Chabad Opens Kosher Market in Lafayette

So, about two months ago, Rabbi Labkowski and his wife Tzipora opened Bay Kosher in the front part of the building that also houses their shul, Chabad of Lamorinda.  He engaged Mendel Schiffer, a native of Akko, Israel, to manage the store for him.  Schiffer, who didn’t care for retirement, had been in sales most of his life, and yearned for something new to do. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, California, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Travel and Food

A Brazilian-born San Diegan’s Chanukah Song

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — Brazilian-born singer Carla Berg’s original Chanukah song, “Nes” (Miracle), with lyrics in Ladino, is available as a video clip on YouTube and on other digital platforms. It was produced by Allan Phillips at APMStudio in San Diego and was released last year. It is a welcome addition to

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

Prejudice: How Discomfort and Fear of the Unfamiliar Lead to Discrimination

By Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — There are many types of prejudice, but they can broadly be placed into two categories: personal and institutional. Personal prejudice is not based on reason, nor on actual experience. It is a feeling rooted in suspicion, fear, and intolerance. It is a negative attitude and adverse

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Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz, Opinion, USA

Hanukkah Brings Unanswered Questions on Israeli Government

By Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D JERUSALEM — Commentators are predicting that Benjamin Netanyahu will succeed in forming a government in Israel, but there’ll be some tension as he passes out ministries to Knesset Members of Likud, and passes up some of his party colleagues. No agreement on how long his government will last. We’ll see how

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Ira Sharkansky, Israel, Opinion

Trump Hosts Jewish Group, Doesn’t Mention Dinner with Ye and Holocaust Denier Fuentes

Published by New York Daily News Donald Trump hosted an orthodox Jewish group Friday without addressing his recent dinner with the antisemitic rapper formerly known as Kanye West and white supremacist Nick Fuentes. The former president’s speech — his first to a Jewish group since his Nov. 22 meeting with Ye and Fuentes at his

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USA

Unity, Not Uniformity

By Doron Krakow Something remarkable happened at the Oshman Family JCC (OFJCC) in Palo Alto, Calif., this past Sunday. Eight hundred people gathered to discuss, debate, and deliberate over the current state of relations between Israel and Jews living in the Diaspora—in particular, the North American Diaspora. Israel—the miraculous fulfillment of the modern Zionist movement

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Doron Krakow, Israel, Opinion, USA

BDS Versus Modern Art

By Ben Cohen (JNS) “BDS appears here as contemporary art’s foil. BDS undermines contemporaneity’s claims of autonomy and emancipatory effects, fixes its meanings in ways that might make artists bristle, and leaves it only with refusal: either refuse to be a perpetrator or refuse the request made by Palestinian civil society. At this juncture, the latter

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International, Israel, Opinion

Everyone Knows ‘Ma’oz Tzur,’ Except They Don’t

By Sarah Ogince (JNS) The lights are kindled, the shamash is returned to its place and the family breaks into song: It is a rousing, march-like melody that is the aural equivalent of the menorah’s light—energy, joy and hope in the depth of winter, a promise of rebirth. It’s a familiar, comforting scene, repeated in

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Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Blowing the Whistle on FIFA’s Systemic Antisemitism

By Jordan Cope (JNS) The FIFA World Cup in Qatar has arguably become the most controversial to date, raising widespread indignation over myriad issues concerning its host, including Qatar’s decision to ban beer from stadiums and its mistreatment of the press, the LGBTQ+ community and migrant workers, 6,500 of whom have died since Qatar was

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Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Sports & Competitions