Among Righteous Men: A Tale of Vigilantes and Vindication in Hasidic Crown Heights, by Matthew Shaer. John Wiley Press, 2012. 243pp. By David Strom SAN DIEGO — On December 29, 2007, the Crown Heights Shomrim (Hebrew for guards) Rescue Patrol answered a call for help from the Lubavitcher yeshivah student dormitory at 749 Eastern Parkway, […]
Book probes schism in Lubavitch world over messiah’s identity Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Members of the Knesset are discovering America, Jewish America to be precise. Prompted by Jay Ruderman of the Ruderman Family Foundation a dozen or so Israeli parliamentarians came together recently to form the Israel-American Jewish Knesset Caucus. The visit was preceded by a comprehensive US visit by six MKs
Caucus formed to teach Knesset members about American Jews Read More »
Middle East
By David Amos SAN DIEGO–We are very fortunate to have in San Diego a yearly film festival on Jewish subjects that never ceases to be interesting, provocative, educational, and entertaining. This year is no exception. Starting February 9 and ending the 19th, there are many interesting choices available. Due to my various activities in the
San Diego Jewish Film Festival preview: several movies have musical themes Read More »
Travel and Food
By Sara Appel-Lennon CHULA VISTA, California — Where can you go to listen to a full orchestra combined with a leading pianist in a two-hour Beethoven concert for $10 per ticket? On Sunday, January 29, Kingsley McLaren, on-air host of 104.9 XLNC, introduced a concert of such magnitude at the First United Methodist Church here.
This concert’s value far exceeded price of ticket Read More »
Travel and Food
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — One of the most respected Chabad authorities on kosher food, who is also the chief rabbi of a haredi city in Israel, has banned the use of tap water on Shabbat. Bnei Brak’s Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Leib Landa issued a halachic ruling that using a faucet
Does turning on the water faucet violate Shabbat? Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Despite rumors to the contrary, Israel is a normal country at least as far as retail therapy is concerned. Shopping malls are popping up with ever-increasing frequency wherever one looks. They incorporate many advantages for both vendors and shoppers, and the ambience in them varies from quiet
Normal Arab-Jewish coexistence in Israel goes unreported by media Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East
By Cynthia Citron SANTA MONICA, California — If there is a loaded shotgun hanging on the living room wall just below the crucifix, you sort of get a hint of the kind of household you’ve entered. In Martin McDonagh’s play The Lonesome West, currently onstage at the excellent Ruskin Group Theatre in Santa Monica, the
‘The Lonesome West’ deserves its adjective Read More »
Cynthia Citron
SAN DIEGO — Melanie Rubin is a collector of Jewish-interest license plate images. And she has found another two. “A Mensh” (for those who don’t know) is someone who is a good person, a humanitarian. And” OyImla8″ suggests someone with a great sense of humor who’s a little tardy. If you have a Jewish-interest license
Jewish-interest license plate Read More »
Jewish Religion, Melanie RubinBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–The website of the British tabloid the Daily Mirror shows a detailed diagram of how Israel would attack Iran using sophisticated fighter planes, drones and missiles from its five ultra-modern submarines. It also predicts when: not later than April. The why is there, too:Iran could make four nuclear bombs within a
For Israel, anti-Iran sanctions far better than attacking Read More »
Middle EastBy Paul Greenberg SAN DIEGO — “I may not believe in God, I wish to hell I believed in God, but I believe in the devil,” explained the reclusive and nutty musical genius Phil Spector near the end of the strangely captivating and at times disturbing documentary film, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil
San Diego Jewish Film Festival preview: ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector’ Read More »
Travel and Food
By Yvonne Greenberg LA JOLLA, California — Dolphin Boy is an endearing yet heart-breaking film which left me feeling upbeat. Dolphin therapy helps the main character recover his lost communication skills. The plot reveals a deep love for family, boyfriend, and girlfriend, and a newly acquired one for dolphins. . Morad, an Israeli-Arab teen,
San Diego Jewish Film Festival preview: ‘Dolphin Boy’ Read More »
Travel and FoodSAN DIEGO (Press Release)– Steven J. Morris President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, on Friday announced his concurrence with a statement by the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) urging positive change in Israel to promote “tolerance, respect and inclusion.” The JFNA statement reads: “Over recent months, Israel has witnessed
Federation joins in deploring haredi violence and intimidation in Israel Read More »
San Diego County
By Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO — I was born in 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
Dream of two peaceful states, side by side, still lives Read More »
Middle East
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –The current round of Israeli-Palestinian meetings in Jordan ended with a Palestinian decision to leave. “The Israelis brought nothing new in these meetings,” said one official, without bothering to note the obvious — neither did the Palestinians. The talks were the result of a Quartet plan to have Israelis and
World should accept impossibility of ‘peace process’ in Middle East Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen