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
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — The heinous events of October 7 in Israel are difficult to reconcile with the modern world’s ethos. After World War II, many believed that the atrocities faced by Jewish communities were behind them and that such darkness would not be revisited upon them. Yet, as Mark […]
The Culture of Biophilia vs. the Culture of Necrophilia Read More »
Israel, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Opinion
By Eva Trieger SOLANA BEACH, California — As the calendar signals the sinister season of ghouls and ghosties, North Coast Repertory Theatre ushers in the chill with an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. While Stevenson wrote the story in 1885, his wife insisted he
North Coast Rep Brings Top-Notch Rendition of Psychological Thriller to San Diego Read More »
Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — Szilard Biographer William Lanouette and geneticist Matthew Meselson will celebrate the 125th anniversary of Leo Szilard’s birth and the Szilard archive held in UC San Diego Library’s Special Collections & Archives on Thursday, Nov. 2, from 4-5 p.m. online. To register for “Leo Szilard’s Legacy: Science in
UC San Diego Program to Explore Legacy of Famed Physicist Leo Szilard Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Holocaust, San Diego County
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel —The eyes of the world are focused on the Gaza Strip at the moment for a variety of reasons. Is Israel going to launch a ground offensive on the northern part of the Strip, after having told the inhabitants there to move south if they want to avoid being
Heartbroken, But Not Broken Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Opinion
By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — If Israel sought to cripple Hamas, they would have targeted Shifa Hospital last week rather than Ahli Arab Hospital, both in Gaza City. During past conflicts, the Hamas leadership cowered underneath al Shifa to deter Israel from destroying that facility. Unless Hamas moved its headquarters, what did Israel have
Anatomy of ‘500’ Murders Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Israel, Opinion
By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — All my readers know that Israel is undergoing a major assault, which in its first day was the most horrific in Jewish history since the Holocaust. And this in one day! It’s hard for Israelis to get our heads around this existential war, but even more so for
What if New Jersey Were Israel? Read More »
Israel, Opinion, Steve Kramer, USA
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — In this, the third Torah reading of this remarkably eventful new year, we learn in Lech Lecha of the spiritual trajectory of our lives. Hashem tells Avraham, “Lech Lecha,” go for yourself, “me’artzecha,” from your homeland, “mimoladitecha,” from your birthplace, “u’mi’beit avicha,” and from your father’s house
Parashat Lech Lecha: The Value of Discomfort Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
For years, the Adopt-A-Family Foundation has been helping Israeli victims of terror, mainly in the southern part of that country. According to the Foundation’s executive director, Carine Chitayat, the Foundation had been providing economic support and friendship to approximately 21 families, which expanded to 25 families following the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas of approximately 1,400 persons. [Donald H. Harrison]
Adopt-A-Family Helping Israeli Victims of Terror Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Israel, San Diego County, USA
Imagine that you are an amateur chemist who comes upon a way to manufacture wheat. Such an invention could end hunger worldwide, would it not? There would be celebrations for you, perhaps a Nobel Prize, and everywhere you’d go, you’d be the subject of popular acclaim. Or would you? [Donald H. Harrison]
Another Feingold Short Story Collection Satisfies the Imagination Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — We all have, or should have, concern about the prevalence of Jew-hatred on American college campuses. Previously it was couched in anti-Israel phrases, but lately it’s become blatantly about Jews in general. Frankly, this is the attitude in the U.S. towards Jews in the 1930s, coinciding with local
By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — Jim Jordan failed to win over enough “moderate” Republicans to vote for him in his bid to become Speaker of the House. Eavesdropping through the microphone I planted in the men’s bathroom outside the House Chamber [the toilets there are called Chamber Pots], I heard the following promises Jordan
Satire: Shouter of the House Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
Scoring doesn’t matter in the Miracle League’s two-inning games in which every player per side gets to hit and circle the bases at least once per inning. At the end of the game, the score is always tied, and every player has had the thrill of crossing home plate at least twice to the cheers of their families, friends, and their game “buddies.” [Donald H. Harrison]
By Gedaliah Borvick JERUSALEM — A few days after the outbreak of the war, I went into a neighborhood hardware store where two old timers were muttering that things would be different today if only Begin were still prime minister. My goal is not to disparage Netanyahu or any of Israel’s politicians. Rather, I would
If Only We Had Menachem Begin Read More »
Gedaliah Borvick, Israel, Jewish History, Middle East, Opinion
By Jacob Kamaras LA JOLLA, California — Planned before the onset of the war in Israel, a lecture by Rabbi Yoni Rosensweig, a leading expert on the intersection of mental health and halacha (Jewish law), gained extra relevance on Monday night at Congregation Adat Yeshurun of La Jolla. Rosensweig is the founder of Maaglei Nefesh –
Expert Unpacks the Intersection of Mental Health, Jewish Law, and the War in Israel Read More »
Israel, Jacob Kamaras, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education