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Our Shtetl San Diego County: Rep. Sara Jacobs Calls for Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza

“…Months of dropping tens of thousands of bombs, munitions, and shells on Gaza have failed to eliminate Hamas – and a ground invasion in a densely packed city would lead to even more civilian casualties, worsen Israel’s reputation on the world stage, and fail to make Israel any safer.” [SDJW Staff Report]

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Israel, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Rashi: Marvelous but Irrational

Rashi’s commentaries are not original ideas. He drew fascinating stories from Midrashim and placed them into his commentary. Midrashim are books that collected fanciful, engaging stories written as parables and teaching aids − enjoyable and sometimes even exciting accounts − that, for the most part, were not originally intended to be understood as true history, or the true meaning of scriptural passages. However, Rashi and others, such as Nachmanides in the thirteenth century, took these tales as facts and used them to explain the Bible. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Pregnancy-Seeking Women, Aged 30-40, May Respond Favorably to Sun Exposure

“Based on our prior studies, we can affirm that sun exposure increases metabolism, sexual appetite and behavior, and, at least in animal models, enlarges the ovaries and extends the estrus period,” explains Professor Levy. “This is a preliminary, pioneering human epidemiological study, and we need to be cautious about inferring a causal relationship between fertility in women and exposure to UV radiation. Humans are not the same as mice.” [Press Release]

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Israel, Lifestyles, Press Release, Science, Medicine, & Education

California Legislators Visit Sites of Oct. 7 Massacre

Throughout the trip – a collaboration of JPAC, JCRC Bay Area, and Jewish Federation LA – lawmakers witnessed firsthand the consequences of the horrific atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7th and their lasting effect on Israeli civil society. We visited impacted communities on the Gaza border and the surrounding areas, cried with families of hostages, and met with Israeli government officials, including President Isaac Herzog.  [David Bocarsly]

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California, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Winehouse Statue in London Defaced with Palestinian Sticker

LONDON (JNS) — A sculpture of Amy Winehouse in the town of Camden, in northern London, was defaced over the weekend with a Palestinian flag sticker covering the late Jewish singer’s Star of David necklace. “This is disgusting. Amy Winehouse was a famous Jewish singer who was proud of her Jewish heritage,” wrote the National

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International, Israel, Jewish Celebrities, JNS, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials

Israeli Composer Forwards ‘Jewish Tunes from Haifa’

I completed a fantasy piece about the songs of the Jewish people a few days before their tragedy broke on the day of their great and joyous holiday, the Joy of Torah. I titled the piece I Hear a Scream. On the “Black Sabbath” of October 7, I heard the screams of Jews, victims of a pogrom that happened where there could have been no pogrom – in the territory of the Jewish state. [Boris Levenberg]

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Alex Gordon, Israel, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Videos

Our Shtetl San Diego County: Permanent Plaque Will Honor Howard Wayne at Hall of Justice

The San Diego County Bar Foundation has notified Mary Lundberg that her late husband, former California Assemblyman Howard Wayne (D-San Diego) will be memorialized with a permanent plaque bearing his likeness in the Hall of Justice of the San Diego Superior Court. [SDJW staff]

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California, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Theodore Bikel’s Songs to Be First in JCC’s ‘Beloved Voices’ Series Feb. 22

I will be hosting the program, and my special guest will be Aimee Ginsburg Bikel, who was Theodore Bikel’s wife during the last years of his life and founder and director of the Theodore Bikel Legacy Project. The songs were selected to illustrate Bikel’s vast range and the large number of his recordings in our Astor Judaica Library.  [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, International, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego Calendar, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Jewish Biography: Hermann Cohen Sought a Merger of Judaism and Germanism

Beginning with the Kant and Moses Mendelssohn dispute, the German-speaking world debated the question of whether Judaism was a religion of reason. Cohen believed that Germany was the only country in which reason and religious feeling could easily be combined because of its philosophical idealism. [Alex Gordon]

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

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Annie Meyer

Meyer helped to found Barnard College for women in 1889 across the street from Columbia. Barnard became one of the Seven Sisters of women’s colleges in America. Meyer became an associate editor of Broadway Magazine and also edited Women’s Work in America. She also authored such works as Robert Annys: A Poor Priest (1901); The Dominant Sex (1911); The Dreamer: A Play in Three Acts (1912); Black Souls (1932) which dealt with lynchings in the South; Barnard Beginnings (1935) and It’s Been Fun: An Autobiography. (1951) –SDJW staff

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Today's Jewish Birthday, USA

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Milos Forman

In 1975, Forman had his first big hit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, about life in a psychiatric ward, which won him an Oscar as best director. In 1979, he directed Hair, based on the Broadway musical but it did not do well financially. In 1981, he directed Ragtime, based on a novel by E.L. Doctorow, and in 1985, he won another Academy Award for directing  Amadeus, about the life of Mozart. [SDJW staff]

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Holocaust, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Today's Jewish Birthday, USA