Jewsraelis and other Jewish people of Israel

Today’s Israeli culture differs from Jewish culture at the state’s founding: Israel is more ethnically diverse, its Jews practicing along a broader spectrum of beliefs. They live mostly in cities, not on kibbutzim or moshavim. They are self-governing, speak a modern form of Hebrew, follow the Jewish calendar, and openly display rather than hide their identity. They live in a country in which they never have to fear de jure anti-Semitism. Israelis are rabbis and talmudic scholars, estheticians and economists, police and politicians, taxi drivers and technical wizards. [Fred Reiss, EdD]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East

First yahrzeit of Tree of Life Synagogue massacre

This Shabbat marks the one year anniversary of the massacre at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when eleven Jews were murdered during the Morning Prayer service.

The act of violence and hate that was supposed to instill fear in Jews had a somewhat opposite effect. Instead of staying away, the next weekend, millions of people, from all different faiths and backgrounds “Showed Up For Shabbat.” Synagogues were packed in what was a beautiful, comforting, and inspiring statement of solidarity and love for Jews, Judaism, and Jewish community, around the world. [Rabbi Joshua Dorsch]

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Jewish History, USA

Seacrest Village sells its Rancho Bernardo facility

Although it issued no news release to announce it, Seacrest Village Retirement Communities has sold its 56-unit Rancho Bernardo campus at 12730 Monte Vista Road to Pacifica, which will maintain it as an independent living community.
Michael Mather, Seacrest Village’s director of community relations, says residents of the facility have been able to transfer to the main campus in Encinitas, if they so desired.. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Marcia Berneger, San Diego County, The World We Share

Why does a week have seven days?

My curiosity is over the origin of the seven-day week.  Understandably days, years, and months are marked by astronomical events.  Days are measured by sunset to sunset, or dawn to dawn.  Years are derived from the annual cycle of the sun.  Months are derived from the 29 &1/2 day cycle of the moon, simplified via reduction to a unified 28 days per month, plus addition of leap years to periodically accommodate the growing overage of days. The seven-day week doesn’t apparently have an astronomical connection.  Historically, scholars have considered the week to be a Hebrew invention, derived from its creation story. [Irv Jacobs, MD]

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Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion

Benny Gantz reaches out to all sides

Gantz seems to have learnt the trade. His speech last night when accepting the president’s charge to form the next government – now when Netanyahu has failed to do so – was excellent. It left many of us with the impression that here’s a man prepared to lead a united country, whereas the leaders of other parties, not least Netanyahu himself, are bent on fragmentation. [Rabbi Dow Marmur]

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Middle East

‘Great Torah Roll’ fun at Seacrest Village

Rabbi Leah Herz created a fun-filled Simchat Torah learning session called “The Great Torah Roll”  for residents of the Seacrest Village Retirement Community in Encinitas when she had the entire Torah unrolled and held by staff, volunteers, and residents, some of whom were in wheelchairs. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

We must not grow numb to the Yazidi genocide

A few week ago, I had an opportunity to meet with six members of the Yazidi community, including journalists and activists. I must admit that although I knew and was very shaken when I first learned about the horrifying attack by ISIS on the Yazidi community in Sinjar, Iraq, listening to their account of what actually happened still stunned me beyond description. [Alon Ben-Meir, PhD]

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Alon Ben-Meir, International, Middle East, USA

With Bereishit we begin learning Torah

The Maharal, Yehuda Aryeh Löwe of Prague, teaches, “that we are called to deal kindly with all of humanity and certainly not to cause harm to anyone’s physical being, financial welfare, or personal dignity nor to disgrace or diminish the Divine image in our fellow.” The diversity of humanity is a crucial component of this understanding. After all, we learn in 1:27 that G-d created mankind b’tzelem Elohim, “in [the divine] image.” [Michael Mantell, PhD]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Sherlock Holmes and an anti-Semitic forgery

Star Trek script screenwriter Nicholas Meyer has appropriated the characters of Sherlock Holmes and sidekick Dr. John Watson from the long-dead Arthur Conan Doyle and has produced a detective mystery book in which the great sleuth travels across Europe in 1905 to learn who forged the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and why. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison