COVID-19: Medical breakthroughs, research cooperation

This book describes “a battle that pits viral biology against human intellect and capability.”

An exciting approach to generating treatments for Covid19 is the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Taking the known structure of the virus, scientists are able to inquire as to susceptible target sites on the virus for creating drug treatments and vaccines. The goal: theoretical structure and synthesis of biomedical compounds to achieve therapeutic results. [Irv Jacobs, MD, MPH]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Irv Jacobs, MD, Science, Medicine, & Education

The Ballot (To the melody of The Letter)

Mail boxes disappearing
As election season is nearing.                                                                                                                                  
If we’re gonna beat him                                                                                                                                              
And soundly defeat him,                                                                                                                               
Then we all have to cast our votes early.          [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

Nazi symbolism found in GOP County Chair’s old video

A decades-old video involving San Diego County Republican chairman Tony Krvaric and images of Adolf Hitler and Nazi symbols has been brought to light by KPBS reporters Amita Sharma and JW August. It prompted San Diego City Council candidate Marni von Wilpert to call upon her opponent Joe Leventhal — who is Jewish — to return a $1,200 contribution he received from Krvaric “and demand new leadership in the Republican party that doesn’t casually traffic in hate.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Entertaining God, Hollywood style

A sincere group of people in the movie making industry felt the need to rekindle ties to their Jewish heritage. Aware they had a special talent and perspective to bring to religious worship and celebration of God, they formed their own synagogue up north in Los Angeles. They chose an ordained rabbi from the movie business who was a producer and scriptwriter to be their spiritual leader. He graduated from the same high school as myself, Thomas Jefferson in Brooklyn New York. [Ira Spector]

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Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Making a feline friend in a new sunny city

After graduating college in New York, I moved to Seattle.  Having finally landed my first job, I was excited to put my aeronautical engineering degree to work and design jumbo jets for a premier aerospace company.  Everything was great—Seattle has a thriving Jewish community, a vibrant arts scene, and spectacular nature.  However, it also has rain.  A lot of rain.  Did I mention the rain? [Teresa Konopka]

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Lifestyles, San Diego County, Teresa_Konopka, The World We Share, Travel and Food

Three takeaways from Holocaust, Immigrant biography

This is a story well told, except that you won’t know any more about the identity of the Mafia boss after reading this book than you do now.  Whoever he was, he took a liking to Helen Pinczewski, Solomon’s hardworking mother, after she and her husband David opened a candy store in an Italian section of Brooklyn.  He made it his personal mission not to allow any of the tough guys in the neighborhood to harass the couple, for whom he developed a great sympathy after learning they were Holocaust survivors. From my point of view, there were three important takeaways from this biography. [Book review by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, USA

A Word of Torah: Judges by our gates

This week’s portion is titled, Shoftim, which means Judges. The portion begins with the command to appoint judges in every city. In fact the portion commands that the Jewish people should appoint not only judges but officers as well. The purpose is to insure that law and order will prevail throughout the cities. A firm belief in the necessity of law in society is foundational within Judaism, for without law we are warned in the Talmud, “One man will consume his friend.” [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]

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Jewish Religion, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi

The coming Israeli-Arab alliance

The peace agreement between Israel and the UAE lays the foundation for a future Israeli-Arab alliance, which has been quietly developing behind the scenes over the past several years. I believe that over a relatively short period of time, such an alliance will emerge, eventually including nine Arab States: the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and at a later date, Kuwait, Qatar, and the Palestinians, creating a crescent of land extending from the Gulf to the Mediterranean. Such a new alliance will more than likely also include Sudan, Morocco, and other Arab states, and will decisively change the geostrategic dynamic in the Middle East. [Alon Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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Alon Ben-Meir, Middle East, USA

Torah for Children: Justice, Justice shall you pursue!

This week’s Parsahah, Shoftim, is all about how to judge people and situations fairly. It is about choosing people to help make those judgements and what is needed to punish the people accused of crimes. The beginning of this section tells us, “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” Judges must judge fairly. There must be at least two witnesses to a crime and if the crime is serious enough, those witnesses are the first ones to punish the guilty person. But what if a witness lies? Once the lie is discovered, that witness will be punished instead. [Marcia Berneger]

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Jewish Religion, Marcia Berneger

Daily Zoom shul-hopping to recite Kaddish

The pandemic quarantine began in mid-March. One week later, my mother died in her sleep. She was 97 and lived in New York. I live in California. Our New York daughter “Zoomed” mom’s graveside funeral and we sat shiva online. So much of this time has been trying and sad. We miss our grandkids—even though we see them on FaceTime or Zoom almost every day. And we will forever regret not being able to say a proper good-bye to mom in person. [Irv Kass]

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Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Satire: The Canine Convention

I have been busy organizing this week’s Zoom convention for the DEMs (Dogs Elect Mensch).  From my earliest columns I have expressed my distrust for the Golden Deceiver, a man with the temperament of a Tasmanian devil and the intelligence of an invertebrate.  How could he empathize with the plight of people when he never has owned one of man’s best friends? Dogs always understood the real meaning of MAGA, Make America Growl Again. [Satire by Elona Baron as told to Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

The Roustabouts Reprise A Favorite

Ruff Yeager and Roxane Carrasco play Anton Myrvold and Sunita Savarkar, a middle-aged couple who are still playfully in love. Their home, designed by Sean Fanning, is the warm, inviting abode of an academic filled with books and natural wood tastefully accented with Indian artwork. Anton is a professor of physics who is up for a Nobel Prize for challenging the Theory of Dark Matter. Sunita is a political activist for women’s rights who divides her time between the US and her native India, getting into what the late Rep. John Lewis called “Good Trouble.” Joel Miller and Kate Reynolds play Gray and Britt, the young PhD students who are both being mentored by Anton. They make a handsome couple, but there’s a fellowship that they both want. [Eric George Tauber]

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Eric George Tauber, Theatre, Film & Broadcast