Staff and Bylined Contributors

Nettlesome Billboard Erected in Predominantly Jewish Area of Philadelphia

It is stomach-churning enough to follow events in Gaza and southern Israel, and it is nearly as difficult to learn of the highway blockades and harassment of Jewish college students taking place in my city. Moving the rhetoric to Northeast Philadelphia is kind of like rubbing my nose in the muck of this war. [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, Israel, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Sharp Prebys Innovation and Education Center May Save Many Lives

A short video brought viewers into the perilous delivery of a 23-week-old fetus, as doctors skillfully placed a miniature CPAP machine on the tiny form and miraculously filled its lungs! Another doctor shared the case of a rescue with the ECMO machine that pulled a patient back from almost-certain death. [Eva Trieger]

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Eva Trieger, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Technology

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Neil Diamond

In 1966, he recorded the first of many hits as a solo artist, “Solitary Man,” and followed that year with “Cherry, Cherry” and “Kentucky Woman.” Subsequent years brought songs as “Sweet Caroline,” “Holly Holy,” “Cracklin’ Rosie” and “Song Sung Blue,” “I Am…I Said,” “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” “Forever in Blue Jeans.” [SDJW staff]

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Jewish Celebrities, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Our Shtetl San Diego County: A Jewish Calendar of Local Events

Here are some dates for upcoming Jewish events in San Diego County that you might want to enter into your calendar books or onto your calendar application on your computer.  San Diego Jewish World will update the calendar periodically in this column.  [SDJW staff]

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California, Holocaust, International, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego Calendar, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

Theresienstadt Opera Remembered in ‘Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis’

Together with Peter Kien, who wrote the libretto, Ullmann composed the music for an opera entitled ‘The Emperor of Atlantis,’ an allegory of the Nazi regime, in which Death goes on strike in protest at the widespread killing of human beings by a power-mad ruler. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Parasha Beshalach: Who Is the True Physician?

“And He said, If you hearken to the voice of the Lord, your G-d, and you do what is proper in His eyes, and you listen closely to His commandments and observe all His statutes, all the sicknesses that I have visited upon Egypt I will not visit upon you, for I, the Lord, heal you.” The above verse appears immediately after the Shira (Song at the Sea of Reeds). It teaches us in no uncertain terms that it is Hashem, and no other, who heals us. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Our Shtetl San Diego County: Groundbreaking Tuesday for Jacobs Performing Arts Center at Liberty Station

Mayor Todd Gloria will speak at groundbreaking ceremonies Tuesday, Jan. 23, for the future Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center that will be built at Liberty Station in a renovated Naval Building 178. [SDJW Staff Report]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, California, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Samples Published Here of the Poetry of Adam Deutsch, Amelia Glaser, and Herb Brin That Were Recited During a Lawrence Family JCC Program

The poetry of Adam Deutsch, from his newly published book, Every Transmission, opened the January 16 program of Jewish Poets/Jewish Voices.  The youthful looking Grossmont College faculty member had arrived at the JCC using the trolley and his bike. His well-received selections were followed by translations from Yiddish and Ukrainian and original poems by Amelia Glaser, UCSD chair of Judaic Studies. The concluding portion of the first hour of featured poets was the poetry of Herb Brin. [Eileen Wingard]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

‘Intimate Apparel’ Contrasts Worlds of Dreams and Reality

The title of North Coast Rep Theatre’s newest production bespeaks not simply the item, but the deep connections formed in Intimate Apparel. Lynn Nottage’s 2-time Pulitzer Prize winning play reveals what director Jasmine Bracey describes as a life in two worlds. This play explores the “world of dreams and desire, and a world of reality and compromise.” The common thread weaving this seamstress’ story together is that of wanting to be loved. [Eva Trieger]

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Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

OpEd: Mindless Embrace of Houthi Terror

Extolling Iranian-armed and trained Houthi terrorists who were firing on American and other shipping, kidnapping crewmen from the ships, and firing missiles at southern Israel, and have now fired on American warships, the minions in the West wave signs proclaiming, “I stand with Yemen.” And “Hands off Yemen.” [Shoshana Bryen]

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Israel, Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Is Reincarnation a Fact, a Lie, or True?

Philo (25 BCE-50 CE) was the first Jewish philosopher to introduce the idea that there is such a thing as a soul that exists separate from the body. It contains the intellect and personality of a person. Platonic theories influenced him. He considered the soul to be eternal. However, he did not have the belief in reincarnation. The soul remained somewhere in limbo until the messianic age when it would be revived. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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

From ‘Too Many Notes’ to ‘Too Many Lives’

After World War II, the Geneva Convention defined genocide as acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. In the context of Israel and Gaza, accusations have been made against Israel by some international entities. For example, South Africa has attempted to make a case in the International Court against Israel, accusing it of committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. However, it’s important to note that warfare, particularly urban warfare, inherently involves complexities and high risks of civilian casualties. [Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel]

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International, Israel, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors