By Danny Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan –In late May, I penned a commentary here titled ”Do ‘Jewish jokes’ need to be updated?” which challenged Jewish comedians on stage and in movies to make modern Jewish humor in the 21st century better mirror Jewish culture today and leave the Catskills and Borscht Belt behind. Struck by
‘Jewish humor’ should not be confused with dirty jokes Read More »
Travel and FoodSAN DIEGO (Press Release) — City Councilmember Marti Emerald says despite recent state budget cuts, our open meeting laws are not at risk, at least in the City of San Diego. Because of budget-tightening in Sacramento, the State suspended the requirement for local governments in California to comply with certain aspects of the Brown Act,
No budget cutting on public’s right to know—Emerald Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Menachem Weiss PETACH TIKVAH, Israel — I have a good imagination. Sometimes I read about something and I can actually imagine that I am there, like the time I read about some kids spending the day at the beach. I could almost feel the waves and smell the air even though I haven’t been
The wheelchair-bound broaden horizons through Ezer Mizion Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Danny Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — Lawrence Block, master storyteller with a sense of Yiddishkeit and gumshoe charm, has fans all over the world, mostly in North America, where his detective novels have done very well over the years, and you might not know it, but he also has fans in Taiwan, where his
‘Walk Among the Tombstones’ gets new movie life Read More »
Travel and Food
By Audrey Jacobs SAN DIEGO — This week I witnessed a miracle. I stood together with more than 400 Christians and Jews of all ages holding hands in prayer for Israel in downtown La Jolla. This was at the “Israel Miracle: How a Small Nation has Changed the World” event created in just six days
An alliance in love for Israel Read More »
Travel and Food
I Shall Not Hate by Izzeldin Abuelaish; Walker & Company, New York, 2010. 238 pages. By David Strom SAN DIEGO — Izzeldin Abuelaish is an amazing person. Being born and raised in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza strip did not deter him from becoming a spokesperson for peace everywhere in the world and,
A man of peace from Gaza Read More »
Travel and Food
By David Amos SAN DIEGO — If you watch KUSI Television, cable 9 during the week-ends, day and night, you can not miss the informative weather reports of the weekend meteorologist, Dave Scott. His extensive knowledge of weather patterns and predictions combined with a relaxed delivery makes him a valuable asset to the station
Great Scott! Weatherman to perform two concerts! Read More »
Travel and Food
The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen Glorious Meals Pure & Simple by Levana Kirschenbaum; Levana Cooks, December 2011; ISBN 978-1-46765-704-2; 398 pages, $39.95 By Shari Marks SAN DIEGO –Levana’s cookbook takes kosher cooking to a higher, loftier level in many of her recipes by adding natural, healthier ingredients than what one would expect. She encourages pure foods,
Kosher cookbook emphasizes natural ingredients Read More »
Travel and Food
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — Bilaam possessed powers not only equaling but exceeding Moshe. We learn from Bilaam’s sad story that it is not about the gifts you possess, but how you use them, or in some cases, how you don’t use them as the following true stories illustrate: Rabbi Avrohom Ginzburg ztl,
Weighing the greater good Read More »
Travel and Food
By Joel A Moskowitz M D DEL MAR, California –The recently ended San Diego County Fair brought to the ponderings of the famed Jewish writer, Isaac Bashevis Singer: “I believe there is such a thing as haunted houses and reincarnation and I don’t think there will ever or could be scientific evidence of it. For
Oh, those scary county fairs! Read More »
San Diego County, Travel and Food
By Danny Bloom CHIAYI CITY, TAIWAN — It’s a novel approach, blaming it all on the air conditioning men. Kathy Shaidle is a longtime historian of air conditioning, and from her base in Canada, she explains to all who are hot and sweaty as the summer of 2012 heats up, on both sides of
Air conditioning killed the Catskills? Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Paul Greenberg LA JOLLA, California — Impressionist/impersonator extraordinaire Rich Little, with a repertoire of more than 200 wide-ranging voices and counting, isn’t Jewish but he sure has a Jewish sense of humor. Asked in a recent phone interview from Las Vegas, where he currently resides and where he has lived intermittently for
Little tells how to make a big impression Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Danny Bloom CHIAYI CITY, TAIWAN — The things you learn when you aren’t even looking anything up. Here I was reading the newspaper the other day about some new movie called Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter based on a novel by some American novelist named Seth Grahame-Smith, and I had no idea the dude was
Lincoln the vampire hunter? Read More »
Travel and FoodNine Lives of Israel: A Nation’s History through the Lives of Its Foremost Leaders by Jack L. Schwartzwald.; Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company: 2012. By Edward Alexander CHICAGO– “History,” wrote the Victorian sage and hero-worshiper Thomas Carlyle, “is the essence of innumerable biographies.” Jack Schwartzwald, a professor of medicine at Brown University,
A concise history of Israel’s leadership Read More »
Travel and Food