The plant that will produce approximately 6.8 acre feet (8,400 cubic meters) of recycled water a day from Tijuana sewage is about 35 percent constructed, and the 70-mile (113-kilometer) pipeline that will carry the water to the wine-growing region of Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California is scheduled to begin construction this coming January. [Donald H. Harrison]
This coffee table book weighing 3¾ pounds offers 312 stellar photographs of 50 bookstores in eight countries by Frankfort born, Munich educated, and London based Horst A. Friedrichs. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]
The People of the Book(stores) Read More »
Travel and Food
With a number of fellow members of Hod Ve Hadar, the Masorti (Conservative in the US) synagogue that we belong to in Kfar Saba, we recently visited Mt. Gerizim, Har Bracha, and Shilo, all in the Biblical heartland of Samaria. [Steve Kramer]
Travels in Samaria Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food
Many phrases are abbreviated and used in all spheres of Israeli life. Two random examples: drishat shalom, or sending regards, has been renamed “dosh,” and Namal Teufah Ben Gurion, or Ben Gurion Airport, is known as “Notbog.” [Gedaliah Borvick]
Israel ACOA (A Country of Acronyms) Read More »
Lifestyles, Middle East, Travel and Food
In the 3rd Oct 21 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
–Israeli scientists have 3D-printed blood vessels for implanted organs.
–Israel’s special Shalva Band performed for a UN disability conference.
–Another Israeli animal-free meat alternative.
–Two Israeli ways to navigate without GPS.
–An Israeli startup makes a $1 billion acquisition.
–Israel won their first European baseball medal
Good News from Israel (October 3, 2021) Read More »
Business & Finance, International, Jewish Religion, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, The World We Share, Travel and Food, Trivia, Humor & Satire
Published by DPA The Youth Forum of the German-Israeli Society has accused some Union Berlin fans of anti-Semitism during the Europa Conference League game with Maccabi Haifa on Thursday. “In the mixed block, we were threatened by Union fans, pelted with beer and insulted as ‘shitty Jews’,” the group said on Twitter. Union won 3-0.
German-Israeli group accuses Union fans of anti-Semitism at game Read More »
International, Middle East, Sports & Competitions, Travel and Food
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — A birthday and a wedding anniversary (55 years!) impelled us to celebrate the double occasion with a weekend of pampering and feasting at one of the hotels situated on the shore of the Dead Sea. Upon checking in at the hotel we were required to show proof that
The Lowest Place on Earth Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Travel and Food
What athlete, actor, celebrity or other famous person was in the news this past week because of Sukkot? [Mark D. Zimmerman]
Jewish Trivia Quiz: Sukkot 5782 Read More »
Travel and Food
During the 1870’s, the population of Nevada’s legendary Comstock Lode, then at the height of mining fever, surged to nearly 25,000. In the canyons and down the slopes, housing was scarce, the noise was unceasing, the air nearly unbreathable and the violence endemic.1 Between them, the towns of Virginia City and Gold Hill were a crowded jumble of miners’ cabins, stamp mills, luxury mansions, hotels, restaurants, saloons, stores and stables, all built over an underground city of mining tunnels, adits and shafts. These underground works ultimately produced over 300 million dollars’ worth of precious ore that built the city of San Francisco and made fabulous fortunes for the fortunate. Among this crowd of fortune-seekers lived a Jewish community of about 500, and one of its most influential members was a butcher from Germany named Mark Strouse (1845-1898). [Susan E. James, Ph.D]
Jewish Tales of the Old West: A Butcher on the Comstock Read More »
Business & Finance, Jewish History, Travel and Food, USA
This journalistic tour-de-force tells the story of October 27, 2018, the day an antisemitic gunman snuffed the lives of 11 congregants at the three small congregations that occupied the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is not simply a depiction of the carnage, but also a portrait of the community in which it happened. Author Oppenheimer, a former religion columnist for The New York Times, methodically tells us the stories of the victims, including those who barely escaped with their lives, and of the diverse reactions in the community to the shooting. There were those who organized vigils; those who protested a photo-op visit to the synagogue by then President Donald Trump with his wife, Melania, daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Additionally, there were trauma tourists, compelled perhaps like moths to a flame, who wanted to see the site. There were also presumptuous would-be helpers, who felt they knew better than Squirrel Hill’s residents how the victims should be mourned. And there were fundraisers, who through various appeals including a Go-Fund-Me effort, raised millions of dollars for the families of the victims and for the congregations themselves. [Donald H. Harrison]
‘Squirrel Hill’ Portrays Pittsburgh Community Where Tree of Life Massacre Occurred Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Travel and Food, USA
While strolling around Rechavia, one notices a pattern in the street names of the community: they are almost all named after sages of the Golden Age in Spain. A few examples are Radak, Ibn Ezra, Saadia Gaon, Ramban (Nachmanides), and Ben-Maimon (Maimonides or Rambam) – parenthetically, the street was named Ben-Maimon and not Rambam in order to differentiate it from Ramban, which sounds very similar.
Why was Yehuda Halevi, one of Spain’s most prominent scholars, philosophers and poets during the Medieval Period, missing from the street names? [Gedaliah Borvick]
The Story Behind ‘Ussishkin’ Street Read More »
Jewish History, Middle East, Travel and Food
One hundred and seventy California high school students and parents on Monday urged Governor Gavin Newsom to veto AB 101, a recently passed bill that would make ethnic studies courses a graduation requirement, citing “[t]his bill will sanction the hounding of Zionist students in high schools across the state and encourage similar behavior across the nation.” The California legislature voted two weeks ago to advance AB 101. The bill now heads to Newsom, who has until Oct. 10 to act. [Club Z News Release}{{
Students Petition Newsom to Veto ‘Ethnic Studies’ Requirement Read More »
Travel and Food
A new cemetery headstone was placed in the Manchester, U.K. Jewish Cemetery, September 2, 2021.Unveilings at gravesites of new memorial stones are not unusual. This stone was different. There was no formal unveiling. The memorial stone was placed in the cemetery by strangers who had nothing to do with the deceased nor had ever known him. They were separated by great distances and many years from the events of his life and death. But… then again, they were not. [Jerry Klinger]
X-Troop: The Jewish-British Secret Weapon of World War II Read More »
Travel and FoodNETANYA, Israel — In the Sept. 19, 2021 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
–3 million Israelis have had their Covid antibodies boosted tenfold.
–Israeli surgeons successfully separate twins conjoined by their heads.
–Israel’s first female Muslim IDF Major.
–An Israeli startup converts text into video read by an animated narrator.
–The value of Israel’s trade with Arab states in 2021 is triple that of 2020.
–Israeli pianist wins international record contract.
–The Land of Israel reveals more Jewish history. [Michael Ordman]
Good News from Israel (September 19, 2021) Read More »
Business & Finance, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA