AAA-Writers and photographers

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

A New Home for the Bezalel Academy

A plaque embedded into the entrance wall of the building states in Hebrew, Arabic and English: “Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem; Based on principles of human dignity, equality, pluralism and freedom of thought, speech and creative expression.” One can only hope that the students, who come from all segments of Israeli society, will benefit from this noble aspiration. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jenny Camhi: Building Jewish Community in North County

While not everyone was Jewish, “we had a community ketuba of values” in which it was agreed that “we all come from different faith backgrounds, but we can agree that innovation, caring for one another, caring for the environment, and acting with intention were the things that we all wanted to do. So, we had one of our Hive members create a community ketuba (a written contract, usually for marriages.) We illustrated it and we all signed it.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Ben Dishman, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

Opinion: Clamor for a Gaza Ceasefire Is Disingenuous

Activists on the street as well as members of the United Nations insist on a cease-fire, but they do not say how it should work or how it will help anyone besides Hamas. Does the cease-fire mean that Hamas can hold 120-plus Israelis hostage while Israel suspends military action? [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, International, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Satire: Infusing Trump’s Christmas Message With Holiday Spirit

By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — While most Christians were wishing everyone goodwill and peace, Donald Trump posted the following message on Truth Social (which really should be renamed Truth Antisocial): “Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Biden’s ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith, the out-of-control Lunatic who just hired outside attorneys, fresh from the

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

San Diego Jewish World ‘Sold’ Back to Donald H. Harrison for $2

SAN DIEGO — Veteran journalist Donald H. Harrison has reacquired ownership of San Diego Jewish World and will resume as its publisher and editor as of January 1, 2024, it was jointly announced by Harrison and Jacob Kamaras, the current publisher. In a celebrated $1 sale effective January 1, 2022, Kamaras became the publisher and

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Donald H. Harrison, Jacob Kamaras, San Diego County

Wilfrid Israel: The Unintentional Gaza War Memorial

By Jerry Klinger YOKNEAM, Israel — The Wilfrid Israel Memorial was an idea proposed by the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation (JASHP) over a year ago. JASHP was going to pay for it. The hard part was getting permission to site it. JASHP has a message that needed to be said: Jews rescued Jews

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Holocaust, International, Israel, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Opinion

Remembering Sandy Lakoff, Founder of UCSD’s Political Science Department

Sandy fostered long-lasting connections to friends around the world such as Jacob Goldberg, who had served as an adviser to Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Barak. That 40-year friendship began when the Lakoffs hosted Goldberg’s lecture at their home on behalf of American Professors for Peace in the Middle East. [Eileen Wingard]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Eileen Wingard, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Javier Guerrero: Growing and Distributing Food in Accordance with Jewish Ethical Teachings at Coastal Roots Farm

After four years heading Coastal Roots Farm, first as executive director, and later as the President and CEO of the independent, nonprofit farm, Guerrero can sling around a lot of Hebrew, some of which may be unfamiliar to non-Hebrew speaking American Jews. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Ben Dishman, Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Opinion: How U.S. Universities Became Bastions of Antisemitism

What is not spoken about, and perhaps not publicized very much, is how universities in the 1970s, in a mad rush to balance their debt, began to take in very large endowments and contributions from the oil-rich Arab and Muslim countries. I know this firsthand. I was a doctoral candidate at Boston University in the ‘70s, earning my PhD in sociology in May 1981. I sat in class with Muslim students, who were mostly from Iran and Saudi Arabia. [Amy Neustein]

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Amy Neustein, Antisemitism, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Opinion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

The Garden of Eden

By Gedaliah Borvick JERUSALEM — Eden Hills is an exciting new yishuv that is finally welcoming its first residents. The opportunity to live in a small-town setting in nature, yet close to the communal infrastructure of Beit Shemesh, has made Eden Hills a destination for many families. Eden Hills’ history is fascinating. Back in 1990,

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Gedaliah Borvick, Israel, Travel and Food