Jewish Trivia Quiz: The Shofar

Jews around the world will once again hear the sound of the shofar as Rosh Hashanah is celebrated this week. The shofar is typically made of a ram’s horn, but in Yemenite tradition the horn of a kudu is used. The shofar ceremony comprises two blessings followed by a series of blasts consisting of three different notes: tekiah–one long blast, shevarim–three broken sounds, and teruah–nine staccato notes. The total number of blasts is traditionally 100 for Ashkenazic Jews and 101 for Sephardim, with Yemenite Jews sounding 41 blasts. The shofar has also made appearances in popular movies, songs, and television programs, including which of the following? (To read more, please click the headline)

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Jewish Religion, Mark D. Zimmerman, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Actual year of Hebrew calendar quite debatable

Many people, secular and religious, of different cultures and worldviews, have attempted to calculate the age of the world. There is no agreement between them, simply because it is an impossible task. Christians, Muslims, and Jews have tried to do the calculation based on a literal reading of the Bible and have come up with different times. The following shows the impossibility by focusing on the widely used Jewish version.

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

Our Shtetl San Diego County: September 28, 2019

Items in today’s column include:  *How various public schools named for Jews rank academically *Archaeology in Israel will be subject of day-long colloquium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography *Political Bytes *Honorable Menschen *Passages By Donald H. Harrison How various public schools named for Jews rank academically SAN DIEGO  — Voice of San Diego recently published “A

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

‘Just Kidding’: Trump tries to be funny with Zelensky

Like most Americans, President Trump learned only recently that before Volodymyr Zelensky became the President of Ukraine, he was a professional comedian.

And not just a comedian – but a Jewish comedian.

So, with visions of lox and gefilte fish and brisket dancing in his head, Trump is planning to appeal to Zelensky as one jokester to another, in order to convince him to get politically damaging dirt on former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

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Joel H. Cohen, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Tuskegee Civil Rights Trail is dedicated

Friday, September 20, 2019, in the Tuskegee City Municipal Center, the 13-marker Tuskegee Civil Rights and Historic Trail was dedicated.  The Trail was the ten-year dream of Tuskegee University History professor and Archivist Dana Chandler.  The Trail will be included in the U.S. Park Service’s Civil Rights trails. The Trail came to be because of a biracial, multi-religious partnership in Tuskegee, Alabama.

It had been a long-frustrated dream because Dr. Chandler was unable to find funding to create the system.  Grant monies did not come through. State and local funding did not happen. Private funding seemed impossible, until, with indomitable persistence he spoke with the President of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, Jerry Klinger, about his idea. (To read more, please click on headline.)

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Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, USA

Our Shtetl San Diego County: September 27, 2019

Items in this column include:
*Gun Show this weekend and next year seem a legal certainty
*Political dots and dashes
*Jewish community conundrum: safety vs. welcoming the stranger
*Laura Walcher shares lighter memories of the ate George Mitrovich
*A speaking engagement at Congregation Beth Israel
*As we enter the Jewish New Year

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego Calendar, San Diego County

StandWithUs launches petition against NSJP anti- Semitism

  LOS ANGELES — StandWithUs has launched a campaign calling out National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) for spreading antisemitism, supporting violence, and violating free speech. This builds on a similar effort in 2018. The campaign features a petition against the National SJP Conference at University of Minnesota (UMN) being held November 1-3, social

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Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Our Shtetl San Diego County: September 26, 2019

Items in today’s column include: 
*Scripps Institution of Oceanography grad now in space
*Jewish Community Fundraisers
*Demanding the ‘perfect’ may impede progress
*Political Dots and Dashes
*Sports
*World War II collector auctioning Hitler memorabilia
* Mazel tov! Mazel tov!

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Donald H. Harrison, International, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions

Global Jewish population estimated at 14.8 million

As we prepare to welcome the Jewish year 5780, the number of Jews worldwide stands at 14.8 million, compared to 14.7 million in 5779. Of these, 8.1 million live outside Israel (including 5.7 million in the United States). In Israel, the number of Jews is 6.7 million (compared to 6.6 million in 5779). The updated estimates were published by Professor Sergio Della Pergola of Hebrew University in the American Jewish Year Book 2019. (To read more please click headline.)

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International, Judaism, Middle East, USA