The Liberate Protests to reopen the economy immediately are popping up everywhere. I’ve been reading the slogans on the signs held by the protesters and feel compelled to respond to them. [Satire by Laurie Baron]
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Breath! Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire
One of the complications of the COVID-19 pandemic is a shortage of toilet paper, which is a result of people hoarding, as well as the fact that everyone is using their home bathrooms exclusively, rather than also using bathrooms at work, or at stores, restaurants, and other public facilities. A few years ago an Israeli company, the Gefen Team, worked with Lily, an Israeli toilet paper brand that is a division of Kimberly-Clark, to produce a product to aid in the use of toilet paper. What was this product? [Mark D. Zimmerman]
Jewish trivia quiz: Toilet paper Read More »
Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire
I like to imagine President Trump being so eager to implement his latest “incredible” idea that he’s been giving it attention equal to what he’s granted two other favorite initiatives. The new project involves his making personal calls to rabbis across the country and urging them to resume live religious services immediately in order to begin to “make Judaism great again.” (Satire by Joel H. Cohen0
Imagine Trump wanting to ‘make Judaism great again’ Read More »
Joel H. Cohen, Trivia, Humor & Satire
In addition to the corona crisis, Israel also has a political crisis. After three general elections within a year, it still only has a transition government. Most members of it seem to run the prime minister’s often very personal errands. Perhaps that’s why when, last Saturday night, he announced the easing of restrictions to enable more people to return to work, we hear that he didn’t even bother to inform his cabinet colleagues ahead of time. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]
Politics more toxic than pandemic Read More »
Middle East
Yesterday, April 19, 2020, in Portapique, Nova Scotia, a gunman on a shooting rampage killed at least 16 people including one Mountie. The gunman was able to flee and lead the police on a 55-mile chase because he was dressed as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer and driving a car made to look like one of their vehicles. Thankfully, he was later cornered at a gas station and taken out by the RCMP. Nova Scotia’s Premier, Stephen McNeil called it “one of the most senseless acts of violence in our province’s history.” [Eric George Tauuber}
Canadian vs. American responses to mass shootings Read More »
Eric George Tauber, International, USA
Benjamin Midler, 91, a survivor of six Nazi concentration camps, led off the Jewish Federation of San Diego County’s Holocaust remembrance via a Zoom presentation narrated by daughters Nurit Kotick and Ellen Winter. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]
Six-camp survivor Ben Midler leads off Yom HaShoah observances in S.D. County Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, USA
Today marks one month since Governor Newsom ordered the lockdown in California. Although the news is full of stories about how humans are coping with confinement, little attention has been paid to how having them at home 24/7 affects us dogs. I hope my diary entry fills this lacuna. [Humor column by Elona Baron as told to Laurie Baron]
Editor’s Note: Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin of Boca Raton has collected variations on some favorite aphorisms to help lighten the mood during the pandemic. It pays these days to laugh. Where there’s a will, I want to be in it. … [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Variations on some favorite sayings Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Trivia, Humor & Satire
I think I’ve lost track of time. What day of the week is it? Does it matter? What difference does it make anyway? All the days are the same in this time of isolation, or single confinement, if you prefer (actually, double in my case as my husband is with me). [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Over a month in pandemic confinement Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Lifestyles
I recently received an email from a Canadian novelist named Roberta Park in Toronto, author of a new cli-fi novella titled The Disappearing Shore. “We are at an extraordinary point in human history, and my eco-lit tale addresses the fears and responsibility we must face,” she told me. She sent me a copy of her novel and I am reading it now. I also noticed on her blog that she knows the story of ”Moishe” in Jewish storytelling … [Dan Bloom]
A Toronto bagel bakery backstory Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Travel and Food
Melissa Rubenstein Levin, who worked for Drasnin Communications in San Diego from 2000 to 2002, is now based in Houston, where she is handling publicity for IndieFlix. That production company recently issued three films. Angst, which includes an interview with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, deals with understanding anxiety disorders; Like “explores the impact of social media on our lives and the effects of technology on the brain,” and The Upstanders, which I recently watched, “explores cyber-bullying,” as can be seen in the trailer above. [Our Shtetl San Diego County by Donald H. Harrison]
Some advice about school bullying Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Joe Gandelman, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
You gotta love this book. Page 1 leads with my favorite “Ferguson” (shayn fergessen) joke which I have retold tirelessly for years. Fermaglich reveals that Winona Ryder, born in Winona, Minnesota and currently playing the role of Evelyn Finkel in the Netflix series The Plot Against America, based on Philip Roth’s 2004 novel of the same name, was born Winona Laura Horowitz. But this book is not about jokes and celebrities but about the real choices that the nearly three million Jews who came to America between 1880 and 1920 had to make to feel comfortable and make progress in America. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]
Book Review: A Rosenberg by any other name Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak, USA
Perhaps you’re exasperated with many of the behavior and habit change schemes aimed at helping you overcome these types of demoralizing thoughts. Diets, exercise programs, meditation practices, gratitude journals, medication, the latest “therapy” procedures, vacations and even drugs and/or alcohol. Nothing helps, right? Perhaps you’ve got a bit too much “nah” going on. “Never accepting hope.” OK, OK, had to get at least one acronym in this article. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]
Succeed or Recede. You CAN’T? Read More »
Lifestyles, Michael Mantell
Rabbi Eliezer Silver (1882-1968) proved to be one of the greatest rescuers of European Jewry during the Holocaust. He is credited with saving many thousands of Jewish lives. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Rabbi Eliezer Silver saved many from the Holocaust Read More »
International, Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA