By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — A letter to President John F. Kennedy. Dear Mr. President, You are so omnipresent, fifty years after Dallas, so vividly alive for those of us who have any memory of you while you were here with us, that it doesn’t seem all that preposterous to send you […]
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USA
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO–On Wednesday evening I was among 1,000 Jewish men who were privileged to hear former Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, speak at the annual UJF Men’s Event. Among other comments, Ambassador Oren said that today there are two great centers of Jewish life: Israel and North America.
Israel and the Diaspora: Jewish concepts are changing Read More »
Jewish Religion
Syracuse University suspends ties with Palestinian school, joining Brandeis (JNS.org) Syracuse University became the second school in a week to suspend its relationship with the Palestinian Al-Quds University in Jerusalem following a Nazi-style rally at Al-Quds, The Jerusalem Post reported. The school’s Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism halted ties with Al-Quds. “We are very
JNS news briefs: November 22, 2013 Read More »
International
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–I think it is only fair to warn student journalists that anything they write for their publications–anything–may follow them around for the rest of their lives. Now, this can be a good thing, as in two tales I will soon relate, or it can be a very bad thing, if
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Donald H. HarrisonBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Change may occur, but as mother used to say when I wanted something beyond the possible, “Don’t hold your breath.” Prominent in what does not appear to be changing are the gaps between Iran, Israel, and the more powerful of western countries. On the eve of meetings in Geneva that
Haven’t we heard this news before? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
SAN DIEGO―Republican Congressman Trey Radel of Florida pled guilty of cocaine possession and use this week and blamed his addiction on his alcoholism. This is the same excuse embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford gave for smoking crack cocaine. Reporters checking into the drinking habits of the two men have learned that they always ordered rum
Humoring the Headlines: November 22, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireJonathan Pollard enters 29th year in U.S. prison (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) On Thursday, Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard entered his 29th year in American prison. Pollard, now 59, was arrested in Washington on Nov. 21, 1985. He was later convicted of spying for Israel, and is the only person in U.S. history to receive a
JNS news briefs: November 21, 2013 Read More »
International
By Arlene S. Moskowitz, JD and Joel A. Moskowitz, MD LA JOLLA, California –A prescription for Jews: Singing is good for your health, spiritual and physical. At the recent Society for Neuroscience meeting at the San Diego Convention Center, there was a section that emphasized the benefits of music. New findings: …. “that musicians have
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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — In his Torahmusings, R. Gill Student cites an endorsement of R. Steinsaltz’s translation from R. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb. His comments are especially important for anyone interested in the science of translation as it pertains to the translation of the Talmud: Every translation is to some extent a
Two digital versions of the Talmud compete Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Israel appears to be losing big time on the two issues topping its international agenda. Predictions are that the greater powers will reach an agreement with Iran that the Prime Minister has said time and again will be very bad, worse than no agreement, and making no meaningful contribution to ending Iran’s
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Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastAyatollah Ali Khamenei calls Israel ‘rabid dog’ (JNS.org) On the day negotiations on the Iran nuclear program were renewed in Geneva, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Israel a “rabid dog.” “It came from the mouth of the rabid dog of the region—Israel—that Iran is a threat to the world! No, the fake regime
JNS news briefs: November 20, 2013 Read More »
International
Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields by Wendy Lower, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, NY’ ISBN 978-0-547-86338-2©2012, $26, p. 270, including index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — That Hitler and the Nazi Party succeeded in killing more than twelve million “undesirables,” including six million Jews, hinges as much on the technology available
Book studies women murderers in the Holocaust Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish HistoryNY Times features photo of perpetrator’s family for story on murder of IDF soldier (JNS.org) The New York Times was criticized by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) for its lead photo in coverage of a Palestinian terrorist’s murder of 19-year-old Israeli soldier Eden Atias. “CAMERA has urged New York
JNS news briefs: November 19, 2013 Read More »
InternationalBy Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — Like anybody else old enough, I remember when President John F. Kennedy was slain, fifty years ago this Friday. Our tiny Hebrew day school suddenly sent us home just before two o’clock—exactly when we would have concluded our day with the weekly, all-classes welcoming of Sabbath. There would
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USA