AAA-Writers and photographers

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

‘Love is All We Need’: An Idyllic Book for Children (and Their Adults)

Love is All We Need by Krina Patel-Sage; Northampton, Massachusetts: Crocodile Books © 2024; ISBN 9781623-716929; 26 pages; $18.95. SAN DIEGO – The two boys hugging in the middle of the adjacent cover image are a Muslim and a Jew – a timely reminder during the fierce Israel-Hamas War that friendships between people of different […]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Parsha Bechukotai: Humanity’s Purpose is to Become Holy

We are taught in this week’s parsha and in others, “to be holy,” that our sole purpose is to become whole and holy, as spiritually refined as possible. We are taught in Bechukotai to dedicate ourselves and be of service to the needs of others. By doing so, we refine and elevate our own inner life, nourish our soul, and bring light to the world around us. We do so by aligning our words and our deeds. We do so by being authentically inclusive and accepting, not simply preaching to others how they are to be. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Learning from Isaac Leib Peretz’s Masterpiece ‘If Not Higher’

I consider Peretz’s story “If Not Higher” the best of his tales. In it, the Hasidim of the town of Nemirov believe their rabbi is so holy that he ascends to heaven each year during the Penitential Prayers, which are recited in synagogues every Friday morning before the New Year holiday Rosh Hashanah. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

LFJCC Will Present 13 Songs by the Late Cantor Sheldon Merel

Hebrew liturgical works by 20th century composers will include, “Hashkiveynu,” and “Avinu Malkenu,” by Max Janowski, “La Kol Z’man,” and “Shalom Rav,” by Ben Steinberg, “Kiddush,” by Kurt Weill, “L’Shana Haba B’Yerushalayim,” by Morton Gold and a setting of the “Kol Nidre,” by Max Helfman.  [Eileen Wingard]

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Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Need a Breast Cancer Screening? ‘You Are Not Alone’

Many of us women realize it is time to focus on our health and start to get screenings we did not think we would need. My dear friend, Andrea Schnieder will be sharing her breast cancer story at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 30, for Chabad of East County. All those in attendance will receive a signed copy of her book You Are Not Alone. [Cailin Acosta]

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Cailin Acosta, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

San Diego Jewish Federation Women’s Report: To Cuba With Love

Still, Jewish life exists in Cuba. At Temple Beth Sholom (a Reform synagogue and community center in Havana), Shabbat services take place whenever there is food for Shabbat dinner, usually from visiting groups like ours. They gather for Shabbat despite not having a rabbi anywhere in Cuba. The congregants have learned to do everything themselves, often even offering special blessings to young couples and others leaving Cuba to make Aliyah. [Heidi Gantwerk]

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Heidi Gantwerk, International, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USA

‘Vanity Fair’ Confusing in First Act, Redeemed in Second Act

The play is cute once you figure out the various players.  The only actors that don’t play multiple parts are Macias and Austin, so it does take a bit in the beginning to follow the fast character changes (illustrated by costume changes or putting on a smock or shawl).  Dagmar Krause Fields for example, is the narrator, Miss Matilda Crawley, and Lord Steyne. [Sandi Masori]

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San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Jewish Biography: Lion Feuchtwanger, the Cosmopolite

His books probe which type of Jew serves the nation more faithfully – the court Jew Joseph Süss Oppenheimer from  Jew Süss; Yehuda ibn Ezra, the favorite of King Alfonso VIII from The Spanish Ballad; the assimilated and estranged historian and writer, the collaborationist Joseph Flavius in The Jewish War trilogy; Jephthah, the leader and fighter for the national interest in Jephthah and His Daughter; or the revolutionary leader Thomas Wendt (Ernst Toller) in The Year One Thousand Nine Hundred and Eighteen? [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Hounding the Headlines: DEI, Dog Equity, and Inclusion

Doesn’t Major League Baseball realize how insulting it is to dogs to know that marlins and devil rays have teams bearing their names even though neither of those animals can run the bases or catch and retrieve balls?  Why honor venomous diamondbacks when dog bites are rarely fatal?  [Elona Baron]

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International, Lawrence Baron, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, The World We Share, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

Novel Tells of Female Math Whiz Helping the U.S. to Win World War II

Her misplaced feelings of guilt prompted her to hide a remarkable inheritance, the gift of being able to visualize the solutions to math problems in her head, similar to the way that television’s Dr. Shaun Murphy of the just concluded The Good Doctor series was able to mentally picture complex medical conditions and interactions. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Technology

Anti-Israel Sign Removed from Chicano Park by Order of the City Government

“Over 600 constituents have contacted the City of San Diego requesting the removal of this messaging on public property,” Dargan wrote to the Steering Committee. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Antisemitism, Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Novel Traces the Life of a Jewish Baby Boomer

Typically, novels have some conflicts that need to be resolved, but although this one hints of several conflicts, they are papered over.  For example, the fact that her mother was a Christian who pretended to be a very “Reformed” English Jew in order not to upset Sherrie’s grandparents was a situation that could have been deeply explored, but it wasn’t. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Staff and Bylined Contributors