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 Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO–Since I love most Coen brothers’ movies, I looked forward to seeing Inside Llewyn Davis. The film’s theme, the folk music revival at the beginning of the 1960s, heightened my anticipation. I fondly recalled my weekly L trips to the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago for guitar lessons […]
The Wandering Review: ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ Read More »
Lawrence Baron
Ella Verzov and Chana Oirechman, Tamar of Venice (c) 2013, Menucha Publishers, Brooklyn, ISBN 978161465170-3, 54 pages. And, Ella Verzov and Chana Oirechman, Moshe of Japan, (c) 2013, Menucha Publishers, Brooklyn; ISBN 978161465171-0, 50 pages By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–Chabad has come up with a charming, multi-purpose idea for a children’s book series. Authors
Seeing the world from a Jewish child’s perspective Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―Embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford announced he will run for reelection. He pledges to top his first term by getting addicted to heroin, changing the name of the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Toronto Hashish Consumers, aka as the THCs, and promoting the city as a great place to eat out.
Humoring the Headlines, January 3, 2014 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — The general Israeli public is on the whole soft-hearted and empathetic towards those in need. The scenes we see on TV almost nightly of Syrian refugees pouring across the borders into Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, sheltering from the snow or sweltering in the heat inside the flimsy tents
By Arab standards, I’m a refugee and so are my children Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Steve Kramer ALFE MENASHE, Israel — It’s not just the Arabs, Iran, the United Nations and the EU which present Israel with problems. There are internal ones as well. I’m not talking about a lack of democracy or sidelining of minorities or the shrinking middle class. Israel is one of the most vibrant democracies
Why other Israelis think haredim are chutzapadik Read More »
Middle East, Steve KramerThe Formation of the Jewish Cannon by Timothy H. Lim, Yale University Press, New Haven; ISBN 978-0-300-16434-3 ©2013, $45.00, p. 287, including appendices and index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — How many books are there in the Bible? If you came up with a number, you might be wrong. The correct answer to
Scholar analyzes process by which Bible was canonized Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–California has a different kind of lottery than the one with numbered ping pong balls which can be watched on television on a regular basis. This one is played without such fanfare by a relatively small percentage of our population — the people who buy licenses to enjoy fishing
Fishing for good fundraising ideas Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―The Affordable Health Care Act mandates that vending machines indicate the number of calories next to each of its products. Since research indicates that many people ignore such information, Health and Human Services is considering posting a photograph of Chris Christie on the containers for high caloric snacks and sodas. *
Humoring the headlines: December 31, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Donald H. Harrison SANTEE, California — The Hoosier Poet James Whitcomb Riley is credited with the saying, “When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck.” However, an informational sign board at Mast Park “rails” against
With animals or people, what you see is not always what you get Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, The World We Share, Travel and Food
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the P5+1 nuclear negotiation with Iran was taking shape, Secretary of State John Kerry was irritated by the discomfort shown by Congress, Israel and the Gulf States of both Iran and of the Administration’s decision making process. “We are not blind and I don’t think we’re stupid,” he
Iran proving to be big winner in nuclear negotiations Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen
Mike Sager, High Tolerance, Sager Group, 2013, ISBN 9780988178564, 265 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–If you enjoy puzzles, you may like to ponder the meaning of this novel’s title, “High Tolerance.” Does it refer to the protagonist, Jewish television writer Nathan Sulcov, who is the white partner in a black/white marriage, whose biracial,
Current fiction: ‘High Tolerance’ Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
Female (top) and male ducks spotted at Poway Lake on Saturday, Dec. 28 By Donald H. Harrison POWAY, California — On the periphery of a bunch of old coots, I saw a couple keeping more or less to themselves, clearly outsiders. On that Shabbat afternoon, Dec. 28, he wore what looked like a
Water animals and the Jews Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, The World We Share, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi
ENCINITAS, California — The Irish are known for having a special connection to horses and Audrey Reynolds is no exception. She grew up riding and competed successfully for many years in Ireland, England, and the United States. Twenty years ago, she suffered a serious injury which brought a halt to her show jumping and riding.
Saving Horses Inc. allows equines to retire in peace Read More »
Mimi Pollack, The World We ShareBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California–Hassidic literature teaches that one of the reasons given for Hassidim swaying in prayer is based upon the analogy of the movement that occurs in the act of love making. Prayer is like “making love to the Shekhinah.” The Baal Shem Tov is purported to have taught: Prayer
Davening at Victoria’s Secret Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi