By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM– When Jim Lederman, the Jerusalem based journalist and political analyst, spoke at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto last summer, he made a strong case for water being more important to Middle East politics than any other issue. The historic agreement just signed between Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority about […]
Why some will oppose the tripartite Red-Dead water accord Read More »
Middle EastENCINITAS, California (Press Release) — The Leichtag Foundation has announced the appointment of Dr. Jeffrey R. Solomon, President of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, to its board of directors. Dr. Solomon also sits on numerous nonprofit and foundation boards including the FJC, a community foundation in New York; the Jewish Funders Network; Jewish Week;
Philanthropist Solomon joins Leichtag Foundation board Read More »
San Diego County
IDF renews search for soldier missing since 1997 (JNS.org) The Israel Defense Forces is renewing the search for Guy Hever, a soldier who went missing in the Golan Heights in August 1997, Israel Hayom reported. The decision to resume search operations for Hever was made by Maj. Gen. Orna Barbivai, head of the IDF’s Manpower
JNS news briefs: December 10, 2013 Read More »
InternationalSAN DIEGO — San Diego Jewish World is proud to be the journalistic home of many Jewish authors, whose autographed books we will arrange to send to you for the prices below plus handling (boxing and postage). To arrange for the purchase of a book by a San Diego Jewish World author, contact editor Donald
Books of San Diego Jewish World Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel –I have just finished reading the last volume of Maggie Anton’s monumental trilogy, Rashi’s Daughters, (published by Plume Inc.) which contains an imaginative reconstruction of the life of a medieval Jewish community, and in particular those of three Jewish women. The author has spent many years researching various aspects
‘Rashi’s Daughters’ portrays life in Middle Ages Read More »
Travel and Food
By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — They’re killing me—the folks at Google—with their new “Calico” venture, which is going to explore ways for a middle-aged person like me to live for a much longer time. Setting aside their mercenary interests, who asked them to get involved in my mortality? I’m fine with the current
No thanks, Google, I don’t want to live on and on Read More »
USA
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday, Dec. 10, addressed the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. After being introduced by Stuart Eizenstat, who had held office in both the Carter and Clinton administrations, Kerry complimented the JDC (affectionately called the “Joint”) for its work in many countries helping not only Jews
Kerry: Israel-P.A talks continue ‘despite the skepticism’ Read More »
Middle East
By Anav Silverman Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, on Monday afternoon, Dec. 9, at the Washington D.C. headquarters of the World Bank, signed an agreement on laying a water pipeline to link the Red Sea with the Dead Sea. The pipeline, which will take three years to complete, will help slow the drying up
Israel, Jordan and PA agree on Red Sea-Dead Sea pipeline Read More »
Middle East
Hats in the Ring: Choosing Britain’s Chief Rabbis from Adler to Sacks by Meir Persoff, Academic Studies Press, Boston; ISBN 978-1-61811-269-9 ©2013, $24.95, p. 337, including index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — The position of a chief rabbi, which originally had such titles as Resh Galuta, Exilarch, and Gaon, has a long history.
Inside Britain’s chief rabbinate Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion
Jim Baumgardner, Esther Queen of Persia: A Courageous Woman for a Dangerous Time, Wichita, Kansas: Baumgardner Press, 2013, ISBN 978-0-9884107-1-8, 293 pages, $16.95, www.biblenovels.net By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — For centuries rabbis have been providing supplemental information to that found in Jewish Scriptures. You might think of Esther Queen of Persia as such
Fictional biography of Esther an extended midrash Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
Rabbi Menachem Genack, In Letters to President Clinton: Biblical Lessons on Faith and Leadership Sterling Ethos/OU Press, New York, 2013. 288 pages, ISBN 978-1-4549-0791-6. Price: $24.95 By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — President Bill Clinton is in many ways one of the most iconic and beloved presidents of recent history. His congenial manner
Rabbinic letters to Clinton prove grist for sermons Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Writing out of my customary ignorance about what’s really going on in Israeli politics, I’ve nevertheless ventured to suggest that the election of the centrist – and by all accounts very sensible – Yitzhak Herzog as the new leader of Israel’s Labor Party opens up new possibilities for Labor
Will Herzog bring Labor into Israel’s Government? Read More »
Middle EastIsrael lobbied against death penalty for Nelson Mandela, new documents show (JNS.org) Newly declassified documents reveal that the Israeli Foreign Ministry, under the leadership of future prime minister Golda Meir, in 1964 convinced Jewish philosopher Martin Buber and Israeli author Haim Hazaz to send a letter asking the South African apartheid government not to seek
JNS news briefs: December 9, 2013 Read More »
International
By Anav Silverman Nearly 100 years ago, French aviator Jules Vedrines landed his Bleriot monoplane in the pre-State Land of Israel, near the beach in Tel Aviv in 1913. The first airplane to land in Eretz Israel, it was flown ten years after the Wright brothers flew the world’s first airplane in the United States
Israel stamp commemorates 100 years of aviation Read More »
Jewish History