By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — The dentist in the television series Seinfeld, Tim Whatley, D.D.S., converted to Judaism in order to tell Jewish jokes, so perhaps Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed Jewish roots to exploit Jewish suffering – and in the process created a sideshow that diverted attention from the suffering of migrants held in […]
Holocaust, detention centers, and Ocasio- Cortez Read More »
Jewish History, USA
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — This past week, the American flag became a focal point as we celebrated the Fourth of July. The Wall Street Journal reported how NIKE was forced to recall a shoe that featured the “Betsy Ross” flag on the heel. Colin Kaepernick who signed a multi-million-dollar sponsorship
Douglass would have disagreed with Kaepernick Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Sports & Competitions, USABy Dorian de Wind The Moderate Voice AUSTIN, Texas — During the Holocaust, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, or NS (the Dutch national railway company), on behalf of the Nazi occupiers, operated the trains that transported more than 100,000 Dutch Jews, first to “transit camps” and then to the Dutch border. There, the Dutch Jews were transferred to
Comparing Holocaust and slavery reparations Read More »
Dorian de Wind, International, Jewish History, USA
By Donald H. Harrison VICTORIA, British Columbia – Thanks to the U.S. Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886, M.V. Star Princess made a required stop in this Canadian provincial capital, providing a brief opportunity for my wife Nancy and me to hunt down a honeymoon memory. That 133-year-old protectionist piece of legislation banned foreign flagged
Tracking down a memory in Victoria, B.C. Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Travel and Food, USA
Story an photos by Oliver B. Pollak ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – We’re in Albuquerque for the 75th birthday of Dr. Steve, the father of my daughter-in-law Erika. Steve’s wine cellar with red wines dating back to the early 1980s was an added pleasure. New Mexico’s Jewish history is more complicated than the rest of American
New Mexico’s Holocaust and Intolerance Museum Read More »
Jewish History, Oliver Pollak, Travel and Food, USA
By Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel ENCINITAS, California — In anticipation of celebrating the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, I did some research about the role of Jews in the Revolutionary War. Besides the well known figure, Haym Solomon, who helped finance the war, I learned that quite a number of Jews played significant roles
Jews of the American Revolution Read More »
Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, Jewish History, USABy Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — It’s a film that will stay with you long after the final credits roll. Not only because it’s one helluva good film, but also because it’s Robert Redford’s last film. At least he said it is. He announced his retirement last year just before shooting The Old Man and
Always banking on Robert Redford Read More »
Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USABy Rabbi Devorah Marcus Temple Emanu-El SAN DIEGO — Happy 4th of July! While it’s true that there are no official Jewish holidays in the month of July, there is an extremely important Jewish celebration and that is the commemoration of our nation’s Declaration of Independence which we, in the Jewish community, tend to celebrate
U.S. Jews have much to celebrate on July 4th Read More »
International, Jewish History, San Diego County, USA
By Donald H. Harrison JUNEAU, Alaska – Getting ready for rafting down the Mendenhall River is almost as exciting as the ride itself. “T,” a guide for Alaska Travel Adventures who says his Japanese name sometimes is too difficult for western tongues to pronounce, had our eight family members pull rubber trousers over
Rafting, salmon baking, schmoozing in Juneau, Alaska Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Travel and Food, USABy Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — The play Mysterious Circumstances consists of seven actors playing some 26 different characters, as well as “others” too insignificant to identify specifically. And so the stage was a chaos of people coming and going, often dressed in costumes very different from the ones in which they had previously appeared, and delivering their crucial commentary in a variety of nearly impenetrable British
Sherlock Holmes fan himself subject of a deep mystery Read More »
Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USABy H. Applebaum SAN DIEGO –America was founded on the principle of freedom of religion, yet anti-Semitism, brought from other countries, has always been with us. Even in the 1600’s, before we became a country, Peter Stuyvesant, the governor of New York, denied basic rights to Jews. In the 1930’s and 40’s, as the Nazis
America’s anti- Semitism problem Read More »
Jewish History, USABy Sergio Carmona Florida Jewish Journal Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach [Florida] is on a mission to make sure that American liberators of the Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald are honored with a memorial. Buchenwald, a Nazi camp established on Ettersberg Hill near Weimar, Germany, was liberated by Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s United States Third
Memorial sought for U.S. liberators of Buchenwald Read More »
International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, USABy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — One of the Democratic candidates running for President is Cory Booker, the former Newark mayor who later was elected to the U.S. Senate. Booker has had a long relationship with the Jewish community. He once headed Jewish student societies while a student at the University at
Why Jews should distrust Cory Booker Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, USABy Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — Democrats are in denial when they claim that Israel’s perception within the party is solid. Its image has ebbed among Democrats and other Americans, primarily on the liberal side, and it is difficult to determine how much. Israel’s image can be revitalized, though the conditions for it will
Democratic opposition to Israel’s government grows Read More »
Middle East, USA