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Today’s Jewish Birthday: William Shatner

Star Trek gained fame after it went into reruns, with fans of the show known as Trekkies organizing conventions at which they could meet like-minded enthusiasts, buy Star Trek merchandise, and meet members of the original cast.  This development, along with the box office success of George Lukas’ Star Wars in 1977, prompted Paramount Pictures to reunite the cast in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, released in 1979.  Five sequels followed, including one he directed: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. [SDJW staff]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

OpEd: Purim and the Holocaust

My motto is never again, never forget, and never forgive. While some have criticized me for never forgiving the Nazis for what they did to my family, it is precisely this hatred that makes me the fighting Rabbi I am. I refuse to forgive. This is what motivates me to speak out against injustice wherever it may be found. [Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg]

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Bernhard H. Rosenberg-Rabbi, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish History, Middle East, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Pro-Israel but anti-Netanyahu: Democratic Party leaders try to find the middle ground

Published by The Moderate Voice Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under unusual criticism from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Jacquelyn Martin / POOL / AFP Naomi Schalit, The Conversation Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on March 14, 2024, “The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel.” It was an extraordinary

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Israel, Nordot, The Moderate Voice, USA

Our Shtetl San Diego County: Israel’s War with Hamas on Our Minds

StandWithUs Southwest on Wednesday showed a 47-minute unedited video of the October 7 massacre carried out by Hamas and other terrorists, aggregated from captured Hamas body cam footage  as well as home security and CCTV footage taken in Israel that day [SDJW staff]

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International, Israel, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Demystifying the Paradox of Animal Sacrifices

So how do we reconcile animal sacrifices with the Torah’s directive to have compassion for animals? In biblical times the Jewish ritual of animal sacrifices was considered tame in comparison to the prominent pagan practice of human sacrifice. According to Maimonides, animal sacrifices helped wean the Jews away from these barbaric pagan rituals. Furthermore, sacrifices were permitted only in the Temple, where its holiness promoted reverence for animal life. [Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz]

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Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

OpEd: Failure to Incapacitate Hamas: Recipe for More Massacres of Israelis

By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel –Why are today’s political leaders in Washington, and others outside of the US, against Israel’s imperative to wipe out Hamas? The US, Germany, et al are strongly discouraging the IDF from entering Rafah, the remaining nerve center of Hamas and most likely the hiding place its two foremost terrorist

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International, Israel, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, USA

Oct. 7th Survivor Lauds JNF-USA’s Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center

Shortly after evacuating to another city in Israel with other survivors and looking for ways to work through her grief, Twilly began an emotional healing journey at Jewish National Fund-USA’s Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center, a treatment facility in Kibbutz Grofit that uses equine therapy and other methods to treat children and adults with special needs and who have experienced trauma. [Press Release]

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Israel, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, Press Release, San Diego County, The World We Share, USA

OpEd: High-Minded Schumer Speech on Israel and Gaza Deserves Serious Attention

Schumer’s speech is among the most high-minded that I have heard or read. I am leery about some of Schumer’s ideas, especially the two-state solution, but at least he is serious and laying out many of the needs for a peace plan, the obstacles that might stand in the way and the steps that can be taken to succeed. [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Broncho Billy Anderson

He acted in over 300 short films, 148 of which he played the first cowboy movie star, Broncho Billy.  Many were filmed in Niles, a small town in Alameda County, California.  Today, Niles is part of Fremont, California, where there is an annual silent film festival in his honor. [SDJW staff]

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

AMCHA Initiative: UC Faculties Foment Antisemitism; Jews Speak Up at UC Regents Meeting

AMCHA Initiative on Wednesday released a new report which found a staggering increase of 1100% in anti-Zionist advocacy and activism by UC faculty since Oct. 7. The report was sent to the Regents, who are holding their monthly meeting in Los Angeles on Wednesday and Thursday. [Press Release}

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

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Yigael Yadin

Yadin devoted himself to archaeology, winning the 1956 Israel Prize for his doctoral thesis on seven Dead Sea Scrolls, three of which his father had purchased in 1947 from a Bedouin goatherd and four that Yadin purchased in 1954 in New York.  He excavated such sites as the Qumram Caves, Masada, Hazor, Tel Megiddo, and the Judean Desert caves where artifacts from the Bar Kokhba revolt were found. [SDJW staff]

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Israel, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

JNF-USA Helping to Rebuild San Diego’s Sister City in Israel, Sha’ar Hanegev

Approximately 30,000 evacuees from San Diego’s sister city of Sha’ar Hanegev and the neighboring municipality of Eshkol, both within a close distance of Israel’s border with Gaza, are returning to their homes, where they will find that volunteers from Jewish National Fund-USA have rebuilt, refurbished, and repainted some of the structures that were damaged or destroyed during the Oct. 7 Hamas-led massacre.  New facilities are also being planned. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Lifestyles, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sol Lizerbram, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA