California

Postwar Encounters with the Holocaust

My friend Susan Ferraro, who lives in a rural part of Northern California. tells me that since about the age of 7, she had fantasized about becoming a Jew. It started, she said, when she read Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl. As children often do, she imagined herself invulnerable; death being something that unfortunately happened to other people. If she had been born Jewish, and living at that time, she could have prevented those Nazis from hurting Anne and her family and those hidden with them in the secret annex. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Office of Civil Rights Opens Investigation Into UC Berkeley Law for Anti-Zionism

(JNS) The Office of Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Education (OCR) has launched a formal investigation into UC Berkeley Law School over a controversial anti-Zionist bylaw adopted by some of its student groups in August. The investigation comes in response to a Nov. 18 complaint filed by Gabriel Groisman, a Florida-based attorney and

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California, Israel, USA

StandWithUs ‘Festival of Lights’ Gala 2022: ‘Standing Together Against Antisemitism’

(JNS) StandWithUs (SWU) welcomed more than 600 Israel supporters of all ages, faiths and political persuasions to its annual “Festival of Lights” gala held on Dec. 4 in Los Angeles. Celebrating the 21st year anniversary, this year’s theme for the non-profit, non-partisan organization was “Standing Together Against Antisemitism.” The gala featured world renowned speakers and

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California, Israel, USA

JCRC Releases Survey of Bay Area Jewish Identity

SAN FRANCISCO (Press Release) – The Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, Sonoma, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties (JCRC Bay Area) today announced the first-ever Survey of Bay Area Jewish Identity. Conducted by EMC Research, a well-respected national public opinion firm with Bay Area roots, the survey included 828 total completed

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California

San Francisco Rabbis Protested WWII Japanese-American Incarceration

San Francisco State historian Marc Dollinger said only one Jewish group – the Reform rabbis of San Francisco – publicly objected to the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II.  The rest of the organized Jewish community acquiesced to the imprisonment of these innocent American citizens, Dollinger said during the 18th annual Mimi Epstein Memorial Lecture at Temple Isaiah on Sunday, Dec. 4, here. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Los Angeles Jews Honor Muslim Scholar of Moroccan Jewry

By Karmel Melamed (JNS) With the red carpet rolled out and Moroccan music filling the Em Habanim synagogue in Los Angeles last week, more than 400 of the city’s Moroccan and Sephardic Jews gathered to honor Moroccan Muslim anthropologist Aomar Boum for his two decades of promoting Moroccan Jewish history and encouraging warm relations between

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California, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Southern California Mother Featured in First App Exclusively Tailored for Jewish Women

ROCKVILLE, Maryland (Press Release) — Katie Roth of Los Angeles was selected as one of the dozens of Jewish women from around the world to share their story on Yomm, a website and complimentary app launched by the Momentum organization. Last week, Momentum, a global movement for Jewish mothers, launched its first mobile app and

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California, Israel, Jewish Religion, USA

‘Goldene Medina’ Exhibit Provides Anecdotal History of South African Jewry

SAJAC President Pamela Nathan said the exhibit was created by the South African Jewish Museum which is located in the Museum Mile of Central Cape Town.  She said she hopes that American-born visitors to the exhibit “will get a slice of South African Jewish life.”  For members of San Diego’s sizeable South African Jewish community, “it is nostalgic because we grew up in it, but I am hoping that the children will be here because it is their heritage, their history.  When I make calls, I say ‘bring the kids, bring the kids.’” [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, International, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food, USA

Memoir Tells of Sexual Abuse, Mental Trauma

Rachel’s name was extracted from the records of USC’s Student Health Service.  An official letter informed her that a lawsuit had been brought successfully against Tyndall, and that she was entitled to damages depending on the extent of her injuries.  She was required to fill out an explicit questionnaire.  One question at the end of the questionnaire brought back another suppressed memory: “Have you had any experience prior to your visit(s) with Dr. Tyndall that you felt constituted inappropriate sexual behavior or abuse? If so, please describe.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Donald H. Harrison, Science, Medicine, & Education

Los Angeles Rabbi Addresses Kyrie Irving Antisemitism Controversy on National TV

(JNS) When Rabbi Erez Sherman of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles spoke with National Basketball Association analyst Ernie Johnson of TNT for Sherman’s podcast “Rabbi on The Sidelines” back in February, he did not expect that Johnson would reciprocate the gesture in November. Yet there Sherman was Tuesday evening, appearing in a national broadcast with

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California, Sports & Competitions

Los Angeles to Adopt IHRA Definition of Antisemitism

(JNS) The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution to adopt the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, which encompasses forms of anti-Zionism. Following a series of recent antisemitic incidents in the second-largest U.S. city, Councilmember Paul Koretz introduced the resolution, seconded by Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, for Los Angeles to adopt the IHRA

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California

Abraham Accords-Focused NGO Plans to Combat Jew-Hatred with Holocaust Education

By Jacob Kamaras LA JOLLA, California (JNS) — On Oct. 27, the fourth anniversary of the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, hatred of Jews was a palpably inescapable reality in America—from the Kanye West scandal, to a series of antisemitic incidents in Los Angeles, to the discourse

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California, Holocaust, Israel, Jacob Kamaras, Middle East, San Diego County