By Donald H. Harrison
NATIONAL/ INTERNATIONAL – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the sidelines of the international conference on Iran currently being held in Warsaw. Netanyahu thanked Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence for pulling together the conference in which “an Israeli prime minister and the foreign ministers of leading Arab countries stood together and spoke with unusual force, clarity, and unity against the common threat of the Iranian regime.” …. U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, has been making the rounds of Congress, apologizing to Jewish members including committee chairs Eliot Engel of Foreign Affairs and Jerrold Nadler of Judiciary. She also has been meeting with J Street and Bend the Arc. … U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson has ruled that Trump confidante Paul Manafort lied to special counsel Robert Mueller in the investigation about possible Russian collusion in the 2016 election. The finding may result in more years in prison for Manafort, who already has begun serving a sentence. … Anne-Sophie Sebban-Becache, Paris director for the American Jewish Committee, said a 74 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in France in 2018 over the previous year, means the French government must do more than routinely condemn it. She noted that a new survey confirms the prevalence of anti-Semitism within the ranks of the Yellow Vest movement. … U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent-Vermont) is again calling for a progressive tax system. He says, “We will no longer tolerate huge tax breaks for the one percent while children in this country go hungry; we will no longer tolerate massive tax loopholes which allow profitable corporations to stash billions in profits in the Cayman Islands and other tax havens, while veterans sleep out on the street.”
ISRAEL MATTERS – In balloting to determine the order of candidates on their list, Meretz party members chose Knesset members Ilan Gilon and Michal Rozin to stand first and second respectively …Daniel Sokatch, chief executive officer of the New Israel Fund, writes of his organization’s efforts to help the Bedouin people of the Negev Desert improve their lot: He writes, “Lakia is a Bedouin town in the Negev, home to 12,000 people, and surrounded by another 4,500 residents who live in adjacent unrecognized villages who would be incorporated into Lakia as part of the planning process. The project trains the Lakia municipality in securing development funds allocated by the government’s five-year plan to address socio-economic gaps between Bedouin and other Israeli communities. As is the case with other marginalized communities, these funds have largely gone unused because the application process is complex and virtually inaccessible to local municipal officials.” … Joseph Gitler, founder and chairman of Leket Israel, an organization that distributes food to the needy, says he is “delighted to be partnering with Wine on the Vine,” an organization that solicits contributions for the planting of vineyards, sharing the contributions with Leket Israel. https://wineonthevine.org/
SAN DIEGO – In a major endorsement, Congresswoman Susan Davis has announced support for the mayoral candidacy of State Assemblyman Todd Gloria, who faces opposition from San Diego City Councilwoman Barbara Bry and attorney Cory Briggs. When Davis was director of the Aaron Price Fellowship, created in memory of his grandson by the late Sol Price to introduce students from diverse backgrounds to the inner workings of government and business, Gloria was one of her mentees. … Michael Schwartz, executive director of San Diego County Gun Owners, is not Jewish, although his paternal grandfather was. He tells this story about his brother David Schwartz: “His first day in the dorms as a freshman at Tulane he got a phone call from a Jewish fraternity inviting him to a party. He told them he wasn’t Jewish and they hung up. The guy called back a few minutes later and asked him to come to the party anyway because everyone wanted to meet a guy named David Schwartz who isn’t Jewish.”
ELSEWHERE IN CALIFORNIA — Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D-San Fernando Valley) has introduced legislation to increase from 25,000 to 28,000 the number of Cal-Grants available to college students in financial need. Varying according to the degree of need, the grants average approximately $1,500 per year. If his bill (AB 542) is successful, it would cost the State of California an additional $4.5 million.
SIMCHAS/ HONORS – Seventy years ago today, President Chaim Weizmann, Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Herzog, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, and future Prime Ministers Moshe Sharett and Menachem Begin were among those all gathered for the inaugural session of the Israeli Knesset. Yosef Sprinzak became the first Speaker of the Knesset. … David Harris, chief executive officer of the American Jewish Committee, was presented with Japan’s Foreign Minister Commendation in a ceremony in New York with Japan’s Consul General Kanji Yamanouchi. … Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is considered a possible 2020 presidential candidate, is 77 today. … Carl Bernstein, who along with Bob Woodward, broke news of the Watergate scandal that ultimately ended with President Richard Nixon’s resignation, is 75 today.
OBITUARY – Funeral services for Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal, rabbi emeritus of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego, will be held at 1 p.m., Friday, Feb. 15, in the sanctuary of the Conservative synagogue, 6660 Cowles Mountain Boulevard. Learning the news Thursday of Rosenthal’s death, Rabbi Wayne Dosick of the Elijah Minyan in Carlsbad, commented: “A tragic loss for Judy and the family, for Tifereth Israel, for all of San Diego, and the entire Jewish world. Zt”l.” Congregant Bev Klein Turchin spoke for many at Tifereth Israel when she said, “Our family is devastated by this news. Len was our Rabbi, teacher, and friend.” In a note to their congregants, Reform Rabbis Devorah Marcus, Benj Fried and Martin Lawson of Temple Emanu-El wrote: “It is with profound sadness that we share the news that many of you have already heard. Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal has died and our world is impoverished for his loss. He was a dear friend to all of the rabbis here and an amazing partner in the ongoing work of creating meaningful Jewish life here in our corner of San Diego. … Cantor Alisa Pomerantz-Boro, International President of the Cantors Assembly, messaged “Baruch Dayan HaEmet (“Blessed be the True Judge). So sorry to hear this sad news. Zichrono Livracha (May his memory be for a blessing). Now the cantor at Congregation Beth El in Voorhees, New Jersey, Pomerantz-Boro had previously served with Rosenthal at Tifereth Israel Synagogue.
Other comments included:
Cantor Larry Kornit, Congregation B’nai Tikvah, Carlsbad: “He will live on in all those who learned from him.”
Rabbi Moshe Leider, Chabad of University City, San Diego: “So very sorry to hear that. He was a good man.”
Rebbetzin Nechama Eilfort, Chabad of La Costa: “May his family find comfort. He was a real mentsch.”
Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort, Chabad of La Costa: “Blessed is the true Judge. So sorry to hear this.”
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com
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