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
Shanghai Love by Layne Wong; She Writes Press; 2013, ISBN 978-1-938314-18-6; 321 pages, $16.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO– Peilin is a young woman from rural China, and Henry is a refugee from Nazi Germany. In this novel, they meet in the Shanghai apothecary where she is working temporarily. They are brought together because […]
Novel matches Jewish refugee and Chinese woman Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — The following are the stages by which the Israelites journeyed up by companies from the land of Egypt under the guidance of Moses and Aaron. — (Numbers 33:1) The biblical narrator lists 42 stopping points beginning with Egypt. Some of the mystical commentaries make a penetrating
Pesach, 4th of July and Morsi’s overthrow Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — One of the readers of the AJR Journal (Association of Jewish Refugees), published in London, to which I contribute a monthly column entitled ‘Letter from Israel,’ wrote an irate letter to the editor complaining about what I write. They wrote: “Why doesn’t Mrs. Shefer-Vanson write about the real
Jerusalem and Northwest London Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East
Anyway by Arthur Salm, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4424-2931-4; 182 pages, $6.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–Arthur Salm is the former book review editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune, so you really have to admire his courage, putting himself out there. In that position, he must have made many
Tweener, not wanting to be a nebish, reinvents himself Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
Foxes in the Vineyard: Templars, Nazis, and the Battle for Jerusalem by Michael J. Cooper, iUniverse, Inc., Bloomington, IN; ISBN 978-1-4620-6308-6 ©2011, $18.95, p. 275 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D WINCHESTER, California — Foxes in the Vineyard, the 2011 grand prize winner of Indie, a book contest sponsored by independent publishers, is a work of historical
Nazis, Templars novel set during Israel’s independence battle Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD
By Eva Trieger LA JOLLA, California –If you’re old enough to remember Dr. Seuss’ The Sneetches then you will understand the message of Tribes. This play is essentially describing the phenomenon of inclusion and exclusion. When we recognize others who look like us, dress like us, and talk like us, we know they are one
‘Tribes’ a play about inclusion and exclusion Read More »
Eva Trieger
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — How much territory does Israel need to be secure in the absence of peace with its Palestinian neighbors? Is that different from how much security Israel is entitled to under that circumstance? Who decides? And why is an American general trying to find out? These are not trick questions
Israel self-defense, not U.S. guarantees, key to security Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — As a child of the early sixties, I could remember watching the George Reeves’ Adventures of Superman show on television. Back then, the show did not feature super-sized villains like those that we have grown used to seeing over the past thirty years or so. No, Superman generally
Superman no longer an American hero, just a killer Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Travel and FoodBy Eva Trieger SAN DIEGO -What could be bad? A summer’s night, the outdoor Lowell Davies Theater at the Old Globe, and the prospect of enjoying an evening with the Bard. It’s a mechiah, as my Nana used to say. Or maybe she wouldn’t have said that if she’d known we were to bear witness
Again we wrestle with Shylock Read More »
Eva TriegerBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — It is tempting to watch American foreign policy and Russian foreign policy and assign all the naiveté and sloppy thinking to one and all the clever, chess-playing skills to the other. But that would be wrong. Neither side is very clever and Russia’s hand — and that of the
Russia seriously stumbles in Syria Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –Brad Pitt’s latest horror film, World War Z, started making me think of more practical questions regarding the existence of zombies. With the ongoing saga of election fraud, and in light of the Supreme Court ruling regarding election manipulations, I thought I would share some tongue-in-cheek and
Rabbi, do zombies count toward a minyan? Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Eva Trieger POWAY, California- Move over Adrian Peterson and Peyton Manning. There is a new NFL star waiting in the wings…..Meet Max Brett. This sixteen year old rising junior at Westview High School is going places. Sure, the Vikings and the Broncos may not know him yet, but if you were to ask
Meet Max Brett, whose determination is inspirational Read More »
Eva Trieger, San Diego County
By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — The Z in the latest summer blockbuster World War Z stands for zombies, but bloggers on the Aljazeera English website claim the Z stands for Zionist propaganda. On the other hand, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Bloomberg View calls the movie “’the most pro-Israel movie ever made. Or at
The Wandering Review: ‘World War Z’ Read More »
Lawrence BaronPrayers for the Welfare of the State & for the Welfare of the State of Israel by Rabbi Avraham Steinberg. Publisher: Yad Harav Herzog/ OU PRESS; 1st edition, 2012. 179 pages. Price: $18.95 Rating **** By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — As we approach the Jewish holiday of Tisha’ B’ Av (The Ninth
A rabbi who recognizes the miracle that is Israel Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi