By Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — I sometimes call myself a Jewish-American climate activist of the literary kind based in Taiwan, but I am not a novelist or a literary critic. Instead, as a 70-something expat in Asia working the runway climate change beat as a reporter and a blogger, I focus on trying […]
Waiting for another ‘On the Beach’ Read More »
The World We Share, Travel and FoodBy Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — It’s difficult to watch Barra Grant portray her mother in the biographical play that she authored without remembering the devastating biography that Christina Crawford wrote about her own mother, Joan.Grant’s mother was Bess Myerson, the only Jewish girl ever to be named Miss America, and the title of Barra’s play, Miss America’s Ugly Daughter, establishes the tone
Tale of the beauty queen’s daughter Read More »
Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & BroadcastBy Rabbi Joshua Dorsch SAN DIEGO — In our Torah portion this past week, VaYakel, Betzalel is singled out amongst all of the artisans of Israel to build the Mishkan, the tabernacle that the Israelites carried with them through the desert. The Torah then tells us that Betzalel was filled with “Ruach Elohim” a divine
Weekly Torah portion: VaYakel Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to have elections next April and not in the Fall, when they were due, was an imaginative way of delaying, perhaps even evading, being indicted for bribery and related charges. Had Mr. Netanyahu waited till the end of the year, when elections would have had
Charges against Netanyahu upend his plans Read More »
Middle East
(c) Edwin Black WASHINGTON, D.C. — This is deeply personal. But what I have experienced should resonate with the entire Jewish community—the one we know and the one to come. In the whirlwind that seizes me and all who are communally aware, I have reached a new and stunning personal location, wedged between the searing
A Ballad in the Key of 4G Read More »
Edwin Black, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USABy Mimi Pollack SAN DIEGO — I think one can learn a lot by being exposed to other cultures and ideas. It is good to be inclusive rather than exclusive. We need bridges of understanding, not walls. The San Diego Latino Film Festival, now in its 26th year, offers a wide variety of films from
Latino Film Festival has diverse offerings Read More »
International, San Diego Calendar, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & BroadcastBy Sheryl Rowling SAN DIEGO — The new tax laws are here and they are very confusing. Rather than list out a bunch of boring rules, I thought I’d try to clarify some of the common misconceptions. Charitable contributions are no longer deductible. FALSE Charitable contributions do not reduce your income taxes if you don’t
True or False on the new tax laws Read More »
Sheryl Rowling, Travel and Food
By Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel SOLANA BEACH, California — Last December I reviewed the movie Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Society on this website. It took place on England’s Guernsey and Channel islands just off the coast of France during World War II . I learned then that Winston Churchill considered these islands indefensible and removed
The mysterious Gabriel at North Coast Rep Read More »
Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & BroadcastOpera star Ernestine Schumann-Heink, a member of the Jewish community, had homes in La Mesa and Coronado, California.She sings the lullaby at the end of the video.
Brahms Lullaby ~ Ernestine Schumann-Heink Read More »
Travel and Food
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Although Sebastian Parra grew up in Cali, Colombia, with the words of Genesis 12:3 intoned frequently at his Protestant church, anti-Israel propagandists in the United States knew just how to destroy his faith in God’s declaration to Abram, that “I will bless those who bless you, and him
Seeing Israel changed mind of Hispanic opponent Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, USABy Colleen O’Connor Times of San Diego SAN DIEGO — Big hurdles face the Democrats’ “B” team of presidential nominees. Biden, Bernie, Beto and Brown may not scale in 2020. First, their history is challenging. Former Vice President Joe Biden is hurt most by his past. There’s his age, his lukewarm assistance to the Hillary
Democrats’ ‘B-Team’ is in trouble Read More »
USA