SAN DIEGO — It seems that by substituting the number 5 for the letter S, Israel’s intelligence agency was trying to evade our license plate maven Melanie Rubin on this one. Yet unbeknownst to the Mossad, Rubin is well-versed in undercover operations.
Jewish-Interest License Plate: MOSSAD1 Read More »
Melanie Rubin, Travel and Food, Trivia, Humor & Satire
LA JOLLA, California — It’s unclear exactly which Chabad center in San Diego County inspired this license plate, spotted by Melanie Rubin in the Lawrence Family JCC parking lot. But more than likely, the driver was grabbing a bite at Botanic Burgers for some post-Passover chametz.
Jewish-Interest License Plate: CHABAD1 Read More »
Melanie Rubin, Travel and Food, Trivia, Humor & Satire
Lazard, a social worker employed by the County of San Diego to determine financial and residential eligibility for cradle-to-21-year-old residents with major disabilities, says he is happiest when he gets to sing, particularly Jewish prayer songs. Through his tutoring of Ruth Sax, he got to know other Jewish residents of Paradise Village, and before long he was asked to officiate at the monthly Shabbat service. He met with Paradise Village’s Chaplain, Harry Bennett, before accepting the volunteer gig. Services are held in the non-denominational chapel, which has a stained-glass window bearing a picture of a dove. [Donald H. Harrison]
Social Worker Serves as a Lay Rabbi for Elderly Residents of Paradise Village Read More »
California, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
The International House of Pancakes at the Bay Plaza Shopping Center in National City was built in conformance with the shopping center’s architectural guidelines, rather than in IHOP’s usual configuration. However, it still has a trademark blue roof, and its menu is fairly typical of some 1,500 other establishments in the family restaurant chain created by two Jewish brothers. Al Lapin Jr. and Jerry Lapin started IHOP in 1958 in the tony San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Toluca Lake. [Donald H. Harrison]
Jewish Brothers Al Lapin Jr. and Jerry Lapin Founded IHOP Chain Read More »
Business & Finance, California, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
(Read Part 1 here) By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — Our friend Jimmy came to Israel for the first time a few weeks ago. He combined staying with us and several days each in Tel Aviv-Yafo (Jaffa) and Jerusalem, as well as two tours when we traveled together. The previous article covered the Judean
Israel Through a Tourist’s Eyes (Part 2) Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food
It may seem an irony that a Navy warship, the USS Gabrielle Giffords, is named after someone who has become identified with the anti-gun movement. However, in 2012 when then Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that the tenth Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-10) to come off the line would be named after former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, he explained that Giffords, victim of an attempted assassination in 2011, had “inspired the nation with remarkable resiliency.” [Donald H. Harrison]
Ship Name Honors Jewish Congresswoman Who Survived Assassination Attempt Read More »
Travel and Food
By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — We recently spent an enjoyable time with Michal’s classmate from ACHS (Atlantic City High School). Jimmy has a great love of Israel and a great interest in Judaism — although, or maybe because — he’s a religious Christian. Jimmy began his tour with three days in Tel Aviv-Yaffo
Israel Through a Tourist’s Eyes Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food
Schlepping and Schmoozing Along the Interstate 5 by Donald H. Harrison, with special architectural photography by Ben Dishman; San Diego, California: independently published (c) 2022; ISBN 9798441-789226; 308 pages; $19.95. By Dorian de Wind AUSTIN, Texas — According to Google Maps, the distance between San Ysidro, Calif., and Exit 18B off the Interstate 5 (the
We’re interested in the turnaround of the Ford family, starting with automotive pioneer Henry Ford, who was a vicious antisemite, and continuing with his grandson Henry Ford II, known as “Hank the Deuce,” who became a large supporter of Jewish and Zionist causes, and onto Bill Ford, Ford Motor Co’s current executive chairman. who traveled in 2019 to Tel Aviv to inaugurate a new Ford Research Center there. [Donald H. Harrison]
Founded by an Antisemite, Ford Motor Co’s Leaders Became Pro-Zionists Read More »
Business & Finance, California, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Technology, Travel and Food, USA
By Elizabeth Kratz The Jewish Link In large and mid-sized American Jewish communities, 2022 means one can get a kosher version of virtually anything. While this is certainly sufficient for many consumers, a growing community of aficionados of gourmet food and beverage, particularly wine, sometimes laments the lack of opportunities to help kosher wine drinkers
San Diego Sommelier Andrew Breskin Builds Variety and Depth at Kosher Wine’s High End Read More »
California, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
Lowell Blankfort, a liberal Jewish Democrat, became co-publisher and editor of the staid, very conservative Star-News in 1961, and immediately began to shake up the old order. In his very first editorial, he announced that the community newspaper no longer would run columns by U.S. Rep. James Utt. Blankfort explained that Utt’s “so-called ‘column’ from Washington, or weekly political diatribe, is being dropped, pronto. Mr. Utt is the Republican Congressman from Santa Ana who, due to some deft GOP gerrymandering 10 years ago, also has been foisted on National City and Bonita.” [Donald H. Harrison]
Liberal Jewish Newspaper Publisher Made His Mark in a Conservative Town Read More »
Business & Finance, California, Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
Rabbi Samuel is also a prodigious author of books on Jewish religion, Jewish ethics, philosophy, and social issues. A recent book was God and the Pandemic, A Judaic Reflection on the Coronavirus.” Other works include sets of books on how both Philo and Maimonides understood each of the five books of the Torah. The two interpreters of the Jewish religion lived respectively in 1st Century Alexandria, Egypt, and in 12th Century Spain. [Donald H. Harrison]
Jewish Philosophers Believed in Truth, Whatever Its Source Might Be Read More »
California, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
By Jerry Klinger MALVERN, England — An important Holocaust memory was completed, interpreted, this week, not just for today but for a hundred years or more of tomorrows. A permanent interpretive headstone was placed for an Austrian Jewish woman, a refugee, who died and was buried far from her homeland in an obscure English churchyard
Frieda Salvendy’s Tombstone Shows How Cemeteries Are Outdoor Museums Read More »
Travel and Food
By Dorian de Wind In this author’s opinion, there are probably no other symbols that to this day can evoke more intense emotions — anger, fear, horror and sorrow — than the Nazi Swastika and the Yellow “Jude” Star. Another symbol may soon be added to this short, infamous list. We have all noticed the
First Came the Nazi Swastika, Then the Yellow Star. Now the Russian ‘Z’ Read More »
Travel and Food