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

Racists beware: God will hold you to account

This week has been very tough. I saw THE video. I couldn’t believe my eyes; a man sworn to protect and serve kneeling nonchalantly upon another man’s neck. An officer of the law casually draining the life from another human being while the human being begged for breath. The perpetrator’s apparent boredom is at the same time chilling and boils the blood! [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]

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Jewish Religion, USA, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi

La Jolla prepares to welcome BLM marchers

The Black Lives Matter announcement of a march in La Jolla at 1 p.m., Friday, June 12, reads, in part: “The protests cannot remain only in areas with likeminded people.  La Jolla is a predominantly white and rich area desperate for awareness.  They have the power to sway leaders and thus we must educate them.  These minds cannot remain sheltered.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Rosenwald schools: Black-Jewish cooperation changed education

About a year ago, I, as the president of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, had funded one more historical marker. It recognized the collaborative efforts of Julius Rosenwald, a Chicago retail industrialist philanthropist and Booker T. Washington, the Black American educator, and President of Tuskegee University in Alabama. The two men had come together as Americans, as equals. They joined to work for the mutual betterment of Black Americans through education and educational opportunity. [Jerry Klinger]

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Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Where now after the George Floyd killing?

Rabbi Devorah Marcus of Temple Emanu-El offered this reflection in the aftermath of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd: “My hope is that we will not let this moment fade into obscurity and apathy as we move on to other pieces of news, of suffering, of tweets.  My hope is that we will take this moment of brokenness and build in the cracks a garden seeded with our hope, our commitment to our neighbors and our community, and that we will reach out to everyone who is afraid right now for themselves, their children, and our world, and offer each other our comfort and our love.  [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA

In UK, US, and Israel, politicians flout the law

There has always been a certain divide between rulers and ruled. That is the way of the world, whether in ancient Mesopotamia, the ancient Land of Israel, ancient Greece and Rome, the various nations of Europe and all over the world. The relatively recent attempt (in historical terms) to introduce an element of fairness into the system has had its successes and its failures, whether in the shape of democracy or some form of socialism, but there is no getting away from the fact that countries have to be governed, and some people seem to feel the urge to govern them. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Middle East, USA

Continuing the Jewish fight against racism

My column yesterday dealt with reactions from various individuals and organizations within the Jewish community to the police killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, and what role the Jewish community might play in helping to heal the divisions in our society.  I will continue to bring to readers such thoughts and suggestions. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, USA

Jewish community urges combat against racism, bigotry

In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd and protest demonstrations across the country, rabbis and Jewish organizations are grappling with the issue of what Jews can do to combat racism and bigotry in the United States.  While there is general consensus that there is a need for action, it remains an open question just what kind of action would be appropriate.  Messages and news releases crossing my desk illustrate the contours of the debate so far. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA

Stress is of our own making

President John F. Kennedy once observed, “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” Stress begins in the brain, in the way we think about our life. We are experts in creating our own stress. We aren’t expert in preventing, reversing or treating our own creation. This emotional education column may turn that around for you. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Lifestyles, Michael Mantell

San Diego youth peacefully protest Floyd killing

A youth protest on Monday over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd offered a contrast to other protests shown on television news. It was organized and largely made up of people who were barely in their 20s. The emphasis was to remain peaceful and have a calm demonstration. It was made clear, “We don’t want to escalate it, it’s not our fault if it escalates, but we don’t want to escalate it.” [Shor M. Masori and Kenede Pratt-McCloud]

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San Diego County, Shor M. Masori, USA

A tale of adventure, romance, and Russian anti-Semitism

Now in paperback, A Bend in the Stars takes its name from the idea posited by Albert Einstein that light during a solar eclipse will bend around the darkened celestial object.  One of the main characters in this novel is Vanya Abramov, a mathematician who believes his calculations together with photographs not only could prove Einstein’s theory but improve upon it. However, more than a few obstacles face Vanya’s potential bid for international recognition and perhaps even a Nobel Prize. [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison