By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It’s hard to find a more emotional issue roiling our American friends than guns and what’s associated with them. Who can have one or lots of them, what the Constitution guarantees, how much damage they produce, and what benefits they offer. A close cousin to gun control are issues of […]
Gun control in Israel and the U.S. Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA
By Rabbi Jeffrey Lipschultz ROCK ISLAND, Illinois — One of the tough rituals I have done for the last twelve years is to go to Phoenix to visit my brother’s grave every January 3rd, the day he died in his tragic accident. This year, right before heading to the airport on January 3rd, I stopped by again
Speaking for your brother Read More »
Jewish Religion, USAWASHINGTON, DC (Press Release) – U.S. Representatives Nita Lowey (NY-17), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), Eliot Engel (NY-16), Albio Sires (NJ-8), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Susan Davis (CA-53), and Jerrold Nadler (NY-10) on Wednesday, Jan. 6, sent a letter to President Barack Obama calling for immediate punitive sanctions in response to Iran’s recent violation of international law
House members seek new Iran sanctions Read More »
Middle East, USABy Kenneth Bandler NEW YORK — A heinous attack in the heart of Tel Aviv has resulted in two fatalities and at least seven people wounded, several in critical condition. “Given the descriptions so far of what happened, this has all the appearances of a terrorist assault,” said American Jewish Committee (AJC) Executive Director David
Tel Aviv assault appears to be terrorism — AJC Read More »
Middle East, USA
–37th in a series — Exit 11: Lake Murray/ 70th Street Exit, San Diego/ La Mesa, California ~ D.Z. Akin’s Deli By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Thanks to a chopped liver recipe and some bold flirting, San Diego has in D.Z. Akin’s one of the county’s most popular Jewish delis. Created in 1980 by Zvika
I-8 Jewish Travel: D.Z. Akin’s, a long way from Abu Kabir Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
The Jewish Farming Settlement of Clarion, Utah: The Possible, Impossible dream (Editor’s Note: The following historical article is reprinted with permission from the Winter 2016 edition of Western States Jewish Quarterly.) By Jerry Klinger CLARION, Utah — European anti-Semitism had not improved by the latter half of the 19th century. If anything it became more vicious. “What
‘There’s a Jewish story every where’: Clarion, Utah Read More »
Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Travel and Food, USASAN DIEGO (Press Release)–Congregation Beth Israel, San Diego’s oldest and largest Jewish congregation, participated in a “Lanterns for Peace” project designed to join Religious School students with Israeli and Palestinian communities in an act of peace and solidarity. Approximately 400 students in the Lee and Frank Goldberg Family Religious School created lanterns with messages of
Israel, Gaza, S.D. teens float lanterns for peace Read More »
Middle East, San Diego County, USABy Robert Singer NEW YORK (WJC) — The question of whether the West should take in Middle Eastern refugees is becoming irrelevant. Shutting the borders would be immoral. It would also be impossible. The real issue then is how to absorb these refugees, share the burden equitably and above all, avoid the mistakes of the
Radical Islamists, not refugees, are the West’s enemies Read More »
International, Middle East, USA
By Stephen Baird, M.D. SOLANA BEACH, California — Donald Trump recently said that Hillary Clinton got “schlonged” by Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic Presidential primary elections. This unleashed a torrent of commentary about the use of Yiddishisms, whether or not the term was useable as a verb form, whether it was vulgar, and so forth.
In reply to Trump’s use of ‘Schlong’ Read More »
Trivia, Humor & Satire, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Jews remain an easy target. BDS is the best example. Its leadership is Palestinian, but its appeal is wider. It’s attained the support of students and faculty members at supposedly distinguished universities, as well as assorted labor groups and a motley collection of individuals. There is no lack of opposition to the
A response to the BDS movement Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — Most families have some cousins they would rather not think about. Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York, by Stephen Birmingham (Syracuse University Press, 1996) and Poor Cousins by Ande Manners (Putnam Publishers Group, 1972) relate the stories of the powerful Jewish families of New York and
That ‘Other’ Part of the Family Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, USABy Morton A. Klein and Daniel Mandel NEW YORK — A major uproar exploded across the political scene recently when Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Conversely, there has been a remarkable, deafening silence on the official position proclaimed by Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas: “If
Double standard in U.S. about Muslim, Jewish targets Read More »
Middle East, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –The president says, “Muslims are our neighbors,” which, in fact, they are. Newspapers, including the influential Washington Post, have run stories extolling the virtues of Muslim refugees, Muslim soldiers, and Muslims as just-about-everyone, which, in fact, they are. And because of that, perhaps, Americans have not exactly been on an
Americans hate terrorists, not Muslims Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USA
By Jonathan A. Greenblatt NEW YORK–It’s been nearly two months since the so-called “adoption day” when Iran officially began the process of scaling back its centrifuges and retrofitting some nuclear infrastructure as part of the agreement with the world powers to restrict its nuclear weapons program. Some have touted the agreement as a sign of
Iran: While We Weren’t Looking Read More »
International, Middle East, USA