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
Parasha Behaalotecha By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — This week’s Torah reading, Behaalotecha, appears to be the basis of one of my mother’s oft-repeated sayings, “Keep complaining and I’ll really give you something to complain about.” Seems the Israelites grew tired of their monotonous diet of manna, pining for the fish and other […]
Appreciating the Non-Material Treasures Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
By Laurie Baron, Ph.D SAN DIEGO — Where there’s woke, there’s ire. What do James Bond and police officers with qualified immunity have in common? A license to kill. If someone likens something to the Holocaust to condemn it, then their reasons for condemning it are probably unconvincing. If Republican senators invoke the filibuster to
Satire: A Pax on Both Your Houses Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Jacob Kamaras SAN DIEGO — How do you connect with Judaism? According to a comprehensive survey of Jewish Americans that the Pew Research Center released earlier in May, “Majorities of U.S. Jews engage in cultural activities like cooking Jewish food (72%), sharing holidays with non-Jewish friends (62%) and visiting historical Jewish sites (57%). Many
Jewish news is Jewish community Read More »
Jacob Kamaras, USA
U.S.-authorized asylum seekers assisted by Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) may remember our city primarily as a place where they slept on hotel beds with clean linens, had three meals a day delivered to them, and got their first prolonged taste of American television. [Donald H. Harrison]
Asylum Seekers See Very Little of San Diego on Journeys to Sponsors Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
On Saturday, May 22, 2021, an interpretive supplemental footstone was added to the Admiral Max Horton memorial at the Rhosneigr seaside community in Anglesey, Wales. The successful placement grew from the unique friendship between Martin Sugarman, a Brit, and myself. Together we are pushing back, at least a little, the dark clouds of forgetfulness and antisemitism. [Jerry Klinger]
A Jewish Honor for Admiral Max Horton Read More »
International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History
In 2020 the Trump administration decoupled the Palestinian Authority (PA) from the process of achieving peace elsewhere in the Middle East. It happened when Trump emissary Jared Kushner promulgated the proposal that resulted in the Abraham Accords. The Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco have all signed on to this breakthrough in Middle East diplomacy. This bottom up approach, through non-aggression and enhanced trade, R&D, and tourism, has withstood the latest warfare between jihadist Hamas forces in Gaza and Israel, which “ended” with a pause in hostilities on May 21. [Steve Kramer]
Drive to Rebuild Gaza Means Rebuilding Hamas Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA
Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin’s latest book in his trailblazing series entitled Mysteries of Judaism IV; Over 100 Mistaken Ideas about God and the Bible offers the reader a glimpse into this seasoned scholar’s views on many of Judaism’s most sacred beliefs concerning subjects as diverse as the importance of the creation narrative in the early chapters of Genesis, as well as many of the thorny problems emerging out of the creation narrative. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Author Dissects Popular Myths About the Bible Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
The Bible says nothing about life after death. It does not mention heaven or hell as an abode after death. The Torah’s entire focus is on behavior that results in the betterment of life, human and non-human, on earth. The only rewards offered to those who need the carrot of physical rewards and the threatening stick of punishments are consequences that occur during a person’s life on earth. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Jewish Views of the Afterlife Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
The chief executive officer of Jewish Family Service of San Diego estimates that between 10 and 20 percent of the Jews who live in San Diego County are at or below the poverty line. To help them, and any other Jew in need, JFS has created a culturally-competent Center for Jewish Care, reports Michael Hopkins, the JFS CEO. Currently, the center has three fulltime staff members, but according to Carole Yellen, JFS senior director of strategic partnerships, that number may soon be doubled. [Donald H. Harrison]
Jewish Family Service Has Unit to Help Jews in Need Read More »
Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County
Chris Jennewein, editor and publisher of the Times of San Diego, wrote a column on Saturday, which suggests that rather than turning back undocumented migrants who have braved hardship to come to the United States, we should welcome many of them. [Donald H. Harrison]
Immigrants Are Our Fellow Human Beings, Not Statistics Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, USAKevin McCarthy opposes the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate what happened on January 6, 2021. After all, many in his caucus contend that 1/6 wasn’t really so bad and shouldn’t be studied in isolation from other instances of civil disorder. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Satire: How Republicans Now Remember 1/6 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
This week we continue in the Book of Numbers with the second portion, Naso, which means Count. It begins by continuing the census of the Levitical families started in our reading last week. In the course of this portion we come across a couple of very interesting, and frankly, somewhat ‘exotic’ commandments, Sota and Nazir. [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]
A Word of Torah: Sota and Nazir Read More »
Jewish Religion, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi
It is hard to be against a peace agreement. Really hard. But the Biden Administration is giving it a go. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki slammed Donald Trump’s policies in the Middle East and called the Israel-United Arab Emirates-Bahrain Abraham Accords “DOA.” “We felt there was not a constructive action by the prior administration, aside from putting forward a peace proposal that was dead on arrival. We don’t think they did anything constructive really to bring it into the long-standing conflict in the Middle East.” [Shoshana Bryen]
OpEd: Biden’s Mideast Policies Emboldened Iran, Hamas Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USA
The stories from Genesis and Exodus are familiar to anyone who has read the Bible or attended Sunday school, but in making the stories more interesting for children, author Shalev, not unlike the midrash writers of old, has invented some very plausible dialogue. [Donald H. Harrison]
Children’s Literature: Bible Stories Retold Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion