Ah, the joys of time travel! San Diego author Marcia Berneger, a retired teacher, uses this device to imaginatively retell the story of the first Chanukah in A Dreidel in Time, a chapter book for children between the ages of 8 and 13. [Donald H. Harrison]
Time travel fiction dramatizes first Chanukah Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Marcia Berneger, San Diego County, The World We Share
My owner suffers from insomnia. It has become so bad that he has begun seeing a Behavioral Therapist to teach him proper sleep hygiene. I felt hurt that he didn’t consult with me first. After all, I sleep most of the day and never had a problem with falling asleep or waking up at night. Sometimes I sleep so deeply that I twitch my legs as if someone was rubbing my stomach. Since he hasn’t heeded my barks of sleeping advice, I am writing this column to share some of my tips. If it works, he can fire his therapist and give me bone. [Elona Baron as told to Laurie Baron]
With Jews around the world scheduled to read the story of Noah’s Ark next Saturday, the Abraham Ratner Torah School at Tifereth Israel Synagogue held a blessing for the animals in a brief outdoor ceremony on Sunday. Rabbi Joshua Dorsch, with arms raised, blessed about a dozen dogs and one rabbit that were brought by congregants of the Conservative shul. [Donald H. Harrison]
Animals receive a blessing at Tifereth Israel Synagogue Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Travel and Food, USA
Professor Lisa Levin of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla will be awarded the Prince Albert I Grand Medal for science on Nov. 7 in Monaco by Prince Albert II, the principality’s reigning monarch, in a ceremony that also will honor former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. [Donald H. Harrison]
Scripps oceanographer’s date with a prince Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Ferris told San Diego Jewish World that only 25 of the 54 units had been occupied, making unprofitable the facility designed under auspices of the San Diego Hebrew Home to accommodate Jewish religious practices. She said surveys of the Jewish community indicated that one of the problems might have been that the residential facility had only independent living units, rather than a mix of units such as there is at the 250-unit Seacrest Village Retirement Community in Encinitas. [Donald H. Harrison]
More details on sale of Seacrest’s Nellie Cohn Residence Read More »
Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, The World We Share, Travel and Food
Although it issued no news release to announce it, Seacrest Village Retirement Communities has sold its 56-unit Rancho Bernardo campus at 12730 Monte Vista Road to Pacifica, which will maintain it as an independent living community.
Michael Mather, Seacrest Village’s director of community relations, says residents of the facility have been able to transfer to the main campus in Encinitas, if they so desired.. [Donald H. Harrison]
Seacrest Village sells its Rancho Bernardo facility Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Marcia Berneger, San Diego County, The World We Share
Rabbi Leah Herz created a fun-filled Simchat Torah learning session called “The Great Torah Roll” for residents of the Seacrest Village Retirement Community in Encinitas when she had the entire Torah unrolled and held by staff, volunteers, and residents, some of whom were in wheelchairs. [Donald H. Harrison]
‘Great Torah Roll’ fun at Seacrest Village Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
In Genesis: 1:28 we are taught that God blessed mankind instructing it to, “… rule over the fish of the sea, the bird of the sky, and every living thing that moves on the earth.” At the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a visitor can conclude that the phrase “rule over” is interpreted to mean “do everything in your power to help all living creatures.” This becomes evident in light of the aquarium’s successful efforts to rescue otters, to teach about conservation, and to instruct children in the fascinating ways of marine life.
Aquarium teaches how good ‘rulers’ treat their subjects Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Travel and Food
Yom Kippur has its own unique customs and traditions, and one of the most historically controversial customs involves taking a chicken and swinging it around one’s head. When I was a Hassidic youth, I recall getting up early in the morning before dawn to reenact the tradition better known as “Shlugging Kaparos,” or “Kapparot.” (To read more, please click on the headline.)
Kapparot ceremony is unnecessary cruelty to animals Read More »
Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, The World We Share
Until I was adopted by the Barons, I didn’t know much about cats. To be sure, when I was on the street, I saw more of them than stray dogs. While I couldn’t wait to find a home, the cats who prided themselves on being feral relished their freedom. The Barons owned two cats, both of whom ignore me. Their vacant stares can only be described as catatonic. (To read more, please click on headline.)
Hounding the headlines: October 4, 2019 Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Lifestyles, The World We Share
I could not possibly applaud enough the young men and women who flooded the streets in hundreds of cities around the world demanding from their government to take immediate and long-term action to combat climate change. By the same token, I could not condemn and denounce more vehemently Mr. Trump and many of his ilk, like Bolsonaro of Brazil, for their criminal disregard of the catastrophic peril that climate change represents. By denying the threat that climate change poses and its devastating harm to countless living creatures, they are systematically undermining any chance we still have of avoiding a terrible catastrophe, including a mass extinction of species the likes of which the modern world has never seen. (To read more, please click on headline)
Some results, but not enough, from U.N. Climate Action Summit Read More »
Alon Ben-Meir, International, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, USA
SAN DIEGO — A friend of license plate maven Melanie Rubin found this specimen, obviously a variant on L’Chaim. We can speculate that the 4 in the middle of the word may mean “for” rather than “four,” suggesting that the owner supports all life forms. Another reading might be that there are four people (perhaps
Jewish-interest license plate L’CH4IM Read More »
Melanie Rubin, The World We Share, Trivia, Humor & Satire
Items in today’s column: *Climate warming emergency drives Micah Perlin’s Assembly candidacy *Personal wealth vs. political endorsements in 53rd C.D. race *Some of the honorable traits animals share with humans *A play about immigration has premiered at the Old Globe Theatre *Mazel tov! Mazel tov! *Passages By Donald H. Harrison Climate warming emergency drives Micah
Our Shtetl San Diego County: September 23, 2019 Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — There are some novels and movies now that tell human stories about what climate change is like (or might be like) in the distant future. The genre is not sci-fi, but rather cli-fi, and it’s on the rise, according to Czech journalist Jaroslav Totusek at the Lidovky newspaper
Hate to rain on Greta’s parade, but I coined ‘cli-fi’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, The World We Share, USA