A rabbi’s questions for Ammar Campa-Najjar

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California –This article responds to an esteemed colleague who weighed in on the congressional candidacy of Ammar Campa-Najjar. Before beginning, I wish to make something clear: It is difficult to take incumbent Congressman Duncan Hunter seriously given his alleged illicit activities while he was in office. Frankly, he

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Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Biography recalls Cantor William Sharlin’s career

By Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel ENCINITAS, California — The distinguished Rabbi Richard N. Levy paid tribute to his colleague, Cantor William Sharlin in recognition of 30 years as originator and Director of the Department of Music at the Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. “William, you taught me the difference between davening and singing, between

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

Humoring the headlines: August 29, 2019

Donald Trump’s Endvironmentalism By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO- At the recent G7 meeting, Donald Trump claimed, “I’m an environmentalist.” Was the term he actually uttered “endvironmentalist?”  Here’s a fact check. * The G7 devoted a session to climate change and decided to partially fund the effort to extinguish the fires in the Amazon.  Trump neither

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Alhambra Sephardic Music Ensemble here Sept 15

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — The name, Alhambra Sephardic Music Ensemble, evokes visions of the Moorish citadel, the Alhambra, which still stands in all its radiant glory in Granada, Spain. There, In the 11th century, the Jewish Talmudic scholar, poet and statesman, Samuel Hanagid served for thirty years as minister to the Berber

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Eileen Wingard, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

5 Things to Remember Near an Active Shooter

By Douglas Parisi GARDNER, Kansas — We live in a time where we need to educate ourselves and our family on unfortunate events. It’s important to empower your loved ones to take action in active shooter situations, even amidst pangs of fear. This information is designed to highlight important conceptual aspects of readiness training. The

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International, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Notes on Torah reading for August 31, 2018

Re’Eh Deuteronomy Chapters 11:26-16:17 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — This  parsha focuses on blessings and curses, in anticipation of behavior after entering the promised land.  I have chosen a few passages, clashing with, or at least puzzling to, modern sentiments. I. Deuteronomy, Ch. 12: vv. 2-3  Moses commands, “You must destroy all

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Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion

Orthodox Jewry Is Changing

By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Professor Chaim Waxman, a prominent and highly respected sociologist of contemporary Orthodoxy, has made a superb assessment of the history, development, and current and future situation of Orthodoxy in his relatively short but comprehensive 178-page book, Social Change and Halakhic Evolution in American Orthodoxy, with 48

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion