Travel and Food

By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — Thank goodness for an author like Joel L. Kraemer!  His book Maimonides, the Life and World of one of Civilization’s Greatest Minds,” (Doubleday Publishers, 2008) is not the heavy dense tome one would normally expect when delving into the life and work of this towering legend of a man.

By Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan –I’ve lived in a few countries overseas in my life, and one of the places that has made a big impression on me was Italy. Several things happened there that I remember to this day, even though they happened over 40 years ago. And with Christmas Day just around

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — The triumphal theme in the horns ushered in the opening concert of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra’s 41st season.  Schubert’s Symphony #9, a gratifying work to perform and a pleasurable one for the audience to experience, came forth in all its beauty. The horns, led by Sandra Petersen, sounded

WASHINGTON, D.C (Press Release)– In response to the House of Representatives’ passage of the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act of 2014, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement on Wednesday, Dec. 3: “We applaud the House of Representatives for passing the ABLE Act earlier

TEL AVIV (Press Release)— Do you consider yourself a conscientious person? Then sign up for a fixed-rate mortgage. Neurotic? You’ll probably opt for home ownership over renting. According to a new study published in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, personality traits are strong indicators of real-estate decisions. The research, by Dr. Danny Ben-Shahar

By Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — Late last month I got word from a Japanese friend in Tokyo that a dear woman in my life, Celia Bertin, had passed away in Paris at the age of 94. Mr Watanabe, who speaks and writes French fluently and is a friend of mine from my days

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — The subject of the status of women in Israel is a tricky one, because on the one hand Israel aspires to be a modern, democratic society, and in the public sphere women are treated as equals, on the whole. On the other hand, though, its laws regarding marriage and

By Eric George Tauber SAN DIEGO –Native son Jerry Joseph played at the Merrow, a club in the Hillcrest neighborhood, recently. The son of an international scientist, Jerry Joseph was born and raised in La Jolla, but you’d never know it.  Nothing about this man indicates a silver spoon.  I caught Jerry in his trek

By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — All too often when Jews are pictured in the media, the view is of older men shrouded in prayer shawls, swaying back and forth, mumbling prayers in an archaic language.  It’s almost as if Jews are born old, always close to tears, bemoaning some event in their history and

The Spoon from Minkowitz:  A Bittersweet Roots Journey to Ancestral Lands; ISBN-13: 9780988401938; 256 pages By Eva Trieger ENCINITAS, California  —  It wasn’t just the elegant lunch of quiche, salmon, and fresh fruit that brought residents and guests into the Ellen & Ingram Chodorow Synagogue at Seacrest Village, though the buffet was enticing and the atmosphere approached

By Natasha Josefowitz, Ph.D  LA JOLLA, California — A tale of a one-armed bandit.  No, it’s not a slot machine, it’s me, trying to brush my teeth with my left arm, eat with my left hand, and generally feeling totally handicapped. What happened? I was planning to speak to the residents of Seacrest Village, a