A longtime community leader and active JCF volunteer, Levinson succeeds outgoing Board Chair Tina Beranbaum, whose leadership helped guide the Foundation through a period of significant growth and impact. [Press Release]
JCF announces new board chair & 4 members Read More »
Business & Finance, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, Press Release, San Diego County, USA
Lost and Found was the title of the August 9 matinee Summerfest concert featuring a program of unfamiliar music by familiar composers. [Eileen Wingard]
Summerfest performs famous composers’ forgotten works Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Zalman Schachter (August 17, 1924 – July 3, 2014) was an American rabbi, writer, and activist, and one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement and an innovator in ecumenical dialogue. [Wikipedia]
Today’s Jewish birthday: Zalman Schachter Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia
The discovery was made during World War II. It saved millions of lives. The use of penicillin raised humanity to a higher standard of living and health. To bring such a great idea to fruition required a skilled master tenacious, meticulous, demanding champion of the quest for a stable drug, a conductor of the molecular world. (Alex Gordon)
Camp also gives young people something incredibly important: ownership. Campers become counselors. Counselors become leaders. Young people move from participating in Jewish experiences to creating them for others. Camp becomes a laboratory where Judaism can be interpreted, adapted, experimented with, and made their own. [Betzy Lynch]
The lasting value of Jewish camp Read More »
Jewish History, Lifestyles, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors
We have a beautiful phrase in our tradition: shalom bayit, peace in the home. It is worth protecting. But many couples turn it into something it was never meant to be. They think it means a home with no conflict. So, every argument feels like a failure, and they measure how far they fall from a peace that exists nowhere. (Jené Verchick)
‘Shalom Bayit’ doesn’t ask you to be perfect Read More »
Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Eydie Gormé (August 16, 1928 – August 10, 2013) was an American singer who achieved notable success in pop, Latin, and jazz genres. She sang solo and in the duo Steve and Eydie with her husband, Steve Lawrence, on albums and television. She also performed on Broadway and in Las Vegas and was an occasional actress. [Wikipedia]
Today’s Jewish birthday: Eydie Gorme Read More »
Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia
Iceland had a population of about 115,000 in 1935. By the end of the decade Reykjavik’s population of about 28,000 included three “Jewish” musicians from Germany and Austria. (Oliver B. Pollak)
3 musicians find refuge from Nazi persecution in Iceland: A review of a review Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Oliver Pollak, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food
What makes The Israel Bible unique and special is its unapologetic centering of the entire Tanakh around three interlocking realities: the Land of Israel, the People of Israel, and the God of Israel. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
The Israel Bible pays particular attention to Holy Land geography Read More »
Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Stanley Milgram (August 15, 1933 – December 20, 1984) was an American social psychologist who conducted controversial experiments on obedience in the 1960s during his professorship at Yale. [Wikipedia]
Today’s Jewish birthday: Stanley Milgram Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia
What I liked most about Maus was that Vladek isn’t shown as a perfect hero. He is smart and resourceful, and he does whatever he can to survive, but he can also be cheap, stubborn, and difficult. Sometimes I didn’t really like him. That actually made the story feel more real to me. Surviving the Holocaust didn’t turn him into a perfect person. [CeCe Acosta]
Student book review: Maus by Art Spiegelman Read More »
Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined ContributorsShabbat Shoftim is often called the Shabbat of Justice. Its opening words set the tone: Shoftim v’shotrim titen lekha — “You shall appoint judges and officials for yourselves.” Not for some distant ideal, but for yourselves. The pursuit of justice begins at home, in the quiet decisions we make about how we treat one another. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]
Parsha Shoftim: Pursuit of justice begins with cleaning up your own act Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Finally, my mother agreed to put the ring in a safe deposit box, with the promise to give it to my future fiancé. And that is what she did 20 years later, when she handed it to my spouse-to-be — for him to hand to me. [Karen Galatz]
Matzo Chronicles: With this ring, I thee lie? No, no. That’s not how the wedding vows go Read More »
Jewish Religion, Karen Galatz, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, Trivia, Humor & Satire
On Sunday, following months of hard work by many human hands, more than 200 Jewish young adults came together to start building something new and totally their own. From every corner of the county and across the spectrum of Jewish experience, these proudly Jewish San Diegans, ages 25 to 40, showed up for the launch of Mosaic, a new community of communities created and curated by young people for themselves and others like them. They came searching for Jewish experiences and wanting to belong, to feel seen, valued, and heard in a Jewish space that meets them where they are. [Heidi Gantwerk]
‘Mosaic,’ for Jews 25-40, launched under Jewish Federation auspices Read More »
Heidi Gantwerk, Lifestyles, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA