Hitches, Glitches, Delays and Success!

In a stunning display of arrogance and stupidity, I ventured out into the wild and woolly world of self-publishing on Amazon’s KDP platform. I’ve done it before, five times in fact, twice with the help of outside agencies, and three times by myself. It’s been a little more than a year since I published my last book, All Quiet on the Midwestern Plains, and apart from help from my designer and computer-whiz son Eitan with the cover of the paperback version, I managed it pretty well by myself. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

Trump-Erdogan meeting an exercise in cynicism

President Trump’s inviting of Turkey’s President Erdogan to Washington comes at a peculiar time when the House of Representatives is pursuing the impeachment inquiry against Trump and when Erdogan is preoccupied with his invasion of Syria and the growing frustration of the Turkish public with his ruthless domestic and adventurous foreign policy. The question is, what message will Erdogan’s visit send to both the US’ friends and foes? [Alon Ben-Meir, PhD]

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Alon Ben-Meir, Middle East, USA

Remembering Yitzhak Rabin

I was having a conversation with high school students and I asked them who Yitzhak Rabin was. Few had heard of him or knew what he stood for. Yet all of them were aware of the conflict that he fought so hard to resolve. While Rabin is no longer with us, the challenges he faced, and conflicts he encountered continue to thrive. Just this week, we saw a new barrage of rockets being fired from Hamas into Southern Israel. [Rabbi Joshua Dorsch]

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Middle East

Poway names a street for Lori Lynn Gilbert-Kaye

– The Poway City Council voted unanimously to “robust applause” on Tuesday to rename Eva Drive in the northern portion of the city as Lori Lynn Lane, in memory of the Chabad of Poway congregant who was murdered in an attack on the synagogue by a gunman. Lori Lynn Gilbert-Kaye’s “life was exemplary and I hope it (the renamed street) causes someone to learn a little bit more about her, and how kind she was, how compassionate she was, how generous she was, and how selfless she was,” commented Mayor Steve Vaus, who sits on the five-member City Council. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

Awaiting the end of Elijah

Imagine, if you will, six strong personalities stranded in a Thank God It’s Friday pub while a hurricane rages outside. The accompanying rain has flooded the streets, and all the highways in this small Texas town have been closed. So begins a play called Elijah, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the Biblical figure.  Elijah is the name given to the hurricane that threatens this small town. [Cynthia Citron]

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Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Female beauty: Torah, mythology, and ancient history

The passage I have chosen to explore is offensive to modern sensibilities:  Genesis, Ch. 12, vv. 11-13  “As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know what a beautiful woman you are.  If the Egyptians see you, and think, She is his wife, they will kill me and let you live.  Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remain alive thanks to you.'” Sarah was carried off by Pharoah’s officials, and placed in his harem.  According to the story, she was not violated, because of God’s intervention.

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Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles

Rejecting complacency, embracing our true selves

This week’s parasha teaches that to live a meaningful life, turning inward and reflecting on these questions are important, yet we may also have to ditch the links to our past and project a new course…guided by Torah as our road map to discovering our real purpose. We may have to leave our comfortable Haran to go to our Canaan, our Land of Israel. [Michael Mantell, PhD

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Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Michael Mantell

How U.S. benefits from alliance with Israel

The origins of U.S.-Israel security cooperation are in the Cold War understanding that the United States could not engage all the adversaries of all its allies and friends around the world. It was embraced warily at first — the Americans were unconvinced they would receive anything of value and the Israelis were concerned about continued freedom of action. But it worked. Israel went from being considered a net security consumer to a net security producer, meaning the United States did not have to expend resources to defend Israel. And Israel participated in making the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean regions more secure due to its presence. [Shoshana Bryen]

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International, Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USA

Chula Vista exhibit to focus on Holocaust survivors

Stephen D. Smith is the executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation, which houses the archive of interviews of Holocaust Survivors financed by movie producer Steven Spielberg.  He will be a special guest Jan. 12 at the grand opening of RUTH (Remember Us The Holocaust), a Chula Vista Civic Library exhibit named in honor of the late Holocaust survivor Ruth Sax. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

Suspense novel speculates on dystopian future

A character based on Theodore Kaczynski, the real-life Unibomber, is a dark presence in this book, as he sends bombs to people and institutions that he believes have been irresponsibly pursuing technological change without fear of the consequences.  This novel’s “Techno-Bomber” has even issued a manifesto, Kaczynski-like, inveighing against the direction in which scientists and industrialists are taking the world. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison