Antisemitism With Love” event at San Diego State University. The event was put on by

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Sam Litvin, San Diego County, USA

SD County Board of Supervisors Passes Resolution Denouncing Antisemitism

By Elizabeth Ireland Times of San Diego SAN DIEGO — The San Diego County Board of Supervisors Tuesday denounced antisemitic rhetoric and hate crimes with a resolution, citing rising antisemitic crimes in recent years. Supervisor Nathan Fletcher and Vice Chair Terra Lawson-Remer introduced the resolution. “Our action today reaffirms the County of San Diego’s stance

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San Diego County

Meats and Eats Offers San Diego a More Boutique Kosher Shopping Experience

By Jacob Kamaras DEL MAR, California — One year ago, Meats and Eats opened in the Del Mar Highlands Town Center with the mission of offering San Diego a new option for kosher shopping. In the ensuing months, the business also came to embrace the diversity of the local Jewish community and its palate. Jacobo

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Business & Finance, Jacob Kamaras, San Diego County

B’Shalom: ‘Jacob’s Staff’; TV’s ‘Equalizer,” and Israel in the WBC

The tall ocotillo plant (Fouquieria splendens) that abounds in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park has many common names, among them, according to the Britannica website, “coachwhip” and “vine cactus.”  “Ocotillo” translates from Spanish to “little torch” because of the red flowers that grow at the end of its branches. Perhaps its most mysterious nickname is one that may or may not tell a Jewish story, “Jacob’s staff.”[Donald H. Harrison]

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

March 30 at Congregation Beth Israel: ‘The State of Antisemitism in America’

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — Each day seems to bring more troubling news about the state of antisemitism in America, and San Diego has not been immune to this hate. Over the last few years, American Jews have been murdered in synagogues and shot in the streets, Jewish institutions have been vandalized, congregants have been

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San Diego County, USA

Biden and UK, Australia Unveil Submarine Security Pact During Historic San Diego Visit

Published by The San Diego Union-Tribune SAN DIEGO — At a historic meeting in San Diego, President Joe Biden and the prime ministers of the United Kingdom and Australia announced Monday that they’re accelerating plans to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines to help the nations counter a military build-up by China in the Indo-Pacific. Australia

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San Diego County

Igor Levit’s Piano Recital in La Jolla: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience

By Eileen Wingard   LA JOLLA, California — Einmalig, the German word for “once in a lifetime,” came to mind as Igor Levit began his piano recital in the Baker-Baum Hall at the Conrad in La Jolla with the opening passage of Brahms’ Six Choral Preludes. His opening phrase embraced my ears with its singular beauty.

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Eileen Wingard, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

The Jews of Baja California Sur

Chabad has established vibrant and growing Jewish communities on either side of the southern tip of the Baja California Sur peninsula. The larger one, on the Pacific Ocean side in Cabo San Lucas, has strong connections to San Diego County.  The other in La Paz, along the Sea of Cortez, is smaller yet also quite active. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Jose Galicot, San Diego County