By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C.– Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi spoke before the Knesset Monday, a rare honor for a visitor. He used the platform not only to praise Israel and talk about the warm Italian-Israeli ties that have grown and deepened during his tenure, but also to raise an increasingly difficult subject-Western civilization […]
"We, the free and liberal people… " Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Money, money everywhere, but not enough. That’s the message from the massive deficit already apparent and projected for the United States. It comes from too many wars, too many tax cuts, too many entitlement programs, and too much exploitation by highly paid capitalists who forced the government into unprecedented bail-outs. Who’s
American Wealth and International Affairs Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Natasha Josefowitz, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — The other day I saw on television some scientists who said that within our lifetime, we will be able to live till 150 and stay healthy. I’m in my early eighties and started contemplating living another seventy years. To my own surprise, that did not sound very
No Willing Witness to Catastrophes Read More »
Natasha JosefowitzBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Here is something that President Obama and his advisers should consider before spending any more of their time nudging Israeli and Palestinian leaders to negotiate a peace. http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=167194 The details are not entirely clear, but reinforce the larger story of corruption in high places of the Palestine Authority, the lack
Evidence of Palestinian corruption should put brakes on U.S. Mideast push Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USAJERUSALEM–President Obama’s State of the Union address dealt almost entirely with domestic issues, despite American troops active in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and now Yemen, as well as highly touted efforts with respect to Israel-Palestine and Iran. Also, the focus was heavily on the economy, and lightly on what had been his iconic health initiative. The
Obama's State of the Union proves again he's a speaker, but can he also be a doer? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –Over the summer, the Government of Iraq accused the Government of Syria of harboring al Qaeda camps and permitting operatives to cross the border into Iraq to attack Iraqis and Americans-including the attack on August 19, 2009 that killed 95 people and wounded more than 500 in the heart of
Iraq right to fight al Qaeda, resist Ba'ath Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel –No, not the conductor, Otto Klemperer, but his cousin, Viktor, Professor of Romance Languages at Dresden University. Most of Viktor’s extended family had left Germany for the US well before 1939, but Viktor had no children, was married to a non-Jew, had fought in the German army in the
Music and diary revive dark feelings of Shoah Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–One of my internet friends objects to my calling Europe the enlightened continent. “What in the blazes are you talking about.? Europe, the hot-bed of modern antisemitism…enlightened? The Netherlands with a de facto, maybe de jure euthanasia policy! France being so overrun with rebellious Muslims that there are scores of areas throughout the country
Just how 'enlightened' is Europe? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–For those who are not sure that the devil is in the details, here’s an example. An American insurance company and hospitals are arguing about an administrative procedure. It has reached the point where one state legislature has enacted a law about the clerical details to be allowed in its jurisdiction, patients are being
U.S. insurance companies put profits ahead of health Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Media in Israel and overseas have described in the most positive of terms the aid that a team of IDF and Magan David Adom (Red Star of David) personnel have provided in Haiti. An article in the New York Times adds to the praise, but also reports on Israelis who lament that
Israeli left says Gaza entitled to Haiti-style aid Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – On a perfect, sunny Sunday, a day after the rainstorms, Jewish single parents and their children got a five-day head start on Tu B’Shevat by planting three blue elderberry bushes near the Visitor Center at Mission Trails Regional Park. One of the fathers, Elisha Blatt, pronounced
Editor, San Diego Jewish World In your article “Community Mikvah to locate on Tifereth Israel grounds” (September 22, 2009) you write “Although there are three mikvaot operated under Orthodox auspices in San Diego, none are available for conversions by the other movements. This means that many people who convert to Judaism under Conservative auspices, for
Letter to the Editor: Mikvaot in San Diego Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Yeruchem Eilfort-RabbiTempest in the Temple: Jewish Communities & Child Sex Scandals edited by Amy Neustein, Brandeis University Press, 2009, 272 pages, $35. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—This is a difficult book to read, not only because it primarily is written for other academics, but because of the subject matter itself. While we are cognizant that
Sexual abuse of children in the Jewish community: difficult but important to face Read More »
Amy Neustein, Donald H. HarrisonScribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible By Karel van der Toorn, Harvard University Press, Cambridge ISBN 978-0-674-03254-5, $18.95, 265 pages plus 125 pages of notes and selected bibliography By Fred Reiss, Ed.D WINCHESTER, California — Who wrote the Hebrew Bible, that is, the so-called Old Testament? Jewish tradition says that Moses wrote
Looking at who wrote the Bible — from the scribes' viewpoints Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD