Jewish Fiction

Treachery, Sex, Sportsmanship Dominate Novel about 1936 Olympic Games

Hitler sought a propaganda victory for his Nazified country with the Olympic Games supposed to be the setting for a demonstration of “Aryan” superiority. Brundage, blinded by his own lust for prominence, became Hitler’s stooge, so desperate was he to rise to the presidency of the International Olympic Committee.  [Donald H. Harrison]

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Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Fiction, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Three Intriguing Stories Lead to One in ‘The Boy with the Star Tattoo’

The highly readable novel juxtaposes three stories: 1) love and survival in Vichy France;  2) Jewish efforts shortly after World War II to find European Jewish orphans who could be brought to Eretz Israel; and 3) the drama of Israel “stealing” its own ships from under the eyes of the French. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Jewish Fiction, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Book Teaches Children about Trying New Foods, Diversity

In this Australian-based story, when the Jewish community has a cholent competition, onlookers and most other competitors are surprised when Amira, whose Jewish roots are in Iraq, stuffs a chicken with such ingredients as garlic, ginger, onion, paprika, baharat, cinnamon,  and rice.  She cooked the stuffed chicken inside a mixture of sauteed tomatoes and cardamon, hard-boiling eggs on the side. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Fiction, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

Children’s Book Offers Myth of an Earlier Garden of Eden

It posits that before it was relocated to Earth, the Garden of Eden—with a man and a woman, the snake, and its fruits and vegetables—all existed on an unnamed planet.  There, the fruits each laid claim to being the best.  The apple boasted it was the “hardiest”; the pomegranate, the “biggest”; the grape, the “sweetest”; the fig, “the yummiest” and the citron (lemon) because it could make any of them taste better with just one drop. [Donald H. Harrison]

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

OpEd: Imagined Voices and Motivations of Middle East Actors

Are we on the brink of plunging into a spiral of violence, potentially dragging the rest of the world into the horrors of World War III? Or will we strive to restore calm, seeking to cultivate a world marked by peace and prosperity for all its inhabitants?  What will be the answer? [Jose Galicot]

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International, Israel, Jewish Fiction, Jose Galicot, Middle East, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Jewish Fiction: Another American Passover

The haroset is a mixture of fruit, especially those things with laxative qualities such as prunes, nuts and wine. It is very sweet and quite enjoyable. Is this really what the Rabbis intended to convey? The sandwich of Matzah, bitter herbs and cement is actually a tasty appetizer. Let me get this straight, the symbols of slavery are tasty? [Jerry Klinger]

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Jerry Klinger, Jewish Fiction, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Trivia, Humor & Satire

Love Competes with Jealousy in YA ‘Summer Nights and Meteorites’

There are passing mentions of b’nai mitzvah, Shabbat, and studying Hebrew but these are not essential to the plot, and I wonder sometimes whether such Jewish content is there simply to be placed on Jewish reading lists.  You won’t learn anything about Judaism or Jewish culture, but interesting information abounds about the space and the sea. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Fiction, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

‘Redwood’ Dramatizes Jewish Concept of ‘Lo tash’chit’

Prior to Jesse climbing the tree, Becca is trying to get her to leave and suddenly says “Lo tash’chit!” At this point my mind said “Wow, that sounded like Hebrew, but no it couldn’t have been.” But in fact it is.  Becca goes on to explain that it’s a Jewish concept of taking care of the trees as well as you take care of yourself. She’s bageling Jesse, assuming that Jesse is Jewish. [Sandi Masori]

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

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Judy Blume

Blume’s fight against the book banners, led to her becoming active in the National Coalition Against Censorship. Her treatment of menstruation, masturbation, teen sex, and birth control in different books have prompted calls for their banning. In 2000, the Library of Congress named her a “Living Legend.” [SDJW staff]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Fiction, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Today's Jewish Birthday, USA

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Israel Zangwill

His play “The Melting Pot” was credited with penning that phrase to describe absorption of immigrants in the United States. After seeing it, former President Theodore Roosevelt reportedly leaned out from his theater box and shouted, “That’s a great play, Mr. Zangwill. That’s a great play.” [SDJW staff]

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International, Israel, Jewish Fiction, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Today's Jewish Birthday, USA

A Klezmer Adventure in old Bessarabia

Shloyml Boyml and his band receive an invitation from a rebbe from some distance away to play at his Purim party.  The rebbe requests that the band compose and play on the violin a special Purim melody.  Shloyml is both ecstatic and worried by the invitation.  It’s a great honor to play for the rebbe.  But his band does not have a violinist. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Fiction, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Supernatural Tales Embody Wishes of Holocaust Rescue

SAN DIEGO – This collection of five graphic stories was released on Halloween, October 31, not coincidentally.  Each fictional tale has elements of the supernatural, mostly intervening on behalf of Jews who otherwise would have been murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Jewish Fiction