Staff and Bylined Contributors

Chabad Hebrew Academy Teacher Donates A Kidney to Colleague

Her journey as a kidney donor began seven years ago when she learned that her colleague, Mrs. Zippi Tivon, was in desperate need of a kidney transplant. Tivon was also a teacher at Chabad Hebrew Academy, and the urgency of her situation sparked a call to action within the school community. [Naomi Chen]

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Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Israeli Book Helps Children Cope with Being Uprooted from Their Homes

The charming illustrations and rhyming text in Hebrew give an account from a child’s viewpoint of what it is like to have to quickly pack up and leave your home under the protection of the IDF, and the experiences of becoming acquainted with the new surroundings, and the surprise, curiosity and even delight at the differences between their old, familiar home and the new environment of a hotel. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Staff and Bylined Contributors

‘Stir’ Brings Smellovision to the Globe.  

Mariana (Lopez) and Henry (Perez) are siblings who live in different parts of the country and are doing what so many of us did during the pandemic, they’re having a video chat on Zoom.  Henry, who lives with their father Papi (Al Rodrigo), wants to know how to make his late mother’s Cuban black beans and Mariana is trying to talk him through it.   [Sandi Masori]

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

What We Should Have Learned in Managing Campus Unrest

Since April 18, the news has been permeated with views of students and faculty being forcibly removed from lawns and quads across the country. Buildings have been taken over. Accusations of outside agitators have been asserted.  Sometimes, I feel as if I am hearing a 50-year-old news reel of the Vietnam protests. But this time, the stakes are higher. [R. Barbara Gitenstein]

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Antisemitism, Israel, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Interfaith Yom HaShoah Service Brings Surprise Lutheran Apology

A notable moment during the event was provided by Rev. Karla Halvorson from the Lutheran Church of Chula Vista, who sought forgiveness from the Jewish community for her church’s historical support of the Nazi regime. She emphasized her plea by sharing impactful quotes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran minister renowned for his staunch opposition to Nazi policies and who paid with his life for his involvement in a plot to assassinate Hitler. [Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel]

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Antisemitism, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Our Shtetl San Diego County: AJC Honors Late Holocaust Survivor Rose Schindler

One of the first times I met Schindler, she asked about my family and then asked when my birthday was. I told her it was December 27. She gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek and said, “Mine is December 28, you are my birthday twin!” [Cailin Acosta]

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Antisemitism, Cailin Acosta, California, Jewish Religion, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

20 High School Students Compete for Broadway San Diego Awards

All of the high schools in San Diego that have theater departments are invited to be part of the awards. A team of adjudicators are sent out to the schools to see each performance and evaluate the actors. Evaluations are made for the male and female lead roles, and for the best musical in general. This year, the field was narrowed down from 30 schools down to 10 male leads, 10 female leads, and 5 musicals. [Sandi Masori]

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Sports & Competitions, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Children’s Book Offers Myth of an Earlier Garden of Eden

It posits that before it was relocated to Earth, the Garden of Eden—with a man and a woman, the snake, and its fruits and vegetables—all existed on an unnamed planet.  There, the fruits each laid claim to being the best.  The apple boasted it was the “hardiest”; the pomegranate, the “biggest”; the grape, the “sweetest”; the fig, “the yummiest” and the citron (lemon) because it could make any of them taste better with just one drop. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Fiction, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Bell, Dugan Enchant Patrons at La Jolla Music Society’s Gala

Violinist Joshua Bell, and his Piano Collaborator Peter Dugan, entered. Dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt over narrow black trousers, and looking boyish with his slim figure and full shock of dark hair, Bell, accompanied by Dugan, plunged into the first piece, Brahms  Sonatensatz (Scherzo) for Violin and Piano. [Eileen Wingard]

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