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 Rubin
By 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
By James Colbert WASHINGTON, D.C. –At the United Nations, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for an international response to the crisis in Syria, warning that if the UN fails to act it should consider itself complicit with the brutal regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. And there are certainly steps that the United States
U.S. must plan for contingencies as fractured opposition fights Syrian regime Read More »
International
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — This week I wanted to write about Miriam, Moses’ and Aaron’s sister. The Torah records that after the Children of Israel crossed the Sea of Reeds in their escape from Pharaoh, “Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went
American Jews should speak and write against discrimination in Israel against women Read More »
Jewish Religion
By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO–Lighting up the musical firmament over an eight day period in February, four outstanding Israeli musicians will be featured in performances in our fair city. Super Star Itzhak Perlman will present a Violin Recital in Copley Symphony Hall on Sunday evening, February 18. Eight days later, Israeli Pianist Ory Shihor will
Four Israeli musicians, including Itzhak Perlman, to perform this month in San Diego Read More »
Eileen WingardBy Yvonne Greenberg SAN DIEGO — Not only does the movie Salsa Tel Aviv focus on cultural aspects of Mexico’s and Israel’s lifestyles of the young and marriageable, but also features a modern plot for Mexico’s contemporary females. A young and very attractive female from Mexico City is travelling to Israel to look for
San Diego Jewish Film Festival preview: ‘Salsa Tel Aviv’ Read More »
Travel and Food