News Sources

StandWithUs Takes Middlebury College to Court Alleging a Pattern of Antisemitism

“Middlebury College has failed egregiously to provide adequate protection for Jewish students seeking to remedy persistent antisemitic bigotry on campus,” said Yael Lerman, Director of the StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice. “Middlebury administrators disregarded student allegations, attempted to silence them, neglected to enforce its own rules, and at times were complicit in discriminating against Jewish students. In doing so, the College has violated its obligations under Title VI and must be held accountable.” [Press Release]

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Antisemitism, Israel, Press Release, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Love Triangle is Focus of ‘The Age of Innocence’ at Old Globe

The story itself centers on a love triangle between Newland Archer (Callum Adams), Countess Ellen Olenska (Shereen Ahmed), and May Wellend (Delphi Borich).  Countess Olenska returns to America after fleeing her abusive husband in Europe.  She thinks and dresses very differently than the rest of New York society causing her to scandalize some and be idolized by others.  [Sandi Masori]

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San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Antisemitic Callers Overwhelm La Mesa City Council Meeting with Hate Speech

Words turned ugly during the council’s public comment period on Tuesday when a series of callers, each held to a council-mandated three-minute limit per speaker, used their allotted time to debase and degrade Jews with callous accusations and conspiracy theories. [J.W. August, Times of San Diego]

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Antisemitism, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Times of San Diego

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Barbara Myerhoff

Following advice to “study your own,” Myerhoff began fieldwork on the elderly Jews at the Israel Levin Center in Venice, California, resulting in a 1977 Oscar-winning short documentary film, Number Our Days, and in 1979 a book of the same title. [SDJW staff]

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

OpEd: Faulconer Seeks Profit by Driving a Wedge into the Jewish Community

I cannot stay silent when I see former Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s calculating, cunning and opportunistic attempt to fundraise off the hurt and pain our Jewish community is experiencing.  Faulconer’s crass attempt to pad his campaign coffers with cash while pretending to be a friend of our community shall not go unnoticed. [Laurie Black]

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Antisemitism, California, Israel, Opinion, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jackie Gmach Utilizes the Arts to Teach Lessons of the Holocaust and the Tree of Life Synagogue

That drawing inspired Gmach to develop “We Are The Tree of Life,” a project focusing on Holocaust education utilizing the arts to promote a message of hope and survival. Literature, music, dance, poetry and drawings created by prisoners in the concentration camps and ghettos during World War II show that beauty can survive, even when experiencing unspeakable horrors. [Eileen Wingard]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Supervisor Lawson-Remer Calls for the Suspension of the County Human Relations Commission

County of San Diego Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer said Thursday the Human Relations Commission should suspend its meetings and activities until the systemic issues that have plagued the volunteer commission since its reinstatement in 2020 are thoroughly addressed.  {Press Release]

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Press Release, San Diego County, USA

‘Chicago’ Features Minimal Set and Costumes, Maximal Choreography

We follow the story of two murderesses; Roxie Hart (Katie Frieden) and Velma Kelly (Kaitlin Brown) and their sensational murder trials.  Being that it’s set in the roaring 20s which didn’t have modern day social media, the flashy and charismatic and lawyer Billy Flynn (Connor Sullivan) is able to manipulate the press and jury with wild and conflicting stories about his clients, or as he calls it razzle-dazzle, in his attempts to acquit his client. [Sandi Masori]

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Sandi Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Tel Aviv University Researchers Identify Alzheimer’s Precursor Activity in the Brain

In 2022, a team of researchers from Professor Slutsky’s laboratory uncovered a pathological brain phenomenon in an animal model that precedes the first appearance of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms by many years. This is an increased activity in the hippocampus during the states of anesthesia and sleep, which results from damage to the mechanism that stabilizes the neural network. [Press Release]

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Israel, Press Release, Science, Medicine, & Education

Verdi’s ‘Requiem’ Revisited in Tel Aviv Performance

At the performance in Tel Aviv last week the audience sat in rapt silence as the orchestra played and the choir and soloists sang, bringing the majesty and drama of Verdi’s music to life. In Israel of today, with war being waged in the Gaza Strip and skirmishes raging in the north of the country, the performance of the Requiem has special significance. In the plaza of the nearby Tel Aviv Museum families of the hostages held in Gaza were demonstrating in order to convince the government to do more to get them released. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Praise for ‘Fifths’ Series Celebrating TICO’s 50th Anniversary

In honor of its jubilee year, the 50th year since the orchestra was founded, TICO is performing at each of its concerts the fifth symphony of a great master. This concert opened with the most famous of all, Beethoven’s Fifth. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Rescue of 2 Hostages from Gaza was an Entebbe-Type Moment

I was reminded of Israel’s military tour de force in Entebbe when I read of the recent rescue of hostages Fernando Marman, 60, and Luis Har, 70, from a Rafah apartment. The reuniting of the hostages with their families and community members brought elation and joy to them. [Amy Neustein, Ph.D]

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Amy Neustein, International, Israel, Jewish History, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA