Novel paints grim picture of medical ethics

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

Rev. C.T. Vivian, a sweet lion, is free at last

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

Kayleigh McEnany is not what she seems

“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

Gov. Newsom’s order negates Hebrew Day’s plans for in-person learning

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

A Word of Torah: Flexibility and rigidity

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

Debating Divine Revelation

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 Religion

Synagogue offers ‘J.E.D. Talks’ on second Sundays each moth

San 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

Are our synagogues sufficiently inclusive?

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

Satire: Expect the worst

To counter a boycott against Goya Food in protest of its CEO praising Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump posted a photo of her holding up a can of Goya Black Beans captioned in English and Spanish, “If it’s Goya, it’s got to be good.” Criticized for using her office to promote a product, she retorted that the photo was intended as a campaign ad to show Latino and African American voters that “black beans matter” to her father.  [Satire by Laurie Baron, Ph.D}

Satire: Expect the worst Read More »

Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

Torah for children: Promises, promises

What you say is very important. The Torah even includes a section about children. Sometimes a child might make a promise that is very hard to keep. The Torah says a parent (or adult) can decide if it’s okay if the child doesn’t do what they said they would do. According to this Torah portion, it’s also up to the parent (or adult) to decide if it’s a promise the child needs to keep. [Marcia Berneger]

Torah for children: Promises, promises Read More »

Jewish Religion, Marcia Berneger, Science, Medicine, & Education

What did the White House know about Rabbi Goldstein’s criminality?

I have more than a few questions about the conduct of the tax fraud case in which Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein is being recommended for probation, rather than a prison sentence, notwithstanding the fact that his pattern of illegal conduct reaches back several decades. [Donald H. Harrison]

What did the White House know about Rabbi Goldstein’s criminality? Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, USA

Less transparency will worsen the pandemic

Hospital data is now going directly to the Trump administration rather than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This will have immediate and far reaching consequences. Already valuable CDC pages that tracked changes in the number of occupied and available hospital beds in the nation for COVID-19 patients stopped working as a result of the switch. We have essentially lost this important metric for gauging the progress of the disease. The sidelining of the CDC is nothing less than a travesty and Americans should be outraged and alarmed. This loss of transparency will lead inevitably to an even worse pandemic and greater loss of life. [Sam Ben-Meir]

Less transparency will worsen the pandemic Read More »

Sam Ben-Meir, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA