USA

Why I’m supporting Amy Klobuchar for President

I am a former Democrat, who left that party after its hard left, now called progressive, wing did everything it could in 2006 to oust U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut  from his seat, which he nevertheless won as an independent.  Many of us Jews had taken tremendous pride in Lieberman having been Al Gore’s 2000 vice presidential running mate, the first Jew to be so nominated by either major party.  So, we felt the effort to dump Lieberman to be a slap in the face.  Yes, he was more conservative than many of us on some issues, but he always was an upstanding example of integrity and civility. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue charts re-opening

Nearly one year after the worst anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history that claimed the lives of 11 people worshiping inside a Pittsburgh synagogue building, the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Congregation announced it will move forward with rebuilding plans that reflect resiliency, strength and community collaboration. [News Release]

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Jewish History, Jewish Religion, USA

Two S.D. Jewish community builders lauded

I had the honor on Wednesday night to be the speaker at the Beth Israel Men’s Club. My topic was the historic contributions of two Jewish San Diegans who had been members of Congregation Beth Israel: Marcus Schiller and Jacob Weinberger.  Both men were immigrants to this country from Europe, both had been active in the political life of San Diego, and both helped to form institutions that are prominent in our local Jewish community.

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Global Shabbat project expects a million plus participants

rom November 15-16, 2019, more than 1 million Jews in over 1,500 cities around the world, including San Diego, will unite for the annual international Shabbat Project. Last year, the Shabbat Project attracted more than 1 million participants in 101 countries across 1,511 cities and towns. This year, organizers believe the initiative will top those numbers.

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International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

JNF: Israel schooling leads to Jewish continuity

Dr. Sol Lizerbram, the Rancho Santa Fe resident who serves as national president of the Jewish National Fund, offers some statistics to back up the claim that sending a teenager to JNF’s Alexander Muss High School program in Israel can contribute in the long run to Jewish continuity.

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Judaism, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

‘Never Again is Now’ references Poway shooting

Evelyn Marcus and Rosa Zeegers are a Jewish lesbian couple who uprooted themselves from Holland and moved to the United States because they saw ugly anti-Semitic history repeating itself in Europe.  Anti-Semitic graffiti, beatings, rallies, bombings, and demonstrations all seemed to presage the same kind of Holocaust that their parents had lived through.  Now, they are seeing some of the same troubling signs in the United States — last Passover’s shooting at San Diego County’s own Chabad of Poway being just one example.

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego Calendar, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

New Mexico’s Crypto-Jews subject of informative tour

When Jordi was just ten years old, his grandfather said, “This is how we butcher a chicken,” as he demonstrated the kosher slaughtering method. Jordi’s grandfather thereby revealed that the family was Jewish, a startling surprise for a young boy in the 1990s living in Spain, whose family was ostensibly Roman Catholic like everybody else. This revelation, that they were Crypto-Jews (secret Jews), had a profound effect on Jordi, who eventually became the first rabbi in 500 years to be ordained in Spain.

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food, USA

Money, not soldiers, is Trump’s weapon of choice

One way to understand Trump administration foreign policy is to understand that it is more comfortable with the currency of currency than the currency of American soldiers abroad.  That isn’t always the best approach, since many of America’s adversaries are wedded to military interventions — including grossly illegal ones.  And how the United States reassures its allies that it is not abandoning the playing field to soldiers on the other side is of inestimable importance.

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International, Shoshana Bryen, Sports & Competitions, USA

Jewish Year 5780 starts with bad news

Two days before the Day of Atonement, The New York Times reported that Jeremy Corbyn had advanced a signficant step toward becoming Britain’s prime minister. Yom Kippur itself was consumed by fatal shootings outside a synagogue in Germany; a military earthquake in Syria that could easily extend to Israel; and two scary incidents in Elon, North Carolina, and White Plains, New York. This confluence of events cast a bleak shadow for 5780, the new Jewish year. It makes one wonder what else can happen.

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Bruce Ticker, International, Middle East, USA

An act of betrayal and infamy

President Trump’s decision to withdraw American forces from Syria may well be remembered as one of the most egregious and inhuman disasters that he has ever taken since he came to power. For a President of the United States to make such a critical decision with so many implications, simply based on a conversation with Turkish President Erdogan, not only shows his shortsightedness and total lack of strategic approach, but his inability to appreciate how that will adversely affect our friends and please our foes. We are already witnessing the unfolding disaster, and there are no words to explain how and by what logic the President of the United States in particular can take such critical steps, knowing how disastrous the repercussions of his actions would be. (To read more, please click on the headline.)

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Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USA

Our Shtetl San Diego County: October 10, 2019

Items in today’s column include:
*Google service places inappropriate ads on our website
*Lineup for “Tapestry” on Nov. 17 announced
*Nikki Haley featured in L’Chaim Magazine
*Political bytes
*Twelfth Night at the Old Globe
*Coming Our Way
(To read more, please click on the headline.)

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA