AAA-Writers and photographers

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

‘Torah IQ’ Provides More Than 1,000 Questions and Answers

The first of the two Torah sections presents twenty questions for each parashah (weekly Torah reading), such as, in parashat Chayei Sarah he asks, “Who in the Torah had 13 children? And in parashat Shoftim, “Which word is an acronym for the four types of leaders in Israel mentioned in parashat Shoftim?” The second of the two Torah sections offers 169 general Torah questions. For example, “Why did Paroh (Hebrew for Pharoah) change Joseph’s name?” and “What is the only birthday party mentioned in the Torah?” [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion, Trivia, Humor & Satire

‘Self and Sound’ Theme for La Jolla Music Society’s Summer Programs

Exploring the theme, Self and Sound, this year’s Summerfest once again bears the stamp of the creative vision of Inon Barnatan, the music director of the La Jolla Music Society.   The concert pianist/head organizer has put together a 16-concert festival, with many ancillary free events, that promises to be pleasurable and challenging for its listeners. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

Former Israel ‘Hawk’ Tells of His Transformation to a ‘Dove’

It’s a well-worn political observation that “it took a Nixon to go to China,” meaning because President Richard M. Nixon was identified as a staunch conservative, he was trusted to go to mainland China and open a dialogue with that nation’s communist rulers, a dialogue that led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two adversary countries. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East

Two floods: Gilgamesh and Noah

The approximately 4,000 year old Babylonian tale “Gilgamesh” disturbs many religious people who feel threatened by the idea that a story that is very similar to the biblical flood story was written before the story of Noah and the flood. Gilgamesh was composed around 2000 B.C.E. and predates the scriptural version. A Jewish tradition dates the revelation of the Bible to 2448 years after creation, or about 1312 B.C.E. Both stories concern a flood caused by divinities: in the pagan myth by gods and in the Hebrew Bible by God. Both are saved by a boat and by using birds to discover if the flood water receded. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr.

Is JFest’s Programming Really ‘Jewish’?

This year’s JFest had many unusual highlights. Some events seemed more fitting than others to be part of a Jewish Arts Festival. Although I savored the Hershey Felder offering, Nicholas, Anna, and Sergei –I love Rachmaninoff’s music–( reviewed in the May 19th San Diego Jewish World), I did not understand its place in a Jewish Festival, given that the subjects were all authentic or pretending Russian aristocrats, the class that often helped perpetrate pogroms. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

An Explanation of the Famous Book ‘Tanya’

Maggid Books in association with Steinsaltz Center has published part of the text of one of the two famous books by the founder of Chabad Hasidim, also called Lubavitcher Hasidim, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812). Rabbi Zalman’s other famous book is Shulchan Arukh Harav, a book that only partially survived, which deals with Jewish law. This book, a translation and commentary of part of the Tanya, originally published in Hebrew in 1797, is by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz (1937-2020) a Chabad Hasid, the author of over 60 books and more than 100 articles. Not all of Steinsaltz’s writings focus on Chabad mysticism, but this book is about Rabbi Shneur Zalman’s view of mysticism. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

Torah Portion for July 31, 2021

In this week’s Torah reading, Eikev, we are commanded to go in the ways of Hashem and to “cling to Him.” How are we to cling to what we just learned last week in Va’eschanan 4:24 is, figuratively, an “all-consuming fire”? The Sifri tells us we are to do so by clinging to and learning from Talmidei Chachamim, those wise, learned people who have vast Torah knowledge. It is a mitzvah to use our learning from Talmidei Chachamim, those who’ve spent many years refining themselves, the Mesilas Yesharim teaches us, particularly when it comes to our personal growth. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Slow Pace of Village Life in Central France

Like many other villages in this semi-deserted area of central France, the population consists of a mix of old and new, native and foreign. I’ve been told that it was once a thriving place with shops of various kinds and even a café, but now there is no sign of its former commercial activity, and it is purely residential. However, it still has an imposing building housing the mayor’s office, a library and a central hall for public activities, serving as the administrative center for several surrounding villages. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Travel and Food