When humans shelter in place

As was evident in my last column, I know all about the coronavirus.  Ever since my owners have sequestered themselves in the house, I have observed them exhibiting odd behaviors which I fear are symptoms of the illness.  Their eyes have become glazed from watching too much television.  They even listen for extended periods to what the Golden Retriever is spouting on screen, a clinically proven cause of anxiety and high blood pressure.   They previously turned the television off or switched channels whenever he appeared and spoke.  [Humor by Elona Baron as told to Lawrence Baron]

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Coronavirus in Israel complicated by government crisis

Like apparently in most other countries, life is coming to a near-standstill in Israel. But, as I’ve written before, unlike in most other countries, the coronavirus crisis in Israel is interwoven with the political crisis that, after three general elections within a year, still has only a transition government with its long-serving prime minister desperately clinging to power. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

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Jewish Religion, Middle East

How not to make C-Virus worse than it is

What’s Covid-19 Got to Do With Feeling Anxious? Nothing. What? Nothing? Are you serious? “Ever since this COVID19 earthquake hit, I’ve been a nervous wreck,” said a client in a first session, by phone of course. So, I’ll ask again, as I asked this new client, riddled with anxiety, “What’s the COVID19 got to do with what you’re feeling?” And, so began his transformative journey to calm, peace and tranquility in the face of a coronacopia of life upending matters related to COVID19. [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]

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Lifestyles, Michael Mantell

Cli-fi author helped Jewish neighbors on Shabbat

The more I work at this column-writing gig, the more I realize how true the motto of this website is that that “there’s a Jewish story everywhere.” Case in point: I was writing a draft about a hilarious new cli-fi novel from a Canadian humorist named David Millar when during one of our casual online chats about his book The Ministry For Ignoring Climate Change he told me a great little anecdote about his connection to Jewish people and Jewish culture. [Dan Bloom]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, The World We Share

Biblical craftsmen, donors and cherubim

This parasha deals with the actual construction of the Tabernacle, with the lavish materials provided as gifts by the Israelite population. The work was performed under the guidance of the designated skilled craftsmen, Bezalel and Oholiab. I have chosen three passages, from which I have sought Internet sources for comparison with our Hebrew texts. [Irv Jacobs, MD]

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Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion

Local Jewish candidates series: Joe Leventhal

San Diego City Council candidate Joe Leventhal served on the City of San Diego’s Ethics Commission for only a year before resigning to run for office, but he’s proud that he has left behind what he says colleagues on the commission refer informally to as the “Leventhal Amendment.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, USA

Books, Internet tell of plagues through history

The plague has interested me for over 60 years. On my shelves I have Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year 1665; William H. McNeill, Plagues and Peoples (1976); John Aberth, the author of The Black Death, The Great Mortality of 1348-1350 (2005), the first of his several studies on mass mortality; Teofilo F. Ruiz, The Terror of History, on the Uncertainties of Life in Western Civilization (2011); and Rachel Kadish, The Weight of Ink (2017). I knew people who suffered through the 1918 Influenza epidemic. And I know three of the above mentioned authors. One of the first books I received as a gift was Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak, USA

Acts of joy might help overcome the coronavirus

e are definitely in uncharted territory. Today (Tuesday, March 17), for the first time, I had to livestream a funeral because of coronavirus and social distancing that is being mandated by governmental agencies across the country. My team spent hours yesterday developing Chabad Virtual Academy; a place where anyone, anywhere, can log in and participate in a class on varied Jewish subjects, or watch them at a later time. In this regard we are not unique. Thousands of institutions are doing the same; allowing people unfettered access to everything from Torah classes to opera. [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]

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Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi

Torah laws foresaw need for good hygiene

With the coronavirus threatening people’s health in the first major pandemic we have seen in over a hundred years, Jewish tradition has much to say about the importance of handwashing. As a “priestly people,” (Exodus 19:6), priests in the Torah were always instructed to wash their hands whenever they enter into the Tent of Meeting or upon entering the Temple.
Just how serious is this precept? [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Science, Medicine, & Education

Council candidate tells of being Cheney’s gatekeeper

Attorney Joe Leventhal, who is seeking election in the 5th San Diego City Council District, once served as a “gatekeeper” for U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, deciding what memos should go to him, which should first be vetted by others, and reading his proposed speeches for accuracy.  It was a pretty heady job for a young lawyer, just 26 years old.  Previously having served on the staff of U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson (R-Illinois), he had observed then that “Washington at the highest levels of government is actually run by all of these folks under 40, even under 30 — the Administration, Capitol Hill, even at the Supreme Court. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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

Coronavirus prompts delay in Netanyahu’s trial

By all accounts, Prime Minister Netanyahu may turn out to be one of the beneficiaries of the coronavirus crisis. Benefit #1: As his sidekick the minister of justice has closed the courts, his trial, due to have started this week, has been postponed for a couple of months or more. Benefit #2: The call for a unity government to better respond to the crisis will mean that he may stay in office for a considerable time, even though his bloc doesn’t have the required minimum 61 votes of the 120 Members of Knesset. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

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Middle East