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 Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — First, remember our troops, living and dead, who served the United States in Afghanistan since 2001. They are owed our gratitude for their steadfast presence in a difficult country and our help as they and their families, and the families of the dead, navigate the emotionally terrible terrain of a […]
3 Takeaways from Afghanistan for Us at Home Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USA
By Jacob Kamaras LA JOLLA, California — On August 29, Jane Fantel of Carmel Valley posted a heartfelt message on Facebook to mark one year since an “amazing young woman came into my life” — referring to Klil Amar, The Jewish Agency for Israel’s ShinShinit (service year emissary) at the KAVOD Charter School, Congregation Beth
Bringing Israel to San Diego: The ‘Magic’ of Hosting a Young Emissary Read More »
Jacob Kamaras, San Diego County
These are the Developments of the Human by Ethan Daniel Davidson; self-published 2021; ISBN 1978057-883010; 459 pages; price not listed. By Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Ethan Daniel Davidson’s These are the Developments of the Human is a collection of poetic commentaries on thoughts drawn from the Pentateuch. His background is
‘These are the Developments of the Human’ Offers Novel Concept, Poetic Commentaries Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
This is a story for Young Adults set in the turbulent 1960s, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down anti-miscegenation laws in 16 states via its decision in Loving v. Virginia. Leah, a recent high school graduate, has fallen in love with Raj, whose family immigrated from India. Raj, a business major at New York University, faces the same problem that the Jewish Leah does; his parents want him to marry within his own religion, which is Hindu. [Donald H. Harrison]
Young Adult Novel Deals With Miscegenation, Dysgraphia, Antisemitism Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — This week’s Torah portion Nitzavim, with its majestic and simultaneously chilling tone, is always read on the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah. That’s right, it’s only a few days away. It asks us where we stand as we enter the new year. The parasha teaches that Hashem tells us, “I
Parashat Nitzavim: Choosing Life Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — During his 1968 presidential campaign, Robert F. Kennedy proposed sending 50 military planes to Israel. Two decades later, Sirhan B. Sirhan revealed that RFK’s support of Israel motivated him to fatally shoot RFK in the pantry of a Los Angeles hotel on June 5, 1968. Five months from now,
RFK Assassin Calls Himself a ‘Peacemaker,’ But Does He Deserve Parole? Read More »
Bruce Ticker, USA
I can’t get no Ivermectin, I can’t get no Ivermectin.
‘Cause I search and I search and I search and I search.
I can’t get no, I can’t get no … [Satire by Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Satire: Ivermectin Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
After a year’s absence, Western States Jewish History, a half-century-old journal, has made its reappearance in a new format. No longer a quarterly, the journal will be published semi-annually by Texas Tech University Press, under the editorship of Jonathan L. Friedmann, professor of Jewish Music History at the Academy for Jewish Religion-California in Los Angeles. [Donald H. Harrison]
‘Western States Jewish History’ Now Semi-Annual and Peer-Reviewed Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak
We support the Forgotten People Fund of Netanya, which has Israel’s largest Ethiopian Israeli population. Our grass roots fund, composed solely of volunteers, attempts to fill the gaps left by the city’s social services department. The ultimate mission is to help our local Ethiopian Israeli community members to better themselves. FPF depends on donations to carry on the important undertakings like assisting the community to obtain professional qualifications, such as managers, teachers, lawyers, nurses, and engineers. See the website at: http://www.fpf.org.il. [Steve Kramer]
Fund for Ethiopian Israelis Needs Replenishing Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer
This is a biography of two Dutch Jewish sisters who survived much of World War II living under assumed identities in a country villa located on a high knoll in the middle of the woods near Amsterdam. [Donald H. Harrison]
Biography Tells of Hiding in a ‘High Nest’ from the Nazis Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History
Rabbi Abraham Chill (1912-2004) gives readers of The Mitzvot, The Commandments and their Rationale a very readable listing of the commonly accepted list of biblical commands, presented in the order in which they appear in the Five Books of Moses. He identifies the location of the command in the Bible, and gives the explanations offered by various highly respected ancient rabbis, including Maimonides, Nachmanides, Abarbanel, ibn Ezra, Radak, Ralbag, Rashi, Sforno, Saadiah, and 15 others. He describes each of the 23 rabbis that he quotes. As my uncle, Rabbi Dr. Sidney B. Hoenig, Dean, Bernard Revel Graduate School, Yeshiva University, wrote in his Foreword to the book, “His work presents in digest form each and every perspective of every one of the 613 divine commandments and, in clear style and comprehension, makes the reader part of the whole gamut of thinking in Oral Law perception.” [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Explanations of the 613 Biblical Commandments Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
This book, intended for students in late elementary and early middle schools, tells the story of two Ukrainian teenage sisters who are taken prisoners by soldiers of the Soviet Union. The soldiers and the sinister Soviet NKVD believe that however anti-Nazi the sisters might have been during the just-ended World War II, they also were opposed to the expansionist designs of the Soviet Union. From the standpoint of the commissars, although the girls were just teenagers, they were enemies of the state. [Donald H. Harrison]
A Nuanced Children’s Novel of the Post World-War II Era Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. HarrisonLike Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur does not exist in the Bible. It replaces another day known as Yom Hakippurim. Yom Kippur is singular, “day of atonement,” while Yom Hakippurim is plural, “day of atonements.” The biblical Yom Hakippurim is mentioned in Leviticus 16:29–31, 23:27–32, and Numbers 29:7–11. No work was permitted on this day, special sacrifices were offered, there was a ceremony consisting of two scapegoats, and the Israelites were only obliged to te’anu et nafshoteikhem. This is improperly translated as “you must afflict your souls.” [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Yom Kippur and the Holiday the Romans Destroyed Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
This memoir more appropriately might have been titled “The Life of Riley,” except for the fact that title was immortalized in the 1940s and 1950s by radio and television actor William Bendix, who portrayed aircraft worker Chester A. Riley on both media. “Riley” in the instance of this book, is a black Flat-Coated Retriever, who remained very much a puppy even well into adulthood. The Beckerman family–which included the author’s husband Joel, son Josh, and daughter Emily — also owned various goldfish, many of whom they collectively named “Larry” (even those who occupied the fish bowl at the same time); a chinchilla; and a bearded dragon (lizard), but Riley was the star and most beloved of all these pets. [Donald H. Harrison]
Memoir of a Happy, Chaotic Life of a Pet Owner Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, The World We Share, Trivia, Humor & Satire