By Garry Fabian MELBOURNE, Australia — In a turbulent, ever changing world, for an organization to survive seventy years and still be strong and vibrant is an impressive achievement. This was emphasised Sunday, May 24, when B’nai B’rith Victoria celebrated its 70th birthday with a “gala Birthday Party” in front of almost 250 attendees. The […]
Australian B’nai B’rith unit turns 70 Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryBy Joe Spier CALGARY, Alberta, Canada — As far as sports complexes go, the Paris Velodrome built in 1909 within blocks of the Eiffel Tower was a marvel. Housing the popular indoor 6-day bicycle races, the huge stadium contained a giant steeply banked oval track at its base with two tiers of seating for 15,000
The bicycle stadium that shame tore down Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryOut of the Shoebox, an Autobiographical Mystery Historical Novel by Yaron Reshef, translated from the Hebrew by Nina R. Davis and Shira E. Davis, Amazon, 2014 By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel– Yaron Reshef begins his book, which has been expertly translated by Nina and Shira Davis, with a declaration regarding the sequence of chance
Finding one’s roots can be bitter and sweet Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History
-Sixth in a series- Exit 2: Morena Boulevard, Immaculata Church By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — That such a man should be knighted by the Pope was not surprising. The retired colonel had donated substantial sums of money not only to the Catholic-run University of San Diego, but also to other universities founded under religious auspices, including
I-8 Jewish Travel: A ceremony at the Immaculata Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Travel and Food
-Fifth in a Series- Exit 2: Morena Boulevard: University of San Diego By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – In the news and in movie theaters that show such films as The Lady in Gold, perplexing questions continue to arise about who is the rightful owner of art works seized by the Nazis before and during
I-8 Jewish travel — University of San Diego Law School Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Travel and Food, USA“Whosoever saves a single life saves an entire universe —Mishna, Sanhedrin 4:5 By Joe Spier CALGARY, Alberta, Canada — When Soviet troops entered the Auschwitz extermination camp on January 27, 1945, they found 7,000 survivors from the more than one million who had passed under its gates. Auschwitz has become a symbol for the Holocaust
An Auschwitz love story Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryBy Garry Fabian MELBOURNE, Australia — The lights of the B’nai B’rith Menorah were snuffed out across Europe in the late 1930’s, when the forces gathering to inflict the tragedy of the Holocaust disbanded the organisation. The majority of European B’nai B’rith members perished in the Holocaust, but a handful managed to find safe havens in
B’nai B’rith marks 70th year in Australia Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryMemory is Our Home by Suzanna Eibuszyc; Ibidem Press (c) 2015; ISBN 978-3-8382-0712-4; 250 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO–The voices of first generation and second generation Holocaust survivors are interwoven in this family remembrance covering pre-war life in Poland, escape from the Nazis to the Soviet Union and its eastern Republics; a return
Book review: ‘Memory is Our Home’ Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History
Editor’s Note: In my quest to find Jewish stories wherever I go, I decided there is no place like home to illustrate the concept that “there is a Jewish story everywhere.” Interstate 8 roughly follows the traditional route that settlers took in their covered wagons in the mid-19th century to get to San Diego from
I-8 Jewish travel: Valley View Casino Center Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Travel and Food
By David Leyva NATIONAL CITY, California– D-A-V-I-D L-E-Y-V-A, that is how I learned to spell my name and last name. What I did not know was where these came from. I am the 7th in a long line of men in my family named David Leyva, a family fact of which I was not entirely aware
Descendant of Sephardic Jews returns home Read More »
International, Jewish History, San Diego County, USABy Garry Fabian MELBOURNE, Australia — Some dates on the calendar have greater significance than others, particularly if they mark a special event, or more importantly are associated with an event that denotes a major landmark in one’s life. 5th May 2015 is indeed such a day in my own life and the life of
Thoughts of a Survivor on 70th anniversary of liberation Read More »
International, Jewish HistoryWARSAW, Poland (WJC) — At a state funeral in Warsaw attended by world leaders, including European Council President Donald Tusk and German President Joachim Gauck, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, Poland’s former foreign minister and an Auschwitz prisoner who helped save Jews from the Holocaust, was laid to rest on Monday, May 4. Bartoszewski, a historian, writer and
Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, z”l, Righteous among Nations Read More »
International, Jewish History, Obituaries & memorialsBy Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — If one needs a reason to get on a trail – searching for chocolate is a better reason than most. In On the Chocolate Trail: A Delicious Adventure Connecting Jews, Religions, History, Travel, Rituals and Recipes to the Magic of Cacao, (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2013), Rabbi Deborah R. Prinz and
From the Jewish library: ‘On the Chocolate Trail’ Read More »
Jewish History, Travel and Food
With this column we introduce Joe Spier, who loves to research and write about Jewish history. Based in Calgary, he is a frequent winter vacationer in San Diego. We thank Ernie Addleson for putting us in touch with him. By Joe Spier CALGARY, Alberta, Canada — The story of the modern exodus of “Beta Israel” the
Alaska Airlines and the Jews of Yemen Read More »
Jewish History, Middle East, USA