Jewish History

Elie Wiesel Was Fascinated by Joshua, Elijah, Saul, Jeremiah, and Jonah

Wiesel was convinced that the power of literature lies in its ability to galvanize human action. This includes the Bible. “The text is not – cannot be – neutral, nor is it an end in itself: it must serve to humanize our society.” Wiesel shows this in his discussions of Joshua, Elijah, Saul, Jeremiah, and Jonah’s lives and actions. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

Elie Wiesel Was Fascinated by Joshua, Elijah, Saul, Jeremiah, and Jonah Read More »

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

StandWithUs Gala Draws 750+ San Diegans in Support of Israel

Israeli-American actress, producer, author and social media influencer Noa Tishby told over 750 StandWithUs supporters on Sunday night that the fight against anti-Israel haters is “a marathon not a sprint” but predicted that “at the end of the day we’re going to be okay.” (Donald H. Harrison)

StandWithUs Gala Draws 750+ San Diegans in Support of Israel Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Jewish Biography: Bernard Lazare, An Early Defender of Alfred Dreyfus

At the beginning of his literary career he spoke in defense of French Jews against the attacks of antisemites. Socialist in his views, Lazare, fascinated by Jewish history, interpreted the social views of the prophets as an expression of the aspirations of working people (Social Ideals of the Jewish People, 1893). [Alex Gordon]

Jewish Biography: Bernard Lazare, An Early Defender of Alfred Dreyfus Read More »

Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors

S.D. Jewish Community Supports Shattered Israeli Sister City While Developing Holocaust Education Program Locally

Approximately 550 members and friends of the Jewish community on Saturday evening, Nov. 16, attended a dinner sponsored by the Jewish Federation of San Diego that was dedicated to helping people in southern Israel to rebuild after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre and to providing Holocaust education here in San Diego. [Donald H. Harrison]

S.D. Jewish Community Supports Shattered Israeli Sister City While Developing Holocaust Education Program Locally Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish History, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Technology, USA

Marker for Mt. Nebo/ Rosenwald Elementary School in Monroe, Louisiana, Dedicated

After a year and a half of fabrication delays, the Mt. Nebo/Rosenwald Elementary School marker was finally dedicated on Nov. 10.  The dedication took place almost 100 years to the day when Mt. Nebo opened its doors to its first students in racially segregated Monroe. The marker was funded by the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation (JASHP). [Jerry Klinger]

Marker for Mt. Nebo/ Rosenwald Elementary School in Monroe, Louisiana, Dedicated Read More »

Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Getting to Know Edna Ferber by Following Her ‘Giant’ Odyssey

This biography of novelist Edna Ferber was written by her grandniece Julie Gilbert, who had access to Ferber’s journals, relatives, friends, and co-workers in addition to archival sources. The result is a splendid recounting of the high points in Ferber’s life, with particular emphasis on the research, production and success of “Giant,” both in its novel and movie forms. [Donald H. Harrison]

Getting to Know Edna Ferber by Following Her ‘Giant’ Odyssey Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Humane Society Gift Shop Items Provide Double Benefits

When I returned recently from a camping trip at San Elijo State Beach, it was with Chanukah items from the nearby thrift shop of the Rancho Coastal Humane Society. They were gifts not only for us, but also for the critters because all proceeds go to feed and house the animals at the society. [Cailin Acosta]

Humane Society Gift Shop Items Provide Double Benefits Read More »

Cailin Acosta, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Is Matzah Ball Soup Really a Cure-All?

Matzah ball soup is also known as the “Jewish penicillin.” Whenever I am sick, that is what friends would tell me. “All you need is some matzah ball soup and you will feel so much better.” [Cailin Acosta]

Is Matzah Ball Soup Really a Cure-All? Read More »

Cailin Acosta, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food, USA

Jewish Biography: Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister

Disraeli was born into a middle-class London family in 1804, when the capital’s Jewish population numbered just over 20,000. He was the eldest son of a literary man who left the Jewish community a year before his son’s bar mitzvah, and was baptized according to his father’s will. [Alex Gordon]

Jewish Biography: Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister Read More »

Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Voices of Jewish Opera Stars to be Savored at the JCC on Nov. 14

“Jews in Opera” will feature the recorded voices of 15 outstanding Jewish opera singers at 2 p.m., Thursday, Nov.14, in the Astor Judaic Library of the Lawrence Family JCC. Many of the recordings are from the Music Collection of the Astor Judaica Library. I will be hosting the program, and my in-person guest will be the distinguished Ukrainian-born mezzo soprano, Susanna Poretsky. [Eileen Wingard]

Voices of Jewish Opera Stars to be Savored at the JCC on Nov. 14 Read More »

Eileen Wingard, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Jewish Biography: Leonid Pasternak, Father of Boris, Wrestled with his Jewishness

Leonid Pasternak, a painter and professor at the Moscow College of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, a master of portraiture and book illustrations, went down in history in the shadow of his son Boris, a poet and Nobel Prize winner in literature, whom he loved and with whom he diverged in his attitude toward common ancestry. [Alex Gordon]

Jewish Biography: Leonid Pasternak, Father of Boris, Wrestled with his Jewishness Read More »

Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

‘Mufti’ Will Satisfy Neither Historians nor Graphic Arts Fans

This book is an amalgam of two genres: History and Graphic Non-Fiction. I don’t think it will satisfy devotees of either genre.  For graphic arts fans, there are too many pages filled with writing, rather than drawings.  For the serious student of history, phantasmagoric images detract from the work’s verisimilitude. [Donald H. Harrison]

‘Mufti’ Will Satisfy Neither Historians nor Graphic Arts Fans Read More »

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

What Hitler’s General in the Netherlands Was Really Like

De Vries has every reason to express dismay about a man who admires Hitler, a man who wishes his generals were more like Hitler’s generals. For it is one of those generals, totally loyal to the Führer and blindly following his orders, who was directly responsible for the deportation of 110,000 Dutch Jews — 75 percent of the entire Dutch Jewish population at the time — to Nazi concentration camps. Only approximately 5,000 returned home alive after the war. [Dorian de Wind, The Moderate Voice]

What Hitler’s General in the Netherlands Was Really Like Read More »

Antisemitism, Dorian de Wind, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, News Media, The Moderate Voice, USA