By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Newspaper estimates of the numbers taking part in recent demonstrations tell us something about the ranking of items on the agendas of various sectors. What is impressive is not the precision of such numbers, but great differences in their magnitude. On Thursday evening of last week, it was estimated that […]
Lapid backpedals on secular education for Haredim Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — The bearded man in the middle, front row was the rabbi. He was renowned and admired for his wisdom, spirituality, and the judiciousness he applied—particularly in view of the fact that Jews were not considered a part of the state society in the pre-Nazi world of Jasina,
Photograph invokes Czech town — before the Nazis came Read More »
Jewish Religion
Palestinian village hangs large Swastika flag on electric line (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Israel Defense Forces Civil Administration on Monday ordered the Palestinian Electrical Company to remove a Swastika flag that had been hung on one of its electric wires in the Palestinian village of Beit Ummar. A photograph of the Swastika flag
JNS news briefs: May 20, 2013 Read More »
International
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — For many Jews whose ancestors lived in Eastern Europe, Fiddler on the Roof provides a mythic context for understanding what their lives might have been like. Music from the show, such as “Sunrise, Sunset,” is routinely played at such simchas as bar mitzvah receptions and weddings. But what
Why is ‘Fiddler’ so appealing to non-Jewish audiences? Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Loren Kantor STUDIO CITY, California — From 1977 to 1986, Woody Allen had a filmmaking run so impressive it’s been equaled only by the likes of Billy Wilder and Preston Sturges. Allen’s films included Annie Hall, Manhattan, Broadway Danny Rose, Zelig, Purple Rose of Cairo and Hannah and Her Sisters. Woody was an antidote to the Spielberg/Lucas
Notes from the woodcutter: Woody Allen Read More »
Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Serpent’s Chronicle by Neil Folberg; Abbeville Press Publishers, (c) 2013; IBN 978-0-7892-1138-5; 84 pages; $29.95 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO– In Serpent’s Chronicle, his new book of photographs, Neil Folberg recounts the story of Adam and Eve, but not as most people know the tale. His story is from the viewpoint of a serpent
A photographer reimagines the Garden of Eden Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Remember the Cold War? And the crises focused on Berlin and missiles in Cuba? Could we be on the cusp of a comparable crisis focused on Syria? Among the unanswered questions is the relative weight of Israel in the thinking and threatening being done by the US and Russia. This,
Is Syria heating up the old U.S.-Russian cold war? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
Israel considering new anti-missile strikes (JNS.org) U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that another round of Israeli airstrikes could target a new Russian transfer of advanced anti-ship missiles in the near future. Israeli and Western intelligence services believe the Yakhont missiles, which have been sold by Russia to Syria in recent years,
JNS news briefs: May 17, 2013 Read More »
InternationalBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –The holiday of Shavuot provided a pleasant respite from the excessive excitement of this country. Instead of the usual drone of disaster and dispute in the media, there were tasty festivities heavy on cheese filled casseroles topped off with cheese cake. The relative quiet, for everything but my aging arteries, was
And now a return to regular Middle East news Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Eva Trieger SAN DIEGO-Sometimes life can feel pretty cruel. We have each had those moments when we feel stricken or have lost our compass. For many of us, we have the benefit of family or friends to whom we can turn. But what about those of us who are on their own? What must
Gmach does much for those in need Read More »
Eva Trieger, San Diego County
By Eileen Wingard EL CAJON, California — Jazz violinist, pianist and composer, David Morales Boroff, was clearly the star of the Gala Fundraiser for the Music Department of Grossmont College. This attractive, talented 19-year-old, the recipient of a President’s Scholarship (four years of free tuition and housing) from the Berklee School of Music in Boston,
Gala fundraiser for Grossmont College Music. Read More »
Eileen Wingard
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — One of the interesting paradoxes of human life is our tendency to copy one another and to try to “fit in” with friends and acquaintances, while simultaneously trying to be distinct from others, and to be our “own person.” The pressures of conformity are very strong in
Individuality and conformity in religious life Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Donald H. Harrison EL CAJON, California –To some degree all of us want to put our ancestors on a pedestal, but Grossmont College student artist Jessica Kowaski has been able to actually do so in the current student art exhibition at the Hyde Gallery. Finished in a way to make it look weathered, her
Student artists stimulate viewers’ imaginations Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Lloyd Levy EILAT, Israel — It never ceases to amaze me how Israel almost manages to be a proverbial island of tranquility in a sea of complete turmoil. The preoccupation in Israel at the moment is the perceived extravagance of Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu and his wife. Apparently they had a special bed built on
Neutrality is Israel’s wisest policy in Syria Read More »
Lloyd Levy, Middle East