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

JFS food delivery service needs extra help during pandemic

After weeks of mostly staying home since the COVID 19 pandemic started, I was looking for some volunteer work where I could do something useful for others, but still stay safe. Then, I read in this and several other publications that Jewish Family Service urgently needed volunteer drivers for their Project 19 Food Program, so I applied and after passing a background check and obtaining my Food Handler’s Card, was accepted. [Mimi Pollack]

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Lifestyles, Mimi Pollack, San Diego County

Social distancing in Jewish law

Once again, we are hearing more discussion about social distancing. Here is a chapter from my new book, God and the Pandemic, A Judaic Reflection on the Coronavirus. The concept of social-distancing at a time of pandemics is discussed in the Responsa literature. The term “responsa” refers to questions people have asked rabbis for almost 1500 years in matters of Judaic law, traditions, and values. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Science, Medicine, & Education

Novel/ memoir draws inter-generational comparisons

Return from Siberia by John Shallman, Skyhorse Publishing © 2020; ISBNB 9781510-763371; 220 pages including acknowledgments. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Author John Shallman is a Los Angeles-based political consultant and commentator, and one of the protagonists in this novel is John Simon, a political consultant.  There is no coincidence here; the book

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Wi-Charge may make charging truly wireless

Numerous attempts have been made to make wireless electricity a reality. Finally, I think the technology is not only becoming a reality but will be available to most consumers. Via Zoom, I chatted with Ori Mor, CEO of Wi-Charge, to discuss his company and the new technology that it has created. In essence, Wi-Charge has developed a wireless power source that can be put anywhere in a room and, via an infrared frequency, recharge any electric device that has been fitted with a tiny receiver that is within a direct line of sight. [Shor M. Masori]

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Business & Finance, International, Middle East, San Diego County, Shor M. Masori, USA

Pandemics through history and the religious response

In his newest book, God and the Pandemic, Rabbi Samuel starts with a historical look at plagues in antiquity, comparing and contrasting leadership skills combating them, praising Marcus Aurelius, a stoic, for guiding his nation through the Antonine Plague in the second century, and condemning Roman emperors in the following century for failing to protect the citizenry during the Plague of Cyprian. [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, International, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, USA

When hippies invented their own Judaism

Take yourself back to the 1960s and 1970s when Jewish hippies envisioned creating their own brand of Judaism. Kosher food mixed with marijuana. Come as you are davening with cushions in a circle, instead of chairs facing a bima. Potluck dinners, in both meanings of the word. Some traditional prayers in, others out. Fully egalitarian services long before more established movements recognized women as spiritual leaders. Men and a woman even going to an outdoor mikvah together (Okay, it was skinny-dipping mixed with traditional mikvah prayers.) [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Judaism

‘Museum of Man’ now “Museum of Us’

Micah Parzen, Ph.D., the chief executive officer of the Museum of Man announced that henceforth the museum’s name will be the “Museum of Us.”  He was joined in that announcement by Ellen Waddell, the current board chair and two past board chairs, Mark Dillon and George Ramirez. Parzen said museum personnel and supporters had been debating since 1991 the possibility of choosing “a more inclusive name” and 29 years later, the name Museum of Us “reflects who we aspire to be.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

Seeking compromise; going beyond law

The Torah states, “You shall do what is fair and good in the eyes of G-d, so that it will be good for you, and you shall come and possess the good land that G-d swore to your forefathers…” (Deut. 6:18). The classic commentary simply explains the words, “fair and good,” as meaning, “compromise and going beyond the letter of the law.” [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]

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Jewish Religion, USA, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi

Jews and Blacks: Failure to communicate

American Jews certainly have issues with the African-American community, and personal experience in part convinces me that Black people have some understandable concerns with Jews. Both groups have their share of bigots – anti-Semitic Blacks and racist Jews. However, some of these issues amount to misconceptions that can be readily cleared up by overcoming “our failure to communicate.” (Bruce S. Ticker)

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Bruce Ticker, Jewish History, USA