The Saga of a Boy with a Congenitally Broken Heart

Congenital heart disease is not rare and affects 1 in 110 babies with varying degrees of severity. Treatment options offered to Sarah and Matt Hammitt were compassionate care, a full heart transplant, or three surgeries intended to extend Bowen’s life. A documentary, feature-length film, Bowen’s Heart, reveals the challenges, fears, and hopes of Bowen, his three siblings, and his parents. The Hammitt family and the co-directors of the film, Lexi and Zach Read, sought to develop awareness, empathy and support for families living with chronic illness. Their goal was most certainly achieved. [Eva Trieger]

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Eva Trieger, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

San Diegans Step Up for Ukrainian Refugees

Two hundred guests came to this FUN-D-Raiser to meet, support and provide help for local Ukrainian refugees. Present were a number of Ukrainian mothers and their children. Most of the husbands were left behind to fight the Russian invasion. It was a happy event, with authentic Ukrainian food, catered by Pomegranate Restaurant, and joyous entertainment by Big Boss Bubeleh. Vlady, a native of Ukraine, sang Ukrainian songs, while Yael sang in a variety of languages. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, International, San Diego County

Searching for Stanley Stein

Sidney’s life changed in the theater of New York. The specialist, Dr. Emil Loch, a renowned dermatologist, reported him to the authorities as a leper. The police swept up Sidney, almost overnight. With a small suitcase that contained his life, he was sent secretly, swiftly and with as little human contact as possible to vanish into the interior of America. He was shipped to the very isolated world of Carville, Louisiana on the banks of the Mississippi River. Carville was the continental United States’ concentration camp for victims of Leprosy. Standing naked before a board of medical examiners in Carville, Sidney Maurice Levyson was assigned a number that he was to be known forever more as, patient #746. [Jerry Klinger]

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Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food, USA

Lapid new PM, Netanyahu First in Poll as Biden Visit Approaches

apid’s first words were his call for national unity. That hardly fits the image of a divided Israel, but it may work. The election is several months away, on November 1st, and that’s a long time in politics. Meanwhile, there’s been testimony about Netanyahu receiving and demanding gifts, especially cigars and champagne, worth hundreds of thousands of shekels. Despite that, there’s a poll published by Ma’ariv, showing Bibi with 61 seats in the Knesset for him and his allies. [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

Parashat Balak: Opening Our Eyes to Goodness

We learn in Choshen Mishpat 137, “Behold, the first ‘good’ in the Torah was based on sight. And from this Rabbi Eliezer learned that the general way to achieve goodness is ‘ayin tova.’” Indeed, in Bereshit, we see that the first verse in the Torah using the word “good” is in relation to sight: “And G-d saw the light and it was good…” [Michael R. Mantell, PhD]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Inflation Index Adds to Cost of Buying Homes in Israel

The government created the Building Construction Index to protect all parties’ interests. When someone purchases an apartment in a project under construction, the unpaid portion of the price becomes linked to the BCI. Parenthetically, buyers who are risk averse can often accelerate their payment schedule and prepay the lion’s share of the purchase price, thus limiting their inflation risk. [Gedaliah Borvick].

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Business & Finance, Gedaliah Borvick, Middle East

Four Jews Who Served as Port Commissioners Tell of Their Tenures

Members of the Jewish community who have served on the Port Commission since its creation in 1962 were Harvey Furgatch (appointed 1969), Milton “Mickey” Fredman (1970), Ben Cohen (1977) and Louis Wolfsheimer (1979), all of whom had passed away prior to my undertaking this book, and Robert Penner (1988), Lynn Schenk (1990), Stephen Cushman (1998) and Laurie Black (2007), all of whom I had the opportunity to interview. All these Jewish Port Commissioners represented the City of San Diego, except for Penner and Cohen, who were appointed by Chula Vista and Coronado respectively. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

This Year’s Maccabiah Games Are Going Live …

By Mike Wagenheim (JNS) Broadcasting the Summer Olympic Games is a massive operation, with more than 7,000 personnel covering 28 sports utilizing 1,000-plus cameras, taking the games global. For the first time, the so-called Jewish Olympics will be broadcast around the world from July 12-26 with slightly more humble resources, though still requiring a herculean

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International, Middle East, Sports & Competitions, USA

Palestinian Authority President, Israeli Defense Minister Meet Before Biden Visit

Published by Reuters JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz held a rare meeting in the West Bank in an effort to calm tensions and coordinate security measures days before U.S. President Joe Biden’s first visit to the region. Gantz said on Twitter that Thursday’s meeting in Ramallah

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Middle East

American Friends of the Hebrew University Appoints Justin Pressman as Western Region Executive Director

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — American Friends of the Hebrew University (AFHU) has appointed Justin Pressman as Executive Director of its Western Region, which encompasses Southern California and the Southwestern states. In his new position, Pressman will develop regional strategic campaign plans, as well as implement and evaluate major giving campaigns in support of the

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California, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

The Bullet That Killed Abu Akleh

By Shoshana Bryen (JNS) Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh died covering an Israeli counter-terror operation on the West Bank. That this was a tragedy is the only thing clear about her death. Various media outlets—some reasonably unbiased and some not—mounted “investigations.” Private companies, including a Dutch-based consortium, did their own. Politicians with an ax to grind

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Middle East, Opinion, Shoshana Bryen, USA