By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — Many times Israel has “won” in Gaza and then soon found itself fighting Hamas again. Deterrence and “mowing the grass” doesn’t defeat Islamic terrorists; you must liquidate them, one way or another. The Islamists who run Iran, Gaza, and Lebanon have a total disregard for the citizens of […]
Gathering Our Forces Read More »
Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Steve Kramer, USA
By Teresa Konopka SAN DIEGO — Amid the war in Israel and all the atrocities being committed, it is easy to get depressed. Missiles fired, bombs blasted, homes destroyed, innocents killed. It is beyond atrocious. Horror like this has not been seen since the Yom Kippur War almost 50 years ago. Similar to that attack,
Hope in Times of War Read More »
Israel, Opinion, Teresa_Konopka
By Jacob Kamaras LA JOLLA, California — In San Diego and across the Jewish world, this past Simchat Torah holiday won’t be forgotten anytime soon. While I was on volunteer security duty at Congregation Adat Yeshurun during Shabbat/Shemini Atzeret, bits and pieces of the devastating news in Israel began to emerge. We heard that 100
Editor’s Notebook: Navigating an Unforgettable Sense of Limbo on Simchat Torah Read More »
Israel, Jacob Kamaras, Jewish Religion, Opinion, San Diego County
By Alex Traiman (JNS) Many questions and few answers abound as Israel has suffered its worst homefront attack, and perhaps its worst security and intelligence failing in the past 50 years. Instead of peacefully celebrating the completion of the yearly Torah-reading cycle, Israelis awoke to sirens and explosions on one of the holiest days of
From Yom Kippur to Simchat Torah: What Led to the Attack and What Will Happen Next? Read More »
Israel, Middle East, Opinion, USABy Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — Let me say ahead of my remarks that Michal and I are fine at this time. We’ve spent time in our bomb shelter when sirens clamored, but Kfar Saba was spared any direct hits. I went shopping this morning. The only stores open in the small mall near
(Press Release) San Diego County’s U.S. Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA-51), who is Jewish, on Wednesday issued the following statement on the removal of U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20) as Speaker of the House of Representatives: Dear Friend, By now, you’ve probably heard that Kevin McCarthy is no longer Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Rep. Sara Jacobs: Why I Voted to Remove the Speaker of the House Read More »
Opinion, San Diego County, USA
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — I first participated in a demonstration when I was an impressionable sixteen-year-old, some 65 years ago, in those far-off days when England was a nuclear power and still held on to most of its empire. My friends in the youth movement (Bnei Akiva) were going to the CND
Demonstrations, Past and Present Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Opinion
By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — Shame on Rice Pride. A gay student group in Houston bashes a nation that protects, sustains and facilitates gay rights while shielding a society that slaughters its own inhabitants who engage in same-sex relationships. Not only that, but they send a forceful signal that antisemitism propels their behavior. In
Rice Pride’s Shameful Antisemitism Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Opinion, USA
By Barrett Holman Leak SAN DIEGO — I have always appreciated Monty Python’s Flying Circus, a British comedy series which delivers skits of surreal humor. As you watch, you know the sketches are packed with a form of humor grounded in incongruity, non-sequiturs, irrational or absurd situations and other intentional violations of causal reasoning —
Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That Mishegoss Read More »
Barrett Holman Leak, Opinion, San Diego County
By Franklin Gaylis and Sara E. Brown SAJAC (South African Jewish American Community) was one of the first organizations to promote Michael Kretzmer’s documentary, J’Accuse! in 2022. This documentary film tells the story of the Lithuanian Holocaust. Approximately 220,000 Lithuanian Jews — 96.4 % of Lithuania’s Jewish population, the highest proportion in Europe — were
J’Accuse! A Call for Truth, Justice, and Jewish Honor Read More »
Holocaust, International, Opinion, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & BroadcastBy Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — “I believe that a real path towards a genuine peace with our Palestinian neighbors can finally be achieved,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We will not accept any concessions to the Palestinians,” said National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. Benjamin Netanyahu and Itamar Ben Gvir will probably never
A Palestinian Peace Pact Blown to Pieces? Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Israel, OpinionBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Ever since Yigal (my other half) retired from his high-powered high-tech career he has been involved in numerous non-high-tech activities. These range from pursuing his interest in art to become an expert in the paintings of Caravaggio, extending his study of the Ancient Near East to become a
By Paul Miller (JNS) With antisemitism and other forms of hate metastasizing online, the principle known as “Godwin’s Law” is increasingly relevant. The law asserts that the longer an online discussion continues, the probability of a comparison to Nazis or Hitler increases. Whoever makes such analogy first, it asserts, loses the argument. Regrettably, Godwin’s Law
An Armenian Leader’s False Holocaust Analogy Read More »
Holocaust, International, Opinion, USA
The Matzo Chronicles By Karen Galatz RENO, Nevada — I live in a quality lox-white-fish-sable forsaken community. Yes, of course, I blame my husband, who insisted we move, swearing mistakenly there was a good deli in our new town. Still, this lament is about another relationship disappointment — the one with my girlfriend who refused
A Girlfriend is Not a Mule Read More »
Karen Galatz, Lifestyles, Opinion, Travel and Food