A history of Gold Country Jews in pictures

Gold was discovered in January 1848 at Sutter Creek near Coloma, in what became El Dorado County in 1850. Five chapters focus on thirteen Northern California counties. Patterns emerge. Jews were attracted by the opportunities posed by the discovery of gold, but they did not go into staking claims and mining, they went into commerce, shifting from itinerant peddling into storefronts. Enterprising immigrants provided much needed supplies including dry goods at mercantile stores. Miner settlements went from canvas tents to wooden structures and ended with a degree of permanence and optimism, brick and stone buildings. Some boomtowns became ghost towns and were transformed into State Parks and Historic places. The magic word, according to Fred Rosenbaum, historian of Jewish California is “retail.” [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]

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

U.S. Attorney Brewer reassures Jewish community on security

U.S. Attorney Robert S. Brewer Jr. experienced  first-hand in San Diego the concerns shared by Jewish congregations around the country about anti-Semitism — a concern that prompted U.S. Attorney General William Barr to send a directive to U.S. Attorneys throughout the United States to arrange meetings with Jewish community leaders.   At a kosher lunch meeting on Wednesday sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League, rabbi after rabbi — ranging from Reform to Chassidic–expressed their worries about the safety of their congregants at a time when there has been an increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes. [Our shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi

The Torah’s two very different cows

Holy cow! Or should I say, holy cows! This week cows fill our Torah reading, from the sin of one cow, the golden calf, to – this being Shabbat Parah – another cow, the red heifer. Shabbat Parah, the Sabbath of the Red Heifer, occurs on the Shabbat prior to Shabbat Mevarkhim of the month of Nisan. This brings to mind a question. What do you get when you pamper a cow? Spoiled milk, that’s what! Ok, ok, it’s just a bad joke, I get it. But why did the secret service surround the president with dozens of cows? Of course, they were trying to beef up security. Ugh, I now, but writing this so close to Purim leaves its mark of still overflowing fun. [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Purim in the House of Mozes

Purim was celebrated this year in Israel and perhaps elsewhere also as a respite from worrying about the spread of the coronavirus (epidemic? pandemic? panic?). In the old-age home (pardon: “parents’ home; golden age residence; 55 and better”) where my wife and I live, the residents put on a splendid Purim Spiel depicting Biblical characters from the Creation until Queen Esther and beyond. In the presentation, God spoke in English with a marked non-British accent. Delilah was suitably dressed but appeared with her walker. Etc. etc. etc. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

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Jewish Religion, Middle East

Haman, Purim, and Holocaust

During the Holocaust years, Purim celebrations were forbidden to the Jews. Christians and Jews could not even own the book of Esther. Such decrees did not stop the Nazis from poking fun at the Jews on this Jewish holiday. With diabolical glee, the Nazis frequently orchestrated special killings with the Jewish festivals. On Purim in 1942, the Nazis hanged ten Jews in Zdunka Wola to avenge the hanging of Haman’s sons. Similar incidents occurred in the Piotrkow ghetto and in Czestochowa and Radom. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Healthy Thinking During the COVID-19 Outbreak

People are infected by disease, not disturbed by disease. People disturb themselves by their rigid and extreme views of disease. If you are experiencing increased anxiety during this time of elevated risk of #COVID-19, aka coronavirus, here are some healthier ways of disturbing yourself less, living happier, more fulfilled, and not sweating the virus stuff. [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]

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Lifestyles, Michael Mantell, Science, Medicine, & Education

Jewish Federation monitoring CDC’s meetings advice

The Jewish Federation of San Diego County “at this time” does not plan to cancel any of its meetings or events in response to the coronavirus pandemic. “However,” assured Michael Jeser, its CEO and president, “should the situation warrant, we will inform participants immediately if another decision is made.” [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Shor M. Masori, Travel and Food, USA

Seacrest Village takes coronavirus precautions

As a resident at Seacrest Village I am impressed how well management is educating and protecting the health of residents and staff from the Coronavirus. At a recent Town Hall meeting for residents, Carl Miser, Operations Officer, explained the rules and guidelines for residents to protect themselves from the virus. A follow up letter from Pam Ferris, CEO of Seacrest Village, was then placed in every resident’s apartment. Seacrest Village also has an in-house television station that streams continuing information to every resident. Special emphasis was placed on washing one’s hands for twenty seconds often, and avoiding shaking hands with others. [Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel]

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Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Glass Menagerie resurfaces at Broadway Vista Theatre.

The play is set in the St. Louis apartment of Amanda Wingfield (Terri Park) and her two adult children, Laura (Marisa Taylor Scott) and Tom (Tim Baran). The time is 1937 and the country was in the middle of the depression. Tom works in a shoe factory (Williams sold shoes for a time) and Amanda sells magazine subscriptions from her home, much beneath her status as a genteel Southern belle when a young girl. Money is tight but hope springs eternal for Amanda, the faded yet once popular belle, as she glides around their apartment recalling her glory days as a teen growing up in the south. Her repeating and reliving her past encounters with her own ‘gentlemen callers’(seventeen in one day) fascinates Laura, who longs for a gentleman caller of her own, but it annoys the hell out of Tom. [Carol Davis]

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

Awe struck by 13-year-old Israeli cellist

I felt blessed to experience the extra-ordinary talent of the young Israeli cellist, Nahar Eliaz last Saturday evening in the sanctuary of Congregation Beth Am. Her’s was meaningful music-making of the highest order, music that touched the heart and replenished the soul. There was no awareness of technique. Every pitch was perfectly in tune, every dynamic, judiciously observed, every phrase, fluently expressed with natural ease. But it was more. The music had excitement, passion, and beauty. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

Coalition-building and coronavirus in Israel’s top news

Election night was a time for Bibi to declare a big victory. Likud outpolled Blue and White, but Likud plus its right wing block didn’t make it to 61 seats. Final results look like this:
Likud 36 seats; Blue and White 33 seats; United Arab List 15 seats; SHAS 9 seats; United Torah Judaism 7 seats; Meretz-Labor 7 seats; Israel Our Home (Lieberman) 7 seats; Yamina (Bennett, Shaked, Peretz, Smotrich) 6 seats. [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

March of Living postponed; 12 local residents affected

Eight students and four adult leaders from San Diego County who had expected to participate during April in the annual “March of the Living” – a two-week trip including the concentration camps in Poland and a visit to the nation of Israel – have received news that the journey has been cancelled because of the coronavirus. [Our shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Marcia Tatz Wollner, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Jewish trivia quiz: SXSW

South by Southwest (SxSW) is an annual conference and festival held in Austin, Texas since 1987. The 10-day event includes a film festival, concerts, workshops, a trade show, speaker panels, and many other activities, attracting tens of thousands of people. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, SxSW organizers have decided to cancel this year’s event, which was scheduled to begin this week. In the past, there has been a large Jewish presence at SxSW, not only in the number of Jewish attendees, but in terms of the specific activities taking place. Films on Jewish themes, panels on topics of interest to Jews, and Shabbat activities are among the many programs with a Jewish theme. Which of the following was a 2018 Jewish-themed SxSW event? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

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Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire