It Ain’t Like John Wayne

When I visited a jail, it was a lonely ride, made lonelier by the barren landscape of empty hills and valleys. My V-8 powered, beige pickup truck, which easily climbed and descended the steep grades was the same color as the landscape. My final destination was a desolate outpost that could double as a frontier fort if Mexico decided to attack the United States in a refrain of the Alamo. The border is just over the next hill or two. [Ira Spector]

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Lifestyles, San Diego County

Fiction: Jewish perspectives on Niue

Boarding a comfortable but fast boat that would circumnavigate the South Pacific island of Niue, Noa and Esther were pleased with their earlier meeting with the country’s premier, who had promised his government’s cooperation as they explored the possibility of installing a desalination plant on the island.  However, he warned them that due to the atoll’s geography, rising as it did straight up from the Pacific Ocean, there were very few spaces for beaches or natural harbors. So, he said, finding a suitable location for a desalination plant might be very difficult indeed. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Fiction, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Satire: Trump is God’s way of testing humanity

Tell-all books about Donald Trump keep getting published. We have heard from Mary Trump that the president suffers from a narcissistic personality disorder, from John Bolton that he has no guiding principles in formulating foreign policy, and from Michael Cohen that he is a corporate criminal with a mafia mentality. Still 40 % of the American public considers him God’s gift to the United States. To discredit this belief, God has authored a book called This Is a Test: Why I Created Donald Trump. Here’s an advance excerpt. [Satire by Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

We need a memorial for Jews who saved Jews and others

Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem honors non-Jews who chose to save Jews, even at the risk of their own lives. Yad Vashem does not honor, document or recognize Jews who saved other Jews during the Holocaust, even at the risk of their own lives. Honoring Jews who saved Jews was and is not part of its mandate. Were not their life-risking efforts worthy of memorialization? There is no memorial to Jews who saved Jews and others, in Israel, or anywhere. [Jerry Klinger]

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Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, USA

Rosh Hashana: The Parade of Tears

Reacquainting oneself with the power of tears is the secret to unlocking the storehouse of simcha. Every passage of Torah and Nevi’im (Prophets) read over the holiday depicts different categories of this uniquely human response to joy and pain. Perhaps the best exercise during Elul is to relearn how to cry by examining the inspiration for our biblical heroes’ most poignant milestones. Here are some of the players in the “Parade of Tears,” based on an intriguing lecture I once heard in Jerusalem. [Sam Glaser]

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Jewish Religion, Sam Glaser

Gala to honor Rabbi Chaim and Temi Hollander

Young Israel of San Diego has scheduled a virtual gala tribute to honor Rabbi Chaim and Rebbetzin Temi Hollander for their 21 years of devoted service to members and friends of the Orthodox synagogue. Young Israel of San Diego was founded 31 years ago. The virtual gala will take place on Sunday, September 13, at 7 pm. [SDJW]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Nothing Wrong with Egoism (If Used Right)

When we talk about egoism being the bane of our generation, we need to understand what it means. After all, where would we be without it? We wouldn’t have industry, modern medicine, or communication. We wouldn’t be able to travel, explore, or lead a pleasant and easy life compared to our forefathers. Moreover, the ego is not man’s creation; it is inherent in our nature. So when we praise nature, how can we condemn the ego, nature’s own creation? The problem isn’t with the ego; it is with how, how much, and when we use it. [Michael Laitman, Ph.D]

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Lifestyles

San Diego races attract big-name endorsers

With less than two months to go until election, Democratic candidates in technically non-partisan local races are touting endorsements from big-name Democrats. For example, Assemblyman Todd Gloria, who is running for mayor of San Diego against City Councilwoman Barbara Bry, is sending out a short video showing U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for vice president, endorsing him. [Donald H. Harrison, “Our Shtetl San Diego County”]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

Fiction: “It’s a Good Start”

Adam looked at the kitchen clock and realized he would not make it to the morning minyan, even if he sprinted. He would daven shachris from home, in his new apartment. He began the morning blessings, thanking Hashem for causing him to wake from sleep, for being born a male, for being sure-footed. These primary blessings were intended to set the tone of praise, gratitude, and mindfulness for the prayers to follow. [Short story by Eva Trieger]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eva Trieger, Jewish Fiction, Lifestyles

Fiction: Mendel the Chasid’s job interview

Friday, the big day arrived. Mendel’s hat and long black coat were cleaned, special. We even asked the seamstress to fix the frayed bottom of his coat so it would not look bad. He had a new white shirt, properly buttoned to the collar and his tallit katon, which he always wore outside his shirt. It was freshly washed and ironed. We added black shoe polish to his canvas shoes to make them look darker. He combed out his long salt and pepper beard, so it was extra neat. [Jerry Klinger]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jerry Klinger, Jewish Fiction

Hal the horseradish man

While waiting for my meal I noticed a small, freestanding wood building across the street. The building was painted yellow, which was not extraordinary by itself, but across the entire length of the façade, hand-painted in huge, block, green-painted letters, was the word “horseradish.” Now this is not the message on your typical store sign. I was so intrigued, that after lunch I crossed the street to see what they sold. To my amazement, the store, true to its sign, primarily sold three kinds of horseradish-regular, beet, and lemon- in pint or quart jars. [Ira Spector]

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Business & Finance, Travel and Food, USA

A mind is a fine thing to grow

I climbed the cheap metal steps to one of the many cheap “temporary” classroom buildings that sprouted like weeds between my Spring 1965 campus visit to SUNY Buffalo [UB] and the August start of freshman year. The classic Gothic campus on Main Street had turned into a muddy mobile home park, but I was happy to be there. Not quite 17, I celebrated as my parents drove off in tears, leaving me 400 miles from home. They had told me to choose a state school, and the map told me Buffalo was as far as I could get from Brooklyn. A bonus was UB’s academic reputation, good enough for the elitists in my high school to express surprise that I had been accepted. [Michael Ginsberg]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Lifestyles, Michael Ginsberg, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Food, pandemics, and heat waves

Our editor has opened SDJW pages to contributors of  fiction. What follows is true, but has the hallmarks of incredulity. We are wending our Pandemic way from August in Wyoming with the lowest Covid rate in the nation, to Richmond with a detour staying with my sister and brother in law in Laguna Woods. It is 2 pm and 104 degrees outside, and today, Sunday, is predicted to be 108 with “Very Unhealthy Air Quality.” [Oliver B. Pollak]

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Lifestyles, Oliver Pollak, Travel and Food, USA