By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — For many of us (of a certain age) the Settlement Cook Book was the first cook book we bought or received as a wedding gift. I bought my copy, 4th edition, published in 1910, with over 600 pages, within weeks of getting married and used it until it fell […]
Settlement Cook Book helped immigrants Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short StoriesThe Weekly Mitzva by Binyamin Tabory, Maggid Books, Jerusalem; ISBN 978-1-59264-435-24 ©2015, $24.95, p. 228 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California–A mitzva is a religious commandment. Traditional Judaism expects that each person will, to the best of his or her ability, fulfill in letter and spirit the 613 commandments identified in the Torah, the Five Books of
How to interpret, understand the mitzvot Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion
By Ryan M. Greiss NEW YORK — The Jerusalem-based nonprofit Shavei Israel has launched a Portuguese-language e-book called “Do You Have Jewish Roots?” offering a practical guide to uncovering one’s Jewish ancestry. The unprecedented 109-page guide is aimed at assisting the millions of people in Brazil, Portugal and elsewhere who may have a long-lost Jewish lineage.
Helping Portuguese, Brazilians, others find Jewish roots Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish ReligionLessons in Leadership: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Maggid Books, Jerusalem; ISBN 978-1-59264-432-2 ©2015, $18.00, p. 311 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in a 1964 ruling on a pornographic film, said, “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of
Torah teaches about leadership Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion
Blood of the Band: An Ipai Family Story by David L. Toler, Jr.; Sunbelt Publications, © 2015; ISBN 978-1-941384-12-1; 285 pages, including index; $19.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –This is a story of the San Pasqual band of Ipai Indians. The Ipai are the western branch of the Kumeyaay Nation, as opposed to
The Ipai and the Jews Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County
Ruth: Woman of Valor by Jim Baumgardner; Baumgardner Press, Wichita, Kansas (c) 2015; ISBN 978-0-98841-075-6; 371 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Two years ago on these pages, we reviewed Jim Baumgardner’s fictional biography of Queen Esther. Now comes another novel based on the Bible: Ruth: Woman of Valor. Most of the time
Filling in the blanks in the Book of Ruth Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. HarrisonOne Nation Under Gods: A New American History, by Peter Manseau. Little, Brown and Company. 2015, 469pp By David Strom SAN DIEGO — At the founding of our nation over 20 percent of African slaves were Moslem. Their number dwarfed the number of Catholics or Jews living in the colonies. The third president of the
Historian traces religious diversity in the U.S. Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, USA
Piece of Mind by Michelle Adelman; W.W. Norton & Company; ISBN 978-0-393-24570-7; 304 pages, $25.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – I was enchanted by this novel by Michelle Adelman, who is a teacher here in San Diego. It tells the story of a brain-damaged woman from that woman’s interesting, often humorous, and at
Novel provides insight into the brain- injured Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. HarrisonThe Castles and the Crown, Spain 1451-1555, by Townsend Miller, Published by Coward-McCann, Inc., 1953 By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — I first read this book several decades ago and since have read it twice more finishing my third reading of it in this last week. It was as fresh and as exciting a tale
From the Jewish library: ‘The Castles and the Crown’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International
Together We Can Do More: The Leon Williams Story by Lynne Carrier; 2015; Lynne Carrier and Montezuma Publishing; ISBN 978-0-7442-3808-2; 223 pages including notes and index. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – This biography of Leon Williams, who was the first African-American to serve on the San Diego City Council and scored another such
Leon Williams biography a lesson in civil government Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County
Tempting The Devil in the Name of God: The Heavy Hand of Fate by Howard Beckman; Inspire on Purpose Publishing; 2012-2015; ISBN 978-1-941783-24-8; 373 pages, $19.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – One of my favorite apocryphal stories concerns the Jewish woman who traveled to India to see the guru. She was told that
Drug dealer becomes a spiritual leader Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish ReligionMy Grandfather Would have Shot Me, by Jennifer Teege and Nikola Sellmair. The Experiment, Pub. 2015, 221pp By David Strom SAN DIEGO — At the age of 38 Jennifer Teege was at the Hamburg central library. There she glanced at a book with a red cover and was drawn to it. From photographs in the book,
Mixed-race descendant of Nazi murderer tells of life Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish HistoryRashi: The Magic and the Mystery by Avigdor Bonchek, Gefen Publishing House, New York; ISBN 978-965-229-779-2 ©2015, $18.00, p. 132, plus Appendix, References and Index of Interpreted Verses By Fred Reiss, Ed.D WINCHESTER, California — Torah Commentator Rashi, the acronym for Shlomo Yitzchaki, stands at the head of a long line of revered Jewish sages. For instance,
Why Rashi wrote sometimes and refrained at others Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion
More Than Enough: A Passover Story by April Halprin Wayland, illustrated by Katie Kath; Dial Books for Young Readers © 2016; ISBN 978-0-8037-4126-3; $16.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — We received at San Diego Jewish World a book to be read to children that either came to our mailbox quite late or extremely
Many reasons for happy children to say ‘Dayenu’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion