By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Turkey is the latest point of fascination for those who dream about the spread of democracy in the Middle East. The reportage and commentary is more subdued than what came in response to the demonstrations that began more than two years ago. Deaths climbing toward or above 100,000 in Syria, continued unrest […]
Analyzing the violence in Turkey Read More »
Middle East
Kerry says time is running out on peace process (JNS.org) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned that time is running out on the peace process during a speech at the American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum in Washington, DC. “We’re running out of time. We’re running out of possibilities. And let’s be clear: If we
JNS news briefs: June 4, 2013 Read More »
InternationalNo real peace without end to Palestinian incitement, Ya’alon says (JNS.org) Peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinians could be signed on paper, but as long as the Palestinians still educate their youth to hate Israelis, the peace “will blow up in our faces,” Israeli Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon said Monday. “The crux of
JNS news briefs: June 3, 2013 Read More »
International
By Sheryl Rowling DEL MAR, California — As you know, I’m not a food critic – at least not a published one. Yet, I got invited to the San Diego County Fair’s media night last Friday. So, I feel obliged to write about it! What can a financial person do with this subject? I can
Money Maven: County Fair consumables Read More »
San Diego County, Sheryl RowlingBy Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO– Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School celebrated its 50th anniversary on Sunday night, June 2, at a banquet featuring recollections of two of the school’s pioneer board presidents and a tribute to the late philanthropists Morrie and Barbara Steiman who helped the Orthodox Jewish school surmount some tough financial
Hebrew Day School celebrates 50th, memorializes Steimans Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson TEL AVIV–Going to gala concerts isn’t really our thing, but when the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra announced that in honor of its return to the refurbished Heichal Hatarbut (Palace of Culture), its home in Tel Aviv, it would be performing Mahler’s fifth symphony, along with Beethoven’s violin concerto (with Itzhak Perlman as soloist)
Ahhh, Mahler, Beethoven, Perlman and Mehta! Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Things have never been better for many of us. Europeans are quarreling rather than killing one another. Jews are capable of reaching the top of virtually all professions, with decent housing and no worry about gentlemen’s agreements or restrictive covenants, and safe from plunder and pogroms. Life expectancy and other good stuff
Coping strategies serve Israel, South Korea Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California–As even the Supreme Court takes up the issue of same-sex marriage, and the issue finally appears to have captured the heart of humanity in every sense, some folks are again presuming the mantle of Dr. Martin Luther King in the name of something he actually never addressed. If one
LGBT advocates should not claim MLK support Read More »
USA
By Donald H. Harrison DEL MAR, California — Will a large number of the San Diego County Fair’s expected 1.5 million visitors this year want to take a break from carnival games, cotton candy, and this year’s bacon specialties to see a 42-poster exhibit detailing the Holocaust from its origins to its conclusion? Leaders of
S.D. County Fair previews a Holocaust exhibit Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Della Elliott EL CAJON, California–Conscripted into the Israeli military at 18 and assigned to a unit specializing in clearing mine fields, Nir Shtern knows a thing a or two about performing under pressure. Now a 22-year-old Grossmont College student, the San Diego resident remembers the practically overnight transition from carefree teen to combat soldier
Former IDF soldier honored as student leader Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education
Black Jews in Africa and the Americas by Tudor Parfitt, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts; ISBN 978-0-674-06698-4 ©2013, $29.95, p. 170, plus notes and index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — Samaria, the capital of Northern Israel, fell after a two-year siege under the command of its king, Sargon II in 722 BCE. The
Author tells of Black Jewish diaspora Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion
SAN DIEGO –Melanie Rubin, who remembers her Israeli geography, spotted this license plate. It doesn’t exactly say “Beit She’an” but it is close enough. According to the Bible, that was the area in Israel where the Philistines hung the body of King Saul from a wall. Now, we don’t know this is what the car’s
Jewish license plate: Bet Shan Read More »
Jewish Religion, Melanie RubinState Department report: Iran terror activity surges (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Iran’s state sponsorship of terrorism and Hezbollah’s terrorist activity have reached a tempo unseen since the 1990s, according to the U.S. State Department’s annual Country Reports on Terrorism 2012, released Thursday. The report noted that on Feb. 5 this year, the Bulgarian government
JNS news briefs: May 31, 2013 Read More »
International
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — The BDS’ers (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) are at it again. Alice Walker, author of the The Color Purple is urging singer Alicia Keys to cancel a concert she has scheduled in Israel in July. Walker wrote, “It would grieve me to know you are putting yourself in danger
BDS campaign defames Israel, ignores others Read More »
Middle East