By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. (JNS) — The “Pandora Papers” is a trove of “private” financial information on 14 current heads of state, including those of the Czech Republic, Kenya, Ecuador, Azerbaijan, Russia and Jordan. According to The Washington Post, “The files detail more than 29,000 offshore accounts. … Among the account owners are more […]
Published by DPA During an official visit to Ukraine, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for greater efforts to commemorate the victims of Nazi crimes on the territory of the former Soviet Union during World War II. “The sites of National Socialist crimes in Ukraine are barely marked on the map of our memories,” he
German president visits sites of Nazi atrocities in Ukraine Read More »
International
NEW YORK (Press Release) – ADL’s (Anti-Defamation League) Center on Extremism on Wednesday released a report detailing the widespread and alarmingly effective efforts of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) and its founder, Richard Mack, to recruit law enforcement into the anti-government “patriot” movement. The central tenet of CSPOA, borrowed from the anti-government
ADL Report: Extremists Training, Recruiting Law Enforcement Nationwide Read More »
USA
SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — Jewish National Fund-USA (JNF-USA) has announced that hundreds of international “passengers” have registered to attend the world’s most immersive virtual tour of Israel as part of the organization’s complimentary four-day national conference taking place October 10-14, 2021. Featured in national travel publications including National Geographic, JNF-USA is unparalleled when it
JNF-USA to Host World’s Largest Virtual Tour of Israel Read More »
Middle East, USA
NEW YORK (Press Release) — On Wednesday, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) announced that, in an important achievement for survivors, first-time pensions have been allotted for Holocaust survivors who survived the Leningrad Siege as well as survivors who were in hiding in France and those who survived persecution in Romania,
Negotiations with Germany Result in First-Ever Pensions For 6,500 Holocaust Survivors Read More »
International
The plant that will produce approximately 6.8 acre feet (8,400 cubic meters) of recycled water a day from Tijuana sewage is about 35 percent constructed, and the 70-mile (113-kilometer) pipeline that will carry the water to the wine-growing region of Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California is scheduled to begin construction this coming January. [Donald H. Harrison]
Published by New York Daily News Alan Kalter, the ginger-haired announcer and crooked straight man who served as David Letterman’s sidekick for two decades on CBS’ “Late Show,” has died. He was 78. His wife, Peggy, confirmed his Monday death at Stamford Hospital in Connecticut to The Hollywood Reporter. A cause of death was not
David Letterman’s ‘Late Show’ announcer Alan Kalter dead at age 78 Read More »
Jewish Celebrities
This entirely poetic ancient Hebrew passage is, largely, literally a repeat of Isaiah II speaking previously in the Haftorah of RE’EH a few weeks ago. The text back then was used as a haftorah of consolation. So here, in refrain, we hear the prophet c. 538-530 BCE with promises of God’s forgiveness. [Irv Jacobs, M.D]
Haftorah Reading for October 9, 2021 Read More »
Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion
This coffee table book weighing 3¾ pounds offers 312 stellar photographs of 50 bookstores in eight countries by Frankfort born, Munich educated, and London based Horst A. Friedrichs. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]
The People of the Book(stores) Read More »
Travel and Food
With a number of fellow members of Hod Ve Hadar, the Masorti (Conservative in the US) synagogue that we belong to in Kfar Saba, we recently visited Mt. Gerizim, Har Bracha, and Shilo, all in the Biblical heartland of Samaria. [Steve Kramer]
Travels in Samaria Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food
Many phrases are abbreviated and used in all spheres of Israeli life. Two random examples: drishat shalom, or sending regards, has been renamed “dosh,” and Namal Teufah Ben Gurion, or Ben Gurion Airport, is known as “Notbog.” [Gedaliah Borvick]
Israel ACOA (A Country of Acronyms) Read More »
Lifestyles, Middle East, Travel and Food
A scientific explanation for those battles over the air conditioning remote control: Researchers at Tel Aviv University’s School of Zoology offer a new evolutionary explanation for the familiar scenario in which women bring a sweater into work, while their male counterparts feel comfortable wearing short sleeves in an air-conditioned office. The researchers concluded that this phenomenon is not unique to humans, with many male species of endotherms (birds and mammals) preferring a cooler temperature than the females. [Tel Aviv Unversity News Release]
Israeli Biologists: Males, Females Experience Temperatures Differently Read More »
Lifestyles, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education
Do you sing zemirot at your Shabbos meals? Sadly, I see fewer and fewer people enjoying this wonderful tradition to enhance the Shabbat experience. One song in particular is linked to this week’s parasha, Noach. No, not Yah Ribbon and Mah Yedidot Menuhatekh, but Yom Shabbaton, “The dove found a place to rest on the Sabbath (Yonah Maz’ah Bo Manoah)” written by Yehudah Halevi, the great Spanish poet of the 12th century. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]
Torah Reading for October 9, 2021 Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts
Novelist and historian, Leo Tolstoy once said, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” This is born out in La Jolla Playhouse’s current production, The Garden. This two-woman show explores the complex relationship between a mother (Stephanie Berry) and her daughter (Charlayne Woodard). Woodard, a two-time Obie Award winner is also credited with writing the script. [Eva Trieger]
Mother-Daughter Conflict Plays Out in ‘The Garden’ Read More »
Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast