By Steve Kramer ALFE MENASHE, Israel — What’s a factoid? According to one definition, it’s a questionable or spurious (unverified, false, or fabricated) statement presented as a fact, but without supporting evidence. (Wikipedia) Factoids are what passes for knowledge among Westerners who vilify Israel and describe it as apartheid, neo-Nazi, warmongering, and more. Advocates for
Setting straight the factoid crowd Read More »
Middle East, Steve KramerThe Baroness, the Search for Nica, Rebellious Rothschild and Jazz’s Secret Muse by Hannah Rothschild; Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2012 (Editor’s Note: This book was reviewed last year for San Diego Jewish World by Sheila Orysiek. Here is a link to her review.) By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — The House of Rothschild, the semi-official
A Rothschild biography tells of the baroness of jazz Read More »
Travel and FoodIsrael arrests members of Islamic State-linked terror cell in Hebron (JNS.org) Israel security forces arrested three Arab men who were attempting to set up an Islamic State-linked terror cell in Hebron with plans of carrying out different attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. According to Israel’s Shin Bet security service, Ahmed Shahada, 22, admitted to
Daily Jewish news briefs: January 5, 2015 Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Last week, while getting my nightly dose of a discussion program, I heard a political scientist talk about her research via Facebook and other meeting places on the Internet. She claimed that the number of Likes, and their changes over time, indicated the rise and fall of politicians. Maybe. Her presentation was
Internet changes form, not substance, of politics Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
SAN DIEGO (Press Release)–Rabbi David Lau, Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi of Israel, will give a free lecture at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 20, at the La Jolla Marriott Hotel, 440 La Jolla Village Drive, in a program sponsored by Chabad of University City. Although there is no admission fee required, Chabad has asked for an $18 donation to cover
Israel’s Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi heads for S.D. Read More »
Jewish Religion, San Diego CalendarBy Eva Trieger SOLANA BEACH, California — One Arab, One Jew, One Stage, Two Humors….That was my takeaway from interviewing the upcoming headliners of the JCC’s unique program, featuring Rabbi Stand-Up Bob Alper and Actor/Stand-up Ahmed Ahmed. The two men share a similar vision: They like to make people laugh and believe that laughter is
Muslim, Jewish comedians appear together Jan. 27 Read More »
Eva Trieger, San Diego Calendar
SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — The Men’s Club of Beth Israel of San Diego will present Dr. Sanford Feldman as its featured speaker at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 21 Dinner Forum. Dr. Feldman will provide an update on the causes, symptoms, and treatment for Macular Degeneration. He is a Temple member of Beth Israel of San Diego and a
CBI Men’s Club eyes talk by Dr. Feldman Jan. 21 Read More »
San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education
By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO–In the 1880’s, responding to increasingly harsh conditions in Europe, especially in Eastern Europe, Jewish immigration to the United States became a tidal wave and so, too, did the number of Yiddish newspapers serving them. In 1897, the Jewish Daily Forward (lovingly known as the “Forverts”) began publication which continues to
From the Jewish library: A Bintel Brief Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan –When Jeffrey Newman first arrived as the rabbi at Finchley Reform Synagogue in Britain in 1973, he, by his own self-description, was an idealist. And while he knew that he might not be able to change the world, he decided he would at least like to make a difference
Rabbi fears climate disaster by end of century Read More »
The World We ShareJEWHOOING THE SIXTIES: American Celebrity and Jewish Identity, by David E. Kaufman. Waltham: Brandeis University Press, 2012. 340 pp. Illustrations, Notes, Index. Paper, $40.00. www.upne.com. By Abraham Hoffman LOS ANGELES — “Jewhooing” is a term applied to a prominent person who is of the Jewish faith. Unlike “outing,” which identifies a person who though “in
Book review: ‘Jewhooing the Sixties’ Read More »
Travel and Food
By Mimi Pollack SAN DIEGO — What is a holistic mitzvah? A mitzvah that serves humans, animals and the environment. That is the vision of Ecolife and Bill Toone. For Toone, it is finding a holistic approach of service and conservation, and as the executive director of Ecolife, he has this non-profit foundation behind
Ecolife principal advocates holistic mitzvot Read More »
Mimi Pollack, The World We Share
After the Holocaust the Bells Still Ring by Joseph Polak, © 2015 Urim Publications, 141 pages, ISBN 978-965-524-162-4, $19.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—When Rabbi Joseph Polak and his mother were liberated from Bergen-Belsen, he was not yet three years old. He says that he has no actual memory of his early childhood in
The Holocaust lives inside him Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History
Editor’s Note: The following article is reprinted with permission from a special issue of Cafe Dissensus on the topic of Indian Jews, an issue that was edited by Navras Jaat Aafreedi, PhD. The original of this article, along with other articles about India and its Jews, may be read at http://cafedissensus.com/2014/12/31/contents-the-indian-jewry-issue-12/ By Sophie Judah Life as a
Life as a Jew in India Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — I do view myself as a centrist in politics. Or perhaps more accurately, as an apolitical political scientist. I’ve never had a strong party identification, either during that half of my life when I voted in the US, or the latter half voting in Israel. I view politics as the
Mulling options in Israel’s upcoming election Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East