Alan Gross asks for Obama’s involvement in securing release from Cuban prison (JNS.org) Alan Gross, who is serving a 15-year prison term in Cuba for helping the Cuban Jewish community access the Internet while he was a subcontractor for the United States Agency for International Development, asked for President Barack Obama’s “personal involvement” in helping to […]
JNS news briefs: December 3, 2013 Read More »
International
By Aryeh Savir JERUSALEM — In recent months remains of an impressive structure from the Hasmonean period (second century BCE) have been unearthed in excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Giv‘ati site, located in the City of David near the walls surrounding the Old City. Josephus wrote about Hasmonean Jerusalem, but
Hasmonean building under excavation Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education
Miriam Luxenberg, “Code Blue,” Jerusalem Publications, 2013, ISBN, 978-0-9888958-3-6, 208 pages By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — There are two major ethical dilemmas presented in this novel. In the first, a mother gives birth and doctors say her child is irreparably brain damaged. They want to take the little boy off life support. Elsewhere
Medical practice, religious belief clash in ‘Code Blue’ Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — One of the famous and most important questions asked about Hanukkah reads: What is Hanukkah? [i.e., “Why do we celebrate Hanukkah?”]. The question strikes a modern reader as odd. Surely, the Jews must have known about the holiday’s significance for several centuries! On the surface, one
What historic sources say about Chanukah Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiIsraeli Navy braces for ‘reverse flotilla’ from Gaza (JNS.org) The Israeli Navy is preparing for a so-called “reverse flotilla” expected to leave Gaza on Monday and set out toward Israeli ships enforcing the naval blockade six miles from the Gaza shore, Israel Hayom reported. The flotilla is expected to comprise several boats and dozens of
JNS news briefs: December 2, 2013 Read More »
International
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C.–Americans tend to think of a 501(c)(3) tax exemption as the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” from the U.S. Government, indicating that the organization does work of which the government approves. Not necessarily. In Financing the Flames, Edwin Black reveals his meticulous research on “human rights” organizations that use charitable funds
Some ‘peace’ groups provoke anti-Israel incidents Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen
By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO―The White House has demanded that North Korea release Merrill Newman because he is 85 years old and in poor health. Joe Biden has been dispatched there to negotiate Newman’s freedom and is allegedly willing to trade two healthy forty-two year olds for the ailing Newman. * Amazon has announced that
Humoring the Headlines: December 2, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Is President Obama throwing Israel under a bus (to use the expression that has become popular in Canada in the Senate scandal debate) in the wake of his overt and covert negotiations with Iran? Statements by Prime Minister Netanyahu can be read in this way. Even enthusiastic peaceniks seem
Turning away from U.S. is folly for Israel Read More »
Middle East
By Donald H. Harrison CHULA VISTA, California — Temple Beth Shalom celebrated the fifth night of Chanukah Dec. 1 in both ancient and modern style. “Chanukah” is a Hebrew word meaning “dedication” as when the Maccabees rededicated the ancient Temple in Jerusalem in 167 BCE after it had been defiled by the Syrian
Rapping through Chanukah Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County
By Eva Trieger LA JOLLA, California–When Becky Baird, the former Artistic Director of J Company, announced she would be going on maternity leave, Joey Landwehr lept to the fore and said, “I want your job.” And thus a star was, well not born, but launched, in our own Lawrence Family’s JCC galaxy. Landwehr realized that
Disney ‘Freak’ directs J*Company’s ‘Little Mermaid’ Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Jesse Jackson once said that he gets nervous whenever he sees a group of young black men standing on a corner doing nothing—and he’s not the only one. By now, most of you may have heard about a game called “Knockout.” In places like Crown Heights in
Beware Black racism and ‘knockout’ gangs Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USABy Eva Trieger LA JOLLA, California — When the buzz about the San Diego Jewish Film Festival hits the streets, there is always a flurry of activity and a crush to get tickets to innovative, exciting, high quality films, produced by Jews, insinuating and revealing Jewish themes, and celebrating our Jewish homeland, Israel. The 24th
Jewish film festival director Prater brings wide experience Read More »
Travel and Food
Nick Kotz, The Harness Maker’s Dream: Nathan Kallison and the Rise of South Texas, TCU Press, 2013, ISBN 9780875655673, 320 pages, $25.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–I suppose the thing that makes me the saddest about The Harness Maker’s Dream is that the “villain” in this excellent-reading story about the Kallison family empire in
The remarkable clash of 2 Jewish retail titans Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — I often get asked the questions, “What is the symbolism of the dreidel? What exactly is its origin?” The dreidel is a four cornered top that was popular in the medieval era and originally used for gambling. Jewish folklore purports that when the Syrians prohibited the
Symbolism of the dreidel and other Chanukah lore Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi