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
To anyone paying attention the last four years, Trump’s refusal to accept that he lost the 2020 presidential election fair and square could not truly come as a surprise. That he would never concede was practically a given. What we could not know (and still do not know) with any certainty is just how far Trump will go to maintain his grip on power. [Sam Ben-Meir, Ph.D]
OpEd: Power versus Duty in American politics Read More »
Sam Ben-Meir, USA
County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, in a demonstration of bipartisanship on Tuesday, Jan. 5, yielded the ceremonial board position of chairman pro tempore to County Supervisor Joel Anderson after she was nominated to the position by Supervisor Nora Vargas, who had also successfully nominated herself for vice chair and County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher as board chair. [Donald H. Harrison]
Lawson-Remer receives major committee assignments Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA
Hashem appears to be saying “I will be one with you just as you are one with the people for whom you care so much.” Five times in the parasha, Hashem tells Moses that He feels the suffering of the Israelites. Moses, too, felt a tug to connect with his people. Hashem sees this and recognizes Moses’ special quality. We learn in this week’s Torah reading a most contemporary and timely lesson: We are not to simply see the suffering of others, but to experience it fully, as if it is our own–and act to reduce that suffering. As we reduce the pain in others, we then reduce our own. [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]
Moses teaches us the need for compassion Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
Every year the president of the United States awards the Medal of Freedom to people who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” Honoring that tradition, President Trump is conferring this honor on Devin Nunes for “unearthing the crime of the century [the Russian hoax]” and “thwarting a plot to take down a sitting United States president.” Adhering to Trump’s elastic interpretation of what constitutes a “meritorious contribution” to the above criteria, I expect the following to be named as recipients of the Medal in the coming days. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Satire: The Medal of Free-Dumb Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
Sworn in today (Monday, Jan. 4) as the 3rd District San Diego County Supervisor, Terra Lawson-Remer laid out an ambitious agenda for herself that included “an evidence-based” campaign against COVID-19, extending a financial “lifeline” to small businesses and workers in San Diego County; implementing a climate action plan; promoting racial justice; fighting homelessness; developing affordable housing; protecting the coastline; guarding against pollution-promoting urban sprawl; lessening the threat of wildfires; providing care for seniors, children, adults with mental or behavioral issues; assisting immigrants; and supporting the arts. [Donald H. Harrison]
Lawson-Remer tells ambitious agenda as new County Supervisor Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, USA
Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego) cast her first vote in the 117th Congress on Sunday to reelect Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) as Speaker of the House in a 216-209 victory over Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield). With many members of the Progressive wing of the Democratic party, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) waiting until after the 7th and last group cast their votes, McCarthy was leading Pelosi 194-189. Then Ocasio-Cortez and other members who had not yet voted were given another chance to do so, resulting in a surge of votes for Pelosi and her victory. [Donald H. Harrison]
Pam Ferris, president and CEO of Seacrest Village Retirement Communities in suburban Encinitas, says the day that CVS Health administered the first round of Pfizer vaccine shots to staff and residents was also a day of music, deli sandwiches, lollipops and celebratory stickers given to those who were vaccinated. [Donald H. Harrison]
Seacrest Village staff, nursing home residents receive first Pfizer vaccine shot Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County
Joan Micklin Silver (1935-2020) passed away on New Year’s Eve. She belonged to a cohort of pioneering American female directors in the 1970s, many of whom were Jewish. Whereas most of her Jewish counterparts deal with Jewish themes in their films, she repeatedly returned to making distinctly Jewish films earning her the reputation of being the “the mother of Jewish feminist film.” [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Congratulations are due to Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, who announced the wording of his country’s National Anthem has been changed to be more inclusive of Australia’s indigenous people, who were on the continent thousands of years before the British colonial era began. [Donald H. Harrison]
Changing National Anthems to be More Inclusive Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, USA
This week’s portion is titled Va’Yechi, which means And He Lived. The portion begins by discussing the final 17 years of the life of Jacob, third, and in many ways greatest, of the Patriarchs. It is ironic that the portion that talks about Jacob’s death is called, “And He Lived.” [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]
A Word of Torah: To Life! Read More »
Jewish Religion, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi
Our lives involve a constant series of rebirths that affords us the opportunity to expand our horizon and vision of the world around us. Whenever we wake up on the first day of the New Year, it behooves us to think about what we must accomplish and achieve while we travel through time. Let us use this time to set goals and make new promises to our soul that each of us will boldly live our lives and realize the God-given potential that we each have. [Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel]
Prayers for the New Year Read More »
Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
My grandchildren, who have grown up in a secular environment in Israel, find it odd that I, their (hopefully) broad-minded grandmother, should have gone to a secondary school for girls. In Israel, it is only those segments of the population which adhere to ancient tenets of gender identification that maintain gender-segregated schools for their offspring. In England, where I grew up, the situation was similar but the ideas behind it were different. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Education for Girls in Britain and Israel Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education
Pat Toomey could not get elected as a senator for Illinois, our sixth most populous state, but since 2010 he was narrowly elected to two terms in Pennsylvania amid low turnout in Philadelphia for each election. One can draw a straight line between his re-election in 2016, possibly on Donald Trump’s coattails and his late December proposal to shut off a safety valve to salvage state and municipal budgets such as those in his home state. And mine. [Bruce S. Ticker]
Toomey typifies Unrepresentative Senate Read More »
Bruce Ticker, USA
With many people ignoring health regulations intended to curtail the spread of the Covid19 virus, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria signed an executive order on Wednesday allowing for fines of up to $1,000 “for those who blatantly defy provisions of State orders or the San Diego County public health order.” The measure, which went into effect at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday night, was intended to bolster the following state and local regulations: {Donald H. Harrison]