Down Under they don’t trust U.S. media

I have a few email addresses from congressmen and senators in Washington. I sometimes get responses to what I send or have to say to them. Some of them have read the SDJW and have seen Alon Ben-Meir’s article entitled ‘Repercussions of Israel’s Fractured Democracy’ (nothing wrong with that article) and Bruce S. Tickers story ‘Impeachment unlikely to affect Democratic control of the House’???. So I won’t send Joel Cohen’s item entitled “Trump seeks Israel’s help in Election” because one or more dopey members of Congress might take it seriously and make an issue of it. (To read more, please click on the headline.)

Down Under they don’t trust U.S. media Read More »

Alon Ben-Meir, Bruce Ticker, International, Joel H. Cohen, John McCormick, Lawrence Baron, USA

Will a reelected Trump turn on Israel?

Only the naïve among us have ever believed that Donald Trump was personally committed to Israel and that his much heralded “deal of the century” would bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Skeptics saw through the charade and understood that his alleged commitment to Israel was primarily to get American evangelicals to vote for him. One was always left with the feeling that he didn’t care for Jews or the Jewish state. (To read more, please click on headline.)

Will a reelected Trump turn on Israel? Read More »

Middle East, USA

Cedars-Sinai hosts bat mitzvah for intensive care patient

Twelve year-old Numa Beron, a longtime Cedars-Sinai patient who has spent much of her life in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, recently celebrated her Bat Mitzvah, a coming of age party for Jewish girls, in the medical center chapel. Beron was born with lissencephaly, a degenerative brain malformation leaving her unable to stand or speak. (To read more, please click on the headline.)

Cedars-Sinai hosts bat mitzvah for intensive care patient Read More »

Jewish Religion, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

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.)

Student complaint alleges anti-Semitism at UCLA Read More »

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.)

Kapparot ceremony is unnecessary cruelty to animals Read More »

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.)

Humoring the headlines: October 7, 2019 Read More »

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.)

Play draws parallels between U.S. and Nazi Germany Read More »

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.)

Love/Sick touches audience at Mira Costa College Read More »

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.)

Our Shtetl San Diego County: October 6, 2019 Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County