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 Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — In 1953, the brilliant scholar Dr. Theodor H. Gaster published Festivals of the Jewish Year: A Modern Interpretation and Guide. It was updated in 1961. It is about the Jewish festivals and the Sabbath, their description, origin, and comparison to other ancient festivals. In six chapters […]
A Modern Approach to the Understanding of Judaism Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — “You’re very brave to travel abroad in these times,” we were told by various friends and acquaintances, both at home and abroad, when referring to our recent trip to France. The underlying message was that we were being foolish to risk our health by boarding a plane and
By Shayna Kaufmann, PhD SAN DIEGO — Four years ago, my now 20-year-old daughter Tara declared (not asked) that she was postponing college to do a gap year in Europe. She intended to work as an au pair in France in order to speak French, expand her horizons and have a culturally immersive experience. I
Embracing Your Heart’s Yearnings…Before It’s Too Late Read More »
Lifestyles, Shayna Kaufmann
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. This parasha may be an environmentalist’s dream. It says, “When you besiege a city for an extended period, to make war against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down;
Parashat Shoftim: An Environmentalist’s Dream Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
Those who forget their history are condemned to ignore race as a factor in it.” George Santayana … “The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by blocking anything political rivals propose with filibusters.” Otto Von Bismarck [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Satire: Updating Famous Quotations Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
An email came a week ago from Australia. It was not a question so much as the sender wanted us to know about Tibor Herz. Tibor was the writer’s father. Tibor had passed away a few years earlier, quietly. For the most part, Tibor is forgotten by all except his family. [Jerry Klinger]
Honoring Jews Who Risked Their Lives to Save Other Jews Read More »
International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History
In 1993, Janell Cannon published a children’s book, Stellaluna, about a baby fruit bat who was inadvertently separated from her mother, and subsequently raised by birds. Stellaluna adapted to her new environs, but through happenstance, found herself back with her natal family, and was overjoyed to learn that her ineptitude as a bird isn’t cause for disappointment or frustration. The young fruit bat gains an understanding that she is unique and can adapt to new situations while retaining her own true identity. It is with this in mind that two brilliant and compassionate teachers created a neurodiverse theater group at New Village Arts. [Eva Trieger]
Neurotypical and neurodiverse performers team in ‘Stellaluna’ Read More »
Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Iran has never caused more trouble than it does today. It has successfully completed its “crescent” road eastward to the Mediterranean through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. It’s proxy militias, most notably Hezbollah, can be stronger than national armies, as Hezbollah is in Lebanon. It is so powerful there that Hezbollah is in a standoff position with the IDF, which is generally considered one of the world’s strongest armies. This is due to Hezbollah’s arsenal of approximately 150,000 rockets (random) and missiles (targeted). Iran controls Lebanon, plays a big role in Syria, is the major power in Iraq, and is successfully confronting Saudi Arabia in Yemen. [Steve Kramer]
Might Iran Implode? Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer
I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream’ Lots of screaming in this season of ice cream lust. First Ben & Jerry’s set events in motion by declaring to inhabitants of Israel’s territories, as they might phrase it on “Seinfeld”, “No ice cream for you!!!!” [Bruce Ticker]
Who Screams for Ben & Jerry’s? Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Middle East, Travel and Food, USABy Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — “If the Republicans will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.” — Adlai Stevenson “During the 1948 war,” says letter-writer Bob Holden of Los Angeles, “the Israelis expelled more than half the Palestinian population (some 700,000) and seized their land and businesses
Telling the Truth About the Palestinians Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USA
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — Is your glass half empty, half filled, or as mine is, filled with 6 ounces of water and the rest, air? Yes, “the link is what you think,” and this week’s Torah reading underscores this idea with its words, “See, this day I set before you a
Parashat Re’eh: Finding the Right Sight Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael MantellBy Eva Trieger SOLANA BEACH, California — What a sweet ride! San Diego Rep’s end-of-summer offering, 57 Chevy, provides not only a cruise down Memory Lane, but reveals the immigrant experience of one man’s family as they assimilated to life in the United States. Cris Franco and co-writer Valerie Dunlap’s story vrooms to life in this one-man
San Diego Rep’s ‘57 Chevy:’ A True Celebration of Immigration Read More »
Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Jacob Kamaras LA JOLLA, California — When it came to planning my family’s summer vacation this year, the process could be summed up by a Yiddish proverb: Der mentsh trakht un Got lakht. Man plans and God laughs. Initially scheduled to depart for Hawaii on August 24, we later realized that we booked that
To mask or not to mask, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The coughs and dangers of contagious Covid,
Rather than cover nose and mouth, suffocating.
Or by opposing mandates to die—to infect,
Tethered to ventilators, bereft of breath,
The long haul and virulent spikes
That flesh succumbs to, like consumption. … {Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Satire: Hamlet’s Soliloquy in the Age of Covid Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA