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 Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Frieda and Dr. Israel Barken had family, machatunim (relatives of in-laws) and friends over for Shabbat dinner, and Frieda, who loves to cook, felt perhaps she had shorted the guests, having prepared only 17 different dishes instead of what is for her the more typical 25. As we ate our […]
Topping off a perfect Shabbat meal Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Trivia, Humor & SatireMichael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO– There’s a growing sentiment in our population that age is just a number. The new “mantra” is “age be damned.” When a 100 year old man finishes a marathon as happened last year, we know the conventional conceptions of old age must change. September 21-27 is International Active Aging Week.
Myths and facts about aging Read More »
Michael Mantell, Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of State Kerry is in the Middle East, looking for regional allies for President Obama’s proposal to deal with the threat of the Islamic State (IS). That is entirely appropriate — IS poses a more immediate and dire threat to regional players than it does to the United
Obama’s recipe for another Mideast failure Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –The Israeli public is in a notably bad mood. The Hamas rockets have, for the time being, stopped; the current cease-fire is holding. The tunnel threat, a strategic one most Israelis had not understood until several days into the war, has been alleviated; many Hamas rocket manufacturing facilities have been
For U.S., Israel: Wars not won, simply managed Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USABy Fred Reiss, Ed.D WINCHESTER, California — Many people believe that the Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar because the months are determined by the motion of the moon, resulting in a year of twelve full-lunar cycles, or a little less than 354½ days. However, if the Jewish calendar were a lunar calendar, then each
You think your personal calendar is complex? Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion, Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — It is now almost exactly fifty years since I came to Israel to live. So I suppose you could say that I came on aliyah in September 1964, though I did not get my official status as a new immigrant until June 1967, but that’s another story. When people
Fifty years of living in Israel Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –Cultivating moderate Muslim voices is a mighty challenge—especially given the paucity of moderate Muslims in Western societies. John Kerry recently spoke a dinner honoring Shaarik Zafar’s inclusion into the Department of Homeland Security as a senior adviser. Here are some of the salient points that Kerry made
‘Moderate Islam’: Impotent, irrelevant? Read More »
International, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO–During the recent war with Gaza, many facets of the Israeli economy suffered. I had conflicting reports about whether concerts and theatre performances continued as scheduled and what effect the war had on the lives of some of my friends in the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. I recently emailed the person I
How music survived the Israel- Gaza war Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Middle EastDefining Jewish Difference: From Antiquity to the Present by Beth A. Berkowitz, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY; ISBN 978-1-107-66361-9 ©2014, $27.99, p. 247, plus Bibliography and indexes By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — After delivering a speech at American University in 2005, in which she defended the use of foreign law when deciding
Book Review: ‘Defining Jewish Difference’ Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish ReligionTransgender and Jewish by Naomi Zeveloff, editor, The Forward Association, Inc., New York, NY; ISBN 978-1-499339-72-7 ©2014, $9.00, p. 43, plus A List of Contributors By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — American Jews seem to always be at the forefront of cultural and social change, such as with the Abolitionists, Suffragettes, and Feminists. Now
Halacha and the trans- gendered Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish ReligionIf you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle—Sun Tzu, The Art of War By
Obama must focus on jihadist enemy, not on golf game Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, USA
Running From Giants: The Holocaust Through the Eyes of a Child by Margareta Ackerman, Ph.D. Illustrations by Vivien Mildenberger. © 2013, ISBN: 9781492330967, 81 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—This book retells the stories of author Ackerman’s grandfather Srulik, who against all odds survived the Holocaust as a child after running away in
Book tells of 10-year-old who eluded the Nazis Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish HistoryBy Steve Kramer ALFE MENASHE, Israel –One of my readers asked for help in answering friends who have been “awakened” to anti-Zionism by Antony Lerman, who recently wrote, “The End of Liberal Zionism” (8/22/14) in The NY Times Sunday Review. Lerman writes on the subjects of anti-Semitism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, multiculturalism, and the place of
Answering a liberal Jewish critic of Israel Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—I know you are supposed to be intently listening during a performance of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, but a Summer Pops presentation on Thursday evening, Aug. 28, got me to thinking about how, for better or for worse, the minds of children can be imprinted forever. When
The real classical music versus television themes Read More »
Donald H. Harrison