Amulets, Coronavirus, & Election Day in Israel

Whenever Election Day comes to Israel, you can always count upon the Haredi political parties to boost voter turnout in their cities. The religious politicians will often offer amulets and blessings to ensure their people will be blessed. This year, in particular, some of the Shas and United Torah Judaism political parties handed out amulets with prayers and excerpts from the Jewish liturgy, promising that their reelection would guarantee that the coronavirus would not affect the voters’ families. {Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel]

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Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East

Sounding Alarms Through the Centuries

Most of us have been glued to our television sets watching protesters marching on our streets and around the world. They are  responding to the murder of George Floyd.  In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “Riots are the language of the unheard.” [Vocal and story by Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel]

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Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Zoom! Zoom! You’re the Sisterhood President

The installing officer was at home in Florida.  The incoming president was in Oregon.  And the other members of the outgoing and incoming boards of the Tifereth Israel Synagogue’s Sisterhood were right here in San Diego.  Welcome to what the Sisterhood members called their very first “Zoomstallation.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Judaism, Lifestyles, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

My mother’s and Frank Sinatra’s address books

She did it her way By Oliver B. Pollak RICHMOND, California — The June/July 2020 issue of The Wall Street Journal Magazine contains a fascinating story by Will Friedwald with photography by Henry Leutwyler — “Sinatra’s Little Brown Book.” The article heralds Leutwyler’s just published Hi There!, a collection of 69 photographs of the address

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International, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Oliver Pollak, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

European Jewish Civil War volunteers flocked to the North’s cause

Born in Hungary;  living in Portsmouth, United Kingdom; spending many hours of research at the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati, Ohio; and even boasting a cousin (Judit Sipos-Szabo) here in San Diego, Peter Kovacs Rosenbluth understands  links between European Jewish history and American Jewish history about which most of us, including yours truly, have been unaware. [By Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

May Orthodox Judaism have female rabbis?

Rabbi Dr. Sperber quotes his speech during the ordination of female rabbis. “A relatively short time ago such an occasion within an Orthodox setting would have seemed to be impossible, almost hallucinatory. Yet what was so recently a dream has now become a reality. Yet what was once implausible has now become almost a norm, at least within a certain segment of the modern Orthodox community.” He notes that some Orthodox leaders refuse to accept the change, “But this is to be expected, and indeed understandable, given the traditionalist inability to recognize the dynamic nature of halachah. For they are grounded in dogmatism, while we strive after dynamism.” [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion

Oy vey, Columbus

Here is a 2018 story that appeared in The Times of Israel speculating that Christopher Columbus might have been a hidden Jew, forced to conceal his true identity because the year that he set sail on the voyage in which he would discover America–1492–was the same year that Jews were given a brutal choice by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain: Either convert to Christianity or be expelled from the country. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, USA

The 60’s Civil Rights Movement and today’s Black Lives Matter

‘Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.’ Martin Luther King Jr. included this cogent declaration within his Nobel-acclaimed ‘Letter from the Birmingham Jail’ in April 1963.  The preacher was confined on that occasion because he led “illegal” protests in the city against the continuing and murderous oppression and voter-suppression of Black people in that community (and throughout the Old Confederacy).  Aspects of King’s heartache and moral outrage have been validated and liberated at this moment via the inspirational ‘Black Lives Matter’ uprisings. [Rabbi Ben Kamin]

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USA

Finding Jewish Women of Valor in San Diego

Thursday night’s Woman of Valor was Tammy Gillies, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League played by Sarah Price-Keating. Gillies is the first woman to hold this post and there were a few members of the board who voted against her for this reason. They just couldn’t picture this soft-spoken woman shouting down a hater with a bullhorn. Yet she still got the job and she has shown them. [Eric George Tauber]

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Eric George Tauber, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Satire: Diversity Donald’s Virtuous Venues 

In the wake of the George Floyd protests, Donald Trump claimed he had “done more for the black community than any president since Abraham Lincoln.”  Hypersensitive to the charge of being a bigot, he has carefully selected venues for upcoming rallies to symbolize his commitment to ethnic and racial justice.  This is why he scheduled one for Tulsa on June 19th to commemorate the Juneteenth celebration of the end of slavery in the city where America’s worst race riot occurred.  Here’s  a possible campaign calendar for future campaign events targeted at ethnic and racial minorities. [Satire by Laurie Baron]

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA