Postwar Encounters with the Holocaust

My friend Susan Ferraro, who lives in a rural part of Northern California. tells me that since about the age of 7, she had fantasized about becoming a Jew. It started, she said, when she read Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl. As children often do, she imagined herself invulnerable; death being something that unfortunately happened to other people. If she had been born Jewish, and living at that time, she could have prevented those Nazis from hurting Anne and her family and those hidden with them in the secret annex. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Sesame Place San Diego to Host Hanukkah Celebration with Menorah Lighting, Storytime, Games, Kosher Food

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — Sesame Place San Diego, the only theme park on the West Coast based entirely on the award-winning show Sesame Street, is hosting a Hanukkah Celebration on Monday, December 19. The holiday daytime fun includes a menorah candle lighting ceremony led by local Rabbi Daniel Reich, a festive dance party with

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Jewish Religion, San Diego County

To Save a Species, Persian Leopard Moves to Israel

(JNS) After arriving from France, 2-year-old Mademoiselle is acclimating to her new home before meeting her planned mate, Coresh. Staff at the Ramat Gan Safari, near Tel Aviv, had asked the public for suggestions for a name for the 2-year-old Persian leopard. She was previously in the Beauval Zoo in France’s Loire Valley, Ynet reported.

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Israel, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Office of Civil Rights Opens Investigation Into UC Berkeley Law for Anti-Zionism

(JNS) The Office of Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Education (OCR) has launched a formal investigation into UC Berkeley Law School over a controversial anti-Zionist bylaw adopted by some of its student groups in August. The investigation comes in response to a Nov. 18 complaint filed by Gabriel Groisman, a Florida-based attorney and

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California, Israel, USA

‘Death To The Nazis’: Vladimir Putin’s Troops Scrawl Propaganda In Ukraine As War Approaches 10-Month Mark

Published by Radar Online Vladimir Putin’s troops were caught scrawling propaganda echoing the Russian leader’s false claims he is freeing Ukraine from Nazis, RadarOnline.com has learned. The shocking development was found this week when a Ukrainian satellite recorded images left behind by Putin’s forces in a recently liberated air base. “Death to the Nazis” read

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International

Daily Life, Obituaries and Last Rites in the Age of COVID

By Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D. RICHMOND, California — COVID has changed how we mourn. Attending funerals in temples, synagogues, and decamping to the cemetery were often followed by a meal of consolation and sitting shiva. Out of town family labored to attend. Minyan and yahrzeit mark the calendar. COVID made zooming and streaming funerals commonplace

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Lifestyles, Oliver Pollak

Outreach or ‘Pod Squads?’ Breaking Down Bias on the Left and the Right

By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — Top federal officials and Jewish leaders spoke to each other, and together they spoke to the public at large, the public that reads newspapers, watches television news programs and listens to those who run our government. But they did not speak to the people that count. This is the

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Bruce Ticker, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, USA

Israeli Jurists Warn Against Ben-Gvir’s Bid for More Powers Over Police

Published by Reuters By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Legal advisers to Israel’s parliament and outgoing government on Wednesday criticised a bid by a far-right politician to give himself expanded powers as next police minister, warning that his proposed changes clashed with democratic principles. Itamar Ben-Gvir of the Jewish Power party was promised the National

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Israel

The Triumphant and Tragic Odyssey of the Inventor of Sea Cruises

By Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — On March 1, 1881, in Russia, members of the People’s Will assassinated Tsar Alexander II. The murder, to which the Jews had nothing to do, triggered the largest wave of Jewish pogroms in the 19th century due to a blood libel against Jews falsely accused of complicity in the

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Alex Gordon, International, Jewish History, Opinion

Foundational Texts of Chabad Movement Launched in Digital Form

(JNS) Sefaria, a provider of digital Jewish texts at no cost, on Tuesday launched its offering of the four foundational texts of the Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidic movement. The newly available texts include a fully bilingual edition of the Tanya, the cornerstone philosophical text of the Chabad movement; a Hebrew version of Torah Ohr, a 19th-century compilation

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, USA

The Increasing Importance of Community to Battle Antisemitism

By Rabbi Ari Leubitz (JNS) Community. It comes in all forms—and it is something we each rely on for support. Sometimes we are born into our community and inherit it from our parents. Other times, it’s a group or connection we grow and build and develop for ourselves. As Jews, we have an instant community

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Opinion, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA