Syria rebels vow to ‘liberate Golan Heights’ after Assad falls (JNS.org) Syrian rebels operating in the region near the border with Israel threatened on Sunday to fight to regain the Golan Heights from Israel following the toppling of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Israel Hayom reported. In a video published online, a rebel fighter, filmed against […]
JNS news briefs: March 11, 2013 Read More »
International-Third in a series– The Gaon of Vilna and His Messianic Vision. By Arie Morgenstern, Translated by Naftali Greenwood. Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House, 2012, Pp. xiii + 446; plates. Cloth, $29.95. I would give this book 4 stars! By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — When I received Morgenstern’s book, The Gaon of Vilna and His
The Gaon vs. the Hasidim Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Nervous Jews are worrying if Barack Obama is intent on forcing Israel into a peace process. Leaving aside the issue that being nervous is a chronic condition of being Jewish, an appropriate response to Obama and all the others who think that Israel is not doing enough to make peace
Comparing Israel’s peace-making with other nations’ Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy David Amos SAN DIEGO– The motto of San Diego Jewish World, “there is a Jewish story everywhere,” came to life last weekend when my wife and I visited Texas for four days. The main reason for the trip was to attend the Bar-Mitzvah of the son of my cousin. They live in Austin, and the
Four days of Jewish immersion — in Texas! Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Sheryl Rowling Q: My accountant told me that I could contribute to a Traditional IRA or a Roth IRA. How do I choose? A: Assuming that you’re planning to hold the IRA for a while, it really depends on your current and expected tax brackets. First, let’s go over how each IRA works. With
Money Maven: IRA Ideas Read More »
Sheryl Rowling, Travel and FoodBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Money is not everything, but it buys most of the things that are. Values are also important in politics, but the important ones have something to do with money. For that reason, whoever controls the purse is somewhere near the top of the heap. In the United States system of
Lapid considered as probable finance minister Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Most modern Jews have considerable difficulty understanding why the Satmar, Chabad, Belzer, and other Hassidic movements oppose Zionism. In this short article, I will try to explain some of the theological and exegetical background regarding the history of this problem. In the course of the
The Vilna Gaon: A harbinger of Zionism Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
Editor Donald H. Harrison is back from a roundtrip cruise between San Diego and the Hawaiian Islands. This is the sixth in a series of articles based on that experience. By Donald H. Harrison ABOARD MS ZAANDAM– Violinist Michael Bacala says he was inspired as a child by the Rocky movies starring Sylvester Stallone, especially
Violinist mixes humor with classics and pop Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Travel and FoodBy Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO –Yale Strom expresses pride for his latest documentary, Letter to Wedgewood, which will be screened at 4:00 p.m. this Sunday, March 10 at Tifereth Israel Synagogue, 6660 Cowles Mountain Blvd., San Diego. It not only features extensive interviews with Gabriella Labson, the subject of the film, but it has photos, letters
‘Letter to Wedgewood’ latest Strom documentary Read More »
Eileen Wingard
San Diego Jewish World editor Donald H. Harrison recently returned from a round-trip cruise between San Diego and Hawaii. This is the fifth article in a series about that trip. By Donald H. Harrison VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK, Hawaii — As our van wended its way from the berth of Holland America Line’s Zaandam in
Sharing a volcano’s breath Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C.–Shared values and democratic systems count for a lot in the political world — and they can advance military cooperation — but national security interests can evolve without them. No one would mistake Saudi Arabia or Bahrain for a country that shares American values, yet the U.S. Central Command works closely
U.S. reduces Israel to a military client, not a partner Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — Bart Giamatti, the Yale president who became the short-lived commissioner of baseball in 1989 (as well as its laureate) spoke and wrote lyrically of the game’s enduring magic and bucolic hold on the American imagination. (So brutally ironic that this academic poet of our national pastime succumbed to
The urban green spaces where yarns are woven Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Though the news, leaks, speculations and spins about the efforts to cobble together a coalition before time runs out in another week or so dominate the public discourse in Israel, the volatile situation on its borders isn’t being ignored either. As so often in Israel, professors are frequently
Arab Spring devolves into tribal anarchy Read More »
Middle EastObama to Jewish leaders: No ‘grand peace plan’ coming on Israel trip (JNS.org) President Barack Obama said in a meeting with American Jewish leaders on Thursday that he does not intend to propose a “grand peace plan” on his upcoming trip to Israel, but that a peace effort might be launched within the next “six,
JNS news briefs: March 8, 2013 Read More »
International