JFS plans 4th ‘Safe Parking’ facility for homeless

Jewish Family Service is in the process of contracting for its fourth “Safe Parking” area for homeless persons who live in their motor vehicles.  Three such areas are located in the City of San Diego –  on Balboa Avenue, Aero Drive, and near the SDCCU stadium.  The fourth, if given final approval Dec. 18 by the Encinitas City Council, will be located at the Leichtag Commons on Saxony Road. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

The love story of Isaac and Rebecca

If you’re looking for a love story, this week in Toldot, we read a magnificent one, in fact the first. You see, we are told that husband and wife are to, “cleave to each other and become one flesh.” This is precisely what Isaac and Rebecca teach us so perfectly. In fact, they even prayed as one. We see this in the gematria of Yitzhak יצחק and  Rebecca רבקה totaling 515, which equals to the gematria of בשר אחד or “one flesh.” Even more, 515 is also the gematria of tefilah תפלה. [Michael Mantell, PhD]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Shabbat in Temple times started at daybreak

If people would take the time to look at the bulletin of an Orthodox Synagogue, they would find something very curious. The women are instructed to light candles several minutes before the men are scheduled to attend the Mincha service, and Mincha takes place about fifteen minutes before the onset of the Sabbath. Thus, remarkably, this schedule obligates women to start the Sabbath long before men do so. Simply stated, most Jews understand that the current practice is that the Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday evening, but the rabbis required the lighting of the Sabbath candles eighteen minutes before sunset on Friday evening and set the end of the Sabbath and the saying of the Havdalah service forty-two minutes after sunset on Saturday night. This seems straightforward, but it isn’t. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

Trouble at the top in U.S., Israel

Scholars are asking if the various checks and balances of the US are strong enough to deal with a President who seems to be breaking a lot of the rules. We’ll see if his disregard for realities, truth, and the revelation of his tax returns, along with all the other charges continue to attract enough of the poorly educated Whites to give him another four years. Here in Israel the process is more clearly legal than political, but certainly with its political elements. [Ira Sharkansky, PhD]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Jew hatred dressed in academic clothing

In a country where multiculturalism has a reverent following and criticism of protected minorities has essentially been criminalized as “hate speech,” it is more than ironic that on some Canadian campuses radical students have taken it upon themselves to target one group, Jewish students, with a hatred that is nominally forbidden for any others. And with a recent incident that took place on November 20th, York University, in particular, has now revealed a troubling pattern of tolerating physical and emotional assaults by pro-Palestinian radicals against Jewish students and others who dare to demonstrate any support for Israel or question the tactics of Islamists in their efforts to destroy the Jewish state. [Richard L. Cravatts, PhD]

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International, Middle East, Richard L. Cravatts, Science, Medicine, & Education

Yee’s back with ‘Cambodian Rock Band’

Playwright Lauren Yee has returned home to roost at UC San Diego’s Potiker theater. No stranger to San Diego stages, Yee has been producing plays since before 2005 at the Old Globe, South Coast Rep, and farther afield as well. Audiences in Denver, Seattle and Miami have enjoyed Yee’s shows, many of which have garnered her coveted awards including the Doris Duke Artists Award, the Horton Foote Prize and the Steinberg/ATCA Award. Other projects have been seen on television and film. [Eva Trieger]

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Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Peters joins critics of State Dept’s Israel policy

Congressman Scott Peters (D-San Diego) was the only member of the county’s congressional delegation to sign on to a letter drafted by Rep. Andy Levin (D-Michigan) that rebuked the State Department for its recent decision to reverse American policy that had opposed Israeli settlements in the West Bank, an area also known as Judea and Samaria. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Dueling movies and the case against torture

“I’m not in favor of torture,” Dershowitz writes, “but if you’re going to have it, it should damn well have court approval.” His claim is that if we are, in fact, going to torture then it ought to be done in accordance with law: for tolerating torture while pronouncing it illegal is hypocritical. In other words, democratic liberalism ought to own up to its own activities, according to Dershowitz. If torture is, indeed, a reality then it should be done with accountability. There are, however, significant problems with the reasoning behind torture-warrants [Sam Ben-Meir, PhD]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Middle East, Sam Ben-Meir, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Trump had rationale for upbraiding witnesses

Trump commented that “turncoats” against him include “even Gordon Sondland” who changed his testimony to declare that there was indeed a “quid pro quo” sought by the president and his supporters on Ukraine. Dismissing Sondland’s influence, Trump commented, “He thought he could buy my affection with a little donation to my campaign (reportedly a million dollars); I did name him ambassador to the European Union, whatever that is, but his disloyalty eventually came to the surface.” [Satire by Joel H. Cohen]

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Joel H. Cohen, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Backyard Renaissance fits ‘American Buffalo’

Director Rosina Reynolds, with only three characters in this black comedy, manages pull off the heist of the year with her excellent cast, perfect timing and gentle nudging to build on Mamet’s language that is oft called ‘Mametspeak.’ She strikes it rich with the solid gold talent pool she has at her center. [Carol Davis]

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Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

What local Jewish candidates are telling voters

From time to time, we’ll be checking the websites, Facebook pages, and news releases of local Jewish candidates to see what they are emphasizing to voters.  As they are competing in contests for federal, state, county, and city offices, it is natural that they address different kinds of issues. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, The World We Share