This week I have two peaceful books to recommend. While the topics are different, the text in each will have a calming effect, providing both reader and listener with a quiet oasis away from daily stress. [Marcia Berneger]
Two peaceful books for Jewish children Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Marcia Berneger, The World We Share
As a seventeen-year-old lad from the gravely impoverished Troy, Alabama, John Lewis decided to write a letter to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery. Lewis had breathlessly followed the recent narrative of King, Rosa Parks, and others during the successful eleven-month Montgomery Bus Boycott. Not only did King write back to Lewis, he also included in the letter a round-trip bus ticket to Montgomery and an invitation to meet him, which Lewis eventually did — in March 1958. “I was so scared. I didn’t know what to say or what to do,” Lewis recalled. “And Dr. King said, ‘Are you the boy from Troy?'” [Source: NPR] [Ben Kamin]
John Lewis: A man of painful sincerity, steel rectitude Read More »
Obituaries & memorials, USA
Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort of Chabad of La Costa, who is among the longest-serving Chabad rabbis in San Diego County, on Sunday described the revelations of the tax fraud crimes of Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of Chabad of Poway as “deeply shocking and profoundly hurtful.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Eilfort: ‘Deep sense of betrayal’ over Goldstein’s tax fraud Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi
For many years I have preached an obvious solution to the Israel desire for peace and an end to many decades of war with the Arab nations. It’s really quite simple… A secret delegation of high level representatives from the Israeli government, some engineers, agronomists and a few of the best chefs travel to the Australian Outback in a timely manner just before Passover. [Ira Spector]
Humor: How to achieve Middle East peace Read More »
International, Middle East, Travel and Food, Trivia, Humor & Satire
Dr. Tobi Lister works at an urgent care mill, where doctors are not supposed to spend more than 10 minutes with each patient — less if possible — and are graded by how many “likes” they get on Yelp-like medical reviews sent in by patients. The problem is that if they don’t spend sufficient time with their patients, the doctors are liable to get dinged; but if they do, wait times increase for other patients, resulting in even more dings. [Book Review by Donald H. Harrison]
Novel paints grim picture of medical ethics Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
Sometime in the blistering heat of 1965, while Martin Luther King, Jr. and his allies were marching for the nation’s first inclusive voting rights bill, a wiry, feisty, articulate Baptist minister stood up to the condescending white sheriff of Dallas County—which encompasses Selma, Alabama. Rev. Cordy Tindell Vivian, better known as “C.T.,” was 41 years old at the time, a local pastor gifted with vision, strong loins, and indisputable courage. [Ben Kamin]
Rev. C.T. Vivian, a sweet lion, is free at last Read More »
USA
“Science should not stand in the way of schools re-opening.” This recent statement by White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has made headlines. What children are supposed to learn in prematurely re-opened schools if not science was not clear. But pundits and internet trolls have been having a field day with the sheer absurdity of this statement. And it seems that at every press conference, Kayleigh McEnany will toss out such a bone. It’s like she’s not even pretending to sound credible or even halfway intelligent. [Eric George Tauber]
Kayleigh McEnany is not what she seems Read More »
Eric George Tauber, USA
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered most private and public schools in the state, including those in San Diego County, to offer only distance learning rather than in-person classroom instruction. His order came in response to spiking rates of coronavirus infection in California. The exceptions were schools in counties where the incidents of the virus are very low. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Gov. Newsom’s order negates Hebrew Day’s plans for in-person learning Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education
There is no doubt that sometimes the best approach is a ‘bend but do not break’ attitude. There are also times, however, when we must remain rigidly opposed and refuse to compromise our morals. Sometimes, as Jews, we must proactively reject the evil that we see. Often this will be an unpopular position. Nonetheless, we must rigidly and stubbornly reject evil, even popular evil. [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]
A Word of Torah: Flexibility and rigidity Read More »
Jewish Religion, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi
The doctrine of Torah Min Ha-Shamayim, “The Torah is from Heaven,” is a fundamental teaching of Orthodox Judaism. Rabbis say it means that God dictated the Five Books of Moses to Moses. But even rabbis who strongly defend this doctrine do not know how God communicated the Torah to Moses or how much of it. For example, there are Orthodox rabbis who agree that Moses was the author of the book of Deuteronomy, or most of it, and God approved what he wrote. More significantly, Maimonides states that we have no idea how the Torah was revealed. A modern rabbi and scholar Louis Jacobs argues that he knows how it was revealed. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Debating Divine Revelation Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionSan Diego Outreach Synagogue (SDOS) held its first J.E.D. Talk last Sunday. J.E.D stands for Jewish Experiences Discussed. “Everyone has a story to tell and an experience to share,” states Rabbi-Cantor Cheri Weiss, spiritual leader of SDOS. The talks are planned for the second Sundays of the month and will feature SDOS members sharing how their own experiences and/or expertise connect to their Judaism. [Marcia Berneger]
Synagogue offers ‘J.E.D. Talks’ on second Sundays each moth Read More »
Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Marcia Berneger, San Diego County
[N]ot being able to convince enough Israelis to support him, {Netanyahu] has decided to bribe us all by each citizen being given money, whether we need it or not, at the cost for the state of billions of shekels. His leadership has failed. Will bribes work? I am told that they did in Poland before elections there. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]
Bibi orders direct Covid19 payments to Israelis Read More »
Middle East
Are the doors of our synagogues honestly and completely wide open, inclusively and warmly, genuinely accepting all on equal footing, even modern day “Reubens and Gads”? After all, who is perfect? Are we missing parts of our community today, indeed are we turning away members of our community, explicitly or implicitly, from our synagogues? [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]
Are our synagogues sufficiently inclusive? Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell
Many are asking, “What can I do?” Simply opening a bank account at a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) may be one of the easiest ways to help address wealth inequality in your community, with no cost and no risk to you. [Beth Sirull]
Helping the Black community through your banking Read More »
Business & Finance, San Diego County, USA