By Bruce Kesler ENCINITAS, California–South of here on the Interstae 5, a group of students at the University of California San Diego claim exclusive rights to wear clown costumes, and accuse anyone else wearing one to be clownaphobic. Ridiculous, right? Then, keep reading. After the anti-Israel Students for Justice in Palestine at UCSD lost the vote […]
SJP seeks to turn logic on its ear at UCSD Read More »
San Diego County
By David Brin ENCINITAS, California — In a brief return to political matters… What won’t the candidates be discussing during this election season? Campaign finance, surveillance, patent reform…are among a few issues that candidates are sure to avoid. What else….? This mini-slide show shows just a few. In fact, the matters discussed at sciencedebate.org are
Health care debate toxic despite agreement Read More »
USA
By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — The late Prime Minister Rabin is said to have been fond of a story about a Jew in some small East European town who was facing execution by the local squire. The Jew asked for a postponement for a year and promised that in that time he’d teach the
Inaction on Supreme Court ruling on settlements damages Israel Read More »
Middle East
Room 306: The National Story of the Lorraine Motel by Ben Kamin, Michigan State University Press, 2012, ISBN 97801061186-049-8; 186 pages including bibliography, $24.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — As a modern parallel to the ancient Exodus, the march of African-Americans from slavery to freedom has thrilled Rabbi Ben Kamin’s Torah-loving soul. See
Rabbi Kamin tells of Rev. King’s assassination and the aftermath Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –Every custom has a remarkable history and story. In dealing with someone who has an unusual seminal discharge, the Torah defines that person as being ritually and ceremonially “impure” and is called a “zab” (cf. Lev. 15:8). Historically, such persons often experienced being shunned by the general
Torah’s lesson, if followed, could have saved many patients Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Science, Medicine, & Education
By Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO–I was born in a still-young Israel just a few years after its inception in 1948. My father and mother were there, however, as the British withdrew on May 14 of that year, lowering the Union Jack over the port of Haifa, and raising the stakes considerably for the 600,000
Thoughts of a Sabra on Israel’s Independence Day Read More »
Middle EastBy Daniel Halper WASHINGTON, D.C. –The Middle East has undergone systemic and radical change since the beginning of the so-called Arab Spring over a year ago. The leaders in Egypt and elsewhere are different-and in their place, well, there is not overwhelming evidence to suggest that the new guys are any friendlier to
America in search of a Middle Eastern policy Read More »
USA
JERUSALEM (Press Release)–Prominent lay leaders and supporters from the FIDF San Diego Chapter accompanied by 50 IDF soldiers and officers embarked on an impassioned ten-day excursion to Poland and Israel. This once-in-a-lifetime “From Holocaust to Independence” journey, left on April 16 and will return on April 27, to celebrate 30 years of FIDF support
Julian Josephson leads FIDF tour of Poland and Israel Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Israel’s settlement policy has returned to the headlines with a ministerial decision to convert three West Bank outposts (Rehalim, Bruchin, and Sansana) into legal settlements, and to find a solution for a neighborhood of Beit El that the Supreme Court has ruled to be illegally located on Palestinian land. Also
Expansion of Israeli settlements a response to Palestinian rejectionism Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — While I am not a political junkie, from time to time I do watch the candidates debate. They are often unintentionally entertaining. One of my favorite exchanges took place during the Republican primary debate on January 26, 2012 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was an exchange between
The perils of lashon hara Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Horace Mann School of Cherry Hill, NJ, is still living in the dark ages. It is ironic that the original Horace Mann opposed corporal punishment in the classroom. He was an early advocate for teaching moral values in the classroom, and that the character formation was as
If schools won’t take action against bullying, it’s time for lawsuits Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Science, Medicine, & Education
By Natasha Josefowitz, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — The latest brain research—I should know something about it. The political rally—I should support the cause. A lecture on…whatever—I’m afraid to miss an opportunity to learn something. And so it goes: read the latest book—see the well-reviewed movie—attend the informative lecture—use the latest technology—do volunteer work—join the committee, the
Why do we overschedule ourselves, even in retirement? Read More »
Natasha Josefowitz
By Matt Quijas SAN DIEGO — Members of the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, and the San Diego Teen Coalition congregated for Earth Day Sunday, April 22, to give back to San Diego community. JCC Teen Director, Karen Flexer Friedenberg, coordinated the day’s events in which each teen team had an adult coordinator. JSERVE’s community
JCC Teen Coalition helps ‘repair the world’ for Earth Day Read More »
San Diego CalendarBy Peter Huessy WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, missile defense is under attack. This is not a new thing, however. Opponents tried to eliminate funding for ballistic missile defense when Ronald Reagan was President, sneeringly calling it “Star Wars” to denote how foolish they thought the idea to be. Under President Bill Clinton, defenses against
The case for a solid missile defense Read More »
USA