By Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — The title of the book is intriguing: Wiser: The Scientific Roots of Wisdom, Compassion, and What Makes Us Good by Dr. Dilip Jeste. I was eager to read it and hopeful that I would indeed become wiser. I will turn 95 on October 31. I still […]
How to Gain More Wisdom: Insights from Dr. Dilip Jeste’s New Book, ‘Wiser’ Read More »
Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz
By Bruce F. Lowitt The Jewish Press of Tampa Bay What once was something of a novelty – the televising of services from a synagogue into the homes of congregants – has become, with COVID-19, a widespread practice. And for two in Florida, including Temple Ahavat Shalom in Palm Harbor, it has made the leap
From Florida to Ukraine: Shabbat Via Zoom Read More »
Bruce F. Lowitt, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — A reunion of people who, like my husband, were born in 1940, i.e. now aged 80, might sound over-optimistic, but these were no ordinary people. These were men and women who were born and brought up in Kiryat Haim, a settlement situated on the coast slightly north of
Turning the Clock Back Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Lifestyles
By Sam Glaser LOS ANGELES — I love to watch our quiet street come alive when I daven Shacharit on our front porch, bound in my tefillin and enveloped in my tallit. Our next-door neighbors have two adorable kids, the oldest a loquacious blonde with a favorite game. I watch him try, often successfully, to
The Teenage Years: Better Run Away Read More »
Lifestyles, Sam Glaser
City Councilman Raul Campillo told a forum sponsored by the Tifereth Israel Synagogue Men’s Club that dealing with the problem of homelessness in San Diego requires not only money, but an understanding that there are different sub-classes of homeless people, whose needs are different. [Donald H. Harrison]
San Diego City Councilman Raul Campillo Outlines Homelessness Problem Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, San Diego County
After New York City public relations practitioner Marcia Horowitz received the diagnosis that she was suffering from Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, she and her husband, author Richard S. Cohen, discussed how they would prepare for her death, which came 160 days later. They decided that they would have both a medical plan and a life plan, both of which they would pursue with equanimity. [Donald H. Harrison]
An Intellectual Approach to Looming Death Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, LifestylesBy Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — It starts in the morning. Voice 1: “Get up!” Voice 2: “I’m still sleepy.” Voice 1, impatiently: “You’ll be late for work!” Voice 2, pleading: “Five more minutes.” It goes on at breakfast. Voice 1: “Cereal and fruit!” Voice 2: “There’s a doughnut left in the
Reason and Emotion: Understanding and Monitoring Our Inner Voices Read More »
Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz
By Michael Ginsberg LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Viola Taliaferro has earned an exalted place in Bloomington, Indiana, where she and her late husband, George, stand as civic royalty. Judge Taliaferro’s actions fit Sir Jonathan Sacks’ description of the ethics of responsibility. In To Heal a Fractured World, Rabbi Sacks writes: We are here to make a
Judge Viola Taliaferro: Hero Read More »
Lifestyles, Michael Ginsberg
Sixty years ago, on Rosh Hashanah, my father taught me a lesson about giving. Thirty years later, I learned another valuable lesson about giving. Both apply to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur – the Days of Awe – when we examine what we have given and taken in our own lives. [Michael Ginsberg]
Lessons Learned about Tzedakah and Chesed Read More »
Lifestyles, Michael Ginsberg
Many phrases are abbreviated and used in all spheres of Israeli life. Two random examples: drishat shalom, or sending regards, has been renamed “dosh,” and Namal Teufah Ben Gurion, or Ben Gurion Airport, is known as “Notbog.” [Gedaliah Borvick]
Israel ACOA (A Country of Acronyms) Read More »
Lifestyles, Middle East, Travel and Food
A scientific explanation for those battles over the air conditioning remote control: Researchers at Tel Aviv University’s School of Zoology offer a new evolutionary explanation for the familiar scenario in which women bring a sweater into work, while their male counterparts feel comfortable wearing short sleeves in an air-conditioned office. The researchers concluded that this phenomenon is not unique to humans, with many male species of endotherms (birds and mammals) preferring a cooler temperature than the females. [Tel Aviv Unversity News Release]
Israeli Biologists: Males, Females Experience Temperatures Differently Read More »
Lifestyles, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & EducationI practice telescope parenting. When my kids were younger, I loved watching them run around in public and got great amusement observing their antics. I let them pick the agenda on the outing, interact with whomever they fancied and climb or explore at will. This worked great on hikes, at the beach, visiting museums or shopping malls, where they could safely wander and express themselves. It was always interesting to see who was charmed by their personalities, who would initiate conversation and who would look around for the irresponsible guardian who set the kids loose. [Sam Glaser]
‘Telescope Parenting’ Means Watching Your Kids from a Safe Distance Read More »
Lifestyles, Sam Glaser
The first time my parents took me on a trip with them I was eight years old and living in Chicago. We were going to Mexico, where I would see, hear, and feel the ocean for the first time (for those that know me, the ocean is one of my favorite temporal experiences in life). But my first memory of this trip — and every trip, henceforth — was sitting before we left. [Danielle Levsky]
Blessings and Borscht: Superstitions of My Ancestry Read More »
International, Lifestyles
Do you want to think big? Focus on what Mahmoud Abbas said in a recorded speech delivered to the United Nations in New York. If Israel doesn’t withdraw completely from the West Bank and East Jerusalem (he also said Gaza, but Israel has already withdrawn from there) within a year, Palestine will charge Israel with heinous crimes before the International Criminal Court. Meanwhile, he’s volunteering to negotiate final borders. The 1967 lines, wherever they are, figure in his threat. [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]
Big and Small Controversies in Israel Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Lifestyles, Middle East