By Gary Rotto SAN DIEGO — Just about four years ago, we had to make a very difficult decision. My daughter had attended the San Diego Jewish Academy (SDJA) for nine years – from kindergarten through eighth grade, to the cusp of high school. But we needed to make a decision on where she would […]
Choosing a secular rather than a religious school Read More »
Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — OK, before you go all holier than thou critical, or laugh so hard you can’t pay attention to this content of this article, here’s what being “All FFF’d Up” means when it comes to the secret sauce of being fit. It means if you are going to
Getting all FFF’ed up to be fit Read More »
Michael Mantell, Travel and Food
By Mimi Pollack SAN DIEGO –As a fourth generation Californian with a keen sense of curiosity and adventure, Ken Kramer was a natural as the host and producer of, “Ken Kramer’s About San Diego,” a local, long time show that explored the places and people of San Diego until his retirement earlier this year. Kramer,
Ken Kramer of ‘About San Diego’ sets series farewell Read More »
Mimi Pollack, San Diego CountyBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–Though it’s still true that Israel’s neighbors are – to use an understatement – less than cordial in their relationship to the Jewish state, things may not be as grim as they seem and as they used to be. Some of the neighbors have acquired external and internal enemies of their
Iran is making Israel a lot of friends Read More »
Middle EastBy Edwin Black UNITED NATIONS, New York–While I was speaking to the packed room, a woman I did not know, sitting in the front row, slowly shook her tear-stained head in disbelief and muttered softly … barely audible … “I never thought I would hear these words in this building.” The woman, it turns out,
The Farhud–Holocaust in Arab lands–marked at U.N. Read More »
Edwin Black, International, Middle EastBy Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA–With the rationale of bigots inherently difficult to comprehend, new anti-Semitic angles in the Charleston massacre emerged over the weekend. Murder suspect Dylann Storm Roof’s reported take on Jews corresponds with that of a like-minded Brit twit who plans commotion across the pond. Roof’s anti-Semitic sentiments, almost as repugnant as his
Killer in Black church also hated Jews Read More »
USAHow Free Will Works: The Blueprint to Take Charge of Your Life, Health, and Happiness by Dovid Lieberman, Feldheim Publishers, New York; ISBN 978-1-4675-6353-6 ©2015, $19.99, p. 324, plus glossary By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — Judaism has a theological problem with regard to free will. People have a sense of self-agency and self-determination;
Free- will means deciding about morality Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish ReligionBy Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO─ Mike Huckabee suggested that arming the members of Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston would have prevented the murder of nine of its members. In other words the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is pistol packing pastors and worshippers with weapons. * The police are
Humoring the headlines: June 22, 2015 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Anav Silverman JERUSALEM — Yochanan Gol looks at his uncle’s tombstone in dismay. A huge black burnt circle marks his grave, remnants of a torching that has blacked out the date of his birth and passing. “This is the new tombstone that I had just purchased to replace the original that they smashed into
Vandalism continuous at Jerusalem cemetery Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Minister of Culture Miri Regev and spokespeople of Israeli culture have been several days in the headlines, shouting at one another and past one another. Those claiming to speak for the better things are accusing the Minister of censorship. The Minister is saying that writers, artists, playwrights, and actors can say and
Criticism okay, messing with the economy isn’t Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Pope Francis just issued a papal encyclical on the climate change crisis in which he states, “The Earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.” This follows a recent letter on the same topic which was initiated by Rabbi Arthur Waskow
Jewish Trivia: Climate change Read More »
Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & SatireEgypt appoints first ambassador to Israel in three years (JNS.org) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has appointed Egypt’s first ambassador to Israel in three years, marking a possible sign of continued warming relations between the two Mideast powers. The new ambassador, Hazem Khairat, previously served as Egypt’s envoy to the Arab League and Chile. Egypt
Jewish news briefs: June 22, 2015 Read More »
International, Middle East, USABy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Verdi’s Requiem is not often performed in Israel. It requires a massive choir, an accomplished and enormous orchestra with augmented brass section, and four top-flight vocal soloists. In addition, it should be performed in an auditorium that can cope with the wide range of volume, tone and timbre
Verdi in Herzliya a triumph Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East