SERENADE, A memoir of music and love from Vienna and Prague to Los Angeles, 1927 to World War II to 2012 by Carol Jean Delmar, Willow Lane Press, Beverly Hills, California By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — This is a beautifully written love story of Franziska Perger and Franz Jung against the backdrop of Europe […]
Love story begins in Nazi Europe and ends in Hollywood Read More »
Travel and Food
SAN DIEGO — Melanie Rubin has spotted another interesting Jewish license plate. “Galim” in Hebrew means “waves,” and so one assumes that the owner of the car on which this license plate appears is a person who loves the ocean. Perhaps the owner is a surfer. On the other hand, the background design of
Jewish-interest license plate: (Love) Galim Read More »
Melanie Rubin, Trivia, Humor & SatireBy Laurie Baron The ghost of Dr. Seuss overheard Senator Ted Cruz’s denunciation and responded with the following text message. I do not like Ted Cruz’s scam. His entire speech was just like spam. When health care is in a jam, His filibuster was a sham. Playing loose and playing fast To defund a law
Humoring the headlines: September 27, 2013 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireRabbi Yosef Bitton, Awesome Creation: A Study of the Thirst Three Verses of the Torah; Gefen Publishing House (2013). ISBN-10: 9652295566. Price: $24. 26. Rating: 3 stars out of 5. By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — As someone who has written on the first three chapters of Genesis, I was interested in seeing
Jewish Orthodoxy and the Cosmos Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Government is no less complex than politics. That should be no surprise, insofar government is the creation of politicians, and is worked, modified, and stymied as politicians deal with one another to get what some of them want, and to keep what some of them want from happening. Some of
On U.S. bureaucrats and ‘evolving doctrines’ Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, USABy Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK _- Anyone who has ever taught anything can confirm the adage of our Sages: “I have learned from all my teachers, but I have learned most from my pupils.” It is especially true that one learns a great deal from his students if he does not limit himself
Creation in Torah — Why is it there? Read More »
Travel and FoodBy J. Zel Lurie DELRAY BEACH, Florida — Chautauqua is a remarkable, unique institution. Lying on the shore of 18-mile-long Lake Chautauqua between the cities of Buffalo and Erie, it is not easy to get to, but I have managed to spend a few weeks there every summer. Elsewhere in the summer months, one can
Who is responsible for Jewish settlements? Read More »
Middle EastBy Joel A. Moskowitz, MD LA JOLLA, California — Some will find fault with my thesis. Others will acknowledge the validity. The Collaboration: Hollywood’s Pact With Hitler by Ben Urwand has been reviewed positively and negatively. The essence of the book is that some Nazis wanted to suppress ‘negative’ themes which would be detrimental to
Nazism and Islamism found adherents in U.S. Read More »
USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Politics is not an arena for participants or observers who insist on clear decisions. It requires judging the quality of grays, rather than the clarity of black or white, or demanding one’s concept of the good. The condition reflects the complexities of interests and perspectives. Shifting alliances are more likely
Many gray areas in domestic politics and foreign policy Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — The excerpts from Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A, heard near the beginning of the current hit movie, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, is performed by Gerald Robbins, with the Moscow Symphony under the direction of Kenneth Klein. Robbins, known to San Diego audiences by his recitals and solo appearances with
American-Russian piano duet planned at Sherwood Hall Read More »
Travel and FoodFrom Enemy To Brother: The Revolution in Catholic Teaching on the Jews, John Connelly, author. Harvard University Press, 2012, 376 pp. By David Strom CHULA VISTA, California— From Enemy to Brother is a powerful and moving account of the origins and passage of the 1965 Vatican II document on Jews that changed centuries of official
Book traces church’s warming toward the Jews Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Liz Halpern BOULDER, Colorado–Hi there! My name is Liz Halpern and I grew up in Boulder/ Throughout the devastation of this flood, I have seen countless people coming together to help each other out. However, one group in particular, really peaked my interest. That is Rabbi Yisroel Wilhelm and Chabad at the University of
Chabad responds in force to Colorado floods Read More »
USA
Daily Life in Biblical Times by Liora Ravid, Gefen Publishing House, 2013, ISBN 978-965-229-609-2, 461 pages plus bibliography, $24.95 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — If Liora Ravid’s book receives the attention I believe it deserves, it will transform the Bible for many readers from a vaguely-understood, often misunderstood, set of documents to one
Easy-to-read book provides deep Biblical insight Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –It is too early to comment with any certainty about the policy of the United States, or any other country with respect to Syria’s chemical weapons or its civil war. There are likely to be twists and turns before us heavy thinkers can pass on to other topics. Nonetheless, there are
Obama’s waffling may in fact be sign of maturity Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East