Faith and Belief in Times of Crisis

When things go wrong, people look heavenward for answers and comfort. Since ancient times people have looked for something to hold onto in moments of crisis and distress, so it is only natural that this pandemic has triggered a search for an upper force, as studies confirm. This outcry will accelerate our discovery of the meaning of life and help us internalize an answer that will be found in the power of love between us. [Michael Laitman, Ph.D]

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Lifestyles

Three Jewish women in competitive local races

Three Jewish women are in highly competitive races for spots in Congress, Mayor of San Diego, and the County Board of Supervisors. Respectively, they are are Sara Jacobs (53rd Congressional District); City Councilwoman Barbara Bry (Mayor of San Diego), and Terra Lawson-Remer (3rd District County Board of Supervisors. Here’s a look at the recent news being made by them and their opponents, respectively Georgette Gomez, Todd Gloria, and Kristin Gaspar. [Donald H. Harrison, “Our Shtetl San Diego County”]

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Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, Dorian de Wind, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

San Francisco Bay by Sea and Air

After I had completed active duty, the law required that for the next four years I attend monthly weekend duty and two weeks annual active duty at a base in my home environs. I lived in New York City and worked for American Airlines, so I had free air transportation and I was able to get assigned to the Captain of the Port office on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco Bay. This was an important and busy command center that controlled all the ship and shore activity in and around the Bay, assuring that everything flowed smoothly and legally. [Ira Spector]

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Lifestyles, USA

A book filled with knowledge

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks is a world-wide respected religious leader, the former chief rabbi of the English Commonwealth, the author of more than thirty books, and the winner of numerous prizes. His new book Judaism’s Life-Changing Ideas,” with a Foreword ‘”The Secret of Our Staying Power” by Bari Weiss, the award-winning author and op-ed editor and writer of the New York Times, introduces readers to a life-changing Jewish idea from each of the more than fifty weekly biblical portions. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, z”l, U.S. Associate Supreme Court Justice

News of the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday was met in San Diego with expressions of grief and hope. The stalwart liberal on the U.S. Supreme Court since 1993 died at age 87, the court said, giving President Trump a chance to expand its conservative majority with a third appointment at a time of deep divisions in America with a presidential election looming. [Times of San Diego report]

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Ken Stone, San Diego County, USA

OpEd: Sean Elo-Rivera for City Council District 9

Sean and I talked about our work on the Community College Board as our work for “Tikkun Olam,” helping the world. I could see that this was a Jewish value that Sean was passionate about and that he was committed to Tikkun Olam in everything he was doing in his life. He also talked about his how his personal studies of Jewish history and values gave him a deep sense of commitment to the principles of honesty, integrity, and justice for all, especially those who are subject to the most intense forms of oppression. I could clearly see that Sean saw is public service work as a reflection of his Judaism. [Bernie Rhinerson]

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San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Covid19, Jewish divisions: somber prospects for 5781

We are about to celebrate the Jewish New Year, a Rosh Hashanah like no other. Synagogues across America and the world are adjusting their services to the Covid-19 restrictions limiting physical gatherings. Besides the loss of lives, individual members and entire congregations have been deeply affected by the pandemic’s economic blows, wreaking havoc in rippling waves, which have fueled anti-Semites to blame Jews for the creation and spread of the virus. A somber future looks like the most realistic scenario, but this can definitely be changed if only we will see our fate as a single, seamlessly-shared project. [Michael Laitman, Ph.D]

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Jewish Religion, Lifestyles

Clearly no love in this tennis match

We were greeted at the door by our neatly attired host whose every stitch of tennis clothing he wore from his cap down to his sneakers and socks had a company logo emblazoned on them. He was a man about my age and height but considerably slender with no unusual features to distinguish him. We sat down for a respectful minute or two by the poolside patio, met his blonde attractive wife, and in very short order I detected the ”Holier than thou” waves emitting from the aura surrounding him. [Ira Spector]

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Lifestyles, Sports & Competitions

Novel captures horror, confusion of Holocaust, recovery

I have read and reviewed numerous Holocaust memoirs, but none hit me with the impact of this novel — perhaps because the author infused The Brothers of Auschwitz  with such onomatopoeia as the sounds of machine gun fire, the clubbing of human beings, the whistle of death.  This made the experience different from  reading the more flatly narrated memories of Holocaust survivors; it stimulated me to not only read about the horrors of the camp, but to empathically experience them. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Gaining self-confidence in a synagogue’s embrace

We need to work together to make a better world, advancing the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam. It is through us and our allies advocating for marginalized communities that we can begin to reshape how people think about us. Disability has long been stigmatized and the fight to remove those stigmas has been an arduous journey. If we remember that all people no matter their disability, race, religion, or sexual orientation are capable of achieving anything, and that we are all made in the image of God, it should strengthen and motivate us to be better and to do better. [Joshua Steinberg, RespectAbility]

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Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, USA

Torah for Children: It’s Rosh Hashanah!

This weekend we will celebrate Rosh Hashana. This holiday, which starts on Friday evening, marks the beginning of the new Jewish year. One of the special things that happens on Rosh Hashana is the shofar is blown one hundred times. (This year, Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbat. The shofar is not usually blown on Shabbat.) The shofar calls to us: WAKE UP and work hard to make this year a better year than the last one. [Marcia Berneger]

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Jewish Religion, Marcia Berneger

Satire: Barr’s 6 Months a Slave

“You know, putting a national lockdown, stay-at-home orders, is like house arrest. It’s — you know, other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history,” –Bill Barr, September 16, 2020 … If Attorney General Bill Barr ever writes his autobiography, it might go something like this: [Satire by Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA