SAN DIEGO (SDJW)– Next Friday evening, January 19, will be celebrated in San Diego and across North America as the Shabbat of Love. Locally the event is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of San Diego.
“Join us as we set the table for the largest Shabbat dinner celebration in North American history,” reads an invitation sent out by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ). “We welcome Jews of all ages, background, and identities to come together with your family, friends, and neighbors, to experience the sacred joy of Shabbat.”
Participants are requested to “host or find a dinner near you in partnership with One Table,” which describes itself as a nonprofit organization “dedicated to building community through peer-led engagement.” The promotion of Shabbat dinners has a goal of “everyone becoming producers of their own practice and Shabbat dinners to become catalysts for creating connections.” A 24-page Shabbat dinner guide is available via this website.
To find out more about the event and to register, click here.
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The Murray Galinson San Diego-Israel Initiative is bringing four Israeli professors to San Diego for the Spring semester. Two will teach at San Diego State University and two at UC-San Diego. “These classes give students the opportunity to learn about Israel through serious and balanced interactive discourse,” comments Susan Lapidus, MGSDII’s director.
Taking up duties at SDSU are Yoav Alon of Tel Aviv University and Dakel Shay Schory, who is on the faculties of Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Alon will teach in the History department and Schory will teach in the English & Comparative Literature department.
At UC San Diego are Dan Geva of Beit Berl Academic College, who will divide his time between the sociology department and theatre & dance; and Dan Rabinowitz of Tel Aviv University who will teach in UCSD’s anthropology department.
The visiting professorships of Alon are sponsored by the Jules & Gwen Knapp family; of Geva by Robin & Leo Eisenberg; of Rabinowitz by the estate of Joseph ‘Chickie’ Glickman, and Schory by Gloria & Rod Stone.
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The children of a parent who works full time for a Jewish organization such as a synagogue or Hillel or the Federation are eligible for a 50 percent tuition reduction in San Diego Jewish Academy’s K-12 program. A 25 percent tuition reduction is available for those parents’ children who enroll in the Early Childhood Education center.
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Seacrest Village Retirement Community is the place to go if you’re a senior looking to retire in a Jewish facility within San Diego County. But what if you’re a senior who lives elsewhere in the state or in the country? Where can you go? Annie Smith, a representative of Caring.com has forwarded to San Diego Jewish World a guide to Jewish Senior Living Communities, which may be accessed via this link.
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U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego) has announced a $12.4 million grant to the San Diego Unified School District to purchase 30 zero-emission, clean school buses to replace diesel buses. Shana Hazan, president of the San Diego Unified School District board, commented, “We are committed to reducing carbon emissions, improving air quality, and contributing to a healthier planet. Moving to an all-electric fleet of vehicles is essential to meeting these goals, and I’m grateful to the EPA for providing us with 30 new zero-emission school buses. We owe it to our children, and our children’s children, to leave the world better than we found it and this is an important step in doing just that.”
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San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera will deliver a speech about the state of his 9th Councilmanic District at 1 p.m., Saturday, Jan 27, at Wilson Middle School, 3838 Orange Avenue, San Diego. He also is urging people to volunteer on Thursday, Jan. 25, for the “We all count” campaign, which is “San Diego’s Point-in-Time Count, a 3-day statistically reliable, unduplicated count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless individuals and families across the county.” Sponsored by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, the count will help determine how much federal funding various jurisdictions will receive for homeless services. Click here to learn more and to register as a volunteer.
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Pam Glickman has a business in the La Costa neighborhood of Carlsbad called Pammy’s Pony Parties and Petting Zoo. As she describes it in the Chabad of La Costa newsletter, “I arrive with my animals at little children’s birthday parties, senior homes, graduation parties, and resorts in the area, to share my love of animals. I also do animal therapy with children and adults.” Here is a link to her company’s Facebook page.
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SDJW staff report