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

Religious Freedom and Azerbaijan’s Victory in Nagorno-Karabakh

When former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni sent birthday wishes on December 23 to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, she praised Aliyev for leading Azerbaijan “through national and international challenges.” Given the recent events in Eurasia’s South Caucasus region, Livni’s words carry far more than ceremonial meaning. [Jacob Kamaras]

Religious Freedom and Azerbaijan’s Victory in Nagorno-Karabakh Read More »

International, Jacob Kamaras, Jewish Religion, Middle East

Echoes of Bitter Georgia Senate Races Reach California

Mirroring the negative advertising campaigns  in Georgia criticizing the opponents of the candidates they favor, Christians United for Israel issued a press release rebuking Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, for anti-Israel statements he made in the past (but which he has since recanted), while Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California) blasted Warnock’s opponent,  U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, for selling millions of dollars in personal stocks before news of the impacts of the COVID pandemic were generally known by the public. [Donald H. Harrison]

Echoes of Bitter Georgia Senate Races Reach California Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, USA

Alex Padilla named as California’s next U.S. Senator; Shirley Weber to replace him

Two chairs in the California game of political musical chairs have now been filled. Alex Padilla, the California Secretary of State, has been appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to fill out the remainder of the U.S. Senate term of Vice President-elect Kamilla Harris. It is the first time that a Latino will have represented California in the Upper House of Congress. Padilla, like Harris, is a Democrat. He will face the voters in the 2022 elections, coinciding with the time Harris’ first and only Senate term would be near its conclusion. To replace Padilla as Secretary of State, Newsom chose Assemblywoman Shirley Weber of San Diego, who previously had served our city as a member of the San Diego Unified School District board and as a professor at San Diego State University. Her colleague, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, who had announced she plan to campaign for the job, graciously commented: “While I would’ve loved the opportunity to serve, I fully appreciate the need to amplify Black women in our state. Shirley Weber is an icon and will serve California well.” [Donald H. Harrison]

Alex Padilla named as California’s next U.S. Senator; Shirley Weber to replace him Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, USA

U.S. Must Make Cyber-Security a Top Priority

Solarwinds, a network management software company, was recently discovered to have had malware inserted into its products. Its clients’ systems have been compromised for as long as nine months. Someone—possibly the Russians, possibly the Chinese—has been inside the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Treasury Department and major American industries. The list gets longer every day. [Shoshana Bryen and Stephen D. Bryen}

U.S. Must Make Cyber-Security a Top Priority Read More »

International, Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, Stephen D. Bryen, USA

La Jolla family immigrates to Israel

“I saw Uriel deplane his Nefesh B’Nefesh flight, I looked at Orin, and I said, ‘Let’s make Aliyah.’ And that was it,” recalls Liora Green regarding her son’s immigration to Israel in August 2019. Indeed, the Green family did not need any further convincing. A year later — and in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic — Liora and Orin Green as well as their children Merav, 14, and Dalia, 11, made Aliyah from La Jolla to join Uriel, 20. Another sibling, Eyal, 17, is completing his studies at Southern California Yeshiva (SCY) High and plans to make Aliyah in June 2021. [Jacob Kamaras]

La Jolla family immigrates to Israel Read More »

Jacob Kamaras, Lifestyles, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Joseph was wise enough to be vulnerable

This week’s parasha reveals a great deal about human nature. Indeed, “reveal” is the key word. As the parasha opens, Joseph continues to hide his true identity until his brother, Judah, touchingly entreats Joseph to enslave him instead of their innocent, framed brother, Benjamin. Judah poignantly tells Joseph about their elderly bereaved father, which adds to Joseph’s decision to tell his brothers that he is their brother. {Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

Joseph was wise enough to be vulnerable Read More »

Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Month of January exciting for political junkies, journalists

For political junkies and journalists (two groups that sometimes merge), the month of January will be exciting. The U.S. Constitution sets January 3rd as the date for the new Congress to convene.  As January 3rd falls this year on a Sunday, there has been some talk about delaying the opening of Congress until either Monday, the 4th, or Tuesday, the 5th, but it would take a bill approved by both Houses and signed by the President to bring that about.  So, while it’s not impossible that the date still could be delayed, Sunday, the 3rd, looks like the day when the House of Representatives convenes to swear in such new members as Democrat Sara Jacobs of San Diego, and to elect the leadership of both parties.  Two Californians — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarty of Bakersfield — will run for reelection respectively as the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House.  With a narrower majority, and some disgruntled Democrats, especially in the Progressive wing of the party that includes U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Pelosi’s reelection, though favored, is not a sure thing. [Donald H. Harrison]

Month of January exciting for political junkies, journalists Read More »

Donald H. Harrison

The artist as ‘hooligan’ on exhibit at NYC’s Pace Gallery

The Hooligans is Ghenie’s fourth solo exhibition at Pace Gallery, comprised of nine paintings and three drawings, all produced during this last year. It is a sustained engagement with European painting, including J.M.W. Turner, the Impressionists, and post-Impressionists, particularly Van Gogh and Gaugin. Ghenie remarks in a statement about this new body of work: “When I look at the Impressionists, I have the strange feeling that I am looking at something very schizophrenic. Behind those harmless colorful landscapes there is an incredible, destructive force; camouflaged. It is an act of hooliganism.” [Sam Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

The artist as ‘hooligan’ on exhibit at NYC’s Pace Gallery Read More »

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

Michael Lesher tells his journey as a Baal Teshuvah

I held the first three chapters of Turning Back in my hands in 1997. There were only three chapters written at that time. Yet, I knew someday I’d be holding this work between its covers, for I felt the prescient weight of the book resting in my hands at the time. I went ahead and encouraged Michael to develop this work into a full-fledged memoir. Taking pen in hand the thoughts poured out of him, composing one of the most illuminating and gifted memoirs I’ve ever read. I paired Michael with literary agent, Peter Rubie, who I had met many years ago. Together they made music. Peter, whose background is in investigative journalism, made Michael his subject, digging deeper and deeper into the memoirist’s unconscious thoughts. This was not an easy process for the author, for at times it was as arduous as deep psychoanalytic probing into the painful regions of human consciousness. To answer Rubie’s many editorial questions, Michael had to plow through his personal memories, his reflections, his reactions, and his analyses just in order to find the real truth behind the words. The memoirist had to reach his deepest level of literary expressiveness, a condition precedent for writing the story of his own coveted decision to journey back to the richness and fullness of religious life as set forth in the Jewish tradition of thousands of years. [Amy Neustein, Ph.D]

Michael Lesher tells his journey as a Baal Teshuvah Read More »

Amy Neustein, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion

Is Your Synagogue the Healthcare Center of 2021?

At a time many are searching for meaning, hope, comfort, and inner peace in daily life, many turn to art, music and nature, while others, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians, turn to faith and religion. Spirituality, defined as a belief in a higher power that gives life meaning, characterized by humility, plays a role in improving overall health and may prolong life. [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]

Is Your Synagogue the Healthcare Center of 2021? Read More »

Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Michael Mantell

Gloria: No tolerance for racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia

As Mayor, I will not tolerate racism, anti-Semitism, or homophobia in our city,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria declared Saturday.  “We will swiftly confront these acts of bigotry wherever they are and hold those who are responsible for them accountable.” [Donald H. Harrison]

Gloria: No tolerance for racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Shor M. Masori, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Who will mind the constituents of Gonzalez and Fletcher?

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher’s ambition to become California’s next Secretary of State, already announced even though the next scheduled election is not until 2022, may adversely impact not one, but two constituencies, unless she and her husband, County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, make careful preparations to avoid such consequences. [Donald H. Harrison]

Who will mind the constituents of Gonzalez and Fletcher? Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA