Travel and Food

Gold Finch Deli Strikes Artful Balance Between Tradition and Modernity

By Jacob Kamaras SAN DIEGO — San Diegans in search of a unique blend of tradition, modernity, and creativity can find it at Gold Finch, the recently opened quick-service delicatessen and full-service restaurant in Torrey Pines. The menu is a nod to the childhood memories of owner Tracy Borkum, who grew up in London’s Jewish […]

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Jacob Kamaras, Travel and Food

Paying Tribute to the ‘Ghost Army’ of World War II

The Ghost Army implemented 20 deception campaigns with inflatable tanks, sound trucks and fake radio transmissions.  From deceiving the Germans into thinking the initial D-Day assault would come at Pas-de-Calais, to where the Allies would cross the Rhine.  It is estimated the Ghost Army saved between ten and twenty thousand allied lives. [ Bert Edelstein, Ph.D]

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International, Travel and Food, USA

End Veteran Hunger Act Advances in Congress

The legislation would combat food insecurity among veterans by providing grants to improve veteran access to proven federal food and nutrition programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), including by increasing proactive outreach and education to veterans and reducing the stigma associated with utilizing these programs. [Congresswoman Jacobs’ news release]

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San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

‘Something in Preserve,’ a Musical about Seniors’ Lives, Wins Plaudits

Most of the production was comedic, poking fun at the challenges of seniority, with no holds barred, from prescription drugs to diapers. There were romances, one unrequited, facing the problems of a demented spouse; and one with a happy ending. [Eileen Wingard]

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

Jewish Motorcycle Philanthropists Support The Butterfly Project

Last month I had the delightful opportunity to interview two bikers who were planning to participate in the Ride2Remember, a motorcycle ride created to pay tribute to Holocaust survivors and memorialize those who perished. This year, the Jewish Motorcyclist Alliance dedicated its contribution to The Butterfly Project (TBP), cofounded by San Diegans Cheryl Rattner Price and Jan Landau. {Eva Trieger}

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California, Eva Trieger, Holocaust, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Au Revoir to France, Shalom to Israel

The first thing that hits you as the plane starts the descent towards the airport in Israel is the difference in the colors on the ground. If you have just left one of the countries of Europe, as we did, there is a noticeable difference in the shades of green that you perceive. The brilliant emerald green of the fields of rural France (or Germany or England or wherever), even in the summer of 2022 when temperatures rose to unprecedented heights and there were restrictions on water usage, remained in one’s visual memory, only to be erased (or at least put in the shade) by the greys, browns and dusty dark greens of the Holy Land. And, of course, the ever-present white of the stone buildings. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Israel, Lifestyles, Travel and Food

Office of Civil Rights to Investigate Antisemitism at University of Vermont

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced it has opened a formal investigation into a complaint alleging Jewish students at the University of Vermont (UVM) have been subjected to severe and persistent anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination. Anti-Jewish incidents ranged from the exclusion of Jewish students from a campus sexual assault survivors’ group, online harassment against Jewish students by a Teaching Assistant (TA), and the targeting of the UVM Hillel building. OCR evaluates all complaints it receives, but it only pursues investigations in those it determines warrant a more thorough investigation. [Press Release from Louis D. Brandeis Center for Justice Inder Law]

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Travel and Food

San Diego’s New Jewish Delicatessen Will Celebrate Immigrant Culture and Cuisine

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — Opening doors in late-August in Torrey Pines, Tracy Borkum, principal of Urban Kitchen Group (UKG), has announced plans for Gold Finch, a modern delicatessen rooted in Jewish immigrant culture. Gold Finch is a deeply personal endeavor for Tracy—who draws on her childhood memories of growing up in London’s Jewish epicenters, Golders Green and Finchley

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San Diego County, Travel and Food

Sustainability in Israel

By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — Colleges began offering “majors” and “minors” in sustainability in the first decade of the 21st century. Sustainability is taught as a multi-disciplinary program to approach complex problems, usually environmental. With that knowledge, it can offer various career possibilities. One of our son Saul’s best friends, Yonathan, majored in

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Middle East, Opinion, Science, Medicine, & Education, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food

Where I-5 Jewish Stories Are Found

The three-book series offers 90 stories in all – a mosaic of Jewish life, personalities, and influences along the Interstate 5 corridor from the Mexican border to the Orange County line. It has been a pleasure authoring this trilogy, which has been augmented by the photography of Dr. Ben Dishman and Fred Kropveld, two fellow congregants of Tifereth Israel Synagogue. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Ben Dishman, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Fred Kropveld, San Diego County, Travel and Food