By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel SAN DIEGO — At our downtown TBS Jewish business ethics class, we discussed an interesting subject dealing with the problem of suspicion. The beginning of Parshat Pikudei (Vyakhale-Pikudei), Moses presents a complete inventory of all the items that he and the priests collected for the Tabernacle (Exod. 38:21) Moses gives […]
Mishnah could teach TSA a lesson about dignity Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was to address a mixed U.S.-Afghan audience at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan only weeks after six American solders were killed by Afghan soldiers, and days after an American soldier allegedly killed 16 Afghan civilians. That circumstance alone would ensure a tense atmosphere, but the decision
Panetta disrespected Marines fighting in Afghanistan Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USA
By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Saul Singer is the author, together with his brother-in-law Dan Senor, of the widely acclaimed, Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle. I’m pretty sure that he hasn’t read of my book, Beyond Survival or even heard of it. Nevertheless, he almost quotes from it. Hence these reflections.
Another kind of Holocaust denial: denying that it’s over Read More »
Middle East
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — Does the end ever justify the means? Not according to the Torah. One may not fulfill a religious obligation (a mitzvah) through unethical or immoral action. Our sages called this a mitzvah ha-ba’ah ba-aveirah, a mitzvah that is performed through a sinful act. One of the places our
Mitzvot must be fulfilled through honest, ethical action Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — Fifteen years ago there was a family from New York who lost their father. Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel ztl, Rosh Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim, had a particularly fond relationship with the deceased father and took it upon himself to ensure that his orphans would have a fatherly figure
The rabbi’s second family Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Roz Rothstein and Roberta Seid SAN DIEGO — The University of California San Diego (UCSD) student government soundly defeated an anti-Israel divestment resolution presented by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on February 29 by a vote of 20 to 13. For the past two years, the Associated Student government has debated and
Commentary: Smear campaign launched against BDS opponents Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Natasha Josefowitz, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — San Diego is becoming a multicultural city more and more. The Asian and Hispanic populations are growing at a faster rate than the white. When I gave the commencement speech at the University of California, San Diego a few years ago, I was impressed with the large percentage
What are America’s cultural biases? Read More »
Natasha Josefowitz, USAPHILADELPHIA (Press Release) — The following is a statement of the board of directors of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East in support of UCSD Professor Shlomo Dubnov: We are the members of the board of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), a grass-roots community of more than 50,000 academics on 4,000 campuses all
Scholars group backs UCSD’s Dubnov in campus controversy Read More »
San Diego County
By Rabbi Ben Kamin TEL AVIV—They were two anonymous young people born in the British mandate of Palestine about twenty years before the British quit and the UN unsuccessfully partitioned the territory into two projected states. They were among just several thousand faceless heroes that created the State of Israel and miraculously fought a regional
A wandering son of Israel returns to its earth Read More »
Jewish Religion
Torah Tapestries: Shemos by Shira Smiles, Feldheim Publishers, 2012, Jerusalem, ISBN 978-159826-002-1, Price Unlisted. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–Jewish educator Shira Smiles utilizes the various parashot from the Book of Exodus to pass on wonderful lessons for daily living, while teaching some useful Hebrew vocabulary. For example, in analyzing the portion known as Va’eira, she
Manners and reverence taught through Torah study Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — In a speech before the Knesset, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu compared himself to David Ben Gurion, who declared Israel’s independence in 1948 against the urging of foreign governments, and to Menachem Begin, who decided to attack the Iraqi nuclear facility in 1981, against the advice of the United States. To
Netanyahu’s speech hints attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Barely eight months have passed since the “Arab Spring” has taken root in Egypt. At the time of his departure from power, President Obama and Hillary Clinton hailed Hosni Mubarak’s eviction from office as one of President Obama’s crowning achievements. Nearly eight months later, the Muslim Brotherhood
Egypt’s Parliament reflects Muslim Brotherhood’s animus against Israel Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — As a youth, Gil Ya’ari, the new Israeli director of the partnership between Sha’ar Hanegev and the San Diego Jewish community, was so fascinated by environmental science that he left his home in the greater Tel Aviv area to board at a high school which offered special classes
Ben-Gurion would smile: new programming planned for San Diego-Sha’ar Hanegev partnership Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonSAN DIEGO (Press Release) – Mayoral Candidate Bonnie Dumanis on Wednesday released a detailed business plan she said was designed to raise the standard of operational excellence, increase efficiency and save taxpayer dollars at City of San Diego. The Transparency, Excellence, Accountability and Monitoring (TEAM) System is an adapted version of the General Management System (GMS) currently
Dumanis offers a business plan for City Hall Read More »
Travel and Food