Why does a week have seven days?

My curiosity is over the origin of the seven-day week.  Understandably days, years, and months are marked by astronomical events.  Days are measured by sunset to sunset, or dawn to dawn.  Years are derived from the annual cycle of the sun.  Months are derived from the 29 &1/2 day cycle of the moon, simplified via reduction to a unified 28 days per month, plus addition of leap years to periodically accommodate the growing overage of days. The seven-day week doesn’t apparently have an astronomical connection.  Historically, scholars have considered the week to be a Hebrew invention, derived from its creation story. [Irv Jacobs, MD]

Why does a week have seven days? Read More »

Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion

Benny Gantz reaches out to all sides

Gantz seems to have learnt the trade. His speech last night when accepting the president’s charge to form the next government – now when Netanyahu has failed to do so – was excellent. It left many of us with the impression that here’s a man prepared to lead a united country, whereas the leaders of other parties, not least Netanyahu himself, are bent on fragmentation. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

Benny Gantz reaches out to all sides Read More »

Middle East

‘Great Torah Roll’ fun at Seacrest Village

Rabbi Leah Herz created a fun-filled Simchat Torah learning session called “The Great Torah Roll”  for residents of the Seacrest Village Retirement Community in Encinitas when she had the entire Torah unrolled and held by staff, volunteers, and residents, some of whom were in wheelchairs. [Donald H. Harrison]

‘Great Torah Roll’ fun at Seacrest Village Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

We must not grow numb to the Yazidi genocide

A few week ago, I had an opportunity to meet with six members of the Yazidi community, including journalists and activists. I must admit that although I knew and was very shaken when I first learned about the horrifying attack by ISIS on the Yazidi community in Sinjar, Iraq, listening to their account of what actually happened still stunned me beyond description. [Alon Ben-Meir, PhD]

We must not grow numb to the Yazidi genocide Read More »

Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USA

With Bereishit we begin learning Torah

The Maharal, Yehuda Aryeh Löwe of Prague, teaches, “that we are called to deal kindly with all of humanity and certainly not to cause harm to anyone’s physical being, financial welfare, or personal dignity nor to disgrace or diminish the Divine image in our fellow.” The diversity of humanity is a crucial component of this understanding. After all, we learn in 1:27 that G-d created mankind b’tzelem Elohim, “in [the divine] image.” [Michael Mantell, PhD]

With Bereishit we begin learning Torah Read More »

Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Sherlock Holmes and an anti-Semitic forgery

Star Trek script screenwriter Nicholas Meyer has appropriated the characters of Sherlock Holmes and sidekick Dr. John Watson from the long-dead Arthur Conan Doyle and has produced a detective mystery book in which the great sleuth travels across Europe in 1905 to learn who forged the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and why. [Donald H. Harrison]

Sherlock Holmes and an anti-Semitic forgery Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

State’s Ethnic Studies Curriculum awaits resolution

The state’s proposed ethnic studies curriculum was temporarily shelved in part because of objections from the California Jewish Legislative Caucus, the Anti-Defamation League, and other Jewish groups that the panel that created the document all but ignored the Jewish experience in the United States, while utilizing the curriculum to spread a false Palestinian narrative about Israel that includes support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS). [Donald H. Harrison]

State’s Ethnic Studies Curriculum awaits resolution Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Bibi’s mandate soon to expire, without results

We’re at the end of Bibi’s’ mandate, without any results. With more than a hint of desperation, and indications from within Likud that–while expressing support for their leader–individuals are maneuvering to be next in line. He’s produced another pledge, signed by the ultra-Orthodox, but not by Shaked and Bennett, that they’ll oppose any non-Bibi coalition that has the support of the Arab parties. [Ira Sharkansky, PhD]

Bibi’s mandate soon to expire, without results Read More »

International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

Davis joins Pelosi’s trip to Jordan, Afghanistan

U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (D-San Diego) was part of a delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) on a previously unannounced weekend trip to Jordan, where they met with King Abdullah II to discuss Turkey’s invasion of Syria.  The group also went to Afghanistan where they met with President Ashraf Ghani. [Donald H. Harrison]

Davis joins Pelosi’s trip to Jordan, Afghanistan Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, USA

A posthumous birthday salute to oceanographer Walter Munk

On what would have been oceanographer Walter Munk’s 102nd birthday on Saturday, Oct. 19, surfers gathered in a ring near the Scripps Pier in La Jolla while others gathered on the pier itself to honor Munk by tossing biodegradable flowers into the ocean.  San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Charles T. Clark reported that a seal “even made an appearance, jumping in and out of the water nearby.”  Often described as the “Einstein of the Oceans,” Munk died in February of this year.  The City of San Diego honored him in 2017 on his 100th birthday by naming a walkway along the beach of La Jolla, “Walter Munk Way.” [Donald H. Harrison]

A posthumous birthday salute to oceanographer Walter Munk Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, USA