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
By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Many people and organizations have created new Haggadahs and supplemental readings to be used at seders. Which of the following is not an actual alternate version of the Ten Plagues? A. The Tzedek Seder: #BlackLivesMatter Haggadah offered Ten Plagues-Ten Lives Lost, in memory of those lost to police violence:1. Sean […]
Jewish trivia quiz: Haggadah variations Read More »
Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & SatireFrom Within the Tents: The Sabbath Prayers, Essays by the Rabbis and Professors of Yeshiva University edited by Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman and Dr. Stuart W. Halpern; Maggid Books, New Milford, CT; ISBN 978-1-59264-446-9 ©2014, $29.95, p. 295 plus Appendix By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California –Hermann Cohen, arguably the greatest German-Jewish philosopher of the nineteenth
Yeshiva University essays prayers of Shabbat Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History
The House of Dreams by Kate Lord Brown, © 2016 St. Martin’s Press; ISBN 978-1-250-08453-8; 304 pages plus author’s note and acknowledgments; $25.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – This historical novel paints a picture of international rescue worker Varian Frye as he smuggles artists and poets out of France in 1940 and 1941
A fictional variant on the life of Frye Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. HarrisonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — It came as something of a shock to me a few years ago to hear that there are some people who have mixed feelings about celebrating the Jewish festival known as Passover (Pesach). For someone like myself who quite likes eating matza this seems strange. But then I
Memories of Passovers past Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish Religion
Shmulik Paints the Town by Lisa Rose (illustrated by Catalina Echeverri); Kar-Ben Publishing; ISBN 978-1-4677-5239-8; 32 pages; $17.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Have you ever told your child a shaggy dog story? Like the one about the man who convinces the manager of the movie theater to let him and his dog
A shaggy dog story for Israel Independence Day Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. HarrisonPassover Edition By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO –Basking in his New York primary victory, Donald Trump compared himself to Pharaoh. Both excel at massive building projects, but Trump would have made the Jews pay for the pyramids. Z * Ultra-orthodox rabbis have decided that marijuana is kosher for Passover if smoked for medicinal purposes. After
Humoring the headlines: April 22, 2016 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
Story and photos by Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – A veterinarian who is the immediate past president of Israel’s Lateva Nolad (Born Free) organization, which treats injured birds, mammals and reptiles and sends them back to nature, gave Sea World high marks for its education, rescue, and conservation programs following a behind-the-scenes tour. “Their goals
Israeli wildlife advocate impressed by Sea World Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education
-53rd in a series- Exit 20, Greenwood Drive, El Cajon, California ~ CHP El Cajon station By Donald H. Harrison EL CAJON, California — Most of the 31-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Greenfield Drive (Exit 20) and Buckman Springs Road (Exit 51) is known to California Highway Patrol officers like Kevin Pearlstein as Beat
I-8 Jewish Travel: CHP officer preaches road safety Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USABy Steve Kramer ALFE MENASHE, Israel — To facilitate the current round of Syrian peace talks, US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to support the return of the Golan Heights to Syria. The two presidents gave their top diplomats, Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the green light to
The case for the Israeli Golan Heights Read More »
Middle East, Steve KramerThere ain’t no limit on bad luck. If there was, I’da run out years ago.” By Eric George Tauber SOLANA BEACH, California — Adapted from ‘Old Man’ by William Faulkner, Way Down River takes us to the Parchman State Penal Farm, Mississippi, 1927. Aikins has returned nine weeks after he had been presumed drowned in a
‘Way Down River’ is a play about prison Read More »
Eric George Tauber, Theatre, Film & BroadcastBy Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Swirling beneath the planned May 4 appearance of Pastor Dumisani Washington, a leading African-American advocate for the State of Israel is controversy over the relationship between the Jewish community and the Christians who seek to convert us. Washington’s appearance, sponsored by the pro-Israel organization StandWithUs, is scheduled May 4
SWU choice of venue prompts controversy Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego Calendar, USABy Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — What connection between Jews and Christians did John Kasich make while visiting a Chassidic school, shmura matzah factory, and Jewish bookstore in Borough Park, Brooklyn? A. Referencing the matzah that he observed being prepared he said, “You know, I was raised Catholic, I’m now Anglican, and so all
Jewish trivia quiz: John Kasich Read More »
Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Steve Kramer NETANYA, Israel — We recently attended a lecture sponsored by AACI Netanya. The lecturer was American-Israeli Hank Citron, who divides his time between Manhattan and Netanya. A former history professor in New Jersey, Hank is a colorful character who, among other things, grew up in a Zionist household, the son of European
Jabotinsky left an impressive legacy Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle East, Steve KramerBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Some twenty-five years ago our son and his wife presented us with our first grandchild. She was the center of our life and our pride and joy, and over the subsequent fifteen years she was joined by another six grandchildren, three from the same couple and three from