Below are the names of writers who are currently active. For others, living and deceased, please type their name into the search box above the masthead on our home page, www.sdjewishworld.com
Chametz, back to pizza, sandwiches, beer (if you partake). I saw a few friends post on Facebook what a relief it is to go back to leavened bread. [Cailin Acosta]
Jews reclaim leavened products, enjoy chametz feasts Read More »
Antisemitism, Cailin Acosta, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food
Aaron and Job stand at opposite poles of the same unbearable truth: when the world collapses, silence can feel like the only honest response—and yet silence can also become a prison. We know this, don’t we? [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Aaron’s silence, Job’s protests–both are honest and holy Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Opinion, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Jason Abranches, great-grandson of Portuguese Consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes, and Arturo Levin, whose mother and grandmother were saved by Japanese Consul Chiune Sugihara, will share how ordinary diplomats risked everything to become extraordinary rescuers. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Two diplomats who defied Hitler to be spotlighted at Sunday’s Yom HaShoah commemoration Read More »
Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors
This is not a religious tract, although kabalistic suggestions for counting the omer are thrown in. I must confess I didn’t find the nexus between what is essentially a story of suburban life and those suggestions for meditations on each day of the 49 between the second day of Passover and the arrival of Shavuot. [Donald H. Harrison]
A suburban tale during the 49 days of counting the Omer Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Fiction, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Bad decisions, miscalculations and hubris have caused Israel’s current government to lead the country along a path that seems to bring only more death and destruction. No attempt ever seems to be made to seek peace by negotiation or any diplomatic means of settling disputes. Admittedly, countries that openly proclaim their desire to eradicate Israel and all Jews everywhere should be regarded as a threat, but Israelis should be given an alternative to living by the sword alone. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Distrust for Netanyahu-led government sours some Israelis’ outlook Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Middle East, Staff and Bylined Contributors
This Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center | JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS, members of our community will come together to commemorate Yom HaShoah. I urge you to join us for this moving and meaningful event. Many of San Diego’s remaining Holocaust survivors will be there, and I cannot overstate what an honor it is to be in the room with these precious souls. To be in their presence is a privilege we will only have for a short time longer. [Heidi Gantwerk]
The importance of San Diego’s Holocaust commemoration this Sunday Read More »
Antisemitism, Heidi Gantwerk, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
At the Thursday, April 16, 2:00 p.m. program of Treasures from the Music Collection of the Astor Judaica Library: Music of Yom Hazikaron, my guest, Guri Stark, and I will introduce a playlist of 13 recorded songs. [Eileen Wingard]
Lawrence Family JCC to play 13 curated songs about the impact of Israel’s early wars Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Israel, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Cali notes that his photographs are meant to be lived with. They are not asking for interpretation or explanation. Instead, they offer a space to slow your breath, rest your eyes, and feel a sense of connection. In searching for beauty, he is really seeking moments that feel honest and true. [Cailin Acosta]
Finding beauty in nature at the Cardiff Library Read More »
Cailin Acosta, California, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
Is it wrong to feel good during hard times, especially when others are suffering?
My answer, arrived at through grief and illness and many years of sitting quietly with this question, is an unequivocal no. [Shayna Kaufmann]
Joy during difficult times: Disrespectful or medicinal? Read More »
Lifestyles, Opinion, Shayna Kaufmann, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, step forward with their own fire pans, offering “strange fire” (esh zarah) which God had not commanded. Within seconds, they are dead. The music stops. The joy evaporates. In the center of the camp, there is only smoke and a father staring at the bodies of his sons. [Barrett Holman Leak]
Contemporary Torah: The sacred architecture of silence Read More »
Barrett Holman Leak, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
When we rush to explain pain, we tend to distort it. We personalize what isn’t fully ours. We reduce something vast into something manageable, and in doing that, we often make it smaller than it really is. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.]
Parsha Shemini: The weight of Aaron’s silence Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Georgia legislative candidate Nathalie Kanani risked offending Atlanta-area Jews when she took out a Passover ad that featured a loaf of challah which was decidedly leavened. In Connecticut’s Fairfield County, a bunch of spoiled rich Catholic high school students proclaimed “at least we are not Jews.” [Bruce Ticker}
The giant Roaring Lion, about 24 feet in length, approximately 10 feet at the shoulder, stood on a 10-foot stone and sand platform. The powerful sculpted lion is the biggest in the Middle East. [Jerry Klinger]
The Roaring Lion of Ofakim Read More »
animals, Israel, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and FoodWhile the national media often treats the intersection of Black and Jewish identities as a modern novelty, the history of Jews of Color in the Americas is centuries deep. Long before the term “bridge-building” became a social justice buzzword, individuals were living at this intersection, weaving together the traditions of two resilient peoples. I am one of them. [Barrett Holman Leak]
Black/ Jewish solidarity required to defeat racism, antisemitism Read More »
Antisemitism, Barrett Holman Leak, Jewish History, News Media, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA