Following the floods that recently devastated communities in Western Germany, the Israeli NGO IsraAID sent out a response team to help with relief distribution, clean-up efforts and psychological first aid. [JNS/Israel21C]
Israelis Aid German Flood Victims Read More »
International, Middle East
While one form or another of “Holy Inquisition” ravaged Europe and the Iberian Peninsula for at least two centuries before and after the discovery of the New World, the year 1492 is often considered significant in the Spanish Inquisition as in that year – and in 1502 for Muslims – Catholic King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain issued an ultimatum, El Decreto de la Alhambra (the Alhambra Decree) ordering Jews to convert to Catholicism, or else be expulsed from Castile. [Dorian de Wind]
Is Spain Backtracking on Its Promise of Citizenship for Sephardic Descendants? Read More »
Dorian de Wind, International, Jewish History
It’s a well-worn political observation that “it took a Nixon to go to China,” meaning because President Richard M. Nixon was identified as a staunch conservative, he was trusted to go to mainland China and open a dialogue with that nation’s communist rulers, a dialogue that led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two adversary countries. [Donald H. Harrison]
Former Israel ‘Hawk’ Tells of His Transformation to a ‘Dove’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East
The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, named for the late Jewish abstract expressionist artist, has granted $100,000 to the Timken Museum of Art in Balboa Park to upgrade its heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system as part of the Foundation’s $5.1 million program to address climate change in behalf of the visual arts. [Timken Art Museum news release]
Frankenthaler Foundation Aids Timken Art Gallery’s Environmental Upgrade Read More »
Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County
Delta strain, why is Covid still our bane?
Could it be we will return to a lockdown?
And if I have my shots, can I go maskless inside spots?
Or will there be a mandate in my town? [Laurie Baron, PhD]
Satire: Delta Strain Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
The approximately 4,000 year old Babylonian tale “Gilgamesh” disturbs many religious people who feel threatened by the idea that a story that is very similar to the biblical flood story was written before the story of Noah and the flood. Gilgamesh was composed around 2000 B.C.E. and predates the scriptural version. A Jewish tradition dates the revelation of the Bible to 2448 years after creation, or about 1312 B.C.E. Both stories concern a flood caused by divinities: in the pagan myth by gods and in the Hebrew Bible by God. Both are saved by a boat and by using birds to discover if the flood water receded. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Two floods: Gilgamesh and Noah Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr.
This year’s JFest had many unusual highlights. Some events seemed more fitting than others to be part of a Jewish Arts Festival. Although I savored the Hershey Felder offering, Nicholas, Anna, and Sergei –I love Rachmaninoff’s music–( reviewed in the May 19th San Diego Jewish World), I did not understand its place in a Jewish Festival, given that the subjects were all authentic or pretending Russian aristocrats, the class that often helped perpetrate pogroms. [Eileen Wingard]
Is JFest’s Programming Really ‘Jewish’? Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Published by BANG Showbiz English Judd Hirsch and Jeannie Berlin have joined the cast of Steven Spielberg’s new semi-autobiographical film. The Oscar-nominated stars have boarded the new movie with Robin Bartlett and Jonathan Hadary and they will play the older relatives of a young aspiring filmmaker (Gabriel LaBelle), who is loosely based on the ‘Jaws’
Judd Hirsch and Jeannie Berlin added to Spielberg film Read More »
Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden spoke out against anti-Semitism after officials said that a swastika had been found carved into the wall of a U.S. State Department elevator. “Let me be clear: Anti-Semitism has no place in the State Department, in my administration, or anywhere in the world. It’s up
Biden condemns anti-Semitism after swastika found at State Department Read More »
USA
Published by Reuters By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Jared Kushner, a top adviser to former President Donald Trump, plans to launch an investment firm in coming months, a move that will take him away from politics for the foreseeable future, sources familiar with the plan said on Wednesday. Kushner, the former chief executive of
Jared Kushner to leave politics, launch investment firm – sources Read More »
USA
Daniel and Phyllis Epstein have committed to provide a $10 million gift to the University of California San Diego in support of a new state-of-the-art amphitheater, signaling a major step in the university’s plan to become a top cultural destination. In recognition of the gift, the 2,850-seat venue will be named the Epstein Family Amphitheater. [UC San Diego news release]
Epsteins to Donate $10 Million for Amphitheater at UC San Diego Read More »
Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Two “important”questions being asked are, does Israel even have a right to exist and is Israel an apartheid state. Both have consequences for Jews in Israel, as well as for Jews in the Diaspora, whether they realize it or not. [Steve Kramer]
In Response to BDS and Apartheid Accusations Against Israell Read More »
International, Middle East, Steve Kramer, USAMaggid Books in association with Steinsaltz Center has published part of the text of one of the two famous books by the founder of Chabad Hasidim, also called Lubavitcher Hasidim, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812). Rabbi Zalman’s other famous book is Shulchan Arukh Harav, a book that only partially survived, which deals with Jewish law. This book, a translation and commentary of part of the Tanya, originally published in Hebrew in 1797, is by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz (1937-2020) a Chabad Hasid, the author of over 60 books and more than 100 articles. Not all of Steinsaltz’s writings focus on Chabad mysticism, but this book is about Rabbi Shneur Zalman’s view of mysticism. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
An Explanation of the Famous Book ‘Tanya’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
Published by Al-Araby The recent ruling by the EU’s highest court allowing businesses to ban the hijab from being worn by employees is yet another episode in Europe’s long-running saga of enshrining Islamophobic practices in law. Two cases of Muslim women in Germany who were reprimanded for wearing the hijab were brought to the attention
EU hijab ruling marks a shameful new low for civil liberties Read More »
International