Notes on Torah reading for October 5, 2019

This passage led me to explore whether other ancient conquerors also made such a claim that their gods marched with them. In exploring the internet, I found no such claims for other nations. There, in fact, is the story in II Kings 3:27 that King Mesha of Moab, about to suffer a military defeat, sacrificed his eldest son, followed by withdrawal of the appalled enemy.

The Internet did yield a review of the military mights of “10 of the Greatest Ancient Warrior Cultures…” Hereby I offer you a sample of their military actions. (To read more, please click on the headline).

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International, Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion, Middle East

D’var Torah for October 5, 2019

Remember leaving services last Yom Kippur, the grandeur of Neilah upon us, filled with promises to live better lives? Yet so soon afterwards many old habits reemerged – maybe even before that first morsel of food was swallowed, after the long fast. Like January’s New Year’s resolutions to “eat less and move more” that quickly fade before February, we make promises to transform during the Days of Awe, that are fleeting and short-lived. We’re human. We are filled with introspection, we repent, we make promises, and then fall asleep until the next Yom Kippur. And here we are again. (To read more, please click on headline.)

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Humoring the Headlines: October 2, 2019

Foecabulary: Donald’s Dictionary of Demonization By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO−Donald Trump released the latest edition of his Dictionary of Demonization. Here’s some of the new entries: Spy=a whistleblower who follows protocol in filing a report. Presidential Harassment=Constitutional Congressional Oversight over the Executive Branch. Perfect=Incriminating. Scum=Fake News wasn’t sufficiently polarizing. Coup=Impeachment Inquiry. Favor=Extortion. A Civil War

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Its people and geography make Israel special

Like every country, Israel has its advantages and its disadvantages. One of the former is its climate, which is on the whole pleasant (at least in Jerusalem) with sunny days throughout the summer, often with cool evenings and nights. It also has a long coastline giving most of the population access to the sea with all its benefits.

Considering its small size, the country encompasses a particularly wide range ofinteresting geographical features, with hilly areas in the north, and even mountains on which one can ski in winter. (To read more, please click on the headline)

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East

Almost Famous is a wild road trip

ven The Beatles came from humble beginnings. They rehearsed in the garage of Pete Best, their original drummer, because his mum would let them. But for every band that makes it in show biz, there are 999 that vanish into obscurity. Of all the movies to make the transition from screen to musical theatre stage, Almost Famous is a natural fit. My guest is himself the manager of a Punk band and he said this story makes him cry every time.

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Eric George Tauber, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Self- esteem key to women’s progress in Morocco

By Lailah Said and Victoria Burns AGERZRANE, Morocco–“I do not love myself.” “I do not feel confident in myself.” Imagine feeling this way about yourself. Now imagine hearing this from your mother, sister, or daughter, and knowing that the negative self-conception that they hold within themselves is due to social and cultural constraints beyond their

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International, Lifestyles, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Holocaust survivors remember childhood traumas

Survivors of the Holocaust: True Stories of Six Extraordinary Children, edited by Keith Shackleton, illustrated by Zane Whittingham; Sourcebooks, © 2019; ISBN pending, 96 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –This set of six memoirs, illustrated cartoon style, is intended to make the Holocaust accessible to children ages 10 and up. Today living in

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History

Arab support for Gantz a sign Jewish – Arab relations improving?

Ten Knesset Members of the United Arab List advised the President to select Beny Gantz as the next Prime Minister. Three other MKs of that list refused to select anyone as the next Prime Minister.

What we’re seeing is another element of the Israelization of the Arab citizens of Israel.

And the approach of many other Arabs to support some kind of accommodation with Israel.

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Holocaust answers in de Wind memoir

Not all members of today’s de Wind family, although all descendants of the Patriarch Issachar, are Jewish.

After a “mini-diaspora” from “Holland” in the late 1800s and early 1900s to places as close as Belgium and Spain and as far as Asia and the Americas, the Levys-de Winds married into other nationalities, ethnicities and religions.

But most have never forgotten their Jewish roots.

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorian de Wind, International, Jewish History

It’s Siberia, Not Walden

Where they live there is no horizon. There is only the dazzling white snow that stretches all around them as far as the eye can see. And then it transforms seamlessly into a sky that is exactly the same color. The white world encloses them like goldfish in a glass bowl.

The film is called Aga, and it was written and directed by Milko Lazarov. It is Bulgaria’s entry into the 2019 Academy Awards competition as Best International Feature Film and it has already won four major awards at European film festivals

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Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Our Shtetl San Diego: September 29, 2019

Japanese-born artist JUURI is painting a portrait of Hannah Senesh, the Israeli pioneer who parachuted behind Nazi lines to help Hungarian Jews and was captured and  killed.

The mural is being installed at the Super Block building at 15th and F and will be the subject of  tours from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4, as part of the Women Who Paint Festival. Tours begin at 889 Park Boulevard.

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Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County