San Diego County

Safa’s Story responds creatively to bullying

Safa is a fifth grader whose family hails from Zimbabwe. She’s precocious, curious, smart and very likable. But there’s a new kid in school, Ryan, who makes Safa the object of his taunts. Ryan isn’t hostile so much as immature. He’s “only joking,” but at Safa’s expense. And when Safa goes to the teacher for support, she’s labeled a “snitch,” which only makes matter worse. Halfway through the performance, the audience gets to weigh in, changing the outcome of the story by changing the characters choices, even stepping into their roles. We can be Safa, standing up for ourselves, her classmates being better friends or the teacher taking the situation more seriously. The one character we can’t replace is the bully. The only way to change him is to stand up to him. [Eric George Tauber]

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Eric George Tauber, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Susan Davis provides fact sheet on coronavirus

Congresswoman Susan Davis, D-San Diego, has issued a fact sheet about the coronavirus.  We republish it here: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first identified on February 11, 2020 in Wuhan, China. The first infections were linked to a live animal market, but the virus is now spreading from person-to-person. It often spreads between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet) and through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes…. [ Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

San Diegans’ dream trip leads to new website

In 2017, newlyweds Jonathan Moed and Zoe (Jurkowski) Moed went on a year-long dream trip around the world, and now Jonathan is pursuing a “passion project” to help high-tech start up entrepreneurs in developing nations realize dreams of their own. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

13-year-old cello virtuoso to perform in San Diego

SAN DIEGO — Fresh from winning gold medals in two major international music competitions, the 13-year-old Israeli cellist, Nahar Eliaz, will be coming to San Diego for a recital Saturday evening, March 7, 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Beth Am, 5050 Del Mar Heights Rd., San Diego, CA, 92130. The prodigious young talent received the grand prize in the London virtuoso competition which will lead to a performance at the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall in London on April 14 of this year.  She also received two top prizes earlier this month from the Vienna Music Competition. In this contest, Nahar garnered the gold medal in the Strings-Young Artist division, and the Beethoven Centenary Award for the most outstanding performance of a work by the great composer.  Beethoven’s 250th birthday is being celebrated throughout the world. [Eileen Wingard]

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

347 rabbis denounce Sanders’ comment about AIPAC

Two Reform rabbis from San Diego – Devorah Marcus of Temple Emanu-El and Jeremy Gimbel of Congregation Beth Israel – are among 347 rabbis who have signed a letter rejecting the “outrageous comments” made by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). In announcing he would not attend the AIPAC Policy Conference in March, Sanders, who like the rabbis is Jewish, said “I remain concerned about the platform AIPAC provides for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights. For that reason, I will not attend their conference.”  In a press release, AIPAC subsequently described that comment as “truly shameful.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Sidewalk Talk Project helps end people’s isolation

Five years ago in San Francisco, an experienced psychotherapist, Traci Rubles, was inspired to help people increase their connections to one another.  Noting the importance of personal connections to good mental health, she decided to go out on the sidewalk and invite people to sit and talk while she provided heartfelt listening.  Since that time, Sidewalk Talk has flourished and is now in 92 cities around the world. [Bobbi Cohen]

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Lifestyles, San Diego County

Palestinian commentator: BDS hurts us

Bassam Eid is a Palestinian author and commentator, who may be seen frequently on Israeli television.  While he is critical of various Israeli policies, he also speaks out frequently against corruption in both the Palestinian Authority and Gaza Strip.  On Tuesday evening, at the Fairbanks Country Club, in this affluent community wedged between northern San Diego and Rancho Santa Fe, Eid condemned the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement as being harmful to ordinary Palestinians. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

‘The Outsider’ leaves audiences laughing

The brilliant script of The Outsider by Paul Slade Smith and deft direction by David Ellenstein with his amazing cast gave North Coast Rep audience a smart and really funny performance. Although written years ago, Smith’s script is still a contemporary and sharp satire on our political circus. [Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel]

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Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

We can all relate to Making God Laugh

There’s an old Yiddish proverb: If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans. We all make plans for our futures. Some work out, but many don’t. We’re encouraged to reach for the stars, but often we fall and hit the hard ground.

With the passing years, our families change and yet stay the same. Making God Laugh follows an American family with three grown children from the 80s to the twenty-first century. Bill and Ruthie are empty nesters in their cozy suburban home, waiting for “the kids” to arrive for Thanksgiving. The accouterments are very Catholic with the Ten Commandments by the front door, a crucifix, a portrait of the Madonna and Child and no mention of sex. [Eric George Tauber]

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

Liberator and POW fast friends 75 years later

The liberation of a prisoner-of-war camp in Manila, Philippines, in 1945 forged a bond many years later between a Jewish band leader and a Coronado civil servant. Lou Berger, a drummer and leader of the “Berger Kings,” was playing a Saturday night gig at the Town & Country Hotel in San Diego about 15 years ago for an ex-prisoners of war organization when he was introduced to Tom Crosby, a longtime purchasing agent and risk manager for the City of Coronado, who also was known as a  successful volunteer springboard diving coach. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

Poetry of Holocaust victims set for March 3

The words of poets, some murdered during the Holocaust, some who survived, will be presented by Jewish Poets— Jewish Voices Tuesday, March 3, 7 p.m. in the Astor Judaica Library of the Lawrence Family JCC. The program, Jewish Poets of the Holocaust, will feature seventeen poems, read first in their English translations, then in their original language. In addition, the 23-voice Ohr Shalom Choir, under the direction of Elisheva Edelson, will sing several Yiddish selections, Farvos Iz Der Himl? (Why Is The Sky?), with Bernardo Bicas, solo, Ghetto, with Elisheva Edelson, solo, Yisrolik with Elisheva Edelson, solo and the Partisan Song. Myla Wingard will open the program with the song, The Butterfly. [Eileen Wingard]

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

Bomb threats against JCCs, including La Jolla’s, not credible

The Lawrence Family JCC  in La Jolla was among a group of JCCs across the United States that received a non-specific, general bomb threat via email on Sunday morning, according to Betzy Lynch, its chief executive officer.  She said the staff immediately notified the San Diego Police, which has a substation right next door.  Law enforcement determined that the threat was not credible and no evacuation was necessary, Lynch reported.  This was in contrast to the JCC in Albany, New York, which evacuated approximately 100 people to allow bomb-sniffing dogs and officers to comb through the facility, which also was subsequently declared to be safe. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, USA