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, EdD
Newseum 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 East
By 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
By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — Like every song, “Hava Negila” has a history. Roberta Grossman’s fun and informative documentary traces the evolution of the song from the “Ukraine to YouTube.” In the entertaining course of her film, she discredits many shibboleths about this infectious tune: it has not always had lyrics; it was not
The Wandering Review: Hava Negila: The Movie Read More »
Lawrence Baron
DEL MAR, California (Press Release)– The Tarbuton is launching an Israeli Cultural and Hebrew language themed day camp this summer. Keitana is a three-hour, ten-day, Israeli style summer camp conducted in Hebrew. Two camps are offered each session: Hebrew Immersion for Hebrew Speakers who are proficient in Hebrew and Hebrew Enriched for Hebrew Learners. The
Tarbuton offers Hebrew summer camp in Del Mar Read More »
Travel and Food
Allocations Committee to Plan Disbursement of Funds Raised in 1957 Fund Campaign Southwestern Jewish Press, July 12, 1957, Page 1 As the 1957 Jewish Fund Campaign continued to move toward its goal, 25 representative community leaders began planning a series of meetings and discussions preliminary to determining distribution of funds to the campaign’s beneficiary agencies.
Adventures in San Diego Jewish History, July 12, 1957, Part 1 Read More »
Adventures in SD History, Jewish History
By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California –When the news came recently from Memphis that Maxine Smith had died—just a few days after my own biological, if enigmatic mother had passed—I understood what the loss of maternal wisdom and joy really does to a son. This Mother’s Day is my bittersweet day of mourning for the
A mother’s day of his heart Read More »
USA
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel–Although I was not in Jerusalem for Jerusalem Day this year, having been called away to fulfill grandparental duties, it was very much in my thoughts. I still have a very clear memory of those six days in June, just 46 years ago, when I was only dimly able to
Israel Museum provides Christian tours for volunteers Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East
By Donald H. Harrison ESCONDIDO, California — When artists Larry and Debby Kline go out to casual dinners, they can’t help playing with the detritus of restaurant meals — the sugar and saccharine packets, napkins, chopstick wrappers, tooth picks, and other disposable items. While they eat, their eyes are locked in concentration on
San Diego’s ‘Artists of the Year’ and Tikkun Olam Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Eva Trieger SOLANA BEACH, California– In this affluent coastal community which gained fame in 2003 as the first U.S. mainland city to ban smoking on its public beaches, Steve Blumkin preaches what might be described as environmental tikkun olam. One of his particular interests lies several thousand miles to the south in the rain
Tikkun olam project: Oxygen for the planet Read More »
Eva Trieger, San Diego County