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
Laurie Baron, Ph.D, collates a list of lectures that will be streaming from Sunday, July 26 through July 30. All times are San Diego times.
Streaming Jewish Lectures July 26-30 Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel, the author of ten books, has made a fascinating, enlightening, and much needed contribution to our understanding of the Coronavirus pandemic and Jewish and other views on the subject in his book God and the Pandemic. He gives readers a thorough very readable analysis of the many pandemics, earthquakes, plagues, and other occurrences that killed many people. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Book Review: ‘God and the Pandemic’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
“You are invited to watch the ceremony to mark the graduation of the soldiers who have completed the Officers’ Training Course.” That was the text of the official invitation emailed to me and other family members by one of our granddaughters, whose sister was one of the soldiers concerned. We were informed that we would be able to watch the ceremony live, as filmed by the IDF’s official photographer, on the official IDF site on the internet. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Watching granddaughter’s IDF ceremony in Covid19 time Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
or 21 years, Rabbi Chaim Hollander has served as spiritual leader of Young Israel of San Diego (YISD), a small Orthodox congregation located across Navajo Road from the popular Cowles Mountain trail head. Hollander came to San Diego to teach at Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School (SSDHDS), one of the schools that incoming Rabbi Eddie Rosenberg attended as a child. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
As Rabbi Hollander retires, Rabbi Rosenberg ready to step in Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County
“Do not fear them, for it is the Eternal your God who is fighting for you” (Deuteronomy 3:22). What a buoyant, assuring, and optimistic message of hope. That’s what this week’s parasha offers to us. The surety that, after we’ve done all we can, we can confidently let go and move forward with faith and trust in Hashem. As Rabbi Tarfon taught in Pirke Avot (2:16), “It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either.” [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]
Teach these stories to your children Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
How incredible would you feel if you knew you could save the life of a beautiful 15-month-old baby girl, with something as innocuous as a cheek swab? The surrender of a few minutes on your part might provide a chance to reach milestones for this child and her parents. Consider her first day of school, learning to ride a bike, losing her first tooth, observing her bat mitzvah, dressing for a first date, kvellling at her chuppah, welcoming her own child. By registering with Be the Match, you may be offering Zoe and her parents all of these magical moments with minimal effort on your part. [Eva Trieger]
Swab your cheek and maybe save a toddler’s life Read More »
Eva Trieger, International, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
As the president of the Academy of the Hebrew Language since 1993, Prof. Moshe Bar-Asher has many friends and former students around the world. For example, he recently recalled in his courtly English, he once had the pleasure of teaching Mira Balberg, who is now a professor in UC San Diego’s Jewish Studies Department. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Museum of the Hebrew Language planned in Jerusalem Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA
The title of Joshua Hammerman’s book Embracing Auschwitz is incredulous. How can a rabbi, a pulpit rabbi charged with comforting his congregation, in light of the continental genocide and devastation inflicted on so many families, known as the Holocaust, and understanding the Jewish nation has a God-given obligation to obliterate the Amalekites, the biblical archetype of evil, ask us to accept and welcome this malevolence? The conundrum is resolved before one begins to read a single chapter. Hammerman, stressing there is nothing positive about the Holocaust, invokes his interpretation of the word “embrace” by quoting Abraham Joshua Heschel: “There are three ways we respond to sorrow. On the first level, we cry; on the second level, we are silent; on the highest level, we take sorrow and turn it into song.” [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]
The philosophical, religious lessons of Auschwitz Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History, Jewish ReligionCan you think of anything more valued in our daily lives than health promoting and stress reducing compassion? Not long ago I, along with my trusted colleague Lance Breger, MS, led a three-day intensive program on “Physician Wellness” for the members of the American Society of Hematology. One of our central topics was “compassion in healthcare.” Compassion is an essential, powerful element in our lives, in healthcare, in society. It elevates all of us and is without limit. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]
Compassion is health Read More »
Lifestyles, Michael Mantell
Many of you heard about the standoff that took place at Mark and Patricia McCloskey’s mansion in St. Louis. The couple claimed that the BLM group yelled obscenities and threats of harm and since many of the protesters were armed, they decided to arm themselves. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Were the McCloskeys right to brandish weapons? Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA
Information provided by U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer in the tax fraud case against Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein and five co-defendants alleges that another religious institution, not yet identified, has also been involved in tax fraud. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Another Jewish institution may be involved in tax fraud Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
A national memorial to lynching victims at the site of where Leo Frank was lynched in Georgia had been rejected by the Georgia Department of Transportation until Congressman John Lewis stepped in. In Lewis’s memory, Jerry Klinger of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation recounts the story.
The National Anti-Lynching Memorial and John Lewis Read More »
Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, USAWhat does DHS stand for? Deploying Homeland Stormtroopers. Following are some other examples of truth in acronyms. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Satire: Truth in Acronyms Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireRabbi Yeruchem Eilfort of Chabad of La Costa, who is among the longest-serving Chabad rabbis in San Diego County, on Sunday described the revelations of the tax fraud crimes of Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of Chabad of Poway as “deeply shocking and profoundly hurtful.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Eilfort: ‘Deep sense of betrayal’ over Goldstein’s tax fraud Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi