By Steve Diamond SAN DIEGO — The email ad for the first annual Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Cycling Tour of Israel appeared in my inbox in early August – and immediately caught my eye. I’m a retired U.S. Navy senior officer, and my daughter, Rami, just finished her service as a Lone […]
Pushing pedals, raising morale in Israel Read More »
Middle East, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Sportswriter Ron Kaplan of Montclair, New Jersey, maintains a popular blog on Jews and sports so it was not surprising that he was approached by fans of the international Maccabiahs to write a book on the world’s greatest gathering of Jewish athletes. He was surprised, however, by the
Book details the greatest gatherings of Jewish athletes Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Sports & CompetitionsBy Rabbi Ben Kamin OCEANSIDE, California — The Kansas City Royals, those scrappy, come-from-behind non-imperials from the American epicenter of wheat and ice, ended it decisively in Game 6. Like a sudden gust from the plains, they brought it on at their own will, blowing the bemused New York Mets off their own field in a
Counting the days until baseball’s spring training Read More »
Sports & CompetitionsBy Joe Spier CALGARY, Alberta, Canada — In 1934, the United States sent a team of baseball all-stars to Japan to play a series of exhibition games. On the team were the likes of baseball hall of famers, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Also on the team was Morris “Moe” Berg, a mediocre utility ball-player
The spy who worked at home plate Read More »
International, Sports & Competitions, USA
The Holocaust legacy that packs a punch By Jacob Kamaras/JNS.org Shot three times by the Nazis in Poland, Bernard Fleischer was down for the count. But just as he was about to be finished off, the German soldier’s gun froze. Assuming he’d die anyway, the soldier left Bernard in a barn. Bernard survived and later
Never Again: Holocaust news of September 30, 2015 Read More »
Jacob Kamaras, Sports & Competitions
–23rd in a Series– Exit 9, Waring Road, San Diego ~ Lake Murray Tennis Club By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Soft-spoken, easy-going Saul Snyder is easy to underestimate. An opponent once told him, “you look like my accountant,” but that was before he faced Snyder across the tennis net, and lost. He learned, as many
I-8 Jewish Travel: A world champion’s tennis club Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Travel and Food
SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — The Men’s Club of Beth Israel of San Diego hosts Mark Neville as its featured speaker at the October 21 Dinner Forum. Neville will provide an inside look at San Diego’s two season-ending College Football Bowl Games. He will discuss the pageantry and excitement the games bring to the
Football bowl specialist addresses CBI Men Read More »
San Diego County, Sports & CompetitionsBy Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — In 2011, NBA Superstar Darryl Dawkins, known as Chocolate Thunder, visited Crane Lake Camp, a sleepaway camp in western Massachutsetts run by the Union for Reform Judaism. What type of class did Dawkins, who passed away this week, run for the campers? A. He taught them how to
Jewish Trivia: Darryl Dawkins, R.I.P. Read More »
Mark D. Zimmerman, Sports & Competitions, Trivia, Humor & Satire
–16th in a series– Exit 6, Qualcomm Way, San Diego ~ Qualcomm Stadium, By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — In 1997, Qualcomm, a telecommunications industry giant co-founded by Jewish electrical engineers Irwin Jacobs, Andrew Viterbi and others, paid the City of San Diego $18 million for San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium to be renamed for
I-8 Jewish travel: Qualcomm Way, Qualcomm Stadium Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Travel and Food
ENCINITAS, California (Press Release)– The chances of hitting a hole-in-one, for the average handicap golfer, are approximately 12,000 to 1. On Monday, July 27th at the Guardians of San Diego’s 24th Annual Golf & Tennis Tournament, Constantino “Connie” Salios of Huntington Beach beat those odds and recorded an ace during the charity golf event to
Seacrest Village benefit golfer hits an ace Read More »
San Diego County, Sports & Competitions
Story by David Ogul; photos by Michael Mantell SAN DIEGO — This city does not have money for a new, publicly funded, $1.1-billion football stadium that backers hope will keep the Chargers from bolting to Los Angeles, City Councilmember Marti Emerald told several dozen people at a Tifereth Israel Synagogue Men’s Club dinner Wednesday night.
Stadium funding not a city priority — Emerald Read More »
David Ogul, Michael Mantell, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions
SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — The Men’s Club of Beth Israel of San Diego hosts Ari Segal as its featured speaker at a July 15 Dinner Forum to be held at the congregation at 9001 Towne Center Drive. Segal will discuss the strategy, mission, and performance of the San Diego Gulls, San Diego’s start-up American Hockey League (AHL) team and the
Segal of S.D. Gulls to speak July 15 at Beth Israel Read More »
San Diego Calendar, Sports & CompetitionsBy Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — FIFA, soccer’s governing body, is in the midst of a huge organizational scandal. During the last FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil in 2014, what did the Israeli company Elbit Systems do to support the games? A. They supplied kosher food for all of the Jewish athletes who were
Jewish Trivia: FIFA Read More »
Mark D. Zimmerman, Sports & Competitions, Trivia, Humor & Satire
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – The theme of Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School (SSDHDS)’s 52nd fundraising gala on Sunday, June 7, was “Growing Greatness” and what better venue to stage it than at the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park, a sports museum conceived and implemented by the late Bob Breitbard, who
‘Growing Greatness’ Gala focused on students, food Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Marcia Tatz Wollner, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, The World We Share