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
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — In the medieval era, jesters played an important role in the courts of kings. Aside from the comic relief that they provided, they pointed out the asymmetrical aspects that existed within society and the rulers’ inner lives. Jesters, like fools and clowns, had a boldness of
Brave Egyptian humorist satirizes Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Max Samarov Over the last month the UC Santa Barbara student government has been voting on a resolution to divest from companies doing business with Israel. As a UCSB graduate and former student leader, I spoke at two senate hearings and worked with current students to defeat the resolution. It should now be
Attempted divestment at UCSB and the BDS machine Read More »
Travel and FoodPress Notes Southwestern Jewish Press, July 12, 1957, Page 3 By Julia Kaufman Kai Wo Maru (Ocean King) — Second best to touring the world is meeting people from other countries. Not only do we get a new concept of these “strangers” but we see ourselves through their eyes, which sometimes changes our self-concept. The
Adventures in San Diego Jewish History, July 12, 1957, Part 2 Read More »
Adventures in SD History, Jewish History
Russian missile launchers reportedly transferred to Syria (JNS.org) Advanced Russian missile launchers that Israel was trying to prevent from falling into Syrian hands have been transferred to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper of London reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Russia on Tuesday in an attempt to convince President Vladimir
JNS news briefs: May 14, 2013 Read More »
International
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — We received the Torah and accepted the commandments at Har Sinai (Mount Sinai). It is our duty to pass them on to the next generation with love and wisdom. Rabbi Yitzchok Chinn of McKees Port Pensylvania, knew an older Jewish man who said to him, “I hate Shabbos!”
Shavuot message: Torah observance needs understanding Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Norman Greene SAN DIEGO — I’ll admit to it. I’m a “Broadway Baby.” Ever since seeing The Pajama Game, directed by Abe Burrows and Jerome Robbins on the Great White Way, at the age of ten, the Broadway musical theater has been a passion of mine. However, aside from the glamour, the music, the
If you love Broadway musicals Read More »
Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA
Jews and Words by Amos Oz and Fania Oz-Salzberger, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, ISBN 978-0-300-15647-8 ©2012, $25.99, p. 204, plus source listing and index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — The Hebrew Bible announces that God created the heaven and the earth. How did God form them? Through the spoken word, which
God was the first Lover of words, but Jews were a close second Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdDNewseum cancels honor for Hamas (JNS.org) The Newseum, a non-profit museum of news and journalism in Washington, DC, has reversed its controversial decision to commemorate Hussam Salama and Mahmoud al-Kumi, two cameramen who worked for the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV in Gaza, after considerable outrage from leading Jewish organizations. “Serious questions have been raised as
JNS news briefs: May 13, 2013 Read More »
International
By Aryeh Savir JERUSALEM — In a ceremony celebrating its 150th anniversary which was named “My Honor is My Freedom,” the International Red Cross together with the Palestinian Red Crescent planted 150 trees in Jenin bearing the names of “veteran prisoners.” According to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) the Palestinian Authority uses the term “veteran
IRC reportedly joins ceremony honoring terrorists Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The latest numbers about the two year old Syrian civil war are 80,000 deaths, one million refugees over the borders in Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon, and a total of four million displaced Syrians either over the borders or away from their homes in Syria. As always, we must be suspicious
As Syrians kill each other, U.S., Turkey, Israel watch Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — After over two decades, the fight for women’s participation at the Western Wall has finally received its day in court. The Israeli District Court ruled that the women have the right to gather at the Western Wall and pray there as they wish; this decision opened
Police arrest Haredim for harrassing women at the Kotel Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi