Coalition deal to form next Israeli government reached after 39 days of negotiation (JNS.org) At the culmination of a long, complex and nerve-wracking negotiation—lasting a whopping 39 days—the coalition agreements that will finalize the next Israeli government have come to fruition, Israel Hayom reported. “We did our best with 31 Knesset seats; we are still
JNS news briefs: March 14, 2013 Read More »
InternationalBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Training Syrian rebels to conquer the Golan Heights and shoot down Israeli aircraft? No, they don’t say it quite like that. But after years of hypocrisy, the Obama administration has admitted that while it declined to arm Syrian rebels directly for fear that weapons would end up in the
Is U.S. aiding Syrian rebel plans to fight Israel? Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen
By Donald H. Harrison CARLSBAD, California — It’s a cynical way to look at it, but perhaps parents of preschoolers and elementary school students will consider the recent economic slowdown as a blessing in disguise. When microbiologist Rudy Gonzalez was laid off from the biotech industry last year, he became a house husband. Taking
Slow economy, kids’ creativity formula for business Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel– On our recent visit to Malta we were given special permission to examine the enormous painting by Caravaggio, ‘The Beheading of John the Baptist,’ that hangs in the massive co-cathedral (double cathedral) of Valletta, which is run by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. After the cathedral was
John the Baptist, Crusaders, Jerusalem invoked in Malta Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson GIVAT CHAYIM IHUD, Israel — The Theresienstadt Memorial Museum is situated in Israel’s verdant Jezreel Valley, in premises attached to this kibbutz. Once or twice a year I receive the museum newsletter, continuing the subscription taken out by my late father. For many years it appeared in stencil form on plain
Theresienstadt memory kept alive on Israeli kibbutz Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East
TEL AVIV (Press Release) — Kinneret is back home, but no less than a week ago, she was in San Diego recounting her personal experiences and sharing insights about her service in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and life in Israel. Kinneret was part of StandWithUs’ 5th annual “Israeli Soldiers Stories” (ISS) tour which had
Israeli soldier tells San Diego-Golan Heights connection Read More »
Travel and Food
NEW YORK (Press Release) –Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) raised $27 million Tuesday night, March 12, at its National NY Gala Dinner where over 1,400 prominent business and philanthropic leaders from across the country gathered at the historic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to demonstrate their love and support for the soldiers of Israel. FIDF Chairman Emeritus
IDF friends raise $27 million at NYC dinner Read More »
USAKnesset member blasts Obama for not inviting Ariel students to speech (JNS.org) In a letter sent to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Member of Knesset Yoni Chetboun of the Habayit Hayehudi party criticized U.S. President Barack Obama for not inviting students from Ariel University of Samaria to his speech at the International Convention Center
JNS news briefs: March 13, 2013 Read More »
InternationalBy Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — “I was wrong. I am sorry. Please forgive me.” These are rare words indeed, but I heard them pronounced clearly by a woman I once worked for, and whom I still admire. She was the superintendent of a small school district just outside of Washington, DC. Several
The necessity of a sincere apology Read More »
Jewish Religion
San Diego Jewish World editor Donald H. Harrison recently returned from a roundtrip cruise to Hawaii. This is the eighth and final article resulting from that voyage. By Donald H. Harrison ABOARD MS ZAANDAM — The amount of food served on a cruise ship is legendary. It’s the source of diet jokes, worries,
Cruise ship dining — Yes, there’s plenty of it Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonTEL AVIV (Press Release) — Americans work longer hours, take fewer vacation days, and retire later than employees in other industrialized countries around the globe. With such demanding careers, it’s no surprise that many experience job burnout — physical, cognitive, and emotional exhaustion that results from stress at work. Researchers have found that burnout is
Job burnout may lead to coronary disease Read More »
Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — As I begin to write this column the latest news is that coalition negotiations are stuck on the highly nonprincipled issue of which party will get to name the Ministers of Education and Interior. That may be solved by the time I’ve done my final editing and clicked on Send.
Revolt of the Likud youngsters troubles Bibi Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastFederal judge rejects request to bar Jews from jury in terrorism trial (JNS.org) A New York federal judge has rejected a request by a lawyer to exclude Jews from a jury in an upcoming terrorism trial. The attorney for Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, Frederick Cohn—who is Jewish himself, according to the Jewish Press—told Judge Eric Vitaliano
JNS news briefs: March 12, 2013 Read More »
InternationalBy Leah R. Singer SAN DIEGO — It may come as a surprise that Jews and Arabs both call Kentucky home. Even more of a shock, however, is the women of these two very different immigrants groups are actually quite similar as each struggle with negotiating their identities. Growing up in Kentucky as
Jewish, Arab women share challenges in Kentucky Read More »
Jewish Religion