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

Noura and the problems of immigrant families

Heather Raffo’s new play, Noura, the Old Globe’s West Coast premiere, unveils the story of a Chaldean couple who are Iraqi refugees. They’ve been in America for seven years, but are celebrating their first Christmas as American citizens. Their new passports sport new American names, Tareq is now Tim, Noura is now Nora, and their son, Yazen has morphed into Alex. While Tim seems happy with this development, Noura is resentful and doesn’t like the adaptation.

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Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

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