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 Sam Ben-Meir Over 2 million Ukrainians have now become refugees – each one a part of the largest dispersal of Europeans across the continent in decades. Over 1,000 villages and towns are without water, electricity and heat, while medical supplies are rapidly dwindling – swelling a humanitarian crisis that is rapidly growing worse by […]
For Ukraine, the Time is Now Read More »
International, Opinion, Sam Ben-Meir, USA
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — This week we begin a new book of the Torah, Sefer Vayikra, the book of Leviticus, and we read the Torah reading by the same name, Parashat Vayikra. In addition, this Shabbat we read from a second Sefer Torah since it is Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat of Memory, the Shabbat observed before Purim. The
Parashat Vayikra/Shabbat Zachor: Seeking Forgiveness and Repairing Damage Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
A Girl During the War by Anita Abriel; New York: Atria Books © 2022; ISBN 9781982-181185; 317 pages; $17. SAN DIEGO – Many people have asked themselves if they had lived under the Hitler regime, and if they weren’t Jewish, would they have had the courage to protect a Jew, knowing if they were caught
World War II Novel Glosses over a Tough Moral Decision Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts
This is a sexually explicit novel set in Romania during the Holocaust. The protagonist, Daniela Mielstone, is 15 years old when the novel begins and still a teenager when the Holocaust ends. [Donald H. Harrison]
Holocaust Novel Deals With Sexual Trauma Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
By Eva Trieger SOLANA BEACH, California — If you ever wanted to know who put the “fun” in dysfunctional, all hands point towards the North Coast Rep’s latest cast of The Homecoming. This offbeat, quirky, Pinter play is a hilarious romp from start to finish. Kudos to David Ellenstein for directing this British comedy, and
North Coast Rep’s ‘The Homecoming’ Puts the Fun in Dysfunctional Read More »
Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Laurie Baron Denazification=DeNATOization Ukrainians=Lapsed Russians Special Operations=Asymmetrical war waged until the world starts saying Kiev again Genocide=What lapsed Russians do to ethnic Russians Act of War=Anything that aids the lapsed Russians Chernobyl =What will happen to other nuclear reactors if the lapsed Russians resist Nuclear High Alert=Your next infrastructure projects should be building bomb
Satire: Translating Putinese Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
Enthralled by the stories Cysner told, Harris immediately asked the UC Santa Barbara History Department if she could change her dissertation subject so that it could be based upon Cysner’s experiences, both in Poland, where he was a prisoner of the Nazis, and in the Philippines, where he later became a prisoner of the Japanese. The department agreed, even though this meant changing Harris’ academic advisor and the schedule of courses to which she would commute from her home in San Diego. [Donald H. Harrison]
Cantor’s Archive Led to Book on Philippine Rescue of European Jews Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food
When the man and woman drawn to each other are both septuagenarians you know this will not be the usual type of love story, although a love story it is. [Donald H. Harrison]
Love and Foreign Travel Share This Novel with the Occult Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
By Alex Gordon, Ph.D HAIFA, Israel — The view of Ukraine as part of Russia, captured in the etymology of the Russian word “Ukraine,” is at the heart of the aggression: the “periphery,” the “border region” of the Moscow state, the “edge,” the “vassal” revolted against the “suzerain.” And the “suzerain” brings down on the
Putin’s ‘Secondary Antisemitism’ Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Opinion
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — One’s heart goes out to the Ukrainian men, women, and children caught up in the devastating and unprovoked attack on their country by their powerful and greedy neighbor, Russia. The sight of women carrying children as they tramp along frozen roads and fields in an attempt to find
Ukraine: Can We Detach the Present From the Past? Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Holocaust, International, Opinion
By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — Kevin Kline’s character Otto from A Fish Called Wanda was outdone by Alabama high school officials who demanded that a Jewish student apologize for something he did not do and disregarded any thought of apologizing for his teacher’s action — leading his class in a Nazi-like salute. Unlike the
Teacher Training on Antisemitism? How About Common Sense Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Opinion, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Urim Publications in Jerusalem and New York has just published Faith Fulfilled: Megillat Esther and The Maariv Evening Service for Purim with Commentary from the Writings of Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits. It is compiled and edited by Rabbi Dr. Reuven Mohl. The book is excellent. Rabbi Berkovits’
A Scholarly Rabbi Comments on the Book of Esther and More Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — It’s taken four parshiot to arrive here, winding our way through Terumah, Teztzaveh, Ki Tisa and Vayakhel to Pekudei and the completion of the prototype of our synagogue. As it says, “In the first month of the second year, on the first of the month, the Tabernacle
Parashat Pekudei: The Purpose of Our Modern-Day Synagogue Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
“A Jewish Bestiary: Fabulous Creatures from Hebraic Legend & Lore,” by Mark Podwal; The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, PA, ©2021; ISBN 9780271091730; 70 pages, plus bibliography; $14.86. By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – Close contact between animals and humans, according to the Hebrew Bible, happened soon after creation: God brought them before
‘Jewish Bestiary’ Unpacks the Actual and Mystical Roles Animals Play in Our Lives Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion