Student complaint alleges anti-Semitism at UCLA

University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) student Shayna Lavi and the StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department submitted a complaint against UCLA to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) on October 7. The complaint alleges that the university is in violation of its obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, due to the administration’s inaction in response to antisemitism experienced by UCLA Jewish students. (To read more, please click on headline.)

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Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Kapparot ceremony is unnecessary cruelty to animals

Yom Kippur has its own unique customs and traditions, and one of the most historically controversial customs involves taking a chicken and swinging it around one’s head. When I was a Hassidic youth, I recall getting up early in the morning before dawn to reenact the tradition better known as “Shlugging Kaparos,” or “Kapparot.” (To read more, please click on the headline.)

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Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, The World We Share

Humoring the headlines: October 7, 2019

Rudy Giuliani finally recognized that admitting the crimes the president is accused of is not a good legal strategy.  Therefore, he is concocting more subtle ways of conveying to foreign leaders that they should investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter for corruption.  Here’s a draft for a future call he plans to make to the Chinese Embassy. (To read more of this satirical column, please click the headline.)

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Play draws parallels between U.S. and Nazi Germany

For those old enough to remember the horrifying brutality and tragedy of the Second World War, Wendy Kout’s new play Never Is Now, the past is prologue” is almost too unbearable to sit through. Yes, it’s yet another Holocaust story, compiled from the testimony of ten Jewish survivors and presented by six actors, three men and three women, who change their personas as they switch from one character to another. (To read more, please click headline.)

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Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Love/Sick touches audience at Mira Costa College

nce again, the students of Mira Costa College and Theater School have brought us a winner. This time they explore the delightful, provocative depiction of many expressions of love. Through nine vignettes, John Cariani’s Love/Sick invites the audience into the most intimate moments between a couple, through the succession of two individuals. (To read more, please click on the headline.)

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Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Our Shtetl San Diego County: October 6, 2019

Michael Jeser, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, reports that $42,000 of a $100,000 fund to help Holocaust survivors already has been expended. “The first claim was filed in July,” he wrote in an email to Jewish community members.  “Since then, there have been 80 requests for emergency services … We were told that San Diego is accessing these funds at a faster rate than any of the other dozen communities who are part of this pilot funding program.” (To read more, please click on headline.)

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County

‘Just Kidding’: Trump seeks Israel’s help in election

President Trump has now added Israel to the nations he wants to supply him with information about possible scandalous or illegal activity on the part of political rivals.
 If Israel fails to do his bidding, he’s considering moving the U.S. embassy from Jerusalem back to Tel Aviv. (To read more of this satire, please click on the headline.)

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Joel H. Cohen, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Two rabbinic leaders disputed Torah in ancient times

Two Talmudic sages lived around 130 CE and disagreed on how to interpret the Bible. Rabbi Akiva won out, and Rashi, Nachmanides, and most ancient Bible commentators as well as most Midrashim follow his view. Others, such as Rashi’s grandson Rashbam, Abraham ibn Ezra, and Maimonides interpret the Torah as Rabbi Ishmael did. (To read more, please click on the headline.)

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion