Books, Poetry & Short Stories

Berkeley professor translates the Bible anew

Story by Donald H. Harrison; photos by Shor M. Masori BERKELEY, California – For some two dozen years, Dr. Robert Alter, now a professor emeritus of comparative literature at UC Berkeley, retranslated various portions of the Hebrew Bible.  He was distressed that most previous translations “were not only deficient, but I would say that they […]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Science, Medicine, & Education, Shor M. Masori

A Passover story for young readers

Can’t Start Passover without the Bread by Leba Lieder and Israel Drazin; © 2013; ISBN 9781481-995467; 30 pages, available via Amazon. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Our columnist, Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin, and his schoolteacher daughter Leba Lieder, created this storybook for children between the ages of 4 and 8.  It is a

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Travel and Food

Caroline Rothstein’s poems enchant at LFJCC

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — Caroline Rothstein’s poems were strong and brash, with unique imagery and vivid descriptiveness. She delivered them with the dramatic fervor of a seasoned actress.  They ranged in subject matter from love and personal trauma to world upheavals. The three dozen people who gathered in the Rehearsal Room of

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

The Haggadah seen through mystical eyes

Faith and Freedom, a commentary on the Haggadah based on the teachings of Eliezer Berkovits By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Hungarian-born scholar Eliezer Berkovits (1908-1992) was a highly respected Orthodox rabbi. He was educated in Berlin, Germany, where he received his PhD. He authored 19 books in several languages. He held

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

Man who coined ‘cli-fi’ exults over Jeopardy

By Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — Hollywood is catching up with my ”cli-fi” buzzword these days, if the popular TV show “Jeopardy” is any indication. Let me explain: On my cable TV set in Taiwan, where I can watch over 100  channels from around the world in over a dozen languages, I cannot get

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food, USA

Book Review: ‘kaddish.com’ by Nathan Englander

Kaddish.Com by Nathan Englander; Alfred A. Knopf; © 2019; ISBN 9781524-732752; 203 pages; $24.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – As a young man, Larry, bridles at having to sit shiva for his father and absolutely refuses to say kaddish for him for the year after his death. Instead, he arranged for someone in

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

Just What the Doctor Ordered: Moti’s Purim Story

(c) By  Leba Lieder and Israel Drazin     Page 1 The Purim holiday was around the corner and kids and mice everywhere were preparing their costumes and getting ready to give Purim gifts. Moti, a special mouse, wondered if he could find a Purim gift to give to someone. Page 2 As much as it was

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Trivia, Humor & Satire

What Elie Wiesel taught his students

Witness: Lesson’s from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom by Ariel Burger, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York © 2018, ISBN 9781328802699, p. 264 plus notes, $26. By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – Elie Wiesel (1928 – 2016), Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize laureate, perhaps best known for his memoir Night, and arguably the most well-known Holocaust spokesman of

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

Goldfaden, Lazarus celebrated at Astor Judaica Library

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — Abraham Goldfaden’s beautiful melody, Rozhinkes Mit Mandlen, opened the Jewish Poets of the Past program, in an arrangement for violin and viola, in which my daughter Myla Wingard played  violin, and I played the viola. This presentation, March 5, at the Astor Judaica Library of the Lawrence Family

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

Famous Jewish poets to be read March 5

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”  Emma Lazarus’ words on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty take

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

How Maimonides understood Torah

By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Unfortunately, most people of all religions only know what they were taught about their religion and the Bible that they learnt in grade school. Most of it is childish and wrong. It is a shame that people do not improve their knowledge about religion as they

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Book Review: ‘No Forgotten Fronts’

No Forgotten Fronts: From Classrooms to Combat by Lisa K. Shapiro; Naval Institute Press, © 2018, ISBN 9781682-472729; 348 pages plus appendices, notes, bibliography and index. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – During World War II, many people turned to The Washington Post for their news.  On the other hand, G.I.’s who were former

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA