By Natasha Josefowitz, Ph.D. LA JOLLA , California –The newspapers are full of traumatic events—from wars to fires to floods to earthquakes, civil unrest seems to be everywhere, all contribute to understandable paranoia. I started thinking about the kinds of fears we all experience and have categorized them under three different types. First, there is what […]
The Three Types of Fears Read More »
Natasha Josefowitz
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—It has been four years since Lawrence Baron was succeeded by Risa Levitt Kohn as head of the Jewish Studies Program at San Diego State University, but he’ll be back at the helm—temporarily—this upcoming academic year while Kohn takes a sabbatical in Israel where she’ll work with that nation’s antiquities
SDSU’s Jewish Studies Program looks ahead to expanded offerings Read More »
Donald H. HarrisonBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –Two items came to my mailbox this morning. One is another demand from a well-intentioned innocent in Olympia that I butt out of the issue about the Food Coop’s boycott of Israel. This friend is a political maven who seems to be operating according to the Introduction to Political Science he
Commentary: American 'liberals' supporting Palestine miss the point Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO—It’s hard to wrong with the likes of Sammy Cahn’s lyrics, Jimmy Van Heusen’s music with book by Rupert Holmes when they come up with the idea of writing a brand, spanking new musical based loosely on a theme, kinda like Robin Hood but using gangstah’s from the 60’s (Rat Pack
Globe’s ‘Robin and the 7 Hoods’ readies for a transplant to White Way Read More »
Carol Davis, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Carol Davis CULVER CITY, California— Have you ever been so angry, upset, frustrated or agonized over something that happened to you that it hurts to the core, digs to the bone and gets in the way of your life? Well if you trek it to the Kirk Douglas Theatre between now
Theater Review: Orlandersmith’s ‘Bones’ hurts to the core Read More »
Carol Davis, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –It wasn’t Hezbollah; it was the LAF that killed one Israeli officer and seriously wounded another. It wasn’t in Lebanon; it was in Israel that they were attacked. The IDF had notified the UNIFIL liaison that it would be working on the Israeli side of the Blue Line –
Commentary: Unprovoked attack from Lebanon latest by Israel's hostile neighbors Read More »
Shoshana BryenBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–It is not easy to make peace in this region. Currently those who aspire to a breakthrough depend on Mahmoud Abbas and Benyamin Netanyahu. Neither of them inspires a great deal of confidence, given their histories. Moreover, both are politicians, dependent on pressures and constraints from local and wider constituencies. As we
Commentary: As peace talks loom, Arab rejectionists fire their missiles Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastJerusalem’s Traitor: Josephus, Masada, and the Fall of Judea by Desmond Seward, Da Capo Press, Cambridge, MA; ISBN 978-0-306-81807-3, ©2009, $28.00, p. 275, plus maps, endnotes, and selected bibliography By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — Desmond Seward, noted historian and author, in his newest book, Jerusalem’s Traitor provides us with a biography of Joseph
Book Review: The Roman Wars-Was Josephus a Jewish hero or traitor? Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdDBy Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — Despite the cool evening, nearly 1000 people gathered at Allied Gardens Park last July 11 to hear the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO), conducted by David Amos, in its annual “Summer Pops Concert on the Green.” Sponsored by the Grantville-Allied Gardens Kiwanis Club, the event was enhanced by sophisticated
Pops concert under the stars drew 1,000 Read More »
Eileen WingardBy Cynthia Citron HOLLYWOOD–Seven people stranded in a stalled elevator makes an interesting premise for a play, wouldn’t you think? Well, almost. In Elevator, a new play written and directed by Michael Leoni, seven strangers, fine actors all, twiddle through the first hours of the ordeal without really making contact with each other. In fact,
Trapped in and by 'The Elevator' Read More »
Cynthia Citron
By Carol Davis LA JOLLA, California—If you’ve never seen Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this might be a good time to catch it at the La Jolla Playhouse. If you have seen it, this may be a good time to see it again and compare it to other productions you’ve seen. I think
A ‘Dream’ comes true at La Jolla Playhouse Read More »
Carol Davis, Theatre, Film & BroadcastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Anti-Semitism is ancient, although the term itself appears only from the 19th century onward. By the latter part of the 20th century, Arabs were ridiculing the charge that they were anti-Semites, on the grounds that they are Semites. Tendentious claims aside, no less a reference than the Oxford English Dictionary defines anti-Semitism
A short history of anti-Semitism and its modern equivalent Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA_________________________________________________________________ Update– San Diego Jewish Film Festival schedules “Jews and Baseball” …. It will be presented at 1 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 13 at the Clairemont Reading 14 Theatres. _________________________________________________________________ Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story, directed by Peter Miller, narrated by Dustin Hoffman, produced by Clear Lake Historical Productions.By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO
Documentary follows Greenberg, Koufax, other Jewish baseball icons Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–One of the consequences of Israel’s demonization is the incidence of young people who participate in demonstrations against one or another of what they perceive as the abominations created by the oppressor of Palestine. Revolution and justice are powerful attractions, but they do not always appear together. Justice is elusive, and likely to be
Commentary: Mamas, keep your daughters off the barricades Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East