JFS Orients Volunteers to its Many Services Before They Prepare Eggless Challahs

By Cailin Acosta SAN DIEGO – Members of the Tifereth Israel Synagogue Sisterhood volunteered at Jewish Family Service (JFS) San Diego on Wednesday, November 12, helping make challah for the Lieber’s Corner Market at the Balboa Avenue campus. Marissa Dates, Associate Director of Community and Volunteer Engagement, welcomed the Sisterhood volunteers and guided the group […]

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Travel and Food

Parsha Chayei Sarah: First Commitment, Then Love

The Torah is teaching us something essential: love is not merely an emotion we fall into. It is something we cultivate. It is born of choice, nurtured through shared purpose, and deepened through acts of kindness and spiritual connection. Yitzchak does not stumble into love; he chooses it. He nurtures it. And through that choice, his heart begins to mend. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.}

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish Political Briefing: Nov. 12, 2025

Jack Schlossberg is the son of Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, a former U.S. Ambassador to Japan and Australia, and her Jewish husband Edwin Schlossberg.  His mother reportedly opposed his declaring his candidacy given that his grandfather, Jack, and great-uncle, Senator Robert F. Kennedy were both assassinated in the 1960s. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

San Diego Students Discover the Pioneering Spirit of David Ben-Gurion

I had the privilege of teaching San Diego students—preschoolers at Beth Montessori of La Jolla and 2nd-graders at San Diego Hebrew Day School—about the pioneering spirit of David Ben-Gurion (Israel’s first prime minister) and the modern relevance of his legacy. [Jacob Kamaras]

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Israel, Jacob Kamaras, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

A Short Story: The Poet of Uz

There was no rabbinic academy then, no definitive text—only scrolls that wandered from town to town like goats, a few psalms humming under their breath, a few laws clean and sharp as a knife’s new edge. Prophets came and went as sandstorms do: sudden, convincing, then gone. The poet—let us call him simply the poet—kept his own counsel, carried a knife and an abacus, and learned the shapes of rumors. [Sam Ben-Meir]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Fiction, Jewish Religion, Sam Ben-Meir, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Veterans Day: An Honor to Shake Hands with Those who Served

My father-in-law is a Vietnam Veteran (so was my Dad, z”l) and I am always so humbled when strangers shake his hand, give him a hug, and thank him for his service. It is touching to see people go out of their way to show gratitude for those who risked their lives to fight for our freedom. [Cailin Acosta]

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Cailin Acosta, International, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Susan Kohler

Susan Kohner (November 11, 1936) is an American actress who worked in film and television. She played Sarah Jane, a young African-American woman attempting to “pass” as white, in Imitation of Life (1959), for which she was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress. She won two Golden Globe awards for her performance. [Wikipedia]

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia