Byliners

Jewish Trivia Quiz: Joe Biden’s Rabbi, Michael Beals

Following ‍President ‍Biden’s ‍poor ‍performance ‍in ‍his ‍debate ‍against ‍Donald ‍Trump ‍last ‍June, ‍‍Forward ‍editor ‍Jodi ‍Rudoren ‍spoke ‍to ‍Rabbi ‍Beals, ‍who ‍offered ‍a ‍Jewish ‍framework ‍for ‍discussing ‍the ‍issue ‍of ‍Biden’s ‍age ‍and ‍its ‍impact ‍on ‍his ‍presidency ‍and ‍his ‍future ‍leadership. ‍What ‍did ‍Rabbi ‍Beals ‍say ‍regarding ‍this ‍issue? [Mark D. Zimmerman]

Jewish Trivia Quiz: Joe Biden’s Rabbi, Michael Beals Read More »

Mark D. Zimmerman, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

Works of Rachmaninoff, Rozsa Delight SummerFest Audience

The dynamic classical/jazz pianist, Conrad Tao, opened the August 17 SummerFest concert, California Dreamin’, with eight selections connected to Sergei Rachmaninoff, who spent his last years in Los Angeles after immigrating from his native Russia. [Eileen Wingard]

Works of Rachmaninoff, Rozsa Delight SummerFest Audience Read More »

Eileen Wingard, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish Farmer Max Yasgur Made the Woodstock Festival Possible

Woodstock, the iconic “Hippie” counter-culture music festival, was celebrated by ~460,000 baby boomers from August 15 to 18, 1969. The “happening” was on the rolling hills of Max Yasgur’s Dairy farm in Bethel, N.Y. It almost never came about. [Jerry Klinger]

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Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Cooking with Ingredients from Gaza Border Farms

About 75 per cent of Israel’s vegetables came from the Gaza border area, known as the Gaza envelope (Otef Aza in Hebrew), as do many fruit and dairy products. Since the October 7 attack, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, 89 per cent of Israeli farmers have been negatively impacted by this war. [Michal Kramer]

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Israel, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food

Ethnically Jewish Author Explains His Atheism

Eventually, he imagined people sitting in a gigantic house with an infinite set of windows. Each person’s view of the world was influenced by the location of his or her window.  They could see what was in front of them, but not what was in front of the other residents.  Each person’s beliefs are determined by what happens outside their individual windows. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

An Israeli-American Perspective: Religious Diversity in Israel and the US

Growing up, my religious world consisted of traditional Judaism. Israel was the holy land of the Jewish people, a fact that seemed as unchangeable as the hills themselves. But my understanding of this began to shift during a visit to Jerusalem when I was just six years old. [Shahar Masori]

An Israeli-American Perspective: Religious Diversity in Israel and the US Read More »

Israel, Jewish Religion, Shahar Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Parsha Eikev: Elevating Eating to a Sacred Act

Moses, in his profound wisdom from which we benefit in this parsha, guides us towards a deeper understanding of nourishment that transcends the physical realm. He urges us to look beyond the mere tangible aspects of our nutritional sustenance and to perceive the divine essence infused within every morsel. [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Israeli President and Viral Video Creator to Share Webinar on Sunday, Aug. 25

“We basically have been dehumanized,” Eitan Chitayat said in a Zoom interview from Tel Aviv. “We have been boiled down to apartheid lovers, to colonialists, to genocide enablers, and this has to stop.  The only way it will stop is if one person at a time in the private sector, in our own individual lives, start saying ‘We’re Jewish,’ or ‘I’m Jewish!’  Let’s start there.” [Donald H. Harrison]

Israeli President and Viral Video Creator to Share Webinar on Sunday, Aug. 25 Read More »

Antisemitism, Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA