Torah Reading for October 2, 2021

As we once more begin our annual reading of the Torah, we recount the grandeur of Hashem’s creation. Some may think they’ve already read it enough times to know it all. But in his 1971 sermon on Parshat Bereishis, Rabbi Norman Lamm z”l asked how might we bring ourselves to Bereishis once again with a new perspective, ready for new learning. How can we look at Bereishis with renewed eyes? {Miahael R. Mantell, Ph.D}

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Book on Maimonides Clarifies Many Rules of Judaism

Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel, author of Maimonides’ Hidden Torah Commentary, Leviticus, has made a significant contribution to posterity by writing this beautiful book and bringing the thinking of Maimonides and many dozens of others, ancient and modern, Jewish and non-Jewish, rational and mystic, to his readers. Among many other sources, he focuses on the writings of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, his Guide of the Perplexed, his commentary to the Mishnah, his ethical work Shemoneh Perakim, as well as his Responsa, and even the Commentary on Exodus that his son Abraham wrote. This volume follows his successful books about Maimonides on Genesis and Exodus. He reveals much that many people do not know and does so in a clear easy to read and engaging fashion. There is much in these books that we can learn. [Rabbi Dr. israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Jewish Tales of the Old West: A Butcher on the Comstock

During the 1870’s, the population of Nevada’s legendary Comstock Lode, then at the height of mining fever, surged to nearly 25,000. In the canyons and down the slopes, housing was scarce, the noise was unceasing, the air nearly unbreathable and the violence endemic.1 Between them, the towns of Virginia City and Gold Hill were a crowded jumble of miners’ cabins, stamp mills, luxury mansions, hotels, restaurants, saloons, stores and stables, all built over an underground city of mining tunnels, adits and shafts. These underground works ultimately produced over 300 million dollars’ worth of precious ore that built the city of San Francisco and made fabulous fortunes for the fortunate. Among this crowd of fortune-seekers lived a Jewish community of about 500, and one of its most influential members was a butcher from Germany named Mark Strouse (1845-1898). [Susan E. James, Ph.D]

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Business & Finance, Jewish History, Travel and Food, USA

Remember ‘Grapes of Wrath’? ‘Mother Road’ at SD Rep is the Sequel

The name John Steinbeck evokes images of the hay-field covered American southwest, the Dust Bowl, hungry children with dirty faces, and men and women scarred by depression and poverty. Where Grapes of Wrath left off, a new, more hopeful tale is reimagined by American-born, Latino playwright Octavio Solis.  His new play, Mother Road, will kick off the return to theater with San Diego Repertory’s run October 7-31. [Eva Trieger]

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Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Notes on September 25, 2021 Haftorah

These entirely prose ‘verses,’ from our previously encountered fantasy-crazed Prophet Ezekiel, have no connection to the assigned Shabbat Torah portion in the middle of Sukkot. The Torah passages depict dialogue between Moses and God. In the Torah, first God concedes to ever-curious Moses a look at his back. God then pronounces directions to observe the Sabbath and the three annual festivals. [Irv Jacobs, M.D.]

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Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion

‘Squirrel Hill’ Portrays Pittsburgh Community Where Tree of Life Massacre Occurred

This journalistic tour-de-force tells the story of October 27, 2018, the day an antisemitic gunman snuffed the lives of 11 congregants at the three small congregations that occupied the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is not simply a depiction of the carnage, but also a portrait of the community in which it happened.  Author Oppenheimer, a former religion columnist for The New York Times, methodically tells us the stories of the victims, including those who barely escaped with their lives, and of the diverse reactions in the community to the shooting.  There were those who organized vigils; those who protested a photo-op visit to the synagogue by then President Donald Trump with his wife, Melania, daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law Jared Kushner.  Additionally, there were trauma tourists, compelled perhaps like moths to a flame, who wanted to see the site.  There were also presumptuous would-be helpers, who felt they knew better than Squirrel Hill’s residents how the victims should be mourned.   And there were fundraisers, who through various appeals including a Go-Fund-Me effort, raised millions of dollars for the families of the victims and for the congregations themselves. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Travel and Food, USA

Taking the Risk of Expressing Our Opinions

In our society, we are often afraid to speak honestly and directly. We don’t want to upset, offend, or step on someone’s toes. We fear being seen as aggressive, pushy, opinionated, demanding, or critical so intensely that we often pussyfoot around and avoid what really needs to be said. And while I applaud our new-found sensitivity to other people’s feelings, effective communication is often needlessly sacrificed. [Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D]

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Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz

Birds of a Feather

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Under the title “Early Birds: Soaring with the Ancients,” the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem has put together an exhibition of archaeological items from the Land of Israel and the Ancient Near East depicting birds of various kinds. Upon entering the exhibition area and before inspecting even one

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

UN Issues New Syria War Death Toll, Says 350,000 is an ‘Undercount’

Published by Reuters By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) – At least 350,209 people have been killed in the decade-old war in Syria, the United Nations human rights office said on Friday in its first report since 2014 on the death toll, adding that the tally was an “undercount”. The figure includes civilians and combatants and

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Middle East

Abbas Tells UN Israeli Actions Could Lead to ‘One State’

Published by Reuters By Ali Sawafta and Rami Ayyub RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel on Friday of destroying the two-state solution with actions he said could lead Palestinians to demand equal rights within one binational state comprising Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Addressing the U.N. General Assembly via

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Middle East

‘Good Riddance, Merkel,’ Says Jewish-German Newspaper Publisher

By Orit Arfa (JNS) Rafael Korenzecher, publisher of the conservative Germany Jewish monthly, Jüdische Rundschau, does not spare any nicety in his parting words to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose successor will be determined after the German federal elections on Sept. 26. “It is a real pity you haven’t been dismissed from office much sooner,”

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International

How a Budget Standoff Demonstrated the Partisan Split Over Israel

By Jonathan S. Tobin (JNS) The Iron Dome missile-defense system has long been one of the least controversial aspects of the U.S.-Israel relationship. Funding for the idea was approved in principle by the George W. Bush administration in 2007 after the Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems conceived the project. It was an

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Middle East, USA

National Library of Israel Releases Rare Photographs of Sukkot During 1973 War

(JNS) Nearly 50 years after the Yom Kippur War, the National Library of Israel has released a number of rare photos showing how the festival of Sukkot, or “Feast of Tabernacles,” was celebrated during the conflict, even as war raged in the Sinai and the Golan Heights. Also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the

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Jewish Religion, Middle East