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

The Brothers Belland Team on Short Stories

Almost Havana: A Collection of Short Stories by F.W Belland and Chris Belland; Whiz Bang LLC, 2014; ISBN 9780692-378885; 192 pages; $14.95; Available on Amazon Amazon.com : almost havana By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Brothers Fred and Chris Belland each contributed ten stories to this well-written collection. While reading older brother Fred’s stories,

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Receiving Direct Feedback from Hashem

Tzarat was a consequence of numerous sins, most prominent of them was Lashon Harah – evil gossip. Interestingly, the person suffering from Tzarat was placed into quarantine, not so that the disease wouldn’t spread, but instead to demonstrate to the person with the disease that his anti-social behavior resulted in an anti-social situation. [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]

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Jewish Religion, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi

Post COVID, Become F.I.T.

Now before you think this column is about physical exercise and muscle growth, I’m talking here about another type of being “F.I.T.,” one that I’ve been writing and speaking about for many years. This F.I.T. has to do with being a “Fundamentally Independent Thinker” and requires no exercise equipment. “The link is what you think,” remember? Let’s delve into this a bit and see how being an independent thinker, not emotionally hooked into external events, can help you through the COVID-19 psychological upheaval. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Lifestyles, Michael Mantell

Recovering and allowing others to recover

We learn in this week’s reading to see the potential for extending our own community to include those ill in body, mind, or spirit, and are charged with fully welcoming them back after whatever diagnosis and treatment they receive for the “disease,” that does not, after all, alter their essential humanity. The Torah directs us to welcome and comfort the afflicted instead of solely expelling them. [Michael R. Mantell, PhD]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

‘Planet Corona’ Is Everyone’s Current Residence

An American living in retirement in Jerusalem, Chaya Passow has been described by her friends as a “pollyanna,” one who tries to see the best in everything and everybody.  So when the coronavirus pandemic confined many people to their homes – except to go out for necessities or approved errands – she unsurprisingly decided to “glean from this unprecedented experience any lessons for better understanding the human condition, for self-improvement, for a closer connection to Hashem and others.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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

‘Jews in Space’ Lecture Filled with Anecdotes

Boris Volynov was first among approximately 19 Jews who have flown in space, serving as a Russian cosmonaut in 1969.  Thereafter, Judy Resnik, Ilan Ramon and Gregory Chamitoff joined him in an exclusive club, being the first Jews from their nations to go into space.  Resnik was from the United States, Ramon from Israel, and Chamitoff from Canada. These were among the factoids presented by Roger Weiss, a contractor on the International Space Station (ISS) program, in a Zoom program sponsored on Sunday, March 11, by the San Diego Outreach Synagogue. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food, USA

Book Provides Useful Pet Advice

The pandemic has changed many people’s daily routines. More folks have been spending time at home and because of this, pet adoptions have increased.  What better time to adopt a pet than while spending so much time at home! However, there have also been a lot of first time pet owners who need some guidance. [Mimi Pollack]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Mimi Pollack, San Diego County, The World We Share

Once Again, Iran is Beating U.S. in Nuclear Negotiations

It may be uncomfortable for me to bring this up, but anyone who doesn’t have his or her head in the clouds knows that in the Middle East, the first one to concede in negotiations has already lost. Middle Easterners have a “bazaar” mentality, always asking their opponents to “make an offer,” knowing that doing so rigs the game in favor of those who have patience and wait. [Steve Kramer]

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International, Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA

A Family and a Nation Remember

It’s a day of sad contemplation of what the Jewish people have lost, not only in numbers but in individuals, parents, children, relatives, people who worked with their hands or their brains, doctors, scientists, artists, writers, and lawyers, and so many others. So much talent wasted, so many minds and bodies obliterated senselessly. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish History

‘Mural’ Came From Deep in Pollock’s Unconscious

Since at least 2014, Mural (1943) has been on perpetual tour. So much has already been said about this large painting – books are devoted solely to the analysis of Jackson Pollock’s first great masterpiece. What else can possibly be said? In fact, there will always be new things to say. As with any work of genius, it exceeds every interpretation. Mural is generally regarded as a transitional work – between the mythological, Jungian abstractions and the later drip paintings which would secure Pollock’s world fame.

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir

Another Shoe May Drop in Chabad of Poway Case

The Passover 2019 attack on Chabad of Poway in which congregant Lori Gilbert-Kaye was murdered and three other persons were wounded has prompted a pair of criminal cases and a civil case in its wake, while a fourth criminal case involving tax fraud proceeds in federal court. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, USA