The first female president of the United States faces her first major international conflict: Seeking to consolidate the Slavic nations of Eastern Europe, Russia has seized the three Baltic states—Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia—all members of NATO. That requires a response beyond just a caustic tweet or sharply worded press release. For the first time since the […]
A Looming War With Russia? Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, USAConverted Masters: World Famous Masterpieces with a Jewish Twist Artwork by Esty Frankel-Fersel and edited by Barbara Bensoussan. Menorah Books Ltd., West Hills, CA, ©2016, ISBN 978-1-940516-45-5, p. 150, plus artists credits, $44.95 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – What would happen if we took some of the world’s greatest Christian artists, gave them
If some of the great art masters painted Jewish scenes Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Trivia, Humor & SatireMinister of Education Naftali Bennet announced on Sunday this year’s winners of the Education Minister’s Prize for Jewish Culture in the field of literature: Haim Sabato and Sarah Friedland. The committee responsible for electing the winners wrote of Sabato: “His work […] reveals the world of the Sephardic traditions of Torah – in which sharpness
Winners of Jewish Culture Prize for literature announced Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Middle EastThe sacred work of Islam and the signature museum of Washington, DC will combine for an unprecedented exhibit this fall. “The Art of the Quran,” the first major exhibition of Qurans in the US, will open at the Smithsonian Institution on October 15, less than a month before the presidential election that will close a
Amid fraught election rhetoric, Smithsonian to open first major Quran exhibition Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Middle East, Travel and Food, USA
The Game Isn’t Everything: The reality beyond the arena by Bruce Lowitt; Barstad Communications; © 2015; ISBN 978153-4981126; 285 pages, $14.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Bruce Lowitt is an all-around sportswriter who covered the big NFL games for the Associated Press, and, later in his career, regaled readers with stories about sports
Human- interest writer plumbs real lives of athletes Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Bruce F. Lowitt, Donald H. Harrison, Sports & CompetitionsForty years on and plenty of challenges remain Rabbi Sally Priesand, front and center, is honored with an aliya at the 2012 Central Conference of American Rabbis convention in Boston as she celebrates 40 years since her ordination as a rabbi, surrounded by other women rabbis. Photos courtesy Central Conference of American Rabbis Rabbis Mary
Women in the rabbinate Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, USABy Dana Al Emam – Jul 27,2016 – Last updated at Jul 27,2016 Novelists and literary experts hold a seminar at Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation in Amman on Monday (Photo courtesy of Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation) AMMAN — Feminist literature tends to provoke both male and female Arab readers as it aims to shake the
Arab novelists share writing advice Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Middle EastCynthia Ozick lived through some of the best years of the New York intellectuals, and now regrets the waning of their influence. Writing for no money in tiny magazines like the Partisan Review, they commanded attention around the world. Ozick was a member of that community, or at least close enough to feel its power.
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson DOMEYROT, France — A book entitled A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss (published by Ballantine Books, New York, 2000) recently came into my hands by chance. The main subject – intrigues, violence and even murder in connection with trading on the stock exchange in early eighteenth-century England – is not one that would
Two novels about Jews in England Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
Karolina’s Twins by Ronald H. Balson; St. Martin’s Press; © 2016; ISBN 9781250-098375; 308 pages; $25.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – This novel intertwines a Holocaust survival tale with the combination of a detective mystery and a court room drama. Three stories in one. Lena Woodward, 89, engages attorney Catherine Lockhart and her
‘Karolina’s Twins’ is three stories in one Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
Story by Donald H. Harrison; Photo by Shor M. Masori SAN DIEGO – In the guise of an anonymous sales lady tending a display of books at Comic-Con, Sara Ann Varon watched as people laughed while they thumbed through copies of Bacon and Sausage. Varon was the illustrator of the children’s book written by Gabriel Smith.
Debut illustrator thrills as book sells at Comic-Con Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Shor M. Masori
El Deafo by Cece Bell, color by David Lasky; Amulet Books; © 2014; ISBN 978141-9712173; 233 pages plus a note from the author; price not listed. Story by Donald H. Harrison; Photos by Shor M. Masori SAN DIEGO — Written for elementary and middle school audiences, El Deafo tells the story of author Cece Bell
Deaf author at Comic-Con tells of break- through book Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Science, Medicine, & Education, Shor M. Masori
The Story of My Tits by Jennifer Hayden; © 2015; Top Shelf Productions; ISBN 978160-3090544; 340 pages; $29.99 Story by Donald H. Harrison; Photo by Shor M. Masori SAN DIEGO –When she was a young teenager, Jennifer Hayden was frustrated that she had remained flat chested while many of her classmates had already bloomed. But
Comic-Con speaker shares memories of her mammaries Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego CountyParenting in Perspective: Timeless Wisdom, Modern Applications by Rabbi Barry Kislowicz, Maggid Books, New Milford, CT, ©20156, ISBN 978-159-264-456-8, p. 171, plus appendices, $22.95 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – How do we learn to be parents? It’s not taught in high school or college; so do we learn by mimicry? Trial by fire?
Raising children? This book might help Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD