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 Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel There are a number of books that have been recently written concerning the weekly Torah portion. Some are better than others. I am recommending the books according to a four-star rating. The Lion Cub of Prague: Thought Kabbala, Hashkafa from Gur Aryeh—The Maharal of Prague by Dr. Moshe David Kuhr; Gefen […]
Rating four new books on Torah Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort CARLSBAD, California — In the late 1970’s I sat in my classroom in the local Jewish day school watching as Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat warmly shook hands with President Jimmy Carter smiling broadly behind them. I was overjoyed. Peace was at hand, finally! When I noticed the long faces around
Arabs don’t want peace; land bribes won’t change that Read More »
Middle East, Yeruchem Eilfort-RabbiBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –When George Orwell wrote his famous 1984, I doubt even he could have anticipated Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal to ban large supersized beverages in New York’s food service restaurants and establishments. Obesity is certainly a problem for young people, but is it correct to assume that it’s
Bloomberg has a super-sized bad idea Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA
By Eva Trieger LA JOLLA, California — Director Karen Flexer Friedenberg’s message came through loud and clear, Wednesday night, June 20, on the JCC’s Garfield Theater stage. The students of Torah High comprised an all-female cast of Annie for an-all female audience. Friedenberg charged each of her actresses to “do something hard, out of
All-female cast of ‘Annie’ wows like-gendered audience Read More »
Eva TriegerBy Eileen Wingard LOS ANGELES — I remember Mona Golabek’s mother, Lisa, as a beautiful, elegant woman with a charming Austrian accent. She was known to be a fine pianist and the teacher of her two talented daughters, Mona and Renee. Only after reading Mona’s book, The Children of Willesden Lane, did I learn of
Mona Golabek triumphant in portrayal of her pianist mother Read More »
Eileen Wingard
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–Although a precedent-setting prostate surgery occurred in New York City, the setting for much of the story is San Diego, where the doctor grew up and the mother of the patient resides. The doctor is Herbert Lepor who on October 31, 2011, performed a radical prostatectomy–the removal of
Playwright, 83, thanks mother and doctor for life-saving surgery Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — I love reading stories about real heroes in the world. No, they may not have great physiques like Batman or Superman; nor are they bulletproof, nor do they possess super-human powers or strength. In fact they look like ordinary people. A Hassidic Rebbe once said, “Why
2 prosecutors geographically and morally a world apart Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA
By Eileen Wingard SANTA MONICA, California –Since its inception in 1955, under the visionary leadership of Sylvia Kunin, the Young Musicians Foundation has nurtured a long list of outstanding concert artists and conductors. In the past several weeks, I personally attended performances by four YMF competition winners, Violinist Zina Schiff in recital in San Francisco,
Young musicians impressive in Santa Monica concert Read More »
Eileen Wingard
A Universe from Nothing: Why is there Something Rather than Nothing? by Lawrence M. Krauss; ISBN 978-1-4516-2445-8 ©2012, $24.99, p. 202 The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning: Why the Universe is Not Designed for Us by Victor J. Stenger; ISBN 978-1-61614-443-2 ©2012, $28.00, p. 341, including notes, bibliography, and index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California
Scientists contemplate universe’s origin Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — At least four Democrats and four Republicans will serve on the San Diego City Council, with the swing-vote contest being in the 1st Councilmanic district between Democratic incumbent Sherri Lightner and Republican challenger Ray Ellis. There is a heavy concentration of Jews in the district, and the election
Ellis reaches out to Jewish voters in 1st Council District contest Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Remember when some of the kids in your class –not you, of course– would pass the course simply by skimming through the comic book version of the great piece of literature that you all had been assigned to read? It used to be that comics were shortcuts
Once an escape from texts, comics are prompting more of them Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–Perhaps county residents who want their children to become proficient in modern Hebrew should be thankful that young Jennie Lipowich used to feel left out when her family traveled from Chicago to Israel to see her father’s family. Her father and all her relatives would chatter away a mile a
Being ‘left out’ prompted Tarbuton Hebrew-language program Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Marcia Tatz WollnerBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California–Recently someone asked me, “Does Judaism have any thoughts on the Wikileaks fiasco? Where does freedom of the press and the public’s right to know become a security threat, or worse, in Jewish thought?” This issue is not only concerned with the arrest and trial of Julian Asange;
What does Judaism say about leaking confidential information? Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Donald H. Harrison POWAY, California –Jeanne Feldman, 96, was memorialized Thursday, June 14 in the Ner Tamid Synagogue sanctuary that bears her name and that of her husband, Morey. Noting that the couple lived unassumingly while giving generously to philanthropies, Rabbi Nadav Caine said the Feldmans personified a Talmudic teaching that what people
Philanthropist memorialized in sanctuary named for her family Read More »
Donald H. Harrison