By Shoshana Bryen (JNS) We’ve become accustomed to ongoing and vicious denunciations of Israel in the United Nations, Amnesty International, the International Court of Justice and the European Union; Iran and its proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis; and more recently, “The Squad,” Black Lives Matter and BDS. We’ve become accustomed, too, to telling ourselves […]
If you hear of a Jew appointed to a position of authority at one of the Nazi concentration camps, what word comes immediately to mind? Is it “collaborator?” In “The Nazis Knew My Name,” the late Magda Hellinger tells of her experience being appointed first as a block leader and later as a camp leader by the Nazis during her three year incarceration in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp complex. She relates that it was never her choice to be a block or camp leader, and that had she refused, she most likely would have been severely disciplined or sent to the gas chambers. As a leader, she was expected to keep order in the block, and later in a full camp, or else. [Donald H. Harrison]
Camp Leader at Auschwitz Details How She Helped Other Jewish Prisoners Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History
SAN DIEGO – Mendel Goldstein, brother of former Chabad of Poway Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, was sentenced in federal court on March 11 to eight months custody and a $5,500 fine for his participation in a years-long scheme with his brother to evade taxes. He was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $164,475.82. While imposing the
Brother of Former Chabad of Poway Rabbi Sentenced for Tax Fraud Scheme Read More »
San Diego County
By Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D JERUSALEM — Reports tell of severely censored media, and tough Russian police actions against protesters of what the country is doing in Ukraine. We also hear of opposition, but quiet, among senior officers. And timid rebellion in the military. Of not fighting in peak form. As well as absorbing considerable casualties
Has Russia Become a Totalitarian Country? Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, Opinion
By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — The United States and other countries have placed sanctions on a number of Russian oligarchs, who are seen as major financial and political supporters of Vladimir Putin. Among the oligarchs is Roman Abramovich, the multi-billionaire owner of the Chelsea Football Club, one of the United Kingdom’s top soccer
Jewish Trivia Quiz: Roman Abramovich Read More »
Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Jacob Kamaras LA JOLLA, California — Fourth-generation San Diegan Shana Hazan, in her candidacy for the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) Board of Education District B, says her quest for a school board seat is guided in part by Jewish values. “Tzedek (justice) and tikkun olam (repairing the world) really guided my great-grandparents,
By Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D. Louis XIV of France was the last king where exaggerated wasteful opulence was the norm. He aptly predicted “après moi le deluge” (after me the deluge)—indeed that flood was the French Revolution which ended the monarchy as it was known. Why am I writing this? Because this is what today
Addressing the Realities of the Climate Change and Global Warming Crises Read More »
Natasha Josefowitz, Opinion, Science, Medicine, & Education
By Jerry Klinger MALVERN, England — An important Holocaust memory was completed, interpreted, this week, not just for today but for a hundred years or more of tomorrows. A permanent interpretive headstone was placed for an Austrian Jewish woman, a refugee, who died and was buried far from her homeland in an obscure English churchyard
Frieda Salvendy’s Tombstone Shows How Cemeteries Are Outdoor Museums Read More »
Travel and Food
By Dorian de Wind In this author’s opinion, there are probably no other symbols that to this day can evoke more intense emotions — anger, fear, horror and sorrow — than the Nazi Swastika and the Yellow “Jude” Star. Another symbol may soon be added to this short, infamous list. We have all noticed the
First Came the Nazi Swastika, Then the Yellow Star. Now the Russian ‘Z’ Read More »
Travel and Food
By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — Volodymyr Zelensky has impressed the world with his courage and leadership. Before being elected president of the Ukraine, he was a popular comedian. Since many American politicians are already jokes, perhaps Biden needs to reshuffle his cabinet and enlist popular comedians to make America great again. Here are some
Satire: The Comedian Cabinet Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
However, there are other ways that the process of conversion can be completed, much closer to home, as Dr. Mark Scheller, an anesthesiologist, learned in 2015 when he waded from the shore of Chula Vista’s Bayside Park into the cold waters of San Diego Bay. [Donald H. Harrison]
There’s More Than One Kind of Mikvah for Conversion Ceremonies Read More »
California, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
Author Susan J. Cohen is a compassionate attorney who handles many immigration cases on a pro bono basis for the Boston branch of the national Mintz Levin law firm. This book, written with the help of journalist Steven T. Taylor, tells of eleven cases in which she helped immigrants obtain asylum or permanent residency in the United States. [Donald H. Harrison]
Attorney Provides Insight into U.S.’s Broken Immigration System Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, USA
By Maayan Hoffman (JNS) An estimated 80,000 Ukrainian women will give birth in the next three months without access to critical maternal care as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Israel is hoping that its innovative technology and certain tools will help ensure that these women remain
Ukraine War: Israeli Femtech to Help Save the Lives of Moms and Babies Read More »
International, Middle East
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — Purim. It’s our happiness, fun-filled, dramatic, costume-drinking-upside down-holiday. Many have the tradition to fast on the day before Purim (Fast of Esther). Some have the custom to give three coins to charity to recall the half-shekel donated annually to the Temple during Adar (Machatzit HaShekel), and this
Purim: The Inside Face and the Outside Face Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell