The Arts

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Sammy Davis Jr.

Courtesy of Wikipedia Sammy Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian and dancer. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which toured nationally, and his film career began in 1933. After military service, Davis returned to the trio and became a […]

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Jewish Celebrities, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Judd Apatow

Courtesy of Wikipedia Judd Apatow (December 6, 1967) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and comedian, best known for his work in comedy films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Funny People (2009), This Is 40 (2012), Trainwreck (2015), The King of Staten Island (2020), and The Bubble (2022). Through Apatow Productions he produced and developed

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia

Chanukah, Hannukah, Hanukah, Hanukka, Hanuka

Chanukah, Hannukah, Hanukah, Hanukka, Hanuka. Hmm, so many ways the holiday is spelled. Personally, I like the spelling of Chanukah. Some of my non-Jewish friends would pronounce the “ch” sound phonetically saying cha-nukah and I would giggle. When my 12-year-old twins were learning to spell and read they would ask why there is a “ch” but is pronounced as a “huh.” [Cailin Acosta]

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Antisemitism, Cailin Acosta, Israel, Jewish Religion, News Media, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors

White House Studies Blanket Pardons for Trump’s and Patel’s Political Enemies

The Biden administration is having internal discussions led by White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and legal counsel Ed Siskel about issuing preemptive pardons for political figures presumed to be on FBI Director-designate Kash Patel’s enemy list, according to Politico and The Washington Post. [SDJW staff]

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Antisemitism, Business & Finance, California, International, Israel, Middle East, News Media, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Effort Underway to Fire Israel’s Attorney General

Gali Baharav-Miara, Israel’s attorney general, has been accused by Shlomo Karhi, Israel’s communications minister, of “deliberately thwarting government policy for political reasons.” Karhi, with the backing of 12 other ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 33-member Cabinet, has called for Baharav-Miara’s dismissal. [SDJW staff report]

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Antisemitism, Business & Finance, California, Holocaust, Israel, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Adam Horowitz

Courtesy of Wikipedia Adam Horowitz (December 4, 1971) is an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known for co-creating the ABC fairy tale drama series Once Upon a Time with his writing partner, Edward Kitsis. Horowitz was born in New York City, and graduated from Hunter College High School in 1990. He attended University of Wisconsin–Madison and graduated with a B.A. in 1994, majoring in

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia

Stand Up Comedy Features TV Weatherman and New York ‘Yenta’

What does a Southern California weatherman need to know about meteorology? Apparently, that’s the wrong question. The correct question is who does an aspiring weatherman need to know. The answer to this query was discovered by stand up comedian, Fritz Coleman in 1982. [Eva Trieger]

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California, Eva Trieger, News Media, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Maybe it’s Because I’m a Londoner…

Spending a week in London in mid-November is not really a good idea for someone who has become used to the Mediterranean climate of Israel, but the arrival there of our son from Las Vegas proved an overriding attraction, so we went. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Israel, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food

‘The ABC’s of the World’s Religions’ Shows Their Similarities

With the author having grown up in western Christianity and the illustrator having experienced eastern religions, their collaboration, written in couplets on left-facing pages and with explanatory information on right-facing pages, uses the alphabet as a teaching vehicle. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Interfaith Owners of Art Store Tell Their Chanukah/ Christmas Customs

On the counter was a menorah with the shamash and the first night’s candle placed in their holders. Behind the menorah was a small pine tree with decorations. In an interfaith marriage like mine, the Oserins this year will have both a chanukiah and a Christmas tree at home.  The first night of Chanukah will coincide with Christmas. [Cailin Acosta]

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Cailin Acosta, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish Biography: Otto Weininger: A Jewish Antisemite

Sex and Character asserts that all human beings are composed of a mixture of masculine and feminine matter. “Masculine” is active, productive, conscious, moral and logical, while ‘feminine’ is passive, unproductive, unconscious, amoral and illogical. In this book, Weininger emerges not only as a misogynist but also as an antisemite. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Israelis, Jewish Americans Comment on Israel’s Ceasefire with Lebanon

Israel’s Lt. Gen. Herzl Halevi, the IDF’s chief of staff, says if Hezbollah violates terms of the ceasefire, “any deviation from this agreement will be enforced with fire.  We are now moving toward a new phase, where the same determination that brought us to this agreement will be applied to enforcement.” [SDJW staff]

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International, Israel, News Media, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

World War II’s Impact on German Civilians Told in Biography of Heidi Posnien

This, as the title suggests, is the story of Heidi, a little Catholic girl born in 1936 who grew up in Berlin and the nearby countryside during the Hitler regime that culminated in Germany’s utter defeat in World War II.  [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Staff and Bylined Contributors