San Diego County

Superman: The Mighty Analog

The answer to the question, “Is Superman circumcised?” in literature probably would depend on what the custom might have been on Krypton concerning the ceremony we Jews know as brit milah.  Such an operation would have been impossible on Earth.  If a bullet couldn’t penetrate Superman’s skin; how futile would be the use of a mohel’s lknife? [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

Goodbye Columbus, Schweitzer, and Lindbergh

For many years, performing any of Richard Wagner’s orchestral works was verboten in Israel.  Wagner was a virulent antisemite and Hitler’s favorite composer.  In a country that had taken in so many victims of the Holocaust, performing any of Wagner’s works would have been like pouring  burning oil onto an open flesh wound. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

San Diego Jewish Academy Goes Solar

San Diego Jewish Academy (SDJA), a pluralistic community K-12 school with a thriving early childhood center, marked a major milestone in the school’s ambitious Sustainability Initiative (SI) celebrating the completion and activation of its 800 kW solar project, further placing the school on the road to electricity independence.  [SDJA news release]

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San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share

Pulmonologist Mandel to tell of COVID-19 in two Californias

Jess Mandel, M.D., a board certified pulmonologist, will review the development and execution of COVID-19 surge planning at UCSD and in San Diego County at a 7 p.m., meeting on Wednesday, June 9, sponsored by the Beth Israel Men’s Club.  Additionally, he will discuss the collaborations that developed with hospitals and health care workers in Imperial County and northern Baja California. He will also review the current state of COVID19 in the county and its likely course in the future. [Beth Israel Men’s Club News Release]

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International, San Diego Calendar, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Federation’s Interim CEO Appeals for Help for Sha’ar Hanegev

Our staff is in regular contact with our partner region, Sha’ar HaNegev, whose residents are once again demonstrating their resilience. Your contribution to our annual campaign provides direct support for our friends in the region. We have identified three critical needs for residents of Sha’ar HaNegev where Federation support is urgently needed, and your contribution today will help to meet these needs in the weeks and months to come.  [Heidi Gantwerk]

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Middle East, San Diego County

Asylum Seekers See Very Little of San Diego on Journeys to Sponsors

U.S.-authorized asylum seekers assisted by Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) may remember our city primarily as a place where they slept on hotel beds with clean linens, had three meals a day delivered to them, and got their first prolonged taste of American television. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

ADL Director Explains Program with SDSU on Antisemitism

In response to a series of troubling antisemitic incidents recently at San Diego State University, the San Diego office of the Anti-Defamation League reached out to the administration with an offer to work with the university’s Center for Inclusive Excellence to develop an innovative professional learning opportunity for the faculty and staff.  The goal was to help faculty to better recognize the warning signs of antisemitism and to be better equipped to address issues of hate and bias when they arise on campus. [Tammy Gillies]

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Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Jewish Family Service Has Unit to Help Jews in Need

The chief executive officer of Jewish Family Service of San Diego estimates that between 10 and 20 percent of the Jews who live in San Diego County are at or below the poverty line.  To help them, and any other Jew in need, JFS has created  a culturally-competent Center for Jewish Care, reports Michael Hopkins, the JFS CEO.  Currently, the center has three fulltime staff members, but according to Carole Yellen, JFS senior director of strategic partnerships, that number may soon be doubled. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County

Why Israelis Continue to Live Next to Gaza Despite the Danger

For most people, it may be difficult to understand why residents sitting on the border to Gaza choose to live there. How could someone put themselves and their family at risk? It’s hard to imagine, especially when you have only 15 seconds to get into a “safe room,” a bomb shelter from the time a tzeva adom, red alert, is sounded, but there is a reason.  [Debbie Kornberg]

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Middle East, San Diego County, USA