July 7, 2013 Mayor Bob Filner San Diego City Hall 202 C Street San Diego, CA 92101 Dear Mayor Filner, As you know, over the years the publications with which I have been associated (San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage, San Diego Jewish World) have endorsed you every time you’ve run, impressed by your commitment since your […]
An open letter to Mayor Bob Filner Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Chaos in Syria and now in Egypt, with instability in Lebanon increasing as Hezbollah is deeply involved in Syria. Hamas in Gaza is most likely planning its response to the problems of its patron in Egypt. Jordan’s king may be even more worried than usual about threats to his regime,
Egyptian coup another example of Muddled East politics Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
Shanghai Love by Layne Wong; She Writes Press; 2013, ISBN 978-1-938314-18-6; 321 pages, $16.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO– Peilin is a young woman from rural China, and Henry is a refugee from Nazi Germany. In this novel, they meet in the Shanghai apothecary where she is working temporarily. They are brought together because
Novel matches Jewish refugee and Chinese woman Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — The following are the stages by which the Israelites journeyed up by companies from the land of Egypt under the guidance of Moses and Aaron. — (Numbers 33:1) The biblical narrator lists 42 stopping points beginning with Egypt. Some of the mystical commentaries make a penetrating
Pesach, 4th of July and Morsi’s overthrow Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — I had recently the privilege of bringing two elderly men together with common narratives: both were born in villages along the Carpathian Mountains, both suffered through four Nazi concentration camps, and both were liberated from the notorious Ebensee work-to-death camp by US forces on May 6, 1945. They
Two Ebensee survivors finally meet Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — When praying on behalf of someone who is seriously ill and they unfortunately pass on, there is a tendency to grow despondent and to be overcome by a feeling that one’s prayers are for naught. The Steipler Gaon once enumerated some areas in which such tefillos achieve significant
What good are those prayers for the dying? Read More »
Jewish Religion
Two explosions rock Eilat (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Two powerful explosions echoed through the Red Sea resort town of Eilat on Thursday night, shortly before 10 p.m. A Color Red alert did not sound beforehand. Several city residents dialed the police emergency hotline and reported the blasts. The Israel Defense Forces and police dispatched personnel
JNS news briefs: July 5, 2013 Read More »
InternationalBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The similarities and differences between Barack Obama and Benyamin Netanyahu tell us something about politics. For cynics, they are two peas in a pod who happen to coincide, and deserve one another. Both are attractive physically and know how to speak. Those are the makings of good actors, and that is the
Bibi and Barack: two political peas in a pod Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, USA
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — One of the readers of the AJR Journal (Association of Jewish Refugees), published in London, to which I contribute a monthly column entitled ‘Letter from Israel,’ wrote an irate letter to the editor complaining about what I write. They wrote: “Why doesn’t Mrs. Shefer-Vanson write about the real
Jerusalem and Northwest London Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East
Anyway by Arthur Salm, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4424-2931-4; 182 pages, $6.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–Arthur Salm is the former book review editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune, so you really have to admire his courage, putting himself out there. In that position, he must have made many
Tweener, not wanting to be a nebish, reinvents himself Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Cynthia Citron WEST HOLLYWOOD, California — Director Louis Fantasia detects elements of Romeo and Juliet and even the Hatfields and McCoys within the play he’s staging for Classical Theatre Lab‘s annual alfresco production in West Hollywood. But no, this play isn’t by Shakespeare, and it wasn’t influenced by the story of America’s most famous
‘Arab-Israeli Cookbook’ director turns to Italian comedy Read More »
Cynthia Citron
By Jeremy Ben-Ami WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts aimed at jumpstarting diplomacy to reach a two-state solution are running into a buzzsaw of negativity. I’m not surprised when the negativity comes from opponents of a two-state solution. They don’t see ending the conflict as either an existential necessity for Israel or
With skeptics like these, Kerry doesn’t need enemies Read More »
Middle EastEgypt President Mohamed Morsi ousted by military (JNS.org) Mohamed Morsi, the Islamist president of Egypt whose rule sparked protests that had engulfed the country since last Friday, was removed from power on Wednesday by the Egyptian military. The constitution of Egypt was also suspended. Egypt Army Chief General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said in a televised
JNS news briefs: July 4, 2013 Read More »
International
Foxes in the Vineyard: Templars, Nazis, and the Battle for Jerusalem by Michael J. Cooper, iUniverse, Inc., Bloomington, IN; ISBN 978-1-4620-6308-6 ©2011, $18.95, p. 275 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D WINCHESTER, California — Foxes in the Vineyard, the 2011 grand prize winner of Indie, a book contest sponsored by independent publishers, is a work of historical
Nazis, Templars novel set during Israel’s independence battle Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD