By David Brin ENCINITAS, California–Amid the media frenzy leading up to release of Existence (June 19), some interviewers posed questions that I found especially interesting. Here are a few fun examples. (Followed by some miscellany and science and humor!) The Amazon Book Blog Like Earth, your new novel is set in the 30 to 50
Author tells some favorite interview questions Read More »
Travel and Food
By Ernie Weir NAPA, California — I was not at the White House ceremony last Wednesday, June 13, at which time President Obama honored Israeli President Peres with the US Medal of Freedom. Nevertheless, my family and I were immensely proud of the honor bestowed by our President upon Israeli President Peres. Our wines have
The wines selected for presidential palates Read More »
USA
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Remember when some of the kids in your class –not you, of course– would pass the course simply by skimming through the comic book version of the great piece of literature that you all had been assigned to read? It used to be that comics were shortcuts
Once an escape from texts, comics are prompting more of them Read More »
Donald H. Harrison
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–Perhaps county residents who want their children to become proficient in modern Hebrew should be thankful that young Jennie Lipowich used to feel left out when her family traveled from Chicago to Israel to see her father’s family. Her father and all her relatives would chatter away a mile a
Being ‘left out’ prompted Tarbuton Hebrew-language program Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Marcia Tatz Wollner
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California–Recently someone asked me, “Does Judaism have any thoughts on the Wikileaks fiasco? Where does freedom of the press and the public’s right to know become a security threat, or worse, in Jewish thought?” This issue is not only concerned with the arrest and trial of Julian Asange;
What does Judaism say about leaking confidential information? Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Eva Trieger SAN DIEGO–It was totally unexpected that Dr. Edie Eger, Holocaust survivor, would drop her stoic shield and shed tears. But what else could she do upon hearing her own tragic experiences related back to her? Such was the case for all five women who had been interviewed prior to the June
‘Women of Valor’ inspiring for audience Read More »
San Diego County
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO –The final paragraph of parashat Sh’lach L’cha contains the mitzvah of tzitzit: “The Lord said to Moses as follows: Speak to the Israelite people and instruct them to make for themselves fringes (tzitzit) on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue
The origin, styles and purpose of tzitzit Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Israeli media has put on one of its circuses of prolonged discussions following the publication of the State Comptroller’s Report on the incident invovling the Turkish ship Marmara carrying protesters toward Gaza in May, 2010. The essence of this report is that Prime Minister Netanyahu did not carry out all of
Comptroller’s report reignites Marmura debate Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — The Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court has just invalidated the parliamentary election there. The parliament, 75 percent of whose members were Islamists, is being dissolved. The military junta has taken over total authority. The presidential election is still scheduled to proceed. In short, everything is confused and everything is a
A military coup in Egypt Read More »
Middle EastEL CAJON, California (Press Release) — Students in classrooms across the Grossmont College campus will be discussing Silent Spring, the book credited with helping to launch the environmental movement of the 1960s, during the 2012-2013 academic year. Grossmont College will be participating with five regional universities and several organizations in a collaboration studying similar themes from
San Diego area colleges to focus on ‘Silent Spring’ Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — “Here at the Geffen, I consider myself a curator of a museum of theatrical fare,” said Randall Arney, artistic director of the Geffen Playhouse. Arney was responding to the question posed by Terence McFarland, CEO of the LA STAGE Alliance: “What is artistic direction and how can you tell
What do artistic directors actually do? Read More »
Cynthia Citron
Story and photos by Ilene Lerner BOSTON– “We are here because the meek shall inherit the earth,” stated Steven Greenberg, the executive director of the Vilna Shul, Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture, as we sat on the Vilna’s front patio. The Vilna Shul is a synagogue museum on the backside of Beacon Hill, and is
The Vilna Shul of Boston recalls era of Jewish immigration Read More »
USA
By Donald H. Harrison POWAY, California –Jeanne Feldman, 96, was memorialized Thursday, June 14 in the Ner Tamid Synagogue sanctuary that bears her name and that of her husband, Morey. Noting that the couple lived unassumingly while giving generously to philanthropies, Rabbi Nadav Caine said the Feldmans personified a Talmudic teaching that what people
Philanthropist memorialized in sanctuary named for her family Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The United States has the least centralized government, with the strongest norms in behalf of individual freedom among well-to-do democracies. Among its detailed traits are –Variations in public policy between states and localities –Commendable indications of research and innovation in science, medicine, and technology –High flow of immigrants–not all of them legal–seeking individual
Prestigious U.S. universities not worth their extra price Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Science, Medicine, & Education