San Diego holds its first Sephardic Festival

I had to smile on Saturday night at the Sephardic Festival held at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center [JCC] this past weekend.  There was a short film, Our San Diego Sephardic Voices, about the Sephardim in San Diego.  One of the women interviewed said she was in a “mixed marriage” as her husband was Ashkenazi. Another woman spoke about the differences in food as the Sephardic eat much more rice than their eastern European counterparts.

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International, Lifestyles, Mimi Pollack, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food

Our Shtetl San Diego County: September 16, 2019

Items in today’s column:

*San Diego County teens, successful in past, may apply for Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards
*Bible, Holocaust, and Israel subjects of new books by local authors
*Barbara Bry gets backing of neighborhoods group in mayoral race
*Sukkot activity planning well underway in the county

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Saudi, Kuwaiti Airlines accused of illegal bias

“While we understand that [the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)] will not confirm nor deny the existence of any ongoing potential investigation into Saudia and/or KAC, it appears that both airlines have simply been left to continue operating in (and economically benefiting from) the United States while brazenly flouting the nation’s laws. Nearly two years after our last communication with BIS, we have yet to see any progress towards thwarting this implementation of the Arab League boycott on our own soil and protecting Israelis within our country from such discrimination.”

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International, Middle East, USA

Attack on Saudi fields most likely came from Iraq

It is growing more certain that the attacks on the Khurais oil field and the Abqaiq oil processing center in Saudi Arabia were launched from southern Iraq and not from Yemen by the Houthis. This was made clear by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who said “There is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen.” While Pompeo put the blame squarely on Iran, he did not say where the attacks originated. Meanwhile the Saudi Arabian Air Force launched retaliatory attacks on Houthis military sites in Yemen.

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Middle East, Stephen D. Bryen

Documentary skewers Roy Cohn, Donald Trump

His political education was heightened when Roger Stone (he of the eternal Trump scandals) took over as his mentor. And then Cohn passed on Stone’s teachings to Donald Trump. As Trump’s advisor he instructed him on manipulating the press. If the press reports it, “the public will actually quote whatever you say,” Cohn reportedly told him. When accused of racial biases, attack, Cohn said. Create phony issues; never admit you’re wrong; never apologize; rat out other people, but never put anything in writing. And to keep law enforcement off your back, apply “situational ethics.”

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Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Our Shtetl San Diego County, September 15, 2019

San Diego History Center in Balboa Park and author of The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle, told Rowe that instances of men playing females have long been considered family entertainment.  Furthermore, she said, “Some of the highest paid drag queens in the past have identified as heterosexual.  It has nothing to do with sexual behavior. It has everything to do with entertainment.”

All of which brings to memory that the 1959 Billy Wilder film, Some Like It Hot, one of the most celebrated movies ever to be filmed at the Hotel del Coronado,  starred Marilyn Monroe as a member of an all-girl band that Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon joined, in drag, in an effort to escape from some gangsters. 

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

‘Just Kidding’: An Israeli for U.S. National Security Advisor?

“I first thought of picking a Russian…among our many, many friends there, starting with Vladi, but the fake media would eat me up alive. They’re already raking my friendships there over the coals.
 
“So I’m looking elsewhere,all over the world, and, trust me, I remembered —  I have so much information to remember, but I’m a very stable genius. So I remembered that people born in Israel are called sabers. Now that tells you something: if you’re named for a sword, you’re a born fighter, and that”s the sort of person we need.”

(When Jared said,”Respectfully, sir, I believe the Hebrew word for a native-born Israeli is ‘sabra’,” Trump  replied, “What’s your point?”)

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Joel H. Cohen, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Was the biblical command to destroy nations cruel?

God commanded the Israelites through Moses to completely blot out the memory of the nation of Amalek. The command is repeated by the prophet Samuel in I Samuel 15. The only voice speaking against this apparent genocide is that of the first Jewish king Saul, who was strongly criticized by Samuel for not killing all of the Amalekite people and who lost his monarchy because of his apparently reasonable behavior.

Philo sidesteps the difficulty of the slaughter of an entire people by interpreting the entire report allegorically. Amalek is not a nation, but a symbol of the impassioned coward who strikes anyone he sees standing in his way. He hides until his enemy has passed him by, no longer looking at him. Then he rises and assaults what he perceives is his opponent’s weakest point. Philo was thus the first to introduce the idea that it is not the people that should be eradicated, but the nefarious self-destructive quality of Amalek that an individual must obliterate from his personality.

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

Graphic novel profiles World War II profiteer Joanovici

In the view of the Gestapo stationed in Paris, Joseph Joanovici was a “useful Jew,” because as a scrap metal dealer he could obtain and sell to the Nazis materials needed for the war effort.  At the same time, the French Resistance also thought he was useful because with the money he made as a Nazi collaborator, he was able to help the Resistance obtain weapons.  Additionally, he was able to use his contacts within the Nazi hierarchy to free from prison his employees and his Resistance associates.

Playing both sides, Joanovici had friends among the Nazis and friends among the Resistance.  He also had more than his share of enemies, who would be happy to kill him once he stopped being “useful.”

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History

Hate to rain on Greta’s parade, but I coined ‘cli-fi’

By Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — There are some novels and movies now that tell human stories about what climate change is like (or might be like) in the distant future. The genre is not sci-fi, but rather cli-fi, and it’s on the rise, according to Czech journalist Jaroslav Totusek at the Lidovky newspaper

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, The World We Share, USA