Beth El dedicates ‘Tree of Life’ mural for Yom HaShoah

By Donald H. Harrison LA JOLLA, California — Congregation Beth El dedicated a 30 by 9 foot mural of a Tree of Life on Thursday, May 2, that incorporates, among other elements,  ceramic butterflies symbolizing children who were murdered in the Holocaust. The outdoor Yom HaShoah ceremony led by the congregation’s former president Sonia Ancoli […]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Israel’s Tourism Triumph, Part III

Please click on Number for previous installments:  1, 2 The Crazy Restaurant Scene (c) Edwin Black TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s adversaries in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement [BDS] thought they could starve Israel through economic warfare that included even its food sector. Many remember the BDS furor over SodaStream, Sabra hummus, ordinary fruits

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Edwin Black, Middle East, Travel and Food

OpEd: Iran and Israel face peace or war dilemma

Editor’s Note: This article is a short excerpt from Alon Ben-Meir’s latest essay, “Preventing an Israeli-Iran War,” published in the May 2019 issue of American Diplomacy. The full-length essay is available by clicking here By Alon Ben-Meir NEW YORK — Accusing Iran of being a rogue country bent on acquiring nuclear weapons, supporting extremist groups

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Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USA

Book Review: ‘Asylum’

Asylum by Moriz Scheyer (Translated by P.N. Singer);  Little, Brown and Company, 2016 By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Written at the time of the actual events, this powerful book starts by describing the atmosphere in Vienna before the Anschluss by Nazi Germany, followed by the author’s flight, together with his wife and non-Jewish housekeeper, who

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish History

What MLK would say about the Poway Chabad shooting

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — One of my congregants posed an interesting question we ought to consider asking: What would Rev Martin Luther King Jr. have said about the Poway synagogue shooting? It is an important question—not just for members of the Jewish community, but also for the African-American community. Throughout

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Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA

Would Democrats reverse Trump’s pro-Israel positions?

By Carol Greenwald CHEVY CHASE, Maryland — Jewish Democrats must decide: Trump’s pro-Israel policies, or the increasingly anti-Israel policies of the Democratic Party. (May 1, 2019 / JNS) The next president of the United States will be able to reverse nearly every one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s pro-Israel actions because most of them have

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Middle East, USA