Shanda File

Where do you stand after the Oct. 7 massacre?

For decades, American Jewry succumbed to a seductive illusion: that we could champion universalism while abandoning particularism; that if we only aligned ourselves with every fashionable political dogma, the world would grant us a permanent pass. We imagined our progressive credentials and refined assimilation would serve as an impenetrable shield. (Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel)

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Antisemitism, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Obituaries & memorials, Science, Medicine, & Education, Shanda File, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

New York Times and antisemitism: the Jewish enemy within

Coverage of Israel often portrayed it as a destabilizing force rather than a necessary refuge for a shattered people. By the 1970s and 1980s, legitimate policy critique sometimes slid into rhetoric about excessive Jewish power and dual loyalty. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Antisemitism, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, News Media, Shanda File, USA

B’nai B’rith Int’l condemns action of Israeli soldier who smashed a statue of Jesus on the cross

B’nai B’rith stands with its Christian friends and condemns this hurtful act of disdain and defilement in the strongest terms. B’nai B’rith repudiates this and any act of hostility against religious symbols, institutions, clergy and communities, in Israel or abroad. [Press Release]

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Israel, Press Release, Shanda File

Jewish Political Briefing: Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025

David Bocarsly, executive director of the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC), hailed a ruling in federal court on Wednesday upholding the constitutionality of AB 715, California’s law attempting to end antisemitism in the public schools.  [Donald H. Harrison]

Jewish Political Briefing: Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025 Read More »

California, Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Jewish Religion, News Media, Shanda File, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Jewish Political Briefing:  Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025

Herzog commented: “The rise in Jew hatred across the world is a global emergency. The battle against antisemitism, must be everyone’s battle against antisemitism. This is an urgent call to action to prevent the next catastrophe.” [Donald H. Harrison]

Jewish Political Briefing:  Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025 Read More »

Antisemitism, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish Religion, News Media, San Diego County, Shanda File, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish Political Briefing: Friday, Nov. 21, 2025

The U.S. Coast Guard appeared to be making a quick turnaround on its previously reported decision to no longer classify swastikas, nooses, and Confederate flags as “hate symbols” but instead to label them as “potentially divisive.” {Donald H. Harrison]

Jewish Political Briefing: Friday, Nov. 21, 2025 Read More »

California, Donald H. Harrison, Israel, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Shanda File, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Jewish Political Briefing: November 15, 2025

U.S. Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego) shares a fundraising letter with fellow Democratic Congresswoman LaMonica McIver of New Jersey, boosting the latter’s defense in a federal case charging her with “forcibly impeding and interfering with federal officers” in an immigration policy protest at Delaney Hall detention center in Newark.  [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, News Media, San Diego County, Shanda File, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Did Epstein Think He Was Saving the Jewish Community from a Shanda?

A protracted trial, or a stringent plea agreement for that matter, would have landed him in prison for years. The swarm of press stories would have inevitably damaged the name of the Jewish community, using Epstein as the emblem of a Jewish sex trafficker. [Amy Neustein, Ph.D.]

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Amy Neustein, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Opinion, Shanda File, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Author Chronicles Israeli Discrimination against Ethiopian Jews

In We are Black Jews: Ethiopian Jewry and the Journey to Equality in Israel, Roni Fantanesh Malkai provides eye-opening, need-to-know information about the history and difficulties of Ethiopian Jews. We should read it and do our best to get people to treat others as they want others to treat them. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Israel, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Opinion, Shanda File, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Campaign Begins in S.D.’s Jewish Community to Generate Awareness of Sex Abuse

Leaders of Za’akah, a New York-based organization fighting sexual abuse in Jewish communities, are working with a pair of San Diego County residents–Alex Kaufman, a Rancho Santa Fe attorney, and Anne Arenson-Winter, a La Jolla psychologist–to organize a local campaign. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Shanda File, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

YIVO Exhibit, ‘Runaway Husbands, Desperate Families’ Resonates

On Monday in lower Manhattan the most fascinating exhibit opened at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. In concert with the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, YIVO presented “Runaway Husbands, Desperate Families,” providing a brutally honest historical look at Jewish immigrant men who abandoned their families on Manhattan’s lower Eastside in the early part of the 20th Century. [Amy Neustein, PhD]

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Amy Neustein, Jewish History, San Diego County, Shanda File, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA