SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — Jewish Federation of San Diego County (Federation), which works to mobilize community resources, leaders, and organizations to address the community’s most critical needs, today highlighted urgent efforts to respond to poverty in the San Diego Jewish Community. “With 16-20 percent of Jewish households earning less than $30,000 annually, many Jewish
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — Each week we read of stories and learn messages in the Torah to offer us the strength and direction in how to serve Hashem, our Creator, in the best way possible, to live life most optimally. He is, in the words of “Yedid Nefesh” a piyyut first
Parashat Tzav: How Do You Keep Your Fire Burning? Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
By Gedaliah Borvick JERUSALEM — I love the streets of Jerusalem whose inspiring names bring thousands of years of Jewish history to life. And yet, one of my favorite streets in central Jerusalem is named after Abraham Lincoln. Many years ago, while taking a taxi to a meeting on that block, I could not contain
Jerusalem ‘Linc-o-lin’ Street Read More »
Gedaliah Borvick, Jewish History, Middle East, USA
By Sam Ben-Meir NEW YORK — With last week’s bombing of a maternity ward, the increased targeting of Ukrainian civilians, and the strike against a military base just miles from the Polish border, the brutality and audacity of Russian forces will only grow as Vladimir Putin becomes increasingly desperate to crush Ukraine’s government, its independence,
Where Will We Draw the Line in Ukraine? Read More »
International, Opinion, Sam Ben-Meir, USA
JERUSALEM (Press Release) — Four artists, from Brazil, India, Mexico, and the United States will participate in the Jerusalem International Fellows program, a 10-week residency for leading performing artists, choreographers, visual artists, and urban planners from around the world, who wish to collaborate with independent artists, ensembles, and cultural institutions in eastern and western Jerusalem.
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