Books, Poetry & Short Stories

Veracity questioned of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz’

By Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — In a personal blog post I published in September I asked my readers if the current bestseller The Tattooist of Auschwitz, a Holocaust sex and romance “novel” concocted by a well-intentioned but somewhat nervy non-Jewish screenwriter in Australia, was ever going to be called in question by literary critics […]

Veracity questioned of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History

Book review: ‘The New American Judaism’

The New American Judaism: How Jews Practice Their Religion Today by Jack Wertheimer, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, © 2018, ISBN 978-0-691-18129-5, p. 272 plus bibliography and index, $29.95.   By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – American Jewry is balkanized, divided into denominations ranging from the Haredi, who scrupulously and meticulously strive to obey both the

Book review: ‘The New American Judaism’ Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion

This life in academia makes for pleasant reading

Holocaust Survivor to Harvard Dean: Memoirs of a Refugee’s Progress by Michael Shinagel © 2016, Xlibris, ISBN 9781524-509606; 150 pages plus Index; Available on Amazon. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO —  Having served for nearly four decades as dean of the Harvard Extension School – the longest known deanship in Harvard’s history – author

This life in academia makes for pleasant reading Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education

Vicious politics, betrayal, divide fictional college faculty

All Quiet on the Midwestern Plains by Dorothea Shefer-Vanson © 2018, ISBN9781723-871801, 399 pages plus acknowledgements, available on Amazon. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – My colleague, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, has written a novel based in part upon the time that she and her husband Yigal had come to the American Midwest together while he

Vicious politics, betrayal, divide fictional college faculty Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

Online dealers sell historic Judaic, Nazi artifacts

By Oliver B. Pollak RICHMOND, California — Combining the keyword “Hitler” and “Highest Price” on AbeBooks founded in 1995 and owned by Amazon since 2008 produces an amazing Judaica juxtaposition priced between $180,000 and $527,815. For less than $1.5 million you could own three unique 20th century works on Palestine, Mein Kampf and Einstein, and

Online dealers sell historic Judaic, Nazi artifacts Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak, Science, Medicine, & Education

Book details the battles over Nazi-looted art

A Tragic Fate: Law and Ethics in the Battle Over Nazi-Looted Art (2017) by Nicholas M. O’Donnell By Herbert I. Lazerow SAN DIEGO — This is a terrific book that everyone should read. Nicholas O’Donnell’s book begins by describing as the paradigm case Camille Pissarro’s Rue St. Honore, apres-midi, effet de pluie, sold by the German

Book details the battles over Nazi-looted art Read More »

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

Crafts, art, books featured at Temple Emanu-El fair

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Often you will meet women who either are in their second careers, or have become very proficient at their hobbies, at the Artisan Festival sponsored annually by the Women of Temple Emanu-El. On Sunday, I found that to be the case when I interviewed artist Enid Texler and

Crafts, art, books featured at Temple Emanu-El fair Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Travel and Food

‘BeteBrune’ novel filled with hateful stereotypes

BêteBrune (Brown Beast): The Saga of Judith Sanders by Kim Hester, Kim Hester LLC, © 2018, ISBN 9781543-939330; 241 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – This was a truly difficult book to read.  Not stylistically; the author has a clear and concise style.  The book’s content was severely off-putting, so filled is this

‘BeteBrune’ novel filled with hateful stereotypes Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Bucharest Diary: Tale of a Jewish American ambassador

Bucharest Diary: Romania’s Journey from Darkness to Light by Alfred H. Moses; Brookings Institution Press © 2018; ISBN 9780815-732723; 394 pages including index and glossary of people and places. By Donald H. Harrison   SAN DIEGO – Formerly national president of the American Jewish Committee, trial attorney Alfred H. Moses had successfully lobbied the Communist

Bucharest Diary: Tale of a Jewish American ambassador Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, USA

Bring Them Back

By Sandy Scheller He went to bed the day beforeHe was normal, maybe feeling tornBut something was different as he wokeHe killed, he murdered, his actions spoke. My eyes they hurt from solid tearsI’m with my mom who has no fears She reminds me to be strong and not be weakAnd places a tender kiss on

Bring Them Back Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories

Halakhah through the ages examined

Halakhah: The Rabbinic Idea of Law by Chaim N. Saiman, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, © 2018, ISBN 978-0-691-15211-0, p. 248 plus appendices and index, $29.95. By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – Halakhah is derived from the Hebrew root letters meaning to walk or to go when used as a verb, and path or way as

Halakhah through the ages examined Read More »

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

Shafir book on Israel disputed by scholar

A Half Century of Occupation Israel, Palestine and the World’s Most Intractable Conflict by Gershon Shafir; University of California Press 2017, 296 pages; $20.56 By Moshe Dann JERUSALEM — Gershon Shafir, a former Israeli who is professor of sociology at the University of California, San Diego, and founding director of its Human Rights Program, has written one

Shafir book on Israel disputed by scholar Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Middle East, San Diego County