By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO COUNTY (Monday, May 8, 2023)
Beth Jacob Congregation, whose spiritual leader is Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky, is among the Orthodox congregations and institutions that will be participating in a Lag B’Omer bech bonfire at 5 p.m., Tuesday, May 9 at Bonita Cove at Mission Bay, across from the Bahia Resort.
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How appropriate is it for elected officials to request contributions be made at their behest to charities for which they either work or have close connections to? In a “Watchdog” report by The San Diego Union-Tribune that examined the record of La Mesa City Councilman Colin Parent in his employment as the CEO of Circulate San Diego, reporter Jeff McDonald told also of other politicians who solicited money for favorite charities, including former San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. The article provided viewpoints ranging from those who feel such contributions are legitimate and those who believe they are a glaring example of a loophole in the state’s campaign finance laws.
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San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera plans to hold three forums in his 9th Councilmanic District to discuss the city’s proposed budget. The first will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Park de la Cruz, 3911 Landis Street. Another will be a Zoom discussion at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 18, and the last will be at 10:30 am. Saturday, May 20, at the College-Rolando Library, 6600 Montezuma Road.
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Judi Gottschalk, daughter of the late Holocaust Survivor Agathe Ehrenfried, is sponsoring a lecture at 5 p.m., Wednesday, May 17 at UC San Diego’s Holocaust Living History Workshop by Prof. Emeritus Peter Hayes of Northwestern University, who wrote, among other books, Why? Explaining the Holocaust. Required registration may be accomplished via this link.
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Political consultant Dan Rottenstreich has taken on the 2024 election campaign of Chief Deputy City Attorney Heather Ferbert to succeed her boss, Mara Elliott, who will be termed out. Rottenstreich is also consulting for Janessa Goldbeck in the Aug. 15 special election for resigning County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher’s seat.
CALIFORNIA
Mark Oppenheimer has been appointed as Vice President of Open Learning at American Jewish University effective July 1. Oppenheimer is a long-time host of the Unorthodox pod cast about Judaism and holds a doctorate in religious studies from Yale University.
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Major African-American political figures are gathering in support of U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) in her campaign against Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff of Burbank and Katie Porter of Orange County to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Lee, who also is African-American, most recently announced the endorsements from Stacie Abrams, the nearly successful gubernatorial candidate in Georgia, and Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the Assistant House Democratic Leader.
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NATIONAL
Closing arguments were made Monday, May 8, in the civil trial in which former President Donald Trump is accused by former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll of rape and defamation. Judge Lewis Kaplan had given Trump until late Sunday to decide whether he wanted to testify, but there was no response from Trump, who is represented by Joe Tacopina. Carroll is represented by attorney Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the federal judge. The case is expected to go to the jury on Tuesday, May 9.
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U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Florida) has requested that Republican chairmen Jim Jordan of the House Judiciary Committee and James Comer of the House Oversight Committee schedule a hearing on red flag laws—permitting states to seize guns of people who are dangers to themselves or others—at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 students and staff were murdered in 2018. In his written request, Moskowitz wrote: “I saw in person the aftermath of my high school where a mass shooting occurred. I saw what happens to a community when someone who is mentally unfit has access to a gun or can easily buy one, and I also saw that Republicans could enact ‘red flag laws’ and go on to win re-election.”
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Comedian Adam Sandler won MTV’s award for Best Comedic Performance Sunday night for his role in Murder Mystery 2.
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Barry Schneider, a past commander of the Jewish War Veterans, and Combat Antisemitism Movement Adam Beren were among speakers at the Oklahoma State House on Monday when Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a declaration declaring that every May henceforth will be designated Jewish American Heritage Month in Oklahoma. In Virginia, meanwhile, Gov. Glenn Youngkin also declared May to be Jewish American Heritage Month in his state and also signed a declaration adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism. Elan Carr, who served as former President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism, told attendees that the IHRA definition of antisemitism “is one of the greatest tools we have in our belt to combat Jew-hatred in all its various forms. I’m proud that the Commonwealth of Virginia has taken this practical step that will help educate our citizens on the antisemitic behavior that is often found hiding in plain sight. Hatred of any people group has no place here.”
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) says Senate Democrats will caucus on Thursday about what to do in response to a plethora of mass shootings in the nation. In a Tweet, Schumer commented: “The news of this latest mass shooting in Texas is horrifying. We pray for the victims, the survivors, their families, and the community, and thank the first responders. We must keep working to end gun violence in America. We must keep working for stronger gun safety legislation.”
INTERNATIONAL
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger told CBS interviewer Ted Koppel that China’s diplomatic initiatives may help bring the war between Russia and Ukraine to a close. He said: “Now that China has entered the negotiation, it will come to a head, I think, by the end of the year. We will be talking about negotiating processes and even actual negotiations.”
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Legislation working its way through Congress would authorize the U.S. Mint to strike commemorative coins with the visage of former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir on its face. Calling for issuance of the commemorative coins in $5, $1 and 50-cent denominations, the legislation was introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) and in the Senate by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) with bipartisan groups of sponsors. Among 20 people attending a kickoff event for the legislation were 20 members of Congress, including Jewish Democratic members Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Dan Goldman of New York, Jerry Nadler of New York, and Brad Schneider of Illinois. Juan Vargas, a congressman from San Diego, also attended. Meir was born in the Ukraine and spent her childhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, before moving to Israel prior to its independence.
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Former President Donald Trump at one point was so angry with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he uttered the expletive, “F**k him,” in an interview with Barak Ravid, an Axios correspondent based in Tel Aviv. Ravid’s book, Trump’s Peace: The Abraham Accords and the Reshaping of the Middle East” is now available in English, the news site reported.
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Nancy Spielberg, younger sister of film producer Steven Spielberg, has produced a documentary with Israeli filmmaker Tal Inbar, about a 2106 terrorist shooting at a Tel Aviv café. “It is important for us as Americans to understand what it is like for Israelis, who are survivors of these kinds of terrorist attacks,” she told the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS).
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Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com