Book Review: ‘God and the Pandemic’

Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel, the author of ten books, has made a fascinating, enlightening, and much needed contribution to our understanding of the Coronavirus pandemic and Jewish and other views on the subject in his book God and the Pandemic. He gives readers a thorough very readable analysis of the many pandemics, earthquakes, plagues, and other occurrences that killed many people. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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

Watching granddaughter’s IDF ceremony in Covid19 time

“You are invited to watch the ceremony to mark the graduation of the soldiers who have completed the Officers’ Training Course.” That was the text of the official invitation emailed to me and other family members by one of our granddaughters, whose sister was one of the soldiers concerned. We were informed that we would be able to watch the ceremony live, as filmed by the IDF’s official photographer, on the official IDF site on the internet. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

As Rabbi Hollander retires, Rabbi Rosenberg ready to step in

or 21 years, Rabbi Chaim Hollander has served as spiritual leader of Young Israel of San Diego (YISD), a small Orthodox congregation located across Navajo Road from the popular Cowles Mountain trail head.  Hollander came to San Diego to teach at Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School (SSDHDS), one of the schools that incoming Rabbi Eddie Rosenberg attended as a child.  [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County

Teach these stories to your children

“Do not fear them, for it is the Eternal your God who is fighting for you” (Deuteronomy 3:22). What a buoyant, assuring, and optimistic message of hope. That’s what this week’s parasha offers to us. The surety that, after we’ve done all we can, we can confidently let go and move forward with faith and trust in Hashem. As Rabbi Tarfon taught in Pirke Avot (2:16), “It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either.” [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Lack of Jewish unity spurs anti-Semitism

Just like the Jews in Germany before World War II tried to convince the Nazis that they were good Germans but to no avail, Jews today are trying to convince the world that we are good people. They say that Jews donate to charity more than any other nation or faith, that they contribute to high-tech innovations that advance the world far above their proportion in the world, that Jews have given the world many great physicians, thinkers, artists, and entrepreneurs, and that they are ardent human rights activists. But the world largely responds with contempt. It may be ironic, but it seems very natural for anti-racism protesters to yell “Dirty Jews” at counter-protesters, as The Jerusalem Post reported on June 15. In other words, many people don’t even relate to anti-Semitism as a type of racism. [Michael Laitman, Ph.D]

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East

Swab your cheek and maybe save a toddler’s life

How incredible would you feel if you knew you could save the life of a beautiful 15-month-old baby girl, with something as innocuous as a cheek swab? The surrender of a few minutes on your part might provide a chance to reach milestones for this child and her parents.  Consider her first day of school, learning to ride a bike, losing her first tooth, observing her bat mitzvah, dressing for a first date, kvellling at her chuppah, welcoming her own child.  By registering with Be the Match, you may be offering Zoe and her parents all of these magical moments with minimal effort on your part. [Eva Trieger]

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Eva Trieger, International, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Museum of the Hebrew Language planned in Jerusalem

As the president of the Academy of the Hebrew Language since 1993, Prof. Moshe Bar-Asher has many friends and former students around the world.  For example, he recently recalled in his courtly English, he once had the pleasure of teaching Mira Balberg, who is now a professor in UC San Diego’s Jewish Studies Department. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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

The philosophical, religious lessons of Auschwitz

The title of Joshua Hammerman’s book Embracing Auschwitz is incredulous. How can a rabbi, a pulpit rabbi charged with comforting his congregation, in light of the continental genocide and devastation inflicted on so many families, known as the Holocaust, and understanding the Jewish nation has a God-given obligation to obliterate the Amalekites, the biblical archetype of evil, ask us to accept and welcome this malevolence? The conundrum is resolved before one begins to read a single chapter. Hammerman, stressing there is nothing positive about the Holocaust, invokes his interpretation of the word “embrace” by quoting Abraham Joshua Heschel: “There are three ways we respond to sorrow. On the first level, we cry; on the second level, we are silent; on the highest level, we take sorrow and turn it into song.” [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History, Jewish Religion

Compassion is health

Can you think of anything more valued in our daily lives than health promoting and stress reducing compassion? Not long ago I, along with my trusted colleague Lance Breger, MS, led a three-day intensive program on “Physician Wellness” for the members of the American Society of Hematology. One of our central topics was “compassion in healthcare.” Compassion is an essential, powerful element in our lives, in healthcare, in society. It elevates all of us and is without limit. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Lifestyles, Michael Mantell