Three encouraging trends at Hillel of San Diego’s four campuses

Three out of our four schools have been back for about a month, and UC San Diego started classes just yesterday, and already our start-of-school numbers are record breaking. We’ve had more than 800 students engage so far, but what’s even more telling is that nearly 25% of those students have already reached the “deeply engaged” threshold of participating more than six times. That means students are coming to Hillel and actively participating in Jewish life at a much higher frequency than years past. TREND ALERT: More students, more often. [Karen Parry]

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Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

ADL’s version of Ai helpful in classrooms–but with guard rails

An important question: whether showing antisemitic imagery provides enough educational benefit to justify the potential harm of displaying it to students. For me, this was a reminder that the technology can help generate ideas, but the educator still has to make the final decision about what students should see and how a difficult subject should be introduced. (Cai;in Acosta)

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Antisemitism, Cailin Acosta, California, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish History, Opinion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USA

Jonah and the possibility of forgiveness

I first heard the story of Jonah in the library at Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School from our librarian, the late Nomi Levy. The kids’ version got the main beats but took out much of the punch. I knew Jonah didn’t want to deliver a message. I thought it was neat that he got swallowed by a big fish, like Pinocchio. But I never questioned why he’d refuse when God was directly telling him to go. Now I can appreciate the philosophical struggle: a prophet sent to help his enemies atone who can’t allow himself to forgive them. (Shor M. Masori)

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Jewish Religion, Science, Medicine, & Education, Shor M. Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

The fight against terrorism and antisemitism: Sept. 24, 2026

The Murray Galinson San Diego-Israel initiative (MGSDII) and the Joan B. Kroc School for Peace Studies will collaborate in bringing two Hebrew University faculty members — a Palestinian and a Jew — to the University of San Diego campus to jointly teach a course in conflict resolution. (SDJW staff report)

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Israel, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Macklemore’s free speech was never the issue. His Israel rhetoric was

If Macklemore wants to continue calling the situation in Gaza a genocide and turning music concerts into political rallies, he’s free to do so. But Kraft, who is a proud Jew, does not have to give him the platform. (Pearce Alexander)

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Israel, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Drugs made his client slam into gate of Brisbane synagogue, lawyer claims

Prosecutors initially filed aggravated charges of what they described as serious vilification or a hate crime, but they decided that religious animosity was not a motivating factor, according to a news report in Australia’s J-Wire over the weekend. [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Antisemitism, Bruce Ticker, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors