In Israel, it’s us and them and them

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — A hundred meters from these fingers is a border between civilizations. To the east of that border is the “village,” “suburb,” or “neighborhood” of Isaweea. With more than 20,000 residents, the label “village” is misleading, but that’s the term many use. “Suburb” suggests something outside of Jerusalem, but it is

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

The Holocaust in terms a child can understand

Odette’s Secrets by Maryann Macdonald, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, (c) 2013, 978-1-5990-750-5; 225 pages,  $16.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Although classified as “fiction,” Odette’s Secrets cannot be so easily pigeonholed.  Author Maryann Macdonald found a copy of the real memoirs of the late Odette Meyers, who as a child in Nazi-occupied France had posed

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Donald H. Harrison

‘Oleanna,’ an allegory for self-conflicted Jews?

By Eva Trieger ENCINITAS, California — From the instant the dialogue began, I was riveted by the hallmark Mamet staccato, terse exchanges.  The principals in this case were a young college professor (Francis Gercke) attempting to understand a distraught, frustrated coed (Rachael Van Wormer).  The Intrepid Shakespeare Company, directed by Christy Yael and Sean Cox,

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Eva Trieger

A potpourri of Jewish poetry

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — The fifth season of “Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices” concluded  last month at the Astor Judaica Library in the Lawrence Family JCC. During its first five seasons, the series featured local poets and song writers expressing themselves not only in English, but also in Yiddish, Hebrew, Ladino, Russian, Spanish and

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Eileen Wingard

Video feeds from air & ground aid infantry

  BEER-SHEVA, Israel (Press Release)–Combining video feeds from unmanned ground and aerial vehicles in a single screen will aid soldiers with orientation and identification tasks, according to a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers funded by the United States Army. Dismounted operational tactics in urban areas are often aided by information

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Science, Medicine, & Education

‘Triumph and Tragedy’ relates Jewish history of Poland

Triumph and Tragedy: Journeying Through 1000 Years of Jewish Life in Poland, compiled by Joel Padowitz, J Roots (c) 2013, ISBN 978-1-937887-06-3, 264 pages including endnotes. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Essentially this is a Jewish guide book to Poland.  The “triumph” portion focuses on the great rabbis and writers who preceded the

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Donald H. Harrison

Angel teaches about Maimonides

Maimonides: Essential Teachings on Jewish Faith & Ethics, the Book of Knowledge & the Thirteen Principles of Faith Annotated & Explained by Rabbi Marc D. Angel, PhD, Skylight Paths Publishing, Woodstock, VT; ISBN 978-1-59473-311-6 ©2012, $18.99, p. 172, plus notes and selected bibliography By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — By the mid-twelfth century, conditions

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Fred Reiss, EdD

Finding the positive in others

By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — Call me old-fashioned or sexist, but I think that the entire dust up of President Obama calling California attorney general Kamala Harris the “best-looking attorney general in the country” is a tempest in a teapot. I understand the importance of de-emphasizing appearance in a world in which physical

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Jewish Religion