An impeachment duet
“I feel petty
Oh, so petty
I feel petty, and full of spite.
And I’m ready
To defame the Dems I have to fight.
[Laurie Baron]
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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireA busy November for Friends of Israel Defense Forces
With the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) planning its Western Regional Gala on Thursday, Nov.7, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, and the San Diego/ Orange County/ Arizona chapter planning a local gala just two days later on Nov. 9 at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel here in San Diego, it’s likely to be a busy time for the local chapter’s board. [Donald H. Harrison]
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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego Calendar, San Diego CountyArab countries should pay for humanitarian relief in Gaza
The senator’s scheme to relieve their pain collapses when he proposes that funds for humanitarian aid there be diverted from the $3.8 million that America sends to Israel each year for military aid. Why Israel? Why not all the oil-rich Arab countries that spend their money on royal palaces and extravagant vacations? They launched the war of 1948 that sent Palestinians fleeing Israel in all directions or living mainly in Gaza and the West Bank. What is their responsibility? [Bruce Ticker]
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Bruce Ticker, Middle East, USAWhy the Tower of Babel offended God
One of the reasons that I think God might have been so angry at the people for building the tower, was because they misunderstood an essential piece of what it means to be close to God. There are most definitely some physical places and spaces where we may feel closer to God than others, but what the people building the tower failed to realize is that God can be found everywhere. [Rabbi Joshua Dorsch]
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Jewish ReligionParashat Noach can be a guide to Torah reading
Why were different divine punishments done in very different ways? For example, Cain was banished in Genesis 4:12 for murdering his brother Abel; Noah’s generation was killed with flood in Genesis 6-8; Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with brimstone and fire in Genesis 19:24, the builders of the Tower of Babel were punished by having their languages confused in Genesis 11: 7; Egyptians who enslaved Israelites died during ten plagues beginning in in Exodus 7. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionThe World War II bravery of remote French villages
The largely rural Vivarais-Lignon plateau enjoys a climate considered to be healthy during the summer months, resulting in the existence there of several hotels, children’s homes and convalescent centres for visiting tourists. In the winter, however, it was more or less cut off from the rest of the country by deep, long-lasting snow and its mountainous terrain. These conditions enabled the villagers to provide sanctuary for people – and especially children – seeking to evade capture and deportation to concentration camps. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, InternationalNoah is one of the world’s many flood stories
Scholars think that a deluge of such cataclysmic proportions was unlikely in the setting of the Land of Israel, given its topography. It is believed that relatively nearby Mesopotamia was a natural locale for the story. In fact, cuneiform documents and archaeology provide testimony for periodic inundation of the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Torrential rains, tornadoes, and the melting of snows in the mountains of Anatolia, in combination, have periodically flooded the valley and turned it into a huge lake. This area produced a number of flood stories in ancient times, including the Gilgamesh Epic. [Irv Jacobs, M.D.]
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International, Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish ReligionReflections on Halloween about zombies
These creatures project an image of ourselves that make us feel uncomfortable—a rotting corpse, reminding us about the power of death. Zombies have no redeeming qualities. Unlike vampires, you cannot have conversation with them at the dinner table. The history of zombies goes back to antiquity. [Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel]
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Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USAAn opening in Israel for hope
Benny Gantz will have his chance at this task. Much hangs in the balance. It’s the first time in over a decade that an Israeli politician other than Netanyahu has had such an opportunity. While it is far from clear that Gantz will be successful – the odds aren’t great, and Israelis may well find themselves returning to the polls for an unprecedented third election in a year – one thing is increasingly clear: something is changing in Israel. [Daniel Sokatch]
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Middle EastStandWithUs, Poway salute shooting victims
SAN DIEGO – The Jewish and general communities are honoring the memory of Lori Gilbert Kaye, who was murdered April 27 by a gunman who barged into Chabad of Poway and wounded three other people before running away and later being apprehended. Exactly six months after the shooting attack that wounded Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, 8-year-old Noya Dahan, and her uncle Almog Peretz from Sderot, Israel, StandWithUs San Diego focused on the victims at a gala which was themed “Standing Together Against Anti-Semitism.” [Donald H. Harrison]
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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, USACan the new government change Kosovo’s fortunes?
Notwithstanding their lack of experience in governing, the new leaders, Mr. Kurti and Ms. Osmani, are young, visionary, and understand the plight and the needs of their people. Even though they may not have, as of now, a fully articulated socio-political and economic development plan, they have the potential to serve their country’s interests best. They are not tainted with corruption and are committed to change the fortunes of their country, which faces multiple and profound domestic and foreign problems. [Alon Ben-Meir and Arbana Xharra]
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Alon Ben-Meir, InternationalWhat minds might do in prison
David Tabatsky had been working as a street performer in Japan when he received news that his father, a cantor, was gravely ill. He flew home but arrived too late. The experience, perhaps the guilt, sent him into a tailspin, and he did something very stupid: he mailed a small supply of marijuana to his address in Japan, figuring the weed would help him feel better. [Donald H. Harrison]
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, InternationalSunshine Boys shine at North Coast Rep
The genius of playwright Neil Simon shines at the North Coast Rep with his Sunshine Boys. Simon spins a story of an angry old comic and turns it into a brilliant comedy- drama with a laugh a minute. [Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel]
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Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & BroadcastOrthodox romance at Sea World
Dr. Ben Dishman, PharmD, who is retired as a psychiatric pharmacist from the Veterans Administration Hospital, enjoys visiting Sea World on the average of once a month. Besides seeing the animals, he likes to see love bloom among Orthodox Jewish couples who apparently consider Sea World to be a perfect meeting place for their arranged dates. [Donald H. Harrison]
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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA