Staff and Bylined Contributors

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

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

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

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Philip Roth

Portnoy’s Complaint was Roth’s fourth novel and most controversial because of its frank treatment of sexual subjects, including masturbation.  Roth became more prolific thereafter, knocking out 26 additional works through 2010, the most notable of which was the 1997 novel American Pastoral, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.  It told of a star athlete whose daughter becomes a domestic terrorist during the late 1960s. [SDJW staff]

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