Subjects in this column:
* Nine Israeli professors join faculties at three area universities
*Traffic will detour during two days of construction at Schwartz Courthouse
* Republican Famela Ramos joins race to succeed Susan Davis
* ADL, Aspen Institute name Nathan Fletcher to Civil Society Fellowship
* San Diego’s New StandWithUs Director Has Roots in the Region
* Preliminary hearing Sept. 19 in Chabad of Poway shootings
Nine Israel professors join faculties at three area universities
SAN DIEGO – A total of nine professors from Israel will serve as visiting faculty on three area university campuses during the 2019-2020 academic year, according to Susan Lapidus, director of the Murray Galinson San Diego-Israel Initiative, named after the late San Diego philanthropist Murray Galinson.
Four will teach at San Diego State University SDSU, three at UC San Diego, one at Cal State San Marcos (CSUSM), and one will teach at both SDSU and UC-San Diego.
Gilad Shtienberg, an expert on climate change as well as Mediterranean coast life during the times of the Bible, will teach on the two campuses.
Others teaching at San Diego State University include Shuki Ben-Naim, an Israeli screenwriter whose credits include Nuyork, Urim Ve Tunim (Light and Truth) and Gioras Wife; Eran Feitelson, an expert on environmental planning and water policy issues; Luba Levin-Banchik, whose expertise is conflict and peace in the Middle East; and Moshe Zonder, a screenwriter for the popular Israeli televisin series Fauda.
Joining the faculty at UC San Diego are Jay Rothman, who teaches Conflict Resolution and Negotiation at Bar-Ilan University; Shimon Shetreet, a Hebrew University law professor and former member of the Knesset; and Marik Shtern, whose research has focused on the geography of Jewish-Arab relations in Jerusalem.
The lone Israeli teaching at Cal State University San Marcos is Nitzan Gilady, a filmmaker who won two Israeli Academy Awards for his feature Wedding Doll.
The nine professors will teach a total of 17 classes on modern Israel, according to Lapidus.
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Traffic will detour during two days of construction at Schwartz Courthouse
The U.S. General Services Administration has announced the temporary closure of Front Street between Broadway and West F Street for two days, Sept. 14 and 15, to install scaffolding on the exterior of the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Office Building. The Schwartz FOB is one of two federal courthouses in San Diego named for a former U.S. District Court Judge who was a member of our Jewish community. The other one is the Bankruptcy Court named for Judge Jacob Weinberger, z”l.
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Republican Famela Ramos joins race to succeed Susan Davis
The race to replace retiring Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) has drawn a Republican contender, Famela Ramos, who earlier this year had planned to run in a neighboring congressional district to oppose incumbent Democrat Scott Peters. Ramos, according to a story in the Times of San Diego by Ken Stone, was a founder of the Right to Try Foundation, “a nonprofit organization which accelerates access to experimental medication for patients with terminal diseases.” Ramos also has been described as a hospice nurse and anti-abortion activist.
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ADL, Aspen Institute name Nathan Fletcher to Civil Society Fellowship
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Aspen Institute have selected San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher to be in the 23-member inaugural class of the Civil Society Fellowship. Members of the inaugural class, drawn from across the United States, are “proven leaders with a broad array of concerns who have reached an inflection point in their lives where they are ready to apply their talent and skills to build a more civil society,” according to ADL spokesperson Jake Hyman.
“Civil Society Fellows will spend five weeks over the course of two and a half years in structured retreat – exploring their leadership, core values and visions for a more free, just and equitable society, as well as their desired legacies. Seminars created in text-based dialogue and experiential engagement will take place in Aspen, CO, Washington DC, Europe, the Middle East, and culminate in the southern United States to explore how issues of freedom, security, liberty and diversity play out in different contexts.”
Commented ADL’s National Director Jonathan Greenblatt: “At a time when our country seems to be more divided than ever and we are continuously presented with more and more complex challenges, it’s vital that we bring together the next generation of diverse leaders — individuals across the political and ideological spectrum — in an effort to develop innovative strategies and solutions to those problems. ADL, along with our partners at the Aspen Institute, is incredibly proud to welcome this inaugural class of Fellows, who undoubtedly possess the potential and tenacity needed to combat the issues that consume our society today.”
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San Diego’s New StandWithUs Director Has Roots in the Region
Although Yosef Condiotti, the new San Diego regional director of StandWithUs, only arrived in San Diego County last month, he is hardly a stranger to the area nor to some of its Jewish leaders. His family has had a significant relationship with San Diego ever since Reba Soches came from Barstow to study biology at UC San Diego and here met Steve Condiotti. The couple was married by Chabad of University City Rabbi Moshe Leider. Yosef’s older sister, Ruth Condiotti, was born in San Diego prior to the time his parents made Aliyah. Yosef, today 30, was born in Jerusalem. His maternal aunts live in San Diego County. Ellen Fox is the school director at Temple Solel in Encinitas, while Beth Palmer is a nurse practitioner at the Veterans Administration Hospital in La Jolla. Being himself Orthodox and having an aunt who is an educator at a Reform congregation has provided Condiotti with a trans-movement perspective. The idea, he says, is that whatever our differences, Jew need to unite against the anti-Semites in the world who hate us all.
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Preliminary hearing Sept. 19 in Chabad of Poway shootings
The suspect in the murder of Lori Gilbert Kaye, z”l, and the wounding of three other persons at Chabad of Poway on the last day of last Passover will have his preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, before Superior Court Judge Peter C. Deddeh. Anticipating many media requests in the case of defendant John T. Earnest, the court said it will allow one video pool camera and one print camera, as well as live streaming of the hearing.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com
Thank you for mentioning Famela Ramos
I know this young woman and she is strongly pro – Israel