Travel and Food

  By Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO–For the past two years I have enjoyed writing a series of articles about the Bella Family Circle which was comprised of the descendants of the family matriarch, Bella, and the people who married them.  The original Founding Members were Bella’s children:  Sam, Israel, Ralph, Al, Willie and Sarah (my […]

 By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–Following its very successful exploration of Reform Judaism two years ago, the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem has just held a similar two-day conference on Conservative Judaism. The event was held at a time when the movement is having difficulties, especially in the United States where it’s no longer the dominant

SAN DIEGO (Press Release)–Janice Alper, former executive director of the Union for Progressive Judaism in Australia and a founding member of the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education, will discuss “The Jews of Australia,” at 7:30 p.m., Fridy, Jan. 8, at  Congregation Dor Hadash, 4858 Ronson Court, San Diego.  For more information, contact Mark

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–Following is the text of a letter sent on Tuesday by Congressman Frank Wolf (Republican, Virginia) urging President Barack Obama not to release terrorist suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to Yemen or other “unstable” countries:  December 29, 2009 The Honorable Barack H. Obama The President The White House Washington DC 20500 Dear Mr. President:

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)– The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Dec. 22 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the United Arab Emirates of logistics support, training and related systems for 12 C-130J-30 aircraft being procured through a Direct Commercial Sale. The complete package, including associated parts and equipment is worth approximately $119 million.

KANEOHE, Hawaii (Press Release)–Following is a statement made Tuesday, December 29,  by President Barack Obama on the Christmas Day attempt to bomb a jetliner en route to Detroit from Amsterdam. This is the second statement he has made on the incident: THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Yesterday I updated the American people on the immediate steps

NEW YORK (Press Release)–Asserting that the conclusions of the so-called “historical evidence” about World II-era Pope Pius XII’s actions to save Jews presented to the Pope are seriously flawed, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on Pope Benedict XVI to reassess the issue in light of his decision to move Pius XII a step closer

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)  – Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman ( Independent, Connecticut), and Ranking Member Susan Collins, (Republican, Maine) , announced Monday that they would convene a hearing in January to examine the layers of security meant to protect airline passengers from terrorist attacks but which accused terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab successfully evaded.

 WASHINGTON, D.C. (Roundup)–Passage by the Senate on Thursday by a 60-39 vote of the Health Care Reform Act prompted the following commentary from Jewish officeholders and interest groups. Senator Russell Feingold (Democrat-Wisconsin): The Senate health care bill is far from perfect.  I am deeply disappointed it does not include a public option to help keep

  HAIFA (Press Release)–The prestigious Bahat Prize for original works of non-fiction was awarded Wednesday by the University of Haifa Press to Prof. Eli Yassif, Dr. Dana Olmert and Dr. Yehuda Goodman. The prize was awarded at a festive ceremony at the University of Haifa to Prof. Yassif for his manuscript Legends from Safed (“Agadot

By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO–When Pharaoh met Yaakov for the first time, the first thing he asked him was, “How old are you,” which is sort of a  funny question to ask someone whom you just met. The Midrash explains by filling in the back story: The entranceway to Pharaoh’s chamber had a very