Eleven Bnei Menashe couples who immigrated to Israel from northeastern India were remarried in a group ceremony at Shavei Israel’s absorption center near Netanya after completing their formal conversion to Judaism by the Chief Rabbinate. [JNS]
11 Couples From India Re-Marry in Israel Read More »
International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East
Judeo-Christian theology espouses an immanent, loving God, a celestial coach rooting for each individual’s spiritual growth. Scripture is filled with reminders of this abundant love, with prayers and rituals offering myriad opportunities for returning God’s grace with grateful service. On the other hand, Biblical stories are rife with descriptions of disastrous cause-and-effect chain reactions resulting from arrogance, indifference and infidelity. God’s love includes challenging us with real life responses to our choices. The secret of true love is tough love, the presence of consequences. But it all starts with love. [Sam Glaser]
Spiritual Parenting: The Gift of a Reprimand Read More »
Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Sam Glaser
You swing gently on your trapeze somewhere near the top of the circus tent. It’s comfortable and secure, and then you see the next trapeze hurtling towards you. As you gage the time and the distance, you have to decide when the appropriate moment will come for you to leave the safe bar you’re hanging from and leap into the void, arms outstretched to grasp the empty bar as it swings towards you. [Natasha Josefowitz}
The Trapeze Jumps in Life Read More »
Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz
Attorney Daniel P. Shapiro deeply loved his wife Susan and their three children. He and Susan had enjoyed special moments together; places, songs, meals that ignited memories; meaningful yet unspoken understandings typical of the happily married. And then disaster in the form of a brain hemorrhage happened. Susan slurred her speech, lost her mobility, and seemed unable to relate with the rest of her family. [Donald H. Harrison]
Dual Tragedies of a Patient with a Brain Hemorrhage and Her Caregiver Husband Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles
I personally feel no guilt for having the God-given privilege of being alive. I mourn for my grandparents, uncles, and aunts who perished at the hands of Nazi maniacs; often weeping for not having experienced their love. I cry in anguish when reminded that 6 million of my brethren, young and old, left this earth via gas chambers and crematoriums. I sense the pain of my family and friends who saw their elders shot before their very eyes and their babies hurled against brick walls and bayoneted. I experienced deep anger when I viewed the numbers branded on the arm of my father, of blessed memory. Yet I thanked God for sparing the lives of my beloved parents. [Rabbi Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg]
A Child of Survivors Speaks Out Read More »
Bernhard H. Rosenberg-Rabbi, Lifestyles
By Faygie Holt (July 8, 2021 / JNS) The countdown started weeks ago, and it’s finally time—time for many to return to sleepaway camp after a year of lockdowns, Zoom school, and separation from friends and family amid a worldwide pandemic. “I’m so happy! It’ll be so nice to see everyone,” said 14-year-old Eliana Menasha,
Jewish campers express relief just ‘getting to be kids again’ Read More »
Lifestyles, USA
I believe some of the most important unsung heroes of non-Orthodox Judaism are the spouses of pulpit rabbis. We don’t pay them, but more often than not, we expect them to devote their lives to our synagogues. We want them to attend every social occasion, be there near the front of the sanctuary on Shabbat evening and morning, to recognize all of us by first and last name, and to be able to chant the blessings before and after the reading of the Torah whenever someone is needed for an aliyah. [Donald H. Harrison]
Let’s Have Compassion for the Rabbi’s Spouse Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, USA
It’s the 4th of July and 60 years since, at the age of 17 while in high school, I enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve. My parents, refugees from Germany and Austria, reluctantly gave their consent. My family wore British and German uniforms in WWI, in WWII English, Czech and Theresienstadt garb. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]
The Vietnam Generation: A Personal Reflection Read More »
International, Lifestyles, Oliver Pollak, San Diego County, USA
In the July 4, 2021 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
–An Israeli TB diagnosis patch could save up to 1.4 million lives a year.
–Israeli experts are helping rescuers in the Miami building collapse.
–Israeli scientists have developed a material two atoms thick.
–Two Israeli startups make record-breaking public launches.
–Israeli teenagers win gold at European gymnastics competition.
–Israeli mother donates her kidney to save a Gaza boy.
[Michael Ordman]
Good News from Israel (July 4, 2021) Read More »
Business & Finance, International, Lifestyles, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USABy Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — My friend Joanne forwarded me an email from her granddaughter, Elizabeth Keegan Tapia. She thought the questions were interesting, provocative, and made her reminisce as well as reexamine some memories of past events. I, too, found the questions comprehensive and worth sharing as a possible vehicle
Interviewing Elderly Family Members to Keep Their History Alive Read More »
Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz
She grew up in Brooklyn, New York, her roots deep in the Ashkenazi culture of Poland, Hungary, and Lithuania. He grew up in Long Beach, California, a third generation Japanese American, and he barely knew a single Jewish person. On paper, they might not sound like an obvious match: Jewish Brooklyn versus Buddhist Japan, kvetching as a collective mode of connection versus pursuit of inner peace. But while Leah and Randy Matsui may come from disparate ethnic backgrounds, “two different flavors” as Randy puts it, over the past four decades, they have become one woven unit, and their story teaches a great deal about what love is, what true connection looks like, and most significantly, what diverse Jewish journeys look like in the 21st century. [M. Evan Wolkenstein]
Torah on a Tatami: How One Couple Found Community In a Pandemic World Read More »
International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
Each of us hears an internal voice, it talks to us every day. For some, this voice repeats the harmful and disheartening comments made by parents, teachers, siblings, and friends. It reminds us of our failures and insecurities. This voice, according to Rabbi Shimshon Frankel, a clinical psychologist with more than a quarter century of experience, and author of The Wisdom of Getting Unstuck, is your Antagonist, and “when we start to identify ourselves with the negative messages that it delivers, we’re bound to start experiencing a heightened degree of discomfort, emptiness, pain, and tension.” [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]
Extricating Oneself from the Muddy Middle Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion, LifestylesIn the June 27, 2021 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
–UK National Health Service to trial Israeli cancer treatment test.
–Israeli grandmother is honored for fostering 217 babies.
–Israeli anti-malaria system wins top IBM AI prize.
–Israeli software powers Intel’s 5G microprocessors.
–Israeli sensors can detect when plants are unhappy.
–Three more billion-dollar Israeli companies in one week.
–Israel’s team of 81 Olympic athletes is the largest ever.
–Honduras is the fourth country to open an embassy in Jerusalem. [Michael Ordman]
Good News from Israel (June 27, 2021) Read More »
Business & Finance, International, Lifestyles, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, The World We Share, Travel and Food, USA
My “baby” daughter Maya graduated high school on a recent Friday. Woohoo! On Monday, she flew solo to Europe to visit her sister. Double Woohoo! In two months, she moves to Berkeley to start her next chapter as a University student. Woo…. Wait! What? Moving out? Completely launching? My husband and I becoming actual empty nesters? I’m not sure if I’m ready for this. I mean I knew this day would come but it always seemed so far down the road. And yet, here it is. Around the corner.[Shayna Gothard Kaufmann]
Cutting the ‘Umbilical Cord’: Letting Go Because You Have To Read More »
Lifestyles, San Diego County, Shayna Kaufmann