Election day is here and I decided to share the following prayer I read from myjewishlearning.com: [Cailin Acosta]
A Prayer for Election Day Read More »
Antisemitism, Cailin Acosta, International, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA
This Jewish love story is woven into an account of Napoleon’s unsuccessful war in Egypt and Ottoman Palestine in the final years of the 18th century. Descriptions of the battles and the wanton cruelty of both sides in the war pitting mainly French Christian troops against indigenous and Turkish Muslim defenders remind current-day readers of the murderous barbarism attendant to Hamas’ invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023. [Donald H. Harrison]
A Jewish Tale Woven Through Napoleon’s Campaign in Egypt and Eretz Israel Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Two hours after Lola Kantor was born, her mother died of complications in childbirth. Lola was given her mother’s first name, but, of course, she had no memory of her. [Donald H. Harrison]
Daughter Pictures Life of Mother Who Died Two Hours After Giving Her Birth Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
Numerous questions arise when we delve into the biblical portion concerning Abraham in Lekh Lekha, Genesis 12:1-17:27. One such question is the apparent mistake in narrating Abraham’s story, which begins when he is 75. His early life is briefly noted in only six sentences in 11:27-32. Shouldn’t the entire story of Abraham, including these early years, be presented together, with 11:27-32 forming part of chapter 12? [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
What don’t we know about Abraham? Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Cecile Fleetwood is a longtime member of Temple Emanu-El who teaches jewelry making and sells her own creations, including dreidel, hamantaschen, and hamza earrings She also makes pottery pieces that were fired in a kiln. [Cailin Acosta]
Novel Judaica Highlights Artisans Festival at Temple Emanu-El Read More »
Cailin Acosta, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Among the most popular bagel flavors is the everything bagel, typically covered with the combination of seeds and spices, including sesame seeds, poppy seeds, flaked sea salt, garlic flakes, and onion flakes. Everything bagel coating can now be found in many other food products, including which of the following? [Mark D. Zimmerman]
Jewish Trivia Quiz: Bagels Read More »
Business & Finance, Mark D. Zimmerman, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USA
Nazis pounded on the door and confiscated the treasured violin, throwing it onto a flatbed truck, breaking its string, and then putting it in storage in a cellar, where dust filled its body and extreme weather warped and cracked it. In the years after the Nazis’ defeat, the cellar was found, and the violin located. A luthier lovingly repaired it. [Donald H. Harrison]
Violin is the Centerpiece of a Holocaust Story Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Leonid Pasternak, a painter and professor at the Moscow College of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, a master of portraiture and book illustrations, went down in history in the shadow of his son Boris, a poet and Nobel Prize winner in literature, whom he loved and with whom he diverged in his attitude toward common ancestry. [Alex Gordon]
Jewish Biography: Leonid Pasternak, Father of Boris, Wrestled with his Jewishness Read More »
Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors
This collection of short stories by Roberta Silman is similar to a travelogue, but instead of journeys through locales, these trips are through human emotions in given situations, especially, but not exclusively, through loss and dying. [Donald H. Harrison]
Short-Story Collection Provides Tour of Human Situations and Emotions Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Fiction, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Of the original four student members at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, only the cellist, 75-year-old András Fejér, remains. But the uncanny melding of their instrumental voices into a unified whole continues to characterize their playing … [Eileen Wingard]
50-Year-Old Takács String Quartet Performs Here with One Original Member Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined ContributorsMy thoughts: people who don’t vote and complain about the outcome really have no say. If you voted, then you did the best you could. We can just hope for the best and pray it is the outcome we Jews need in Israel and in the states. Whoever you vote for, you have a voice and if you voted, it was heard. [Cailin Acosta]
If You Haven’t Voted Already, Be Sure to Vote on Tuesday Read More »
Cailin Acosta, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
Israel, which has been fighting Hamas in Gaza for more than a year, is finally willing to drastically reduce the power of the Jew-hating United Nations in this conflict. [Steve Kramer]
OpEd: UNWRA Finally is Barred by Israeli Parliament Read More »
International, Israel, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, USA
FactCheck.org points out that his speeches last three times longer than hers because, as he puts it, what sounds like rambling is really an intricate weave. Has Trump read Shakespeare? The Bard wrote, “Oh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive.” [Laurie Baron]
Election 2024: Final Falsities Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
For Israelis, the U.S. presidential election isn’t just a distant spectacle – it’s a contest with stakes that feel close to home. This year, Israelis and Americans are both watching the election with equal intensity but different perspectives on the two major candidates: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. [Shahar Masori]
An Israeli-American Perspective: Trump vs. Harris through Two Different Lenses Read More »
Israel, Opinion, Shahar Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA