News Sources

San Diego Congregations Helping Southern California Fire Victims

It has been devastating to turn on the news or check social media to see the homes lost and evacuations of homeowners and animals due to the wildfires in Los Angeles.  San Diego congregations are aiding some of the victims. [Cailin Acosta]

San Diego Congregations Helping Southern California Fire Victims Read More »

Cailin Acosta, California, Jewish Religion, Obituaries & memorials, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

OpEd: Israeli ‘Settlements’ Convenient Targets for Arab Extremists

Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders might have prevented Monday’s tragedy – as well as many similar tragedies over the years – had they barred the construction of communities (a.k.a. settlements) in Israel’s territories in Gaza and the West Bank. [Bruce S. Ticker]

OpEd: Israeli ‘Settlements’ Convenient Targets for Arab Extremists Read More »

Bruce Ticker, Israel, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Sephardic Prayer Songs Found in Church Records of Mexican Inquisition

When Jews were expelled from Portugal, many moved East to form the Sephardic community we all know, but as many Jews, perhaps 100,000, moved West to the Americas in the 16th century.  Today it is estimated that a quarter of Hispanic Catholics in the Americas derive from Jewish stock, with many now awakening to their heritage. [Mark A. Schneegurt, Ph.D.]

Sephardic Prayer Songs Found in Church Records of Mexican Inquisition Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Parsha Vayechi: Transforming Suffering into Divine Purpose 

While the events of our lives are commonly beyond our control, the way we interpret them—and how we choose to react to them—are abilities within our own mind. This teaching echoes through the story of Joseph, who reinterprets the betrayal of his brothers as part of Hashem’s divine plan, and through Jacob, who blesses his children with wisdom. [Michael R. Mantell, PhD]

Parsha Vayechi: Transforming Suffering into Divine Purpose  Read More »

Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Novel Depicts a Man’s Metamorphosis from a Hare to a Tortoise

The title of this book, referencing “tortoise” and “hair,” immediately brings to mind Aesop’s Fable about the race between the tortoise and the hare in which the slow and steady tortoise defeats the brilliantly fast but overly distracted hare. [Donald H. Harrison]

Novel Depicts a Man’s Metamorphosis from a Hare to a Tortoise Read More »

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

OpEd: Los Angeles Fires Result from Dependence on Fossil Fuels

While this fire follows a string of others that have ravaged large swaths of America’s west coast, we need not let this become “the new normal.” We are not powerless to confront this reality. We can demand changes that will reverse the trend toward more frequent and extreme climate disasters. [Rabbi Jennie Rosenn]

OpEd: Los Angeles Fires Result from Dependence on Fossil Fuels Read More »

California, Jewish Religion, Opinion, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Soupy Sales

Soupy Sales (January 8, 1926 – October 22, 2009) was an American comedian, actor, radio-television personality, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children’s television series, Lunch with Soupy Sales (later titled The Soupy Sales Show) (1953–1966), a series of comedy sketches frequently ending with Sales receiving a pie in the face, which became his trademark. [Wikipedia]

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Soupy Sales Read More »

Jewish Celebrities, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia

Tel Aviv University Archaeologists Theorize Why There are No Prehistoric Cave Paintings in Israel

For over a century, archaeologists have puzzled over the absence of cave art in the Levant in general and specifically in Israel. Now a team of archaeologists from Tel Aviv University (TAU) proposes an original explanation: prehistoric humans in the Levant did not create cave paintings because many large animals, the subjects of cave art in Western Europe, were already extinct there. [Press Release]

Tel Aviv University Archaeologists Theorize Why There are No Prehistoric Cave Paintings in Israel Read More »

Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Press Release, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food

How a Neighborhood Rallied to Save a Library’s Collection Unavoidably Soaked by Firefighters

In 1966, a fire that started on a top floor of the 10-story Jewish Theological Seminary building in New York City destroyed 70,000 books and other written items.  Many were extra copies of the books stored below; others were irreplaceable items such as the Torah scrolls sent for safekeeping from Danzig during the Holocaust. [Donald H. Harrison]

How a Neighborhood Rallied to Save a Library’s Collection Unavoidably Soaked by Firefighters Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA