Travel and Food

The Sisters Weiss by Naomi Ragen, St. Martin’s Press, 2013, ISBN 9780312570194; 336 pgs., $24.99, By Eva Trieger ENCINITAS, CaliforniaRebel or conformist?  Sheep-like follower or mindful maverick, Naomi Ragen, in her ninth novel, contends that our life’s journey reveals our nature at the soul level. The Sisters Weiss is a tale of an ultra-Orthodox family […]

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Sometimes it seems to me as if we are living in a Kafkaeque world where common sense has all but disappeared. After reading and writing a book review  (https://www.sdjewishworld.com/2013/10/21/authors-protest-the-feminization-of-boys/) on Raising Boys by Design, I wanted to share some after-thoughts–especially in light of an interesting news story

  The Spy Who Loved, by Clare Mulley. S. Martin’s Press, 426 pp., 2013 By David Strom CHULA VISTA, California — Christine Granville was a British Spy during World War II. She was a woman who loved dangerous adventures who risked her life many times to save others in occupied Nazi territory.  Christine challenged the

Raising Boys by Design: What the Bible and Brain Science Reveal About What Your Son Needs to Thrive. Authors: Gregory Jantz, PhD. and Michael Gurian 240 pages; Publisher: WaterBrook Press (2013); ISBN-10: 0307731685. Price: $14.99. By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken

By Eylon Shamir SAN DIEGO — As an Israeli who resides in San Diego I’m a fervent believer that the future of Israel as a secure and democratic homeland for the Jewish people can only be achieved by resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict and establishing the state of Palestine within the 1967 lines alongside the state

The Closer: A Baseball Love Story by Alan Mindell, Sunbury Press, Inc.,2013, 978-1-62006-240-1,184 pgs., $14.95 By Eva Trieger Perseverance. This critical and deeply embedded trait is a trademark of Jews, Israel, great athletes, and Alan Mindell.  I had the extreme pleasure of sitting with Alan and discussing how his novel, The Closer: A Baseball Love

  By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel–I happen to be one of those annoying people who wake up early in the morning full of vim and vigour and ready to tackle anything. Getting up at around six a.m. is no big deal for me and sometimes I wake up even before that and have no

By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — If Will Rogers were alive today, he’d say, “I’m not a citizen of any organized country; I’m an American.” One week ago John Boehner tried to assure Wall Street that he would rely on Democratic votes to raise the debt ceiling.  Now he is threatening to link the vote

By Eric George Tauber SAN DIEGO — School shootings have tragically become so common that we have to ask: “which school shooting?”  The Nickel Mines shooting took place on Oct 2nd, 2006 in a one-room schoolhouse. Several Amish girls were shot and killed. Inside the school, “there was not one desk, not one chair, in

By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — The title The Goldbergs evokes childhood memories of the one primetime program that revolved around a Jewish family.  I fondly recall Gertrude Berg as a folksy, wise, and warm maternal presence whose accented English and Jewish mannerisms contrasted sharply with the bland American characters of competing series like Ozzie