Below are the names of writers who are currently active. For others, living and deceased, please type their name into the search box above the masthead on our home page, www.sdjewishworld.com
“It’s the Final Countdown!” All those who celebrate Chanukah and/ or Christmas, we are all in high stress mode! Five days until it all comes down. [Cailin Acosta]
Count Down to Chanukah Read More »
Cailin Acosta, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors
While the foundation supports both Jewish and non-Jewish organizations, it is especially meaningful to those in the local Jewish community, as its operational and administrative processes are guided by the City of San Marcos, with funding managed through the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego. [Miriam Gershenson]
Little Known San Marcos Community Foundation has Funded $2 Million in Local Projects Read More »
Miriam Gershenson, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
Looking back over my past columns, I found my column for Hanukkah 2014. Since I’m always accused of being too partisan (guilty as charged), I want to reprint it in the spirit of Hanukkah which is ultimately about fighting for tolerance. [Laurie Baron]
Satire: What I Won’t Do for Chanukah Read More »
Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Trivia, Humor & Satire
As December unfolds, the spirit of giving glows warmly around us. This is a time to embody the word hineni – “here I am” – and to bring light and safety to our community. [Jewish Federation of San Diego]
Particularly telling is the account of the way the German occupiers gradually close in on the Jewish population, depriving them of their rights and property and eventually deporting them in [ cattle trains to concentration camps in the east, with the cooperation of the French authorities. All those events are described in harrowing detail. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
European Family’s Lives Tracked Through Several Countries and Holocaust Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Holocaust, International, Staff and Bylined Contributors
The Gmach warehouse, an essential service of the Kindness Initiative, is experiencing significant growth due to an increasing demand for the household goods and services it provides to local Jewish families in need. [Miriam Gershenson]
Jewish Federation of San Diego got into the Chanukah spirit by meeting up for the “8 Crazy Flights of Chanukah” Wednesday evening, Dec. 18 at Bivouac Cider Works and Adventure Lodge in North Park. [Cailin Acosta]
Federation Kickstarts Chanukah with 8 Crazy Flights of Cider Tastings Read More »
Cailin Acosta, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Travel and Food
Yosef received a life-changing lesson about purpose and focus. When Yosef was wandering, searching for his brothers, the Angel Gavriel appeared and asked him a powerfully insightful and transformative question: “Mah Tevakesh?” – “What are you seeking?” Read and repeat that to yourself. “Mah Tevakesh?” – “What are you seeking?” Do you know? [Michael R. Mantell, PhD]
Parsha Vayeishev: ‘What Are You Seeking?’ Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Boxes of Chanukah candles – check; chanukiyot cleaned and ready – check; oil, potatoes, sour cream, applesauce bought and ready – check. Phew, getting everything ready for the Eight Crazy Nights is a tough job, but someone has to do it, and in this house that someone is ME. [Cailin Acosta]
We Prepare for Chanukah Read More »
Antisemitism, Cailin Acosta, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA, Videos
Some view Netanyahu as the consummate statesman while others see him as a power-mad autocrat. Objectively speaking, he is the first premier of Israel to be born after Israel’s independence, the only premier to have spent years in the US as a student, and the youngest man to have reached the pinnacle of Israeli political power. By the same token, Bibi is the only sitting Prime Minister to be charged with criminal offenses. [Steve Kramer]
OpEd: What Will Netanyahu’s Legacy Be? Read More »
Israel, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer
The Torah generally reveals little or no information about women. We are told that Jacob had a daughter named Dinah, but there is no more about her than what is mentioned in the drama. It does not tell us that Jacob had other daughters. It only reveals this in Genesis 37:35, where it states, “All his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him (Jacob),” and 46:15, where it states Leah, Jacob’s wife, bore thirty-three children with Jacob among “his sons and daughters.” [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]
Comparing Dinah and Joseph Read More »
Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors
How cute. We find Baby Jesus in a new environment: swaddled by a black-and-white keffiyeh, emblem of the Palestinian struggle. Not to rest in a manger but to lie amid a pile of rocks that symbolize the rocks left over from bombed-out buildings in Gaza. Thus, the label “Christ in the Rubble.” [Bruce S. Ticker]
OpEd: Manger Display Unacceptably Portrays War in Gaza as a Religious One Read More »
Bruce Ticker, International, Israel, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA
Author Topperman grew up in Canada, to which her parents had immigrated, after trying out Sweden. She is the product of a mixed Polish family; her mother’s side is Jewish; her father’s side is Catholic. [Donald H. Harrison]
A Polish-Canadian Returns to Her Parents’ Poland Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors
Which of the following gifts, designed to be hung on the wall, are offered for sale at Overstock.com in their Hanukkah shopping section? [Mark D. Zimmerman]
Jewish Trivia Quiz: Hanukkah Shopping Read More »
Mark D. Zimmerman, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Trivia, Humor & Satire