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

The silence of Aaron from a pandemic perspective

We are living through the most emotionally taxing time of our lives. Filled with loss, economic instability, fear and isolation, we are asked to live up to the test with faith, strength, emunah and bitachon. This week’s parasha, Shemini, follows a Passover holiday that surely gave new meaning to the question, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” It presents us with the abrupt, heart-rending, seemingly inexplicable loss, the passing of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

The chutzpah of the contrarian child

When we read in the Haggadah about the Four Children, one wise, one “wicked,” one simple, and one who is too young to ask questions, it is the “wicked,” son, whom I preferably identify as “the contrarian child.” His question cuts to the essence of the holiday: “What does this holiday mean to you?” The contrarian son’s honesty is refreshingly different from the other sons at the seder.  [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

A word of Torah: The final days of Passover

As the final days of Passover are only hours away (sunset of April 14 through nightfall of April 16) we are pleased to share information and resources about the final days of Passover and the customary ‘Meal of Moshiach.’ which is held on the last day of Passover; a tradition that was instituted over 250 years ago by the Baal Shem Tov (The Baal Shem Tov, which means Master of the Good Name, was the originator of Chasidic Philosophy. ) [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]

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Jewish Religion, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi

How Shakespeare might have described Covid19

Now is the springtime of our confinement
Made mournfully frightful by the toll in New York.                                                                                             
A surfeit of time spent alone in our homes
Sheltering in place and bending the curve.  …
[Parody by Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Remembering via a virtual March of the Living

Residents throughout our county are joining a unique, worldwide virtual memorial to remember the victims of the Holocaust.  Sidelined by the coronavirus pandemic from attending this year’s “March of the Living” which brings thousands of Jews to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration complex in Poland to mourn those who were murdered by the Nazis, members of the Jewish community instead are posting their sentiments on line via the Never Means Never website created for the purpose by March of the Living organizers. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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

God and the problem of suffering

he senseless deaths seen in the coronavirus pandemic challenges religious people’s concept of God. How does one reconcile our faith in a personal God who loves life, but allows a natural evil to destroy everything in its path? What kind of God—if any—can allow the suffering of innocent children? Every natural catastrophe seems to make the belief in a personal God seem unlikely. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Congresswoman Davis announces financial help for students

Federal relief funds  for local universities and colleges and for their students in need during the coronavirus pandemic were announced on Monday by Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego).  In total, 23 institutions of higher learning in the count are receiving grant totaling $137,435,195, and will be required to distribute at least $71,360,718 in grants to students to pay for housing food, and other essentials. [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, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Streaming films about the Haredim

For a long time most films dealing with Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews sided with individuals whose choice of lifestyle, partners, or vocations conflicted with the expectations of their families and community.  While that is still true of many movies, in recent years films with sympathetic portrayals of traditional Jewish subcultures have emerged.  Here’s a sampling of both kinds of cinematic depictions. [Laurie Baron, PhD]

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Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast