A 'How To' Play at Theatre West

By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES–You wouldn’t think you could make a theater piece out of a textbook on acting, but Beau Bridges and his daughter Emily have done it—beautifully.  The book is “Acting: The First Six Lessons” by Polish director and actor Richard Boleslavsky, and if all teachers were as articulate and emotionally charged as […]

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Cynthia Citron

A short overview of Holocaust commemorations

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The Holocaust leads all other tragedies in the extent of its commemoration. Numerous countries have an annual observance on January 27th, the anniversary of the day in 1945 when the Soviet Army liberated the largest Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. Some of them also commemorate Israel’s observance in the Spring. It comes

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

San Diego’s historic places: Mission Trails visitor center provides exhibits on Kumeyaay life

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—The Visitors and Interpretive Center of Mission Trails Regional Park is low-tech compared to razzmatazz commercial attractions like Disneyland or Sea World, but it effectively teaches about Native American life and about nature. Its exhibits appeal to a full range of age groups with a variety of learning styles. Whether

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Donald H. Harrison

San Diego’s historic places: Mission Trails Regional Park offers insights into Kumeyaay

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—There are some 40 miles of trails in Mission Trails Regional Park along the San Diego River and surrounding grasslands and mountains. Hikers can view Kumeyaay and Spanish archaeological sites, possibly encounter some endangered animals and some dangerous ones, and be introduced to plants with characteristics so interesting they almost

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Donald H. Harrison

Night-time artificial light can harm cell division process

HAIFA (Press Release)–Just one “pulse” of artificial light at night disrupts circadian cell division, reveals a new study carried out by Dr. Rachel Ben-Shlomo of the University of Haifa-Oranim Department of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology along with Prof. Charalambos P. Kyriacou of the University of Leicester. “Damage to cell division is characteristic of cancer, and

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Science, Medicine, & Education

A recap of the Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices program

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California–The season’s heaviest rainstorm descended Wednesday evening, January 20, as fifteen people braved the inclement weather to gather at the JCC Astor Judaica Library for the first of three programs by local poets: Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices. Yael Gmach, who was scheduled to sing an original song in French, was stranded

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Eileen Wingard

San Diego’s historic places: Mission San Diego tells circumspect tale of Kumeyaay life

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Janet Bartel, chief docent at San Diego Mission, treads as carefully as a performer on a tightrope when discussing the Kumeyaay Indian experience at Mission San Diego, There have been too many controversies not to. In September 1988, Pope John Paul II beatified Father Junipero Serra saying that

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Donald H. Harrison, USA

Holyland scandal continues to dominate Israeli headlines

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Israel returned from its Passover vacation, and unburdened itself of several files awaiting release from one official body or another. The scandal of the Holyland apartment development gained more weight with the detainment of another real estate mogul, said to have bribed local planning officials with respect to that project, and officials

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

The kashrut of self-control

By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO–Kashrut observance is one of the defining rituals of Judaism. For Jews, the food we put into our mouths is equally as important as the words that come out. Parashat Shemini cites the defining characteristics of Kosher mammals and fish. Mammals must have cleft hooves and chew their cud. Sea

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Jewish Religion