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–Celebrating her 99th birthday with family and friends at a Westgate Hotel brunch, Gabriella Hartstein Auspitz Labson, with the help of film maker Yale Strom, showed a documentary on Sunday, Nov. 24, about her life in a town that changed hands between Czechoslovakia and Hungary, and her subsequent rescue […]
Story of a rescuer retold at 99th birthday brunch Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
Some songs for Chanukah By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO― Afghanistan (Tune: Oh Hanukah) Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Your future is certain. . Our troops will defend you To profit Haliburton. There’s no more Osama, To terrorize our land. But President Obama Still fears the Taliban. And while we are fighting, Iran is enriching its core. For domestic
Humoring the Headlines: November 24, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — The title of the lecture, ‘An Ode to Salonika: the Ladino Verses of Boueno Sarfatty,’ was not particularly enticing, but I decided to go along anyway. In the event, I was taken by surprise and completely captivated by the erudition, mental agility and linguistic ability of the speaker,
In remembrance of a heroine of Salonika Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–Friends from many walks of life gathered to pay tribute to Laura Simon on Saturday night, November 23, in anticipation of her 108th birthday, which comes Nov. 26. If you can’t remember the date, check with Interim Mayor Todd Gloria’s office. He proclaimed Nov. 26th to be “Laura Simon
Friends fete 108-year-old phenom, Laura Simon Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Steve Kramer Eyal Zisser is Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and the Yona and Dina Ettinger Chair of Contemporary Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University (TAU). Professor Zisser recently spoke to the English Speaking Friends of TAU at their monthly lecture on the present situation in the Middle East, particularly in Syria.
U.S. image in decline throughout Middle East Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–I think it is only fair to warn student journalists that anything they write for their publications–anything–may follow them around for the rest of their lives. Now, this can be a good thing, as in two tales I will soon relate, or it can be a very bad thing, if
What we write follows us Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonSAN DIEGO―Republican Congressman Trey Radel of Florida pled guilty of cocaine possession and use this week and blamed his addiction on his alcoholism. This is the same excuse embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford gave for smoking crack cocaine. Reporters checking into the drinking habits of the two men have learned that they always ordered rum
Humoring the Headlines: November 22, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — In his Torahmusings, R. Gill Student cites an endorsement of R. Steinsaltz’s translation from R. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb. His comments are especially important for anyone interested in the science of translation as it pertains to the translation of the Talmud: Every translation is to some extent a
Two digital versions of the Talmud compete Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields by Wendy Lower, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, NY’ ISBN 978-0-547-86338-2©2012, $26, p. 270, including index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — That Hitler and the Nazi Party succeeded in killing more than twelve million “undesirables,” including six million Jews, hinges as much on the technology available
Book studies women murderers in the Holocaust Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish HistoryBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―Last week President Obama admitted he had fumbled the ball in the rollout for the Affordable Health Care Act and pledged he would rectify his mistake: “If I fumbled the ball, I’m somebody who’s going to wait until I get the next play and run as hard as I can. We
Humoring the Headlines: November18, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — This past week, I went to the local sushi bar for some Nova Scotia sushi rolls. While I was there, I noticed the large screen television featuring a bout that took place at Wrestlemania. Despite some of the usual shtick, the bad guy won fair and
Man doesn’t find spiritual connection by intellect alone Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Donald H. Harrison EL CAJON, California — When Jews comfort someone whose family member or close friend has died, we often use the phrase, “May his/ her memory be for a blessing.” We hope that after the immediate shock of her death wears off, and her husband thinks of her, he will think of
‘To Gillian..’ explores how we cope with loss Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―Former President George W. Bush will speak tonight at a fundraiser for the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute, an evangelical Christian group whose aim is to convert all Jews to accelerate the Second Coming of Christ. Fending off appeals by Jewish leaders to cancel his talk, Bush’s public relations team has come
Humoring the headlines: November 14, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Donald H. Harrison LA JOLLA, California — Ironically on an evening that television news was reporting the firing of a school bus driver for having a swastika and a personalized license plate reading “Not See,” a homonyn for “Nazi” on his private car, KPBS Television and Union Bank were feting 18 diverse individuals at
Diversity lauded in La Jolla; Sy Brenner, Yale Strom feted Read More »
Donald H. Harrison