Blindness, race, sexual orientation all subjects at the San Diego Jewish Film Festival

By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO — The 21st Annual San Diego Jewish Film Festival sponsored by the Leichtag Family Foundation is presenting a number of short but engrossing documentaries, three of which I had the pleasure of screening: Ingelore, Wrong Side of the Bus and He’s My Girl. Ingelore, the shortest of the three running

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Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Remembering the Exodus and the American Civil Rights struggle

By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO–Wednesday night Judy, Margalit, and I watched The Secret Life of Bees. The movie, produced in 2008, is based on the book by the same name by Sue Monk Kidd. The story takes place in Southern Carolina in 1964 in the midst of racial turmoil. The Civil Rights Act had

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International, Jewish History, Middle East, USA

San Diego Jewish Film Festival preview: ‘Berlin 36’

Berlin 36. Running time: 103 minutes By Norman Manson SAN DIEGO–Over the years, the Olympic Games, supposedly a time of international brotherhood, have instead produced notable examples of strife and tension. One of the best-known examples of this animosity occurred at the so-called “nazi Olympics” of 1936, when the atmosphere was pervaded by the Hitler regime’s emphasis on anti-semitism

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Travel and Food

Hezbollah’s role in collapse of Lebanon’s government draws U.S. congressional fire

WASHINGTON, D.C.  (Press Release)– The government crisis in Lebanon, prompted by Hezbollah’s withdrawal from the government coalition, continues to draw commentary from member of Congress.   Here is a roundup of comments issued to the media: * Rep. Dan Burton (R-Indiana):  “I am deeply dismayed by the decision of Hezbollah to withdraw its cabinet ministers from

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Travel and Food

Americans United for Separation of Church and State sue Tennessee county over Ten Commandments display

MOUNTAIN CITY, Tennessee (Press Release)–A Tennessee county’s preference for Christianity in its courthouse displays violates the U.S. Constitution, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Americans United, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group, is challenging the Johnson County Commission’s decision to display the Ten Commandments and Christian

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USA

Commentary: The fact is accusations against Palin were ‘blood libels’

By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — Without taking any partisan position, but purely on the issue’s historical merits, nothing could have been more appropriate than Sarah Palin’s use of the term “blood libel” to describe what happened to her after the Tucson killings. I know because my direct ancestors were the target of a blood libel.

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International, USA

Clinton’s critique of Arab leaders not likely to change their minds

JERUSALEM — A New York Times story from Qatar begins  “Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a scalding critique of Arab leaders here on Thursday, saying they badly needed reforms to jump-start their economies and overcome dwindling natural resources, or risk having extremists take root in their societies.”  She said, “In too many places, in too

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Ira Sharkansky

Thoughts on seeing a grandson sworn into the IDF at the Kotel

By Rabbi Dow Marmur  JERUSALEM –The only reason that takes me to the shrine of the Western Wall is the company of tourists and the occasional Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Unlike some Jews who profess piety, the place doesn’t move me to prayer. In fact, the ostensibly religious hustlers who exploit it for blatantly irreligious, even discriminatory,

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Middle East

Coalition of Jewish and English right-wingers subject of rioting in Toronto

TORONTO (WJC)–Violence erupted during a demonstration in Toronto on Tuesday night by anti-racist groups opposing an alliance between the ‘Jewish Defense League’ (JDL) and the UK based ‘English Defense League’. Four protesters were arrested and a police officer was injured in the violence . Demonstrators representing several anti-racism and social action groups shouted slogans and

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Travel and Food

Look, up into the political atmosphere… It’s Captain Israel!

By Donald H. Harrison   SAN DIEGO – StandWithUs is turning another page in popular Israel advocacy—and it’s in a comic book. The Los Angeles-based group, which sends speakers and sign-bearers to counter Palestinian demonstrations and purchases space on billboards to tell Israel’s message, recently issued the first number in a comic book series to

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories

‘Battle of the two Talmuds’ looks at an ancient split between Israel and the Diaspora

Battle of the Two Talmuds: Judaism’s Struggle with Power, Glory, & Guilt by Leon H. Charney and Saul Mayzlish, Barricade Books, Fort Lee, NJ; ISBN 978-1-56980-439-1 ©2010, $22.95, p. 224 plus glossary By  Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — One does not need to listen to very many rabbinic sermons before he or she hears the words, “And the

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Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion, Travel and Food

The battle for Jerusalem is being fought by real estate investors

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–You don’t have to have inside information or be blessed with special analytical talents to realize that there’re currently systematic efforts in Israel to make any division of Jerusalem in a future peace deal increasingly impossible. The fact that this is happening nominally outside government control – e.g., through legal purchase

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Middle East