Books, Poetry & Short Stories

Nehemiah, a builder with political savvy

Nehemiah: Statesman and Sage by Dov S. Zakheim, Maggid Books., New Milfored, CT, ©2016, ISBN 978-1-59264-369-1, p. 246, $27.95 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California –  In 586 BCE, Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, overlooking the city of Jerusalem, capital of the Judean monarchy, standing on Mt. Scopus, the present home of the Hebrew University, watched as his […]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History, Jewish Religion

A Jewish primer laced with spiritual encounters

The Wondering Jew: My Journey into Judaism by Ellen Brazer; TCJ Publishing; ISBN 9780693-739945; 188 pages including book club questions, $12.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Novelist Ellen Brazer (Clouds Across the Sun; So It Was Written; Hearts of Fire) has authored a primer on the Jewish religion, perhaps as much for her

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion

A Leonard Nimoy biography for kids

Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy by Richard Michelson, illustrated by Edel Rodriguez; Alfred E. Knopf publisher; ISBN 9781101-933329;  28 pages, including author’s note, $17.99. SAN DIEGO – With all the ongoing celebrations of Star Trek’s 50th anniversary, the youngsters in your life may be wondering what all the hoopla is about.  This short well-illustrated

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Author Jennifer Weiner to launch S.D. Jewish Book Fair

LA JOLLA, California (Press Release) – To launch San Diego’s 22nd Annual San Diego Jewish Book Fair, a preview event will be held at 7 p.m., Thursday, October 20 with #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner, author of soon-to-be-released, Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing.  The event will be held at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, San Diego Calendar

Ex-pope Benedict says he wasn’t much good at governing the Vatican

Rome (dpa) – Former Pope Benedict XVI says he struggled with “practical government” at the Vatican, according to advance extracts from a book due out on Friday which were published by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. “A weak point of mine is perhaps my lack of resolve in governing and taking decisions,” Benedict says in

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International

Raising thrifty and generous children

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Press Release)–From piggy banks to that first savings account, many children are taught the value of saving from an early age. But as they grow to adolescence, following parental advice sometimes gives way to peer or media influences, and those once-thrifty children are now teenagers in a consumer-driven world where spending, not saving,

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, USA

Insight into some secrets of suburban life

Bertrand Court by Michelle Brafman, © 2016 Prospect Park Books;; ISBN 978193-8849800; 255 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –Bertrand Court might be found in any suburban city of the United States; its characters are as familiar as your next door neighbors.  Through Brafman’s fictional work, however, you may gain keener insight into your

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Letters take readers inside the Holocaust

Every Day Lasts A Year: A Jewish Family’s Correspondence From Poland edited by Christopher R. Browning, Richard S. Hollander and Nechama Tec;  Cambridge University Press; © 2014; ISBN 9781107-668768; 290 pages including index. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Richard Hollander, one of the editors of this work, is the son of Joseph Hollander,

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History

In time of future disaster, there still will be humor

By Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, TAIWAN –Aaron Thier is a 30-something writer born and bred in western Massachusetts, and his latest novel Mr. Eternity has just been published by Bloomsbury in New York. The time-travelling novel is both a comic novel and very serious novel at the same time, and it has been characterized already by readers as literary

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories

In this memoir, pork is a gateway to assimilation

Treyf: My Quest for Identity in a Forbidden World by Elissa Altman; New American Library; 2016; ISBN 9780425-277812; 283 pages; $26. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – What is not kosher is treyf, literally meaning “torn” but generally meaning “forbidden” and one might anticipate that in Elissa Altman’s memoir, subtitled “My Quest for Identity

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Art detective tracks down works of great grandfather

Chasing Portraits by Elizabeth Rynecki; New American Library, © 2016; ISBN 978110-1987667; 387 pages; $27. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Coming this September is an art history book that fans of detective stories also may enjoy.  Elizabeth Rynecki’s great-grandfather, Moshe Rynecki, was a well-known artist, although not on the order of a Chagall

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Comic-Con: Yes, wild and crazy, but educational too

  By Marsha Sutton Originally published in the Del Mar Times SAN DIEGO — Behind the craziness of Comic-Con is a hidden world of education panels that offers tips and insights into trends in teaching tools, strategies for improved classroom learning, and support for victims of bullying. The panel titled “Capturing the Imagination of Middle-Grade Readers”

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Venice welcomes back Shylock in marking its Jewish history

Last week, an international, multilingual cast performed Shakespeare’s controversial play, “The Merchant of Venice,” in the secluded main plaza of the city’s historic Jewish Ghetto. It was the first time the play was performed in the iconic location. Enclosed by tall tenements and the arched windows of 16 th-century synagogues, audiences — US Supreme Court

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History