By Ira Spector SAN DIEGO — I remember that the black Howler monkeys screamed indignantly from the dense tree branches above, while we waited patiently at the water’s edge. Time seemed to rust as we waited for the boat to depart. Twenty-five sun burned tourists were eager to begin an eight-hour journey up the muddy […]
A heart-stopping jungle excursion in Costa Rica Read More »
International, Travel and Food
In 1928 Herbert van Son, the uncle I never knew, was a young man of nineteen. The family lived in Hamburg and his father was a successful importer of tobacco. He arranged for his son to travel to Louisville and work as an apprentice to a business associate who was a tobacco farmer and trader there. He writes about the hot, damp climate and the warm relations between him and his employer, who helped him get settled and even took him to the Kentucky Derby. It was all interesting but very different to the life he had known in Hamburg,
The life and unexplained suicide of Uncle Herbert Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Travel and Food, USA
One of the most powerful ideas in Judaism, a notion born out of the creation story, is that of creating order out of chaos. At Camp Alonim, we drew inspiration from this age-old Jewish wisdom, and adapted it to our world today to continue building community during a time of chaos. [Aaron Goldberg]
The Magic of Camp in a Different Kind of Summer Read More »
Judaism, Lifestyles, Travel and Food
Three Jewish women are in highly competitive races for spots in Congress, Mayor of San Diego, and the County Board of Supervisors. Respectively, they are are Sara Jacobs (53rd Congressional District); City Councilwoman Barbara Bry (Mayor of San Diego), and Terra Lawson-Remer (3rd District County Board of Supervisors. Here’s a look at the recent news being made by them and their opponents, respectively Georgette Gomez, Todd Gloria, and Kristin Gaspar. [Donald H. Harrison, “Our Shtetl San Diego County”]
Three Jewish women in competitive local races Read More »
Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, Dorian de Wind, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
Laurie Baron, Ph.D., rounds up opportunities for diverse Jewish studies via the Internet.
Streaming Jewish Programs (Sept. 21-24) Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Lifestyles, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA
As we approach these Days of Awe, I would like to share several stories that have touched me, and I think will touch you too about the people you, Jewish National Fund-USA, and I have supported over the past year. I’m going to tell you about an inspiring young lady who has come home to Israel; an incredible healthcare worker who has found a new way to connect with people with disabilities; an agricultural training center that’s bringing hope and prosperity to developing countries; and a story of how Jewish National Fund-USA is creating a global culinary capital in Israel’s north to feed the world. [Sol Lizerbram, M.D.]
This Rosh Hashanah, ‘If you will it, it is no dream’ Read More »
International, Middle East, Travel and Food, USA
Upon hearing the words Hamdullah wa inshallah, Mark Apel is transported as if in a time capsule to the many times he and Yossef Ben-Meir, President of the High Atlas Foundation (HAF), uttered them in gratitude for the food set before them or in hope for something good to come of their efforts as Peace Corps Volunteers. “It makes you more mindful of the moment,” he remarked in a recent interview conducted by Ben-Meir for HAF. Mark was born in France, son of an airman, whose family returned to the U.S. where he grew up in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two months after graduation from Penn State in 1982, he joined the Peace Corps and came to Morocco. There, he was able to use his degree in environmental resource management and specialization in wildlife management as a fisheries volunteer. He had originally aspired to be a veterinarian, but his keen interest in wildlife, parks, and protected areas led him to this more holistic discipline. [Ellen Hernandez and Katie Bercegeay}
A Peace Corps volunteer’s return to Morocco Read More »
International, The World We Share, Travel and Food
Like many of you, Michal and I haven’t visited anywhere overnight since March. Regardless, we didn’t want to celebrate our significant wedding anniversary at home in our apartment. Besides that, the anniversary occurs this year on the eve of Yom Kippur; obviously, no celebration then. After considering a vacation at various locales in Israel’s Galilee or Golan regions during the early part of September, we followed the example of another anniversary couple and booked two nights in Jerusalem, where we always have a good time. [Steve Kramer]
A Mini-Vacation in Jerusalem Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, Travel and FoodThe first time I ever saw or stepped on a tennis court was in 1949 when I was sixteen and got a job at Camp Watitoh near Tanglewood in the Berkshires as a maintenance worker. One of my first jobs was to brush and roll the tomato-colored clay tennis courts smooth early every morning. That was boring but tolerable in the cool early morning air. So now I was the tennis court maven, and was assigned to build two new courts in the lower unshaded unused part of the camp property. [Ira Spector]
Some 70 years of love for tennis Read More »
International, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Travel and Food, USAOn a day that the world mourns the 2001 terror attack that felled the World Trade Center in New York City, damaged the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and took the lives of passengers aboard four hijacked airliners, there was some hopeful news as well. Peace in the Middle East is becoming contagious. Encouraged by the United States government, Bahrain and Israel have announced that they — like Israel and the United Arab Emirates previously — will sign a peace pact. [Donald H. Harrison]
Israel-Bahrain peacemaking draws applause Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and FoodBack to Shwedagon Pagoda, it dominates the Yangon sky. The legend is that when Buddha was alive and preaching 2500 years ago, two brothers who were disciples were returning to Myanmar and asked Buddha for something personal they could take with them. He gave them a single strand of hair. The hair was presented to the ruling king who honored and encased it in a pagoda. Over the centuries, successive rulers felt compelled to enlarge the pagoda and make it more grandiose. Today it stands 336 feet tall and is covered with 60 tons of pure gold. It is is encrusted at the top with 5448 diamonds, 2317 rubies and sapphires, and a 76-carat diamond at the pinnacle. [Ira Spector]
A Trip to Myanmar in 2013 Read More »
International, Travel and FoodEditor’s Note: In this fictional piece, Esther and Noa, representing the San Diego-based Rabinove Foundation, go on a cruise around the South Pacific Island of Niue. In the previous segment, their guide Matafetu told them about the northern part of the island, occupied by the Motu people. In this part, he guides them around the southern part, the land of the Tafiti people. [Donald H. Harrison]
Fiction: Jewish perspectives on Niue, Part 2 Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Fiction, Jewish Religion, Travel and Food
Boarding a comfortable but fast boat that would circumnavigate the South Pacific island of Niue, Noa and Esther were pleased with their earlier meeting with the country’s premier, who had promised his government’s cooperation as they explored the possibility of installing a desalination plant on the island. However, he warned them that due to the atoll’s geography, rising as it did straight up from the Pacific Ocean, there were very few spaces for beaches or natural harbors. So, he said, finding a suitable location for a desalination plant might be very difficult indeed. [Donald H. Harrison]
Fiction: Jewish perspectives on Niue Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Fiction, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USAWhile waiting for my meal I noticed a small, freestanding wood building across the street. The building was painted yellow, which was not extraordinary by itself, but across the entire length of the façade, hand-painted in huge, block, green-painted letters, was the word “horseradish.” Now this is not the message on your typical store sign. I was so intrigued, that after lunch I crossed the street to see what they sold. To my amazement, the store, true to its sign, primarily sold three kinds of horseradish-regular, beet, and lemon- in pint or quart jars. [Ira Spector]
Hal the horseradish man Read More »
Business & Finance, Travel and Food, USA