San Diego County

San Diegan wins posthumous plaudits for his rendition of a Chinese musical

Romance of the Western Chamber is a 2 1/2- hour musical based on a play that first appeared in China as Xi Xiang Ji in the 13th century. It is a lovely love story of a poor 23-year-old man and rich 19-year-old woman who fell in love at first sight. The original play ran for about 20 hours. It was the most famous love story in Chinese literature and was made into a movie and several Beijing operas. It was adapted and turned into a musical by the late Dr. Howard Rubenstein, a San Diego physician and playwright who wrote ten very interesting plays. Rubenstein revised the play into modern English, reduced its time, and had Max Lee write music for it.

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International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

La Jolla family immigrates to Israel

“I saw Uriel deplane his Nefesh B’Nefesh flight, I looked at Orin, and I said, ‘Let’s make Aliyah.’ And that was it,” recalls Liora Green regarding her son’s immigration to Israel in August 2019. Indeed, the Green family did not need any further convincing. A year later — and in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic — Liora and Orin Green as well as their children Merav, 14, and Dalia, 11, made Aliyah from La Jolla to join Uriel, 20. Another sibling, Eyal, 17, is completing his studies at Southern California Yeshiva (SCY) High and plans to make Aliyah in June 2021. [Jacob Kamaras]

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Jacob Kamaras, Lifestyles, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Gloria: No tolerance for racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia

As Mayor, I will not tolerate racism, anti-Semitism, or homophobia in our city,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria declared Saturday.  “We will swiftly confront these acts of bigotry wherever they are and hold those who are responsible for them accountable.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Shor M. Masori, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Who will mind the constituents of Gonzalez and Fletcher?

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher’s ambition to become California’s next Secretary of State, already announced even though the next scheduled election is not until 2022, may adversely impact not one, but two constituencies, unless she and her husband, County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, make careful preparations to avoid such consequences. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

Rhinerson Touts SDCCD’s Entrepreneurship Program

Rhinerson, who has a long background in public relations and governmental advocacy (lobbying),  also is a board member of the national Association of Community College Trustees, a networking and lobbying group that trades ideas among members and with legislators.  But Rhinerson’s reach even goes beyond that.  While most San Diegans will be asleep at 1:30 a.m. PST Saturday, Dec. 19, he will be on a Zoom Conference call addressing an international conference sponsored by Amity University in Uttar Pradesh, India, on entrepreneurial opportunities and challenges in literature and communication. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

San Diego’s Poet Laureate to Conduct LFJCC Workshop

Thanks to the friendship between Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices Committee member, Michael Mark and San Diego’s Poet Laureate, Ron Salisbury — Salisbury has agreed to lead a workshop for ten poets on January 31, under the auspices of the committee, a program of the Astor Judaica Library of the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center.
The first ten poets to sign up will fill the ten slots. There will be a nominal charge of $15  per participant. [Eileen Wingard]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, San Diego County

Jen Campbell solidifies her City Council control

City Council President Dr. Jennifer Campbell solidified her control over City Council business by appointing herself and the four councilmembers who supported her for president against Councilwoman Monica Montgomery Steppe to key committee positions. The five councilmembers who voted for her now are the exact same membership of the Rules Committee, which according to the City of San Diego’s website, has responsibility for the “charter, permanent rules of council, open government, elections and ballot measures, annexations, boards and commissions, council initiated matters, communications, customer service and public outreach.” Besides Campbell, who will chair the committee, other members include Raul Campillo, Stephen Whitburn, Marni von Wilpert, and Chris Cate. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

Jewish History in China Stretches Back More Than A Millennium

Some letters written in Hebrew dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) were found in the province of Shinjiang on the ancient Silk Road. This was the route that Jewish merchants from the Middle East traveled to China. According to records, a large group of Jewish people traveled on Persian merchant ships and arrived in China in the year 998 (Northern Song Dynasty 960-1127). They then traveled through the city of Quanzhou and then Yangzhou and finally settled in the capital of Henan called Kaifeng.  In the city of Quanzhou (Fujian province), there are tombstones showing the Hebrew names supporting this record. In KaiFeng, they stayed in a district called Heshuen (Peace and Harmony) and the people at that time called the Jewish people “Blue Cap Hui Hui.”   [Li-Rong Cheng, Ph.D]

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Florida Celebrates Israel on a License Plate

Only yesterday I published a column about the joy of collecting photos of automobile license plates.  Today, to my pleasant surprise, I received a notice that the State of Florida has issued a specialty plate with the legend “Florida Stands With Israel.”   A sample of the plate may be seen above. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, USA

4-Star Rating for Jewish Family Service of San Diego

Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) has been awarded its 13th consecutive 4-star rating from Charity Navigator – America’s leading independent charity evaluator. With rigorous evaluations, less than 1% of the thousands of charities evaluated are awarded this recognition continuously for more than a decade. [Press Release from Jewish Family Service]

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San Diego County

Montgomery Steppe Supporters Alienated Potential Allies

If the Trump-led Republican party should somehow implode, don’t worry, there still would be a contentious two-party system in the United States.  Democrats, as is their habit, would immediately fall upon each other and quickly divide into two categories: moderates and “progressives.” Yes, I put the word “progressive” in quotation marks, because there is nothing progressive about threatening or bullying office holders who might disagree with you.  It’s downright regressive. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

Marathon Council Meeting Elects Campbell as President

One Jewish San Diego City Councilmember departed, a second Jewish Councilmember arrived, and a third, in the middle of her term, was elected as the Council’s new president during a marathon meeting on Thursday, Dec. 10th, after the 73rd City Council of the City of San Diego was sworn in along with the city’s new Democratic mayor, Todd Gloria, and the  reelected City Attorney, Mara Elliott. The new Council President in Jennifer Campbell, who defeated Monica Montgomery Steppe by a 5-4 vote notwithstanding an outpouring of support for Montgomery Steppe during the public comment portion of the meeting. The departing Jewish Councilmember was Barbara Bry, who was succeeded as the representative of the First District by Joe LaCava, who was administered the oath of office by his wife Lorraine. The arriving City Councilmember was Sean Elo-Rivera, who was sworn in as the representative of the Ninth District by his wife Angela Rivera. He succeeded City Councilwoman Georgette Gomez, who is also the immediate past President of the City Council. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County