San Diego County

Zoom! Zoom! You’re the Sisterhood President

The installing officer was at home in Florida.  The incoming president was in Oregon.  And the other members of the outgoing and incoming boards of the Tifereth Israel Synagogue’s Sisterhood were right here in San Diego.  Welcome to what the Sisterhood members called their very first “Zoomstallation.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Judaism, Lifestyles, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Finding Jewish Women of Valor in San Diego

Thursday night’s Woman of Valor was Tammy Gillies, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League played by Sarah Price-Keating. Gillies is the first woman to hold this post and there were a few members of the board who voted against her for this reason. They just couldn’t picture this soft-spoken woman shouting down a hater with a bullhorn. Yet she still got the job and she has shown them. [Eric George Tauber]

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Eric George Tauber, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Zoom in to Beachtown

During Passover, 2018, The San Diego REP premiered Beachtown, a fun, interactive town hall-style theatrical experience. Inspired by Pittsburgh’s Beertown, Playwright-in-Residence Herb Siguenza filled Beachtown with a cast of funny, relatable characters like the hip, surfing mayor, Steve Novak (Jason Heil) and an outspoken right-wing “journalist” Damon Haynes (TJ Johnson). Interactive by nature, I can’t think of a better show to transition to today’s Zoom format.  Hungry for some live theatre, over 130 “Beachtonians” zoomed in to participate. [Eric George Tauber]

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Eric George Tauber, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Finding a stronger desire to live

PEN America Prison and Justice Writing Programs, in conjunction with Haymarket Books, created a podcast featuring the literary and visual arts of prison inmates currently doing time. The virtual presentation included the music of Kenyatta Emmanuel, himself an ex-con, whose work has been heard from Sing Sing to Carnegie Hall. [Eric George Tauber]

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Eric George Tauber, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Interfaith service condemns violence, lauds peaceful protest

In front of an outdoor menorah at Temple Beth Shalom in Chula Vista, seven Christian ministers joined host Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel in an interfaith service Wednesday that condemned the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police, and extolled the teachings of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the importance of keeping protests non-violent. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, USA

Introspective JFS panel considers racism

Jewish Family Service of San Diego on Tuesday sponsored an internet panel discussion posing thorny questions about the Jewish community and race relations.  The panel brought together Rabbi Yael Ridberg of Congregation Dor Hadash; Micah Parzen, the executive director of the San Diego Museum of Man, and Kelly Greenberg Young, education director for the San Diego regional office of the Anti-Defamation League.  The moderator was Nate Looney, an African-American Jew who is Avodah’s recruiter of Jews of Color. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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

Jewish groups honor Muslim World League secretary general

In an international Zoomcast Tuesday, the secretary general of the Muslim World League invoked the shootings at Chabad of Poway and the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, along with other attacks on worshipers in Christchurch, New Zealand; Sri Lanka, Monsey, New York, and Halle, Germany, to call for world unity in fighting “the forces of hatred and intolerance.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, USA

OpEd: Jewish organizations should be open to mergers

Recently, the leader of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), Rabbi Rick Jacobs, termed the merging of parts of his organization with other Jewish denominations “a real possibility.”  Last week, we learned that two iconic Reform temples in Brooklyn are considering a merger. The rest of the Jewish community should take notice. [Commentary by Beth Sirull]

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San Diego County, USA

Hebrew Day School celebrates its 57th anniversary

Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School on Sunday, June 7, celebrated the 57th anniversary of its founding in a Zoom gathering that highlighted the life of the late Eilene Cummins, a longtime volunteer and former board president for the Orthodox school at 3730 Afton Avenue, San Diego. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

JNF aiding Negev communities including SD Jewish Federation’s sister region

In the summer issue of the online B’Yachad, published by the Jewish National Fund, attention is given to Israel’s desire to populate its northern “frontiers” — the Galilee to the north and the Negev Desert to the south. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA

La Jolla prepares to welcome BLM marchers

The Black Lives Matter announcement of a march in La Jolla at 1 p.m., Friday, June 12, reads, in part: “The protests cannot remain only in areas with likeminded people.  La Jolla is a predominantly white and rich area desperate for awareness.  They have the power to sway leaders and thus we must educate them.  These minds cannot remain sheltered.” [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