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 Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — Donald Trump publicized it as a “major announcement,” but should have called it a fundraising grift. Here’s what’s really behind his promotional video for Trump digital trading cards. First, he introduces himself as our favorite president, better than Lincoln or Washington. After all, he freed American bigots to openly […]
Satire: Cut the Cards Donald Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
My friend Susan Ferraro, who lives in a rural part of Northern California. tells me that since about the age of 7, she had fantasized about becoming a Jew. It started, she said, when she read Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl. As children often do, she imagined herself invulnerable; death being something that unfortunately happened to other people. If she had been born Jewish, and living at that time, she could have prevented those Nazis from hurting Anne and her family and those hidden with them in the secret annex. [Donald H. Harrison]
Postwar Encounters with the Holocaust Read More »
California, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Winter has been reluctant to arrive here in Israel, and as I write this in mid-December we can enjoy the balmy sunshine (and not having to heat our homes), though our fields and gardens yearn for rain. However, the silver lining to the lack of clouds is that
A Kind of Coexistence Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Lifestyles, Opinion
By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — Top federal officials and Jewish leaders spoke to each other, and together they spoke to the public at large, the public that reads newspapers, watches television news programs and listens to those who run our government. But they did not speak to the people that count. This is the
Outreach or ‘Pod Squads?’ Breaking Down Bias on the Left and the Right Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, USA
By Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — On March 1, 1881, in Russia, members of the People’s Will assassinated Tsar Alexander II. The murder, to which the Jews had nothing to do, triggered the largest wave of Jewish pogroms in the 19th century due to a blood libel against Jews falsely accused of complicity in the
The Triumphant and Tragic Odyssey of the Inventor of Sea Cruises Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Jewish History, Opinion
By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Maggid Books, together with Yeshiva University Press, published “A Guide for the Jewish Undecided: A Philosopher Makes a Case for Orthodox Judaism” by Dr. Samuel Lebens, a rabbi and Orthodox Jew who is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Haifa in Israel. His
Book Offers a Philosopher’s Case for Orthodox Judaism Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
By Sam Ben-Meir “Anarchism is an aspect of socialism (among many others) that those of us wishing socialism, or some comparable form of resistance, to survive will have to think about again, this time without a prearranged sneer.” T. J. Clark, Farewell to an Idea It is 180 years since the birth of Pyotr Kropotkin
Pyotr Kropotkin, 180 Years Later Read More »
International, Opinion, Sam Ben-Meir
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — You’ve heard it many times, “Man plans, G-d laughs.” Or perhaps, like me, you’ve heard this version, “Mentsch tracht, Gott lacht.” I like “Man thinks, G-d Winks.” Regardless, like all of us who prefer to live without being mutchet or tcheppeht, (pressured or bothered), Jacob found that life has
Parashat Vayeishev: Man Thinks, God Winks Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — Hanukkah starts on Sunday night, December 18. It is usually celebrated during the “Christmas season.” This coincidence makes the Jewish holiday very significant in the U.S., probably more so than in Israel. Here, the holiday is mostly noted by the ubiquitous appearance of oily donuts, jelly ones and
Hanukkah: An Overview Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Steve Kramer
By Heidi Gantwerk SAN DIEGO — As I prepared my remarks for last week’s Town Hall on Antisemitism, once again I came back to the need to balance the light with the dark. It is essential that we pay attention to the darkness surrounding us; that we stay strong and resilient and outspoken. But it
Forging Lasting Connections With Israel Read More »
Heidi Gantwerk, Israel, Opinion, San Diego County
By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — The first night of Hanukkah, December 18, at 7 p.m., the Festival of Lights will be celebrated at the Garfield Theatre, Lawrence Family JCC by a performance of “Light,” by the LITVAKdancers, to original music composed by Yale Strom. He and his band, Hot Pstromi, will be accompanying
‘Light’ and ‘Hot Pstromi’ Served on 1st Night of Hanukkah at Lawrence Family JCC Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County
I am what some people call a “compulsive reader.” If it is printed, and in front of me, I will read it. Flyers. Cereal boxes. Newspapers. Blogs. And most of all, books, books, and more books. [Donald H. Harrison]
Observing, Reading, and Kvelling Over Grandchildren Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Donald H. HarrisonWith 100 percent of the votes in San Diego County’s 2,718 precincts counted, these were the final results in eight races involving Jewish candidates. [Donald H. Harrison]
San Diego County Registrar Tells Final Election Results Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Secular poetry written in a mixture of Latin, medieval German and French by groups of monks and scholars in the 13th century were set to music in the 20th century by the German composer, Carl Orff. The orchestration calls for an especially large orchestra (with extensive timpani and
A Musical Experience Like No Other in Jerusalem Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts