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 — Million Dollar Arm, a new Disney movie, stars Jon Hamm as J. B. Bernstein, a sports agent who figures if he can find some pitchers in India who can make it to the Big Leagues, Major League Baseball can start developing a fan base of some one billion […]
‘Million Dollar Arm’ has messages for us all Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Sports & CompetitionsBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO-Donald Sterling asked for forgiveness for making racist remarks to his mistress during his interview with Anderson Cooper broadcast on CNN. Journalists have doubted his sincerity because he allegedly was overheard after the program saying how relieved he was that Don Lemon wasn’t assigned to interview him. * When the St.
Humoring the Headlines: May 13, 2014 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — As anyone who regularly attends events at the Jerusalem Theatre knows, it’s difficult to find a good parking place for one’s car there. The solution that works best for us is to get there well ahead of time. The problem then is, what do you do with all
Meeting a talent on the trail of the arts Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East
Ben G. Frank, Klara’s Journey, Marion Street Press, © 2013, ISBN 978-1-936863-47-1, 222 pages, $17.95 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –According to computerized calculations, it is 707 miles between Odessa and Moscow, and another 3,989 miles from Moscow to Vladivostok. But those are air miles, not rail miles, and the figures can’t account for
‘Klara’s Journey’ traverses Revolutionary Russia Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO-Vladimir Putin is sending mixed messages to the world. One day he says he’ll withdraw his troops from the border of eastern Uktaine; the next he is celebrating the triumph of the annexation of the Crimea. When reporters questioned what his plans for Ukrine were, he cryptically replied, “Donetsk don’t tell.”
Humoring the Headlines: May 10, 2014 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Donald H. Harrison EL CAJON, California –My 13-year-old grandson, Shor, and I went on a dramatic psychedelic trip on Thursday evening, May 8—not self-induced, but rather one devised by Madge Miller and directed by Jerry Hager, the theatre arts professor and former Seaport Village mime. Hager took Miller’s adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s story
A trippy ‘Alice’ now playing at Grossmont College Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sometimes it is braggadocio. Sometimes it is the last rhetorical shot before making a political change previously thought impossible. But sometimes, just sometimes, it is truth as the teller sees it. Hamas released a video for Israel’s 66th anniversary, entitled “No Hope,” (a play on Israel’s national anthem, Hatikva,
Hamas threats against Israel should be taken seriously Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen
Jacqueline Semha Gmach (with Hillary Selese Liber), From Bomboloni to Bagel: A Story of Two Worlds, Gefen Publishing House © 2014, ISBN 978-965-229-641-2, 288 pages including glossary and epilogue. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –This is a difficult, shockingly honest book, by the woman who helped to engineer, and who perhaps even personifies, San
Tunisian-born Jackie Gmach shares her American torment Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego CountyBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO-The flight of a U-2 spy plane over Los Angeles snarled air traffic over Southern California by confusing the FAA’s computer systems. Everyone is concerned that it caused many commercial flight delays, but no one seems concerned that the Air Force is conducting spy flights over the United States? * Russia
Humoring the headlines: May 6, 2014 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Steve Kramer ALFE MENASHE, Israel — This week, Israel is celebrating its 66th year of independence as the Jewish State. The accomplishments of Israelis throughout this period and in the years leading up to Israel’s independence are unequaled. What other nation has achieved its freedom despite being surrounded by countries unalterably opposed to its
A check-up for Israel on its 66th birthday Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Why do Palestinians seem to get better press than Israelis in Western media? Journalistic bias is only part of the answer, Amotz Eyal, the founder of the Tazpit News Agency of Israel, told a gathering Sunday night, May 4, at Beth Jacob Congregation. In a slide and video presentation, Eyal
By Eric George Tauber SAN DIEGO — My students are half my age, so it’s not every day that I’m called “Sonny.” But what do you expect from a show called Old Jews Telling Jokes? There was the usual bickering, kvetching and “How the hell should I know where our seats are? You
Sometimes it’s kosher for a Jew to be a ham Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego CountyBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — “What makes you happy?” A recent survey in England asked people that question and, after obtaining thousands of replies and running the various statistical analyses, came up with the result that on the whole people are happier after the age of 55 than when they were younger. Various explanations
The little things that provide so much happiness Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, Calidfornia — Jewish tradition has long taught that if God had not given the Ten Commandments, man would have had to learn ethics from nature. Obviously, some animals exhibit cruel behavior, but many higher animals show a profound ethical regard for their species and sometimes even other species!
Empathy of animals and moral imperatives of man Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, The World We Share