Byliners

A bissel this, a bissel that–San Diego Jewish news and chatter

(Column 17, February 9, 2011)   Compiled by Donald H. Harrison ___________________ Spotlight: Sy Brenner __________________     Veteran Sy Brenner, 88, was to have spoken to the Tifereth Israel Men’s Club about his experiences during World War II as a prisoner-of-war held by German captors who were unaware he was a Jew.  But now he […]

A bissel this, a bissel that–San Diego Jewish news and chatter Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County

Predictions of new intifada based on faulty assumptions

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Major events in Lebanon,Tunis and Egypt, along with lesser noises from Yemen and Jordan have excited the Israeli and international peace camps to insist on greater efforts by Israel, the United States and others. If not, Israel will pay a heavy price in inevitable violence, and the rest of the world will

Predictions of new intifada based on faulty assumptions Read More »

Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

A bissel this, a bissel that–San Diego Jewish news and chatter

  (Column 16, February 7, 2011) Compiled by Donald H. Harrison ____________________ Spotlight: Debra Kamin ____________________ The former editor of San Diego Jewish Journal, Debra Kamin, is preparing to make aliyah to Israel, where she will become a member of the staff of the Jerusalem Post.  She writes: “I’ve always wanted to live in Israel,

A bissel this, a bissel that–San Diego Jewish news and chatter Read More »

Donald H. Harrison

Up close, the Talmis are family dedicated to music, social causes

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — For three nights, during our visit to Israel last December, my daughter Harriet, son-in-law Danny and I were guests in the Kfar Saba duplex apartment of Er’ella and Yoav Talmi.  Our friendship, dating back to Yoav’s years as Music Director of the San Diego Symphony, prompted the wonderful home hospitality.

Up close, the Talmis are family dedicated to music, social causes Read More »

Eileen Wingard

Book on Begin-Sadat correspondence provides timely background to events in Egypt

Peace in the Making: the Menachem Begin-Anwar El-Sadat Personal Correspondence, edited by Harry Hurwitz and Yisrael Medad, Gefen Publishing House, 2011, ISBN 978-9656-229-456-2,  349 pages including appendices and footnotes, price unlisted. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—It is hard not to feel wistful while reading this correspondence, which began with such hope, and then became

Book on Begin-Sadat correspondence provides timely background to events in Egypt Read More »

Donald H. Harrison

Calls for Mubarak’s ouster prove having U.S. as an ally no assurance of friendship

By Lloyd Levy LONDON –Events in Egypt highlight what seems to my mind to be the incomprehensible naivete of the U.S. Administration in its Middle East policy. The Egyptian Government has been the object of a well planned coup , using the very modern and ingenious method of stage managing a “revolution,” in a large

Calls for Mubarak’s ouster prove having U.S. as an ally no assurance of friendship Read More »

Lloyd Levy

Comedic version of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ playing in North Hollywood

By Cynthia Citron NORTH HOLLYWOOD, California — What do Stephen Sondheim, Franco Zeffirelli, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Prokofiev, and Charles Gounod have in common?  They have all created popular works in their own time based on William Shakespeare’s end-of-the 16th century play, Romeo and Juliet. In Shakespeare’s own time, however, the prolific Spanish playwright Lope

Comedic version of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ playing in North Hollywood Read More »

Cynthia Citron

Surprise! Egyptian troubles now being blamed on Israel

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Several months ago, a blogger penned, “There was a growing perception among Arab leaders that the U.S. was incapable of standing up to Israel; that CENTCOM’s mostly Arab constituency was losing faith in American promises; that Israeli intransigence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was jeopardizing U.S. standing in the region.”

Surprise! Egyptian troubles now being blamed on Israel Read More »

Shoshana Bryen

U.S. policy toward Egypt bewilders analysts on all sides

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Headline on page one of Ha’aretz, “Mubarak: ‘Obama does not understand Egyptian culture.’” Summary of today’s posting from Memri, a well informed intelligence source that translates material from Muslim media: “The　Egyptian Foreign Ministry has rejected the U.S.’s stance on the protests in Egypt, telling it bluntly to mind its own

U.S. policy toward Egypt bewilders analysts on all sides Read More »

Ira Sharkansky

‘Jewish Theology in Our Time’ appears to be a smorgasbord

Jewish Theology in Our Time: A New Generation Explores the Foundations and Future of Jewish Belief,  edited by Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove, PhD. Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, VT;  ISBN 978-1-58023-413-9 ©2010, $24.95, p. 224 plus notes and suggestions for further reading. By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California —Jewish Theology in Our Time is a collection

‘Jewish Theology in Our Time’ appears to be a smorgasbord Read More »

Fred Reiss, EdD

A bissel this, a bissel that~San Diego Jewish news and chatter

(Column 15, February 3, 2011)   Compiled by Donald H. Harrison  *  _________________ Jewish Organizations _________________ Western States Jewish History has put San Diego’s first federal judge, the late Jacob Weinberger, on the cover of  its winter edition.  Judge Weinberger came to San Diego after serving as a member of the convention in Arizona responsible

A bissel this, a bissel that~San Diego Jewish news and chatter Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County