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

Satire: The Happy History of the United States

President Trump has decided to replace the current “crusade against American history” by setting up the 1776 Commission to teach students “about the miracle of American history.” Historians from Fox News have leaked advance outlines of the lesson plans for the different eras in the American past. Here’s the one for the colonial period. [Satire by Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

‘Extra Innings’ is not only a baseball story

Released today on a variety of streaming services , Extra Innings is the story of a boy who was a very talented baseball player, whose Orthodox Jewish parents not only discouraged him from this pursuit, but also refused to attend any of his games. This was sad because the young man, modeled on writer/ director Albert Dabah’s own life, had natural talent, both as an outfielder and as a batter. [Movie review by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

RBG’s death prompts Jewish pride, sorrow

Back to work following the two-day observance of Rosh Hashanah, Jewish organizations are paying tribute to the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died at age 87 just before the High Holy Day. Among the tributes were the following: [Donald H. Harrison, “Our Shtetl San Diego County”]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

A prolific writer shares stories, fables, glimpses

The prolific author Lynne Sharon Schwartz has put together a collection of 25 of her short stories that have appeared in a variety of publications, calling the resulting book Truthtelling. To go on sale on October 6, the slim volume makes for engaging reading in short, concentrated bursts. The first story in the book, also called “Truthtelling,” tells of a long-married couple exchanging confessions about misdeeds during their marriage. [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

A book filled with knowledge

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks is a world-wide respected religious leader, the former chief rabbi of the English Commonwealth, the author of more than thirty books, and the winner of numerous prizes. His new book Judaism’s Life-Changing Ideas,” with a Foreword ‘”The Secret of Our Staying Power” by Bari Weiss, the award-winning author and op-ed editor and writer of the New York Times, introduces readers to a life-changing Jewish idea from each of the more than fifty weekly biblical portions. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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

Novel captures horror, confusion of Holocaust, recovery

I have read and reviewed numerous Holocaust memoirs, but none hit me with the impact of this novel — perhaps because the author infused The Brothers of Auschwitz  with such onomatopoeia as the sounds of machine gun fire, the clubbing of human beings, the whistle of death.  This made the experience different from  reading the more flatly narrated memories of Holocaust survivors; it stimulated me to not only read about the horrors of the camp, but to empathically experience them. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Satire: Barr’s 6 Months a Slave

“You know, putting a national lockdown, stay-at-home orders, is like house arrest. It’s — you know, other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history,” –Bill Barr, September 16, 2020 … If Attorney General Bill Barr ever writes his autobiography, it might go something like this: [Satire by Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

We must not let the Holocaust be ‘old news’

“Old news” is perhaps the most dismissive way an editor can reject a suggestion from a reporter, or an outside contributor, about an issue that the media outlet should tackle. San Diego Jewish World promises never to consider the Holocaust “old news,” whatever form that news may come, be it in recollections of still-surviving Holocaust victims; the efforts of second and third generation survivors to measure the Holocaust’s impact on their lives and those of their children; the novelists and playwrights who retell Holocaust stories; or the efforts of some in the academic world to minimize or distort the Holocaust. [Donald H. Harrison, ‘Our Shtetl San Diego County’]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Tracking the Fate of My Grandparents

“We don’t know anything about what happened to our (mutual) grandparents. Our parents never talked about them,” my American cousins told me when I visited them last year. The two sons of my mother’s brother, the late Dr. Kurt Hirsch, live comfortable lives in Virginia. Jack and Harry and their families maintain their connection with Israel and Judaism, and are loyal American citizens. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish History, Middle East, USA

A Word of Torah: Rosh Hashanah 5781

This week we are not only celebrating Shabbos, but we are also ushering in a New Year, 5781. Many of us are uttering a sigh of relief as we close the door on 5780. In Hebrew we write out 5780 as Tav Shin Pay, which some have read as Tihay Shnas Pandemic (It will be the year of pandemic). According to that reading we are entering Tav Shin Pay Alef – Tihay Shnas AIN Pandemic – It will be the year WITHOUT pandemic. [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]

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Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi

San Diego Dems cancel anti-Semitism debate

The chairman of the San Diego County Democratic Party, Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, doesn’t want the debate over anti-Semitism in the party’s ranks to be held until after the Nov. 3 election, if ever. On Sept. 10, Rodriguez-Kennedy sent a message to the county party’s central committee explaining his reason for wanting a delay. [Donald H. Harrison, Our Shtetl San Diego County]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA