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
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada) in an interview with the Associated Press said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should be impeached. [Donald H. Harrison]
Jews in the News: Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026 Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Israel, News Media, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
October 27, 2021, Rabbi Yonasan Abrams of Chabad Temecula and Baruch Bloom, of the Chesed Shel Emes Society of California, buried the remains of a Ploni Ben Abraham, in the Chabad Mt. of Olives Cemetery in Los Angeles. Ploni Ben Abraham means unknown but to God. [Jerry Klinger]
John Doe ‘Shoah: The unknown Holocaust survivor Read More »
California, Holocaust, Jerry Klinger, Jewish Religion, Opinion, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
In San Diego right now, we are in a “thick fog.” When letters of “pain and rage” are weaponized, and when the Jewish community’s response ignores the JOC (Jews of Color) in its own pews, we have entered the Ninth Plague. We have stopped seeing our “brothers” and “sisters.” [Barrett Holman Leak]
Parsha Bo: Blindness and Fire Read More »
Barrett Holman Leak, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Opinion, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that principals at the first direct meeting among U.S. negotiators and those of warring Russia and Ukraine discussed “possible parameters for ending the war” and went well enough to merit a second meeting next Sunday in host Abu Dhabi, part of the United Arab Emirates. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, were among the U.S. delegation. [Donald H. Harrison]
Jews in the news: Saturday evening, Jan. 24, 2026 Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Obituaries & memorials, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
Prolific playwright Ian August wrote Donna Orbits the Moon in 2010. The character, Donna, a middle-aged Midwestern housewife had spoken to him in the middle of the night, and he’d scribbled down notes as they came to him. After a few weeks of this nocturnal internal visitor, August began to figure out her story…and write his one-woman play. [Eva Trieger]
‘Donna Orbits the Moon’ stars Susan Clausen at Scripps Ranch Theatre Read More »
Eva Trieger, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
[H]ow ridiculous it was for Trump to smile in the photo of Maria Corina Machado gifting him her Nobel Peace Prize, a gesture which merits her receiving the Brownnose Award for Sycophancy to motivate him to install her as President of Venezuela. There are, however, awards Trump deserves … [Laurie Baron]
Satire: Awards Trump Deserves Read More »
International, Lawrence Baron, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA
I recently read Hostage, written by Eli Sharabi, who survived 491 days as a hostage in Hamas tunnels. This was the first published account by a released Israeli hostage and it appeared while the war raged on. A ceasefire was signed months later and Israel now controls 53% of Gaza. [Steve Kramer]
Eli Sharabi’s ‘Hostage’ recounts his will for survival Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer
For most of my life, if you had asked me to describe myself, I would have said I was a glass-half-empty kind of gal. That story took shape early (of course it did). Like many of us, I had a fun adolescence on the outside and a restless inner world on the inside. I sensed there was more to life than partying, jogging, and getting good grades, but I didn’t know what I was searching for or how to find it. Frankly, I was confused and lonely. [Shayna Kaufmann]
The story my mind forgot to update Read More »
Opinion, Science, Medicine, & Education, Shayna Kaufmann, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Britain’s Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis welcomed Parliament’s passage and the royal assent for a bill clearing the way to construct a Holocaust Memorial Center in Victoria Tower Gardens. [Donald H. Harrison]
Jews in the news: Friday, Jan. 23, 2026 Read More »
Business & Finance, California, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Israel, News Media, San Diego County, Shanda File, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
I am always so humbled and honored to be asked and trusted to carry such a sacred possession through the aisles as people kiss their siddurim (prayer books) or tallits (prayer shawls) and touch them to the Torah. [Cailin Acosta]
Feeling pride as I parade the Torah through my congregation Read More »
Cailin Acosta, California, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA
Including the U.S., 20 countries attended the signing ceremony: Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan. [Donald H. Harrison]
Jews in the news: Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026 Read More »
Business & Finance, California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA
At the entrance to the park, a plaque carries the message Laurie and John wanted the world to know: this was created in memory of their brother, not for publicity, but for purpose. The fact that Paul had no children, the family writes, was “a deep sadness in his life”—one that Laurie and John are determined to transform into something meaningful. [Jacob Kamaras]
This book explores the biographies of eight remarkable women who gave thousands of innocent children caught in the horrors of World War II a chance to live. They did not act for fame or glory, but simply because it was the right thing to do. [Cailin Acosta]
Female rescuers of children from the Holocaust profiled Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Cailin Acosta, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Parsha Bo is often remembered for its drama including the final plagues, the rising tension, the night that reshaped Jewish history. Yet beneath the spectacle, the Torah is asking a quieter, deeply personal question: “what actually prevents a human being from changing?” [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]
Parsha Bo: Before redemption, courage to move without certainty Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell, Staff and Bylined Contributors