By Yiftach Levy SAN DIEGO — Israeli entrepreneur and high-tech investor Yossi Vardi on Sunday evening, Feb. 24, gave an informative, at times uproariously funny talk on the culture of innovation and creativity that has driven Israel’s economy for almost two decades. Vardi should know a thing or two about this topic: in 1996, he […]
Entrepreneur Vardi encourages techies to give back to society Read More »
Travel and FoodShari Arison, Activate Your Goodness: Transforming the World Through Doing Good, Hay House, © 2013, ISBN 978-1-4919-3797-3, 176 pages, $14.95. By Donald H. Harrison Shari Arison, daughter of the late Carnival Cruise Line founder Ted Arison, runs a network of international businesses and philanthropies in her own right and is ranked as one of the
The case for ‘doing good’ Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Rabbi Michael Leo SamuelCHULA VISTA, California — Purim Fest 1946. During the Holocaust years, Purim celebrations were forbidden to the Jews. Christians and Jews could not even own the book of Esther. Such decrees did not stop the Nazis from poking fun at the Jews on this Jewish holiday. With diabolical glee, the Nazis
Purim Fest 1946: The tale of Julius Streicher Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM –Purim is in the air and with it countless opportunities for Purim-shpiels of one kind or another. The most watched spectacle at the moment in Israel is the effort to form a new government. The humor is particularly biting because we still remember the promises the various parties made before
Coalition building one big Purim shpiel Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Bibi currently has 37 MKs in his coalition, but maybe not. The candidate who presented herself as highly principled, i.e., Tsipi Livni, signed on, but in the process threw her number #2 under the bus and may have provoked a split in her new party, “The Movement.” Amram Mitzna expected
Bibi builds towards a shaky coalition Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — Nothing in Jewish life is easy. What could be complicated about a triangular shaped pastry with filling inside? Hamantaschen, the preferred perennial Purim treat, seem simple enough at face value. But a little research proves that this holiday delicacy has a vast and perplexing history. First of all,
All about hamantaschen Read More »
Jewish ReligionSenators ask Obama to withdraw Hagel nomination (JNS.org) Fourteen U.S. senators asked President Barack Obama to withdraw his nomination of former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel, who continues to come under fire for his record on Israel and other areas of foreign policy, for Secretary of Defense. In a letter dated Feb. 21, the
JNS news briefs: February 22, 2013 Read More »
InternationalBy Rabbi Michael Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — It seems strange, but there is scarcely a day when we don’t hear about some person losing his or her grip on reality. We are bombarded by a series of rampage shootings that we hear on the radio and television that occur with almost clockwork regularity. Christopher
Dorner rampage: How war can taint a soul Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Carol Davis SAN DIEGO—The San Diego Opera Company has brought back (by popular demand) Camille Saint-Saëns’ beautiful Samson et Dalila. The last time we were treated to this 19-century French opera was in 2007. No question this tale is of biblical proportions. The sets, rented from the San Francisco Opera, (Douglas Schmidt) are ‘gargantuan’
Voices powerful in lagging ‘Samson and Delilah’ production Read More »
Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & BroadcastBritish MP Galloway walks out on debate with an Israeli at Oxford (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) British MP George Galloway has been accused of anti-Semitism for storming out of a debate at Oxford University on Wednesday evening after learning that his opponent as an Israeli citizen. Galloway, the Respect party MP for Bradford West and
JNS News Briefs: February 21, 2013 Read More »
InternationalBy Alan Eisner WASHINGTON, D.C – After years of diplomatic deadlock, peace – or at least talk of peace – is in the air again for Israel and the Palestinians. Last month’s Israeli election, which moved the country back toward the political center, following President Obama’s re-election and his appointment of
Active U.S. role needed for Mideast peace Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Higher education has always been a dicey enterprise, bringing enlightenment as well as threats to the establishment. It is not difficult to find assertions, from ancient times to not so long ago, that providing literacy to the masses is a sure path to hell. A current worry coming from
BDS: A new preoccupation for ill-informed students Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — In addition to the weekly portion, a second text will be read in synagogues this upcoming Shabbat. It’s about remembering Amalek, the arch-enemy of our Israelite ancestors and the epitome of all our enemies through the ages. The implication is that though the Biblical Amalekites lived a long time
Two biblical texts for modern Israel’s guidance Read More »
Middle EastKerry to skip Israel on first Middle East trip (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will bypass Israel on his first official trip to the Middle East, U.S. officials said Tuesday as they announced a jam-packed itinerary through nine nations, including several in Europe. Kerry’s maiden voyage begins Sunday.
JNS news briefs: February 20, 2013 Read More »
International