Remembering Jerome Robbins
Choreographer Jerome Robbins was born this date (October 11) in 1918.
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Theatre, Film & BroadcastAn act of betrayal and infamy
President Trump’s decision to withdraw American forces from Syria may well be remembered as one of the most egregious and inhuman disasters that he has ever taken since he came to power. For a President of the United States to make such a critical decision with so many implications, simply based on a conversation with Turkish President Erdogan, not only shows his shortsightedness and total lack of strategic approach, but his inability to appreciate how that will adversely affect our friends and please our foes. We are already witnessing the unfolding disaster, and there are no words to explain how and by what logic the President of the United States in particular can take such critical steps, knowing how disastrous the repercussions of his actions would be. (To read more, please click on the headline.)
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Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USAOur Shtetl San Diego County: October 11, 2019
Items in today’s column include
*State creates fund to protect at risk non-profit institutions such as synagogues
*What our children/ grandchildren are reading
*Jewish War Veterans to honor returning active duty service members
*Political bytes
*Coming Our Way
(To read more, please click on the headline.)
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Travel and FoodYom Kippur is very different in Israel
Israeli families, students and really everyone who has not left the country for vacation, takes to the streets by foot, bike or scooter. The whole country, every city and every street becomes a park. They begin walking around at sundown and do not stop until the next sundown. There are picnics, there are gangs of 10 year olds on bikes, there are gangs of girls on skates, there are toddlers in the middle of the street, there are skateboarders pulled by bikers, there are old men and young men, women and children, sitting on streets and corners and talking, enjoying each other’s company. They have no food, they have no drinks, there is no trash. It is just pure joy to be outside without having to go anywhere and without having to watch out for cars. (To read more, please click on the headline.)
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Jewish Religion, Middle East, Sam LitvinOrigins of the Sukkot holiday
Leviticus 23:40 states that the Israelites should take four species on the first day and “rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.” While the Hebrew words used for the four species are obscure, the Jewish Publication Society’s 1960 translation defines them as “the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook.” An apparently separate command in verse 42 states, “Ye shall dwell in booths seven days.” The first biblical description of the implementation of this command is in the biblical book Nehemiah. It is entirely different than the way the holiday is celebrated today. (To read more, please click on the headline.)
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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionA Very Personal Trip to Prague
From the moment we entered the city, I felt the presence of the Jews who are no longer there. I wondered about every Czech person we met (and they were all lovely). Where were their parents or grandparents during the Shoah? Did they help or hide any Jews, or did they stand along the sidewalks and cheer the Germans as they entered the city? I loved the magnificent architecture, taking my photo next to a statue of Franz Kafka, walking the picturesque streets, but my soul couldn’t escape the past. (To read more, please click on the headline.)
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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Toby Klein Greenwald, Travel and FoodA unity government in Israel?
There are signs that Israel will be spared the nightmare of a third election. The politicians of the two major parties may be coming to their senses. Prime Minister Netanyahu, who engineered the second election less than a month ago, has realized that he lost mandates in this second round and, for all we know, internal polls may be indicating that he may fare even worse next time. His rival Benny Ganz of the Blue and White party also seems to sense that compromise is best. He has made it known that he’s prepared to join forces with Netanyahu’s Likud in a rotation as prime minister. (To read more, please click on headline.)
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Middle EastNotes on Torah Reading for October 12, 2019
This parasha more or less recapitulates Chapter 31, but in a poetic form recited “by Moses” before they are to cross the Jordan to enter the promised land. After the poem, prose text tells the assembled Israelites, that Moses will ascend Mount Nebo, overlook the promised land from the east, and die there. With a new curiosity for biblical poetry, I have explored its elements as expounded by Professor Emeritus Jeffrey Tigay of the University of Pennsylvania in his commentary on Deuteronomy, published by the Jewish Publication Society (1996). (To read more, please click on the headline.)
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Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish ReligionOur Shtetl San Diego County: October 10, 2019
Items in today’s column include:
*Google service places inappropriate ads on our website
*Lineup for “Tapestry” on Nov. 17 announced
*Nikki Haley featured in L’Chaim Magazine
*Political bytes
*Twelfth Night at the Old Globe
*Coming Our Way
(To read more, please click on the headline.)
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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USAShakespeare shines on a dark night
Every actor needs to keep some Shakespeare in his pocket for auditions. They must speak their speeches “trippingly on the tongue” (Ham 3:2) making Elizabethan iambic pentameter sound like their natural cadence. And every year, for the past eighteen years, the San Diego Shakespeare Society has presented Celebrity Sonnets in which eminent performers present verse from the Bard. On Monday, Oct 7, 2019, devotées and newcomers came out to the Old Globe for Sonnets and Speeches: A Celebration of Shakespeare’s Women. (To read more, please click on the headline.)
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Eric George Tauber, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & BroadcastRemembering Daniel Pearl
Journalist Daniel Pearl was born this date (October 10) in 1963.
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International, USAHounding the Headlines: October 10, 2019
Once upon a time, there was group of Kurdish Kangals who wanted to control the areas where they resided. Since those enclaves were located inside other countries, their rulers perceived these dogs as a threat, mistreated them, and derogatorily called them Curs. One of these countries was the land of the Turkeys. It once had reigned over a large empire. (To read more of this satire, please click the headline.)
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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireD’var Torah for October 12, 2019
This week’s parasha begins with “Listen, O heavens, and I will speak! And let the earth hear the words of my mouth!”
הַאֲזִינוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וַאֲדַבֵּרָה וְתִשְׁמַע הָאָרֶץ אִמְרֵי־פִי
The parasha immediately draws our attention to two key words, two essential capabilities, to key gifts, hearing and listening. To see that though, depends on two other facilities, vision and sight. Let’s understand this in the service of our striving to live a more fully engaged life, with more openness and receptivity to the world around us. (To read more, please click on the headline.)
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Jewish Religion, Michael MantellOur Shtetl San Diego County: October 9, 2019
Items in today’s column include:
*Congressional effort underway to protect San Diego’s clean water supply
*Jewish Studies events at San Diego State University
*Dr. Seuss Enterprises to debut Green Eggs and Ham on Netflix
*Political bytes
*Rabbi, recalling R-E-S-P-E-C-T popularized by Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding, says society needs more
(To read more, please click on the headline.)
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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast