Books, Poetry & Short Stories

Mother of two slain soldiers an Israeli inspiration

By Toby Klein Greenwald EFRAT, Israel — Miriam Peretz has become a legend in Israel and the translation of her riveting book, Miriam’s Song, written, with her, by beloved Israeli author Smadar Shir and expertly translated by Jessica Setbon, will now ensure that she becomes a legend in the English speaking world as well. I […]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Middle East, Toby Klein Greenwald

Jewish Orthodoxy and the modern world

Torah and Western Thought: Intellectual Portraits of Orthodoxy and Modernity by Rabbi Dr. Meir Y. Soloveichik, Dr. Stuart W. Halpern, and Rabbi Shlomo Zuckier, editors, Magid Books, New Milford, Connecticut;  ISBN 978-1-59264-436-0©2015, $29.95, p. 313, plus index and appendix By Fred Reiss, Ed.D.   WINCHESTER, California–Over its nearly 5,000 years of existence, Judaism has struggled with

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

Recognition sought for Gypsies as Holocaust victims

Johann Trollmann and Romani Resistance to the Nazis by Jud Nirenberg; KO Publications; (c) 2016; ISBN 978-0-9903703-76; 220 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Despite some problems in its organization, this is an important book for the Jewish community to ponder. Utilizing the story of Johann Trollman– a Sinto boxer who in 1933

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

LFJCC to feature Hebrew Day School poets May 17

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO –Seven students from the Soille Hebrew Day Middle School will be participating in the May 17, 7:15 p.m. Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices program at the Astor Judaica Library at the Lawrence Family JCC. Also reading that evening, will be a prize-winning student poet and playwright from Mesa Verde Middle School. Rabbi

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, San Diego Calendar

The Psychology of Tzimtzum

By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — When Don Harrison recently gifted me a copy of Professor Mordechai Rotenberg’s The Psychology of Tzimtzum, it, like most gifts, came with a string. “Michael, I thought you’d enjoy this book and I’m wondering if you’d be kind enough to write a review of it for our

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Michael Mantell, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Yiddish writer Rosenfarb’s works and life examined

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Perhaps if the late Yiddish novelist Chava Rosenfarb had lived to see how many people crowded the Seuss Room at UCSD’s Geisel Library to hear a discussion about The Tree of Life, her trilogy about life in the Lodz ghetto, the depression she felt over the fate of the Yiddish

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County

‘Shtum’: A family deals with autism

LONDON — “The only thing predictable about Jonah is his unpredictability,” says Ben, the narrator in Jem Lester’s debut novel “Shtum.” As he cautiously monitors Jonah, his profoundly autistic son, sitting in the back of a car Ben knows even a mere detour has the potential to cause Jonah anxiety and Ben “untold stress.” “Shtum”

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Science, Medicine, & Education

‘Lions mate with lions’ examines life of Francoise Gilot

When I met Françoise Gilot in London in 1968, she seemed impressively confident and highly articulate. Two things she said stick in my memory. One of her regular chores while living with Picasso, she recalled, was to get him out of bed every day around noon. Each time he was reluctant to begin a new

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Where Anne Frank’s ‘Grimm’s Fairy Tales’ Will Go

A copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales once owned by Anne and Margot Frank, their names inscribed atop the title page, sold at auction Thursday for $62,500 (including the buyer’s premium). The New York City–based Swann Auction Galleries said that “the sale represents the first major offering of Anne Frank material at auction in over two

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History