USA

Beth Jacob to begin highly regulated prayer sessions

Beth Jacob Congregation will hold outdoor weekday prayer services by reservation only beginning on Sunday morning, its rabbis and lay leaders announced.  No decision has yet been reached on resuming Shabbat services, which normally attract far larger crowds than weekday services. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Should worship be considered an essential service?

The question has come up: Should churches and other houses of worship be considered, “an essential service”? The President recently announced that he would override governors who do not open up the houses of worship for services. Moreover, it has been argued by many that places of worship are no less “essential” than liquor stores or supermarkets. Both these places should not be reopened before religious services.[1] The President’s position here is logical; by insisting that houses of worship be reopened, he is appealing to his evangelical supporters. Presidents in office often use the “bully pulpit” to promote an agenda that the President personally endorses. {Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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International, Judaism, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA

ADL to universities: Oppose campus anti-Semitism

As universities begin preparing to reopen campuses in the fall semester, ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) is calling on administrators and faculty to take meaningful steps to ensure an inclusive campus climate for all students in response to a series of disturbing anti-Israel and antisemitic actions at U.S. colleges in 2019. [Press release from Anti-Defamation League]

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Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Webcasts reinforce tikkun olam

I zoomed in on two local webcasts today and although they dealt with different topics, they both made me feel good about belonging to a strong, caring Jewish community.  I was particularly impressed that the presenters had compassion not only for their own immediate circles of family and friends, but also for society at large, and particularly for people who struggle to make ends meet.  {Our Shtetl San Diego County by Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Book review: Life of a Sar-El volunteer

Mark Werner is a retired corporate attorney from North Carolina, who at least once a year for the past 18 years has traveled to Israel at his own expense to sweat and grunt for three weeks as a manual laborer at various installations maintained by the Israel Defense Force.  The jobs varied from assignment to assignment, but they all involved hard work, typically in the hot sun of Israel and inside even hotter warehouses. [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, USA

Congress members demand swastika removal from VA cemeteries

House Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Ranking Member John Carter (R-TX), and full House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Ranking Member Kay Granger (R-TX), today sent a bipartisan request to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie urging that all gravestones inscribed with swastikas and messages honoring Hitler be removed from military cemeteries. [Press release from the House Appropriations Committee]

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International, Jewish History, USA

Donald Trump, Henry Ford, and ‘Bloodlines’

President Trump’s recent remark about Henry Ford’s “good bloodlines” has aroused curiosity and controversy. Trump actually is not the first president to subscribe to the discredited notion that there is such a thing as “good” blood and “bad” blood. But you have to go back nearly a century to find another American head of state who openly embraced such notions. [Rafael Medoff, Ph.D]

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International, Jewish History, USA

A tune for Memorial Day? ‘Here’s One,” in fact, four

One of the earliest Memorial Day commemorations was organized by a group of freed slaves in Charleston, South Carolina, after the Civil War, less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered. So it is fitting that, in honor of Memorial Day, I write about my sister Zina Schiff’s 1994 4-Tay CD, Here’s One” featuring works by American composers, including “The Deserted Garden,” by African-American composer Florence Price. Inspired by African-American spirituals, the simple beauty of “The Deserted Garden” reflects the somber longing for lost loved ones. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

Zooming through Jerusalem’s religious sites

Traditionally, the Memorial Day weekend is one of the busiest of the year for travelers, but not so in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.  However, technology, in the form of a Zoom meeting, whisked me on Sunday, May 24, from my home in San Diego and on to a tri-religious journey to Jerusalem, under the auspices of the America Israel Friendship League (AIFL). [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Sports & Competitions, Travel and Food, USA

San Diegan Carla Berg performs in concert Sunday

In the video above, Carla Sitton Berg and her daughter Liora Sitton Berg of San Diego perform a mother-daughter duet urging us “Don’t Dream It’s Over.”  Carla, wife of  Geoffrey Berg, a board officer of Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School, will be among artists presenting a free online concert Sunday at 3 p.m for which you can register via this website. The concert is co-sponsored by Music on the Inside (MOTI) and Balanced Guitar (BG) “through their shared belief in community and the powerful role of music, especially now.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

StandWithUs celebrates 19th anniversary of its founding

StandWithUs celebrated the 19th anniversary of its founding on Thursday with an international webcast that showcased its growth and successes helping students on college campuses, high schools and middle schools learn about Israel and defend against anti-Semitic attacks. The program was emceed by comedian Elon Gold and also featured the singing of “Hatikvah,” Israel’s National Anthem, by Rabbi/ Cantor Alison Wissot of Temple Judea of Tarzana, California, and a popular, optimistic Hebrew song by Israeli singer David Broza on the theme of “things will get better.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Netanyahu in the dock

Now that Israel finally has a government, a centrist unity government at that, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu will finally face trial in Jerusalem District Court, where he is accused of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. The trial, which was delayed by repeated elections and the coronavirus, will begin on Sunday, May 24. The investigation of  Netanyahu began in 2016. [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA

30 leaders gather for an interfaith Iftar

“Iftar” is the break-the-fast meal at sunset each night during the Muslim month of Ramadan.  Ordinarily, participants–often including welcomed non-Muslims–will eat a prodigious meal together and share family stories and high points.  On Thursday, two organizations teamed up to host a different kind of Iftar that brought together celebrants from around the world and from several different religions. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, The World We Share, USA