THE STAFF BOX/ INSIDERS SDJW

News about San Diego Jewish World and its family of contributors

Sunday-Monday, December 6-7, 2009

It's our pleasure to welcome Randy Fadem to our staff of writers.

Sunday-Monday, December 6-7, 2009


It's our pleasure to welcome Randy Fadem to our staff of writers.

Thursday-Saturday, December 3-5, 2009

With great pleasure, we welcome Rabbi Philip Graubart of Congregation Beth El as a columnist for San Diego Jewish World. His first column appears in this issue.



Sunday-Monday, November 22-23, 2009 (Vol. 3, No. 208)


PETER, JACK AND GAIL —They're a new trio, but only for this photo taken by Paul Nestor. As far as we know, only one of them--Peter Yarrow, at right--knows how to sing really well. Jack & Gail Forman, on the other hand, write very nice book reviews and they were at the San Diego Jewish Book Fair earlier this month, where they met the well-known folk singer of Peter, Paul and Mary fame.
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Thursday-Saturday, October 22-23, 2009 (Vol. 3, No. 197)—AUTHOR AND REPORTER—Rabbi Harold Kushner and Gail Feinstein Forman, holding the rabbi's book, have a moment together following his San Diego Jewish Book Fair speech.




Thursday-Saturday, October 15-17, 2009 (Vol. 3, No. 194)


OFF-STAGE—Our reviewer Carol Davis poses with actor Christian Hoff, who portrays the prosecutor of Leo Frank in Parade, now playing at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles



Thursday-Saturday, October 8-9, 2009 (Vol. 3, No. 191): We regret to inform you of the passing of Mrs. Selma Lederman, a"h, mother of Rabbi Baruch Lederman. Since the funeral took place during Succos, the rules of shiva are different. Usually the shiva begins right after the burial. In honor of the festive holiday, the observance of shiva is deferred till after the end of Simchas Torah. Therefore, shiva will commence7:03pm Sunday night October 11, 2009 at the Lederman home:
14133 Via Alisal, San Diego, CA 92128. Maariv Sunday night: 7:30pm; Shacharis Monday-Friday: 7:00am; Mincha/Maariv Monday - Thursday: 6:05pm; and Mincha Friday: 5pm


Thursday-Saturday, October 1-3, 2009 (Vol. 3, No. 188): Assistant Editor Gail Umeham, visiting Germany, has toured the new Holocaust Museum in Berlin and also has been to Dachau, finding both experiences quite moving.

Tuesday-Wednesday, September 29-30 (Vol.3, No. 187): Occasional contributor Gert Thaler reports: "After nearly three weeks in Sharp Hospital I am now home and gaining strength and feeling better each day. So many wonderful friends need to be thanked for their Shana Tovah wishes plus the flowers, numerous cards and lots of e mails to the hospital which were graciously delivered each day.(What a great way to let someone in the hospital know they are thought of without phone calls).  I just want to express my thanks for all the kindnesses plus the wonderful staff at Sharp and the new wing of the hospital with its all private rooms and an extra couch for family if needed."

Thursday-Monday, September 24-28, 2009 (Vol. 3, No. 186): As we move toward more local empasis in our news stories and calendar listings, we are looking for volunteers to report, photograph type, edit and serve as webmasters. If any of these appeal to you, please contact Don Harrison, editor, at (619) 265 0808.


Thursday-Monday, September 17-21, 2009 (Vol.3, No. 184)

Sunday-Monday, September 6-7, 2009 (Vol. 3, no. 180)--We welcome to our ranks writers J.J. Surbeck, whose story about USD's Kroc Center may be found in the San Diego section above, and Joey Seymour, whose story about the upcoming exhibition game between the Los Angeles Clippers and Maccabi Tel Aviv is under the Sports heading.

Thursday-SAturday, September 3-5, 2009 (Vol. 3, No. 179)—It takes a lot of talented people to produce a newspaper, as the images under the masthead above demonstrates. We don't have pictures of our two Lifestyles guest writers, Sara Gold and Gali Pialkoff, but 12 other contributors to today's issue were, from left, editor Donald H. Harrison, Ira Sharkansky, Barry Rubin, Shoshana Bryen, Lawrence Baron, Laurel Corona, Carol Davis, Cynthia Citron, David Amos, Hal Wingard z"l, Ethel Hofman and assistant editor Gail Umeham. We'd love to expand our volunteer staff, so please consider joining us. Call Harrison at (619) 265-0808.


Tuesday-Wednesday, September 1-2, 2009 (Vol. 3, NO. 178)—We welcome Jeanette Friedman of New Milford, New Jersey, to the ranks of our writers. She reported on the demonstration in Englewood, New Jersey, to protest the possible camp out of Libyan strong man Moammar Qadhafi on the lawn of the ambassador's residence in that area. We are looking forward to other stories from her from the New York-New Jersey area.

Sunday-Monday, August 30-31, 2009 (Vol. 3, No. 177) Coincidentally, both Sara Appel-Lennon and Yvonne Greenberg decided to cover and write about the movie, Play The Game. Links to both stories can be found above in our Arts section.


Tuesday-Wednesday, August 18-19, 2009 (Vol. 3, No. 172):Our thanks to Bobby Greene for telling us about her former teaching colleague Kathleen Obrist and novelist Joseph Finder. Without such a tip, a story like the one Sara Appel-Lennon did today would not have been possible.

Sunday-Monday, August 16-17, 2009 (Vol. 3, No. 171): If you enjoy history, the column that Gail Umeham assembled from the September 4, 1953 edition of Southwestern Jewish Press is bound to stimulate your interest. There's a High Holiday greeting from the nation's new vice president, a fellow named Richard Nixon; an emotional letter from the Jewish chaplains in Korea urging continued support for Armed Forces personnel even after the approaching Armistice; a column by Albert Hutler, UJF executive director, anticipating the impact that having a JCC, Hebrew Home for the Aged and other Jewish agencies all together on 54th Street would have on the community, and an advertisement for the Sholom Mausoleum then being completed at Greenwood Cemetery.

Thursday-Saturday, August 13-15, 2009 A birthday dedication to one staff member's grandson, another birthday dedication to a late columnist's daughter ... if at seems at times that San Diego Jewish World is one big family, it is because that is the way we feel about each other: we're family members in a common enterprise. Unlike other families, ours is not closed; we are looking for more and more people to join us in covering the San Diego and worldwide Jewisd communities. We have plenty of things to do for writers and non-writers alike. Please give Don Harrison a call at (619) 265-0808 or at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com , and see how you too can become part of San Diego Jewish World


August 11-12, 2009--It is our sad duty to report that Herman Gadon, husband of columnist Natasha Josefowitz, died August 8 from metastasized prostate cancer following six weeks of hospice care. A funeral service will be conducted at 2:45 p.m. today (Tuesday) at El Camino Memorial Park, 5600 CarrollCanyon Road, with mourners gathering afterwards at the White Sands of La Jolla at 7450 Olivetas Ave,

August 9-10, 2009—When Gail Umeham agreed to compile the Adventures in San Diego Jewish History column, she did so with some reluctance. What could be more dry than dredging up stories from old newspapers? But, she recently conceded, the more she did it, the more she enjoyed it--finding it interesting how customs and usage have changed in San Diego's Jewish community, and learning about who used to date whom, how our institutions evolved, and some of the challenges--internal and external--with which San Diego's Jewish community had to deal. The column has many readers, who appreciate Gail's efforts as do her colleagues.


August 6-8, 2009 — We welcome the food critic Ethel Hofman to our ranks, and hope readers of "Ethel's Jewish Kitchen" will take advantage of the recipes offered by this wonderful gourmet cook.


August 4-5, 2009—EDITOR'S DELIGHT—San Diego Jewish World theatre reviewers Carol Davis of San Diego, left, and Cynthia Citron of Los Angeles were both at the Old Globe Theatre for the opening of The First Wives Club, and editor Donald H. Harrison (center) had the privilege of introducing them. The two reviewers' assessment of The First Wives Club appear separately in this issue. Although they did not discuss the musical with each other, their assessments were quite similar. {Photo: Sandi Masori}




August 2-3, 2009—Having switched to a three-times-a-week format, sometimes writers who produce columns more frequently get backlogged, but never fear we'll run all their stories for your edification and reading pleasure. In this issue, for example, Ira Sharkansky and Donald H. Harrison have three stories each.

July 30-August 1, 2009—We continue to look for new writers to cover a variety of enjoyable "beats." If you are a retired person, looking for something fun to do and like to write, call editor Don Harrison at (619) 265-0808. You don't have to live in San Diego to be a contributor; contact us at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com

July 26-27, 2009—We welcome the stories contributed today by Douglas Gladstone on TV producer Joe Stern and by Dr. Aaron Lerner on Israeli attitudes towards relations with the U.S. and the Palestinians. If you would like to join our growing family of contributing writers, please contact edior Don Harrison at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com

July 23-25, 2009—With our new three-day-a-week schedule, it will be more and more common that sometimes writers will have more than one column per issue, as indeed Shoshana Bryen and Carol Davis have in this issue.

July 21-22, 2009—Once a month, Fred Reiss chooses a book for review, usually on a religious topic and thereby deepening our understanding of Judaism. Today, he reviews a book by the well known Los Angeles Conservative rabbi, Harold Schulweis. To see a collection of his reviews for San Diego Jewish World, please click here.

July 19-20, 2009—With H1N1 virus continuing to be felt around the world, it is particularly eerie is to read in today's edition Laura Simon's recollection of the Spanish Influenza epidemic, which she survived as a child. San Diego Jewish World has been serializing the 103-year-old San Diegans memoir I Am Still Here.

July 17-18, 2009—San Diego Jewish World writers teamed up to cover Fiddler on the Roof, starring Topol. Carol Davis, our theatre critic, covered the overall production. Norman Greene's piece focused on Topol, and Donald H. Harrison told how the experience thrilled his grandson, Shor.

July 15-16, 2009—We are moving toward an every-other-day publication schedule for two reasons: First, some readers have expressed the wish to have more time to digest all the stories that we put up each issue. Second, it allows our editor time to also go out and report. Your thoughts are most welcome. Please contact us at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com


July 14, 2009—At the suggestion of our Sha'ar Hanegev correspondent,Ulla Hadar, we have added in our directory below an English-language link for the municipality of Sha'ar Hanegev, the partnership region for San Diego's United Jewish Federation. We're happy to do what we can to promote even closer relations between the two areas.


July 12, 2009—Among the letters we received from readers last week was one asking why we changed our format from the long vertical scroll to one linking headlines to separate articles. The reasons were both technical (our computer has problems handling long articles day after day) and an effort to be reader-friendly. (Individual articles can be printed out more easily. .... Another reader corrected our listing for Temple Adat Shalom, pointing out that we still had the rabbi listed at Tamar Molino, who has since been replaced by Rabbi David Casiglione. We made the change on our directory below, and hope members of other organizations will take the time to let us know if any changes or updates are required.

July 10, 2009—It's always nice when one author can appreciate the work of another. Laurel Corona, who wrote The Four Seasons, a historical novel about Vivaldi, and co-authored Until Our Last Breath, a non-fiction work about Jewish partisans in Lithuania, in the last two days has written a pair of book reviews for San Diego Jewish World. She gives a "thumbs up" for Drawing in the Dust, a work by Rabbi Zoe Klein, reviewed in this edition, and yesterday expressed her approval for All Other Nights, a Jewish story of the Civil War era by Dara Horn. We hear stories about writers being jealous of one another, afraid that another's success might diminish theirs. In fact, artists and writers don't really compete with each other, but rather complement each other. If people who today derive all their information from a screen--be it a television, a computer, or a large screen in a movie house-- can be turned onto books, they might keep coming back to libraries and book stores again and again, and then all authors--Klein, Horn, Corona and thousands of others--will enlarge their audiences.

July 9, 2009—Our Bible in Pop Culture feature is steaming through Genesis, with a surprising variety of photos about businesses or places named for people or places in the Bible. If you have a photo of a place that you'd like to match to a biblical verse, send it to us at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com If you haven't already, check out the Bible in Pop Culture archive on our website.

July 8, 2009—Today's column marks the second-year anniversary of Garry Fabian's diligent efforts to keep readers of San Diego Jewish World informed about developments in the Australian Jewish community. For those of us who live in other parts of the Diaspora, Fabian's ongoing column is a good point of reference as it describes similar situations, triumphs and problems that we all face as members of a minority group. It also offers insight into how we might approach similar situations. For Israeli readers, it may help further understanding about what it is like to live in a multicultural country in which Jews are but a small percentage of the population mix. We're glad that Fabian has been sending "Down Under" up and over!

July 7, 2009—Anatomy of a story: Bruce Lowitt, who occasionally writes a column on sports for us, mentioned that his daughter, Stephanie, was working with Keshet in the Boston area, which was involved in some interesting projects. Stephanie referred editor Donald H. Harrison to Bonnie Rosenbaum, who told him not only about that agency's work but how Keshet is working with J*Pride in San Diego. What is that we say about the Jewish world being a small one indeed?

July 5, 2009—We once again are recruiting volunteer writers, photographers, editors and editorial assistants to help with our growing online newspaper. Are you retired from another profession but always had a hankering to try journalism? Give us a call! Are you a college student looking for some practical experience to put on your resume? We'd love to hear from you. Contact Don Harrison at (619) 265-0808

July 3, 2009— Our improved format —with separate pages for articles -- continues to evolve with the help of web designer Carol Ann Goldstein. Your comments are most welcome at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com

July 2, 2009—Ulla Hadar, San Diego Jewish World's correspondent in Kibbutz Ruhama and a top athletic competitor, messaged yesterday to tell us: "I came in as number one in my age group 50-59 in the Israeli Championship of road biking last Saturday 27th of June. My time was 2 hours and 33 minutes doing 72 kilometers in four loops around Afula (each loop approximately 17.5 kilometers). Strong headwinds and a steep hill (times 4) didn't make the ride easy but it was pure fun and adrenalin for me. Mazal tov, Ulla!

July 1, 2009
Today we begin a new format, with our articles on separate pages--which will be more convenient for those of you who would like to print them out. Advertisements will run on the main page--with advertisers having the option, should they desire, to purchase a second ad at half price on an inside page. For more information about advertising on San Diego Jewish World, please call Don or Nancy Harrison at (619) 265-0808

June 30, 2009

Where would an Israeli professor from Jerusalem get to know another professor from Herzliya. You may think somewhere in between, perhaps in Tel Aviv. But Ira Sharkansky and Barry Rubin are becoming acquainted with each other right here -- on the web pages of San Diego Jewish World, where they read each other's columns. You and your friends can get to know both of them--by checking us out each day.



June 28-29, 2009

Rabbi Dow Marmur who divides his time between Jerusalem and Toronto, and writes from both, penned his memoirs several years ago. In this issue, editor Don Harrison offers an overview.

June 26-27, 2009
Okay, we all like a reporter who gets deep into the subject. But 10 meters deep at the lowest spot on earth--well, who else on our staff but the adventurous Ulla Hadar, would be bringing us a story like that one?


June 25, 2009
The story from the Jewish Press of Pinellas County, Florida, about Adam Lowitt, producer for television's Daly Show, is about the son of Bruce Lowitt, whose column "A bissel Jewish sports trivia" appears regularly in San Diego Jewish World. Bruce, who was a longtime sportswriter for the Associated Press and later the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times, started at the Associated Press's Los Angeles bureau with SDJW editor Don Harrison in 1967.


June 24, 2009

We are indebted to two organizations: Kulanu, which seeks out stories about Jews in remote places and shares them with our readership, and Jews for Judaism, which has kindly shared the essays and poems of its student contest winners. Furthermore, we tip our hats to the Australian Jewish Press and to other media in Australia, which share their stories with our bureau chief Garry Fabian.

June 23, 2009

Cantor Sheldon Merel continues to treat us to the music of wonderful cantors in the United States and elsewhere. Today he takes up Cantor Harold Orbach who recently retired from Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan

June 16, 2009

We make two changes in this issue. Graphics in this headline box to make it easier on the eyes, and an improved linking system so that by clicking "Read More" on an author's page, or from the headlines page, you will be linked directly to that article. Previously we linked readers to the top of the page, requiring them to search again for the story they wanted. We hope this system will prove more satisfacotry.

June 14-15, 2009
We welcome Arnold Flick's story about the House of Israel in this issue and invite local writers to submit columns providing background and history about important Jewish organizations in the community. Contact Don Harrison at (619) 265-0808.

June 12-13, 2009
Have you ever been grieving and some well-meaning person has made it worse by saying the wrong thing? Or have there been times when you wished you recalled the words that came out of your mouth while visiting a seriously ill patient? Sheila Orysiek and Sara Appel-Lennon teamed up to produce a two-part series today on what to say--and what not--to people you are trying to comfort.

June 11, 2009
We couldn't be more pleased to welcome to the ranks of our advertisers the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation which has issued in a two-volume set the White House diaries of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. You will be doing a double mitzvah by ordering the books online through our website by clicking on the Reagan Diaries advertisement below. You will be supporting the work of the Reagan Foundation in maintaining the presidential museum and burial grounds in Simi Valley, California, and you will be helping San Diego Jewish World. Anyone fascinated by American government and American history will want to have this two-volume set in his or her library.


June 10, 2009
Gary Rotto's story in this issue denouncing Jewish racists was right on the mark. The video in question, showing inebriated Jewish youngsters denouncing President Obama in the crudest slurs made those of us who saw it feel nothing but revulsion.

June 9, 2009

Isaac Yetiv, who occasionally writes a column on "War and Lore," many installments being about the Jewish legends in his boyhood home of Tunisia, forwarded to us this slide show about the art of the Tunisian Synagogue located in Acco, Israel. The Power Point presentation is by photographer Igal Morag. To see the Power Point presentation, click here, then click again whenever you want to see the next slide.


June 7, 2009

Our growing international and national coverage needs sponsors. Receive regular recognition with your name or that of your business listed as sponsoring one of our columns. For an example see the column postscript on "Adventures in Jewish History" on this page. Inquire of editor Don Harrison at (619) 265-0808, or email him at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com

June 5, 2009
We'll have more tomorrow on President Obama's speech to the Muslim world. If you would like to comment, please send your letter to editor@sandiegojewishworld.com

June 4, 2009

We run Dorothea Shefer-Vanson's story about the botanical gardens in Jerusalem right in the middle of our coverage of the tension between the U.S. and Israel as President Barack Obama woos the Muslim world. Why? Because we want to reaffirm that Israel is not only about politics or conflict, but is a country with a beauty and majesty of its own.


June 3, 2009

Three San Diego area news articles in today's edition--by Sara Appel-Lennon, Donald H. Harrison and Gary Rotto--indicate some of the stories that you might be assigned to, if you would like to become a volunteer reporter for San Diego Jewish World. For more details about how you can become involved in our Jewish community newspaper, email Harrison at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com or call at (619) 265-0808.No experience is necessary, only a love for the Jewish people and an interest in writing.

June 2, 2009

The international section of today's San Diego Jewish World represents the kind of balance in commentary that we like to bring to our readers, with a writer on the left (J. Zel Lurie), in the middle (Ira Sharkansky) and on the right (Barry Rubin) all lending their perspectives to current developments in Israel

May 31, 2009

Publisher's Note: As we did last week, we are combining the Sunday and Monday editions of San Diego Jewish World as both a labor-saving strategy and as a way to give readers more time to peruse such features as the centenarian's memoir by Laura Simon currently being serialized and the weekly column of Sheila Orysiek. Both these features have been running on Mondays. In the event that there is breaking news on Sunday that cannot be held over until our Tuesday edition, we will revise the Monday edition to include it.


May 29, 2009

We are always delighted to bring back for you works by longtime San Diego Jewish Times columnist Dan Schaffer, as we have in today's edition, with his look at the issue of whether rabbis should officiate at mixed marriages.

May 28, 2009

We're simultaneously saddened and honored that the Wingard family has entrusted San Diego Jewish World with continuing to publish and carry the audios of the works of Hal Wingard z"l. Even beyond his death, the man has so much to share with the rest of us.

May 27, 2009

The serialization of Laurel Corona's Vilna journal, beginning today, coupled with the serialization on Mondays of 103-year-old Laura Simon's memoir, I'm Still Here, are indications of San Diego Jewish World's commitment to providing exposure for the works of local Jewish authors. If you have a work you would like us to consider for serialization in the future, please contact editor Don Harrison by email or by phone, 619 265-0808


May 26, 2009

Hal Wingard, who died yesterday morning at age 83, was a valued contributor to San Diego Jewish World, whose songs on subjects both serious and playful, revealed a towering intellect, a finely honed sense of skepticism, and a humanitarian instinct that will serve as a model for generations of people who knew him either personally or through his songs. An important force in persuading the San Diego Unified School District to teach foreign languages conversationally, Wingard himself was the most pleasant of conversationalists, able to hone in on any subject. Our deepest condolences go to Eileen Wingard, his wife and fellow contributor to San Diego Jewish World, as well as to all the members of the talented Wingard family. May his memory always be counted for a blessing.

May 24, 2009
We have been closely covering Jewish public officials in the international, national and local arenas, and hope to be able to expand that coverage. If you or your business would like to be listed as a sponsor of any these regular sections of San Diego Jewish World, please call editor Don Harrison at (619) 265-0808 to discuss levels of sponsorship.


May 22, 2009

If you listen to XLNC-1 (as we do), that was our very own columnist and Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO) conductor David Amos serving as a "pledge master" during the classical radio station's fundraising campaign.


May 21, 2009
Today as we print and attach audio for three more of Hal Wingard's songs, our thoughts and those of all his friends and family are with him as he struggles with very serious health issues.

May 20, 2009

We thank John E. Finley for his photograph in Westminster, California of the Heavenly Couture store, which we matched with Genesis 1:8 in our continuing Bible in Pop Culture series. Have you spotted a place or thing with a biblically inspired or biblically remiscent name. Please send in a photo and receive a credit line in our online Pop Bible.

May 19, 2009

Double congratulations to Laurel Corona, a contributor to San Diego Jewish World, for her victories at the San Diego Book & Writing Awards! Her historical fiction novel about Antonio Vivaldi, The Four Seasons, won the grand prize, the Theodor S. Geisel Award, while her historical book co-authored with Michael Bart about his parents' experiences resisting the Nazis, Until Our Last Breath: A Holocaust Story of Love and Resistance," won in the history category. Here's the link to Robert Pincus' story in The San Diego Union-Tribune listing other winners.

May 18, 2009

The second installment of Laura Simon's book, I'm Still Here raises the question of how a woman who is 100 years old and legally blind goes about writing her memoirs. The answer is that she dictated them into a tape recorder, which volunteers later transcribed and read back to her. As readers continue getting to know Laura, they will be impressed by her indominatable spirit.

May 17, 2009
We were delighted to receive Noam Baltinester's lookahead to the 18th Maccabiah in Israel, for which he has been chosen as a member of the American junior soccer team. Other student contributions on Jewish subjects also are welcome. Please submit them to editor@sandiegojewishworld.com



May 15-16, 2009

We introduce today "Washington Roundup," which brings together press releases issued by U.S. government agencies and officeholders, particularly as they affect Israel and the Jewish community, and also helps us to keep abreast of what Jewish public officeholders are doing. We have a four-week trial period before we decide whether to continue the service, and we'd like our readers' reactions to the column. Should we keep it? Or not? Please let us know at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com


May 14, 2009


We have two contributors today from the Global Research in International Affairs Center in Herzliya--Barry Rubin and Jonathan Spyer. To learn more about the center, visit its website. Here's the link

May 13, 2009

We are looking around the globe for writers who are willing to volunteer their talents to this world-wide Jewish conversation. Your subject matter can be any aspect of the Jewish world--breaking news, politics, religion, culture, among them. If you would like to share your thoughts,your writing and your talents with fellow Jews everywhere, please contact Don Harrison at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com. Send him an essay about yourself and your interests.


May 12, 2009

Besides the YouTube videos featuring Jewish entertainers, we also provide audios on San Diego Jewish World--including two in this issue. One is Cantor David Lefkowitz of New York City's Park Avenue Synagogue chanting V'Al Ku-lam (in connection with Cantor Sheldon Merel's column); the other is jazz musician Omer Klein, who appears tonight at the La Jolla JCC, performing Kavana. (See Co-Publishers Mailbox)


May 11, 2009

We are utterly delighted to be welcoming Laura Simon, 103, to our group of writers and contributors. We are certain that you will enjoy the memoirs of this San Diego resident, whose book, I'm Still Here, was published at the time of her 100th birthday!


May 10, 2009

San Diego Jewish World dedicates today's issue to all those hard working mothers among our readers and our staff. We hope you all have a wonderful day.

May 8, 2009

Dan Bloom,who contributes columns to us from Taiwan, including one about whether we should differentiate between "reading" and "screening"( that is, between words printed on paper and screens) was recently interviewed about this subject on tech.blorge. Here is the link.

May 7, 2009

Yesterday, we ran Eileen Wingard's story about a concert featuring the works of Jews persecuted during the Holocaust. Today, in a complete change of mood, we read the lyrics and hear the whimsical songs of her husband Hal Wingard. The Wingards are one of the most talented families in San Diego, and San Diego Jewish World is lucky to have them as contributors.

May 6, 2009

We are delighted that Rabbi Dow Marmur and Greg Sheridan respectively had stories in The Star of Toronto and the Australian that we were able to reprint on San Diego Jewish World. Our aim is to expose our readers to Jewish commentary from throughout the world. At the same time, we hope our readers will familiarize themselves on the web with the fine publications from which these stories were taken.



May 5, 2009

Today's columns from Israel by Rabbi Dow Marmur, J. Zel Lurie and Barry Rubin reflect San Diego Jewish World's philosophy that writers from the right, the left and the middle are welcome contributors. We cherish intellectual debate about real-world issues, and will continue to bring to our readers a diversity of viewpoints.

May 4, 2009

In every one of our stories, there is usually a Jewish angle, although sometimes they may not be immediately apparent. Examples: Aaron Spelling, mentioned in Cynthia Citron's review, is Jewish, and so are Steven and Elizabeth Wistrich of City Ballet in San Diego, mentioned in Sheila Orysiek's preview of the ballet season.

May 3, 2009

Our rabbinical writers deal with some interesting questions in their columns today. Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal tells of students from Christian schools asking what Jews believe about the afterlife. And Rabbi Baruch Lederman tells about concentration camp survivorswho felt guilty for violating kashrut.

May 1-2, 2009
We received some interesting feedback on our query whether serialized books would be welcomed on this site by our readers. One particularly cogent response was that most people just don't have that kind of time to spend online. Do you agree?

April 30, 2009

COMING ATTRACTIONS—Many of our writers and correspondents have authored books. We're currently considering serializing some of these books in San Diego Jewish World. We're also considering posting a feature matching our writers with the books that they have authored and providing readers with information about where they can obtain these books. If anyone--staff or readers--have thoughts about these plans, please write us at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com



April 29, 2009

We offer our congratulations to Ulla Hadar, our bureau chief in Sha'ar Hanegev, and to the delegation from San Diego that participated in BikeIsrael2009--a journey from Metula, next to the Lebanese border, down to Sha'ar Hanegev, by te Gaza border.

The project raised money for the construction of a high school in Sha'ar Hanegev that will be able to withstand Kassam rockets fired from Gaza.

Ulla not only rode alongside the participants, but while they were soaking their feet at night, she was pounding the keyboard of her computer to get daily stories to us. In a side comment to the story found in today's edition , from her home in Kibbutz Ruhama, Ulla confided that she was really tired! That's too bad, Ulla, because we readers could keep going and going with your evocative stories!

April 28, 2009

Dorothea Shefer-Vanson's report from Jerusalem in today's issue about the death of a B'nai B'rith Lodge, while local, reflects the worldwide decline of that once important organization. Readers of our "Adventures in San Diego Jewish History" column know that there were once four B'nai B'rith Lodges in San Diego--The Lasker, Samuel I. Fox, Birdie Stodel and Bay City--that were proving grounds for the Jewish leadership of our county. Whereas once people had the time, and inclination, to work for Jewish causes through volunteer groups, that tendency had diminished over the years.

April 27, 2009

We congratulate contributors Norman & Bobby Greene on the birth and yesterday's brit milah for their grandson, Spencer Lachlan Matorin, and extend the heartiest of mazal tov's to Spencer's parents, Dana and Dr. Robert Matorin.

We also take delight in the editorial commentary and comment by two of our Jerusalem correspondents, Ira Sharkansky and Rabbi Dow Marmur.

And, once again we invite those of you with a penchant for writing to join the San Diego Jewish World family of contributors. Contact us at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com


April 26, 2009

In today's issue, columnist Ira Sharkansky tells the circumstances surrounding his decision to make aliyah and what ilfe has been like for him. We invite our other columnists around the world and n San Diego to share their personal stories with our readers.


April 24, 2009
Do you have a talent for writing? We are on the lookout for volunteers to join our family of contributors. If you are interested in affiliating with a growing Jewish publication with worldwide reach, please call editor Don Harrison at (619) 265-0808, or email him at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com

April 23, 2009
This space was created to keep you informed of the news about San Diego Jewish World and its family of contributors. Now, thanks to Gail Umeham, our assistant editor, if you want to read past items, you can pull down the "Features" box below our masthead and then click on Staff Box.

April 22, 2009
STAFF BOX~Blocking the Pornographers
We had to change all our passwords and access codes because a hacker got into our site and implanted here and there links to pornographic sites. We are advised by authorities that "hijacking" sites such as ours is unfortunately an all-too-common practice of pornographers who don't want the material traced directly to them.

The company that hosts our website, A-Plus Net, ran a program yesterday to help us remove the offending material, but with thousands of pages on our site, there's no guarantee that the program found all of it. If you find any such material, please notify editor@sandiegojewishworld.com immediately about the page it is on and we will remove it. This is the second time this has happened to us; the last time we notified both the police and the FBI but with no results.

A-Plus-Net tells us that whoever got into our site did so through an AT&T server in Texas. We're not sure how we can stop this, but we would appreciate your vigilance and understanding. To anyone who saw the material and was offended, we share in your outrage and are angry that we were chosen by malevolent parties to be the carrier of this material. —Donald H. Harrison, editor and publisher

April 21, 2009
To Ulla Hadar and all the San Diegans now participating in "Bike for Israel," we dedicate this television oldie theme song: "Happy Trails to You" by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans:

April 20, 2009
Dr. Joel Moskowitz who often writes articles about magic was delighted to learn that editor Don Harrison's grandson, Shor Masori, chose to have his eighth birthday party at the Magic Bug at the Westfield Shopping Center (Parkway Plaza) in El Cajon. Moskowitz declared that Shor was two years ahead of the curve, as most people who become fascinated by magic don't do so at least until they're 10 years old.

April 19, 2009
Compliments to Gail Feinstein Forman on her enterprise story about Jerome and Evelyn Ackerman, whose works are now featured at the Mingei Museum in Balboa Park.

April 17-18, 2009
All of us at San Diego Jewish World would like to get feedback from our readers about the direction of this publication, the individual columns that we write, and most importantly what kinds of features and commentaries you would like to see in our publication. Please don't be shy; tell us what you think. Please write to any of our individual writers or to editor Don Harrison at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com. We promise to read your comments eagerly and very carefully.

April 16, 2009
We are looking forward to many contributions from our regular correspondents and from the public to the new ongoing feature making its debut today and documenting how "Jewish Scriptures infuse popular culture." We also continue to solicit photos of Jewish license plates.

April 15, 2009
Cynthia Citron covers the arts for San Diego Jewish World as its Los Angeles bureau chief; Carol Davis covers the arts for us as our San Diego drama critic. Between their two cities lies Orange County, which has some wonderful theatres as well. Unbeknownst to each other, they both covered Our Mother's Brief Affair at the South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa. Here is a link to Citron's review which ran yesterday. Davis's review is below. FYI, they had very different opinions.

April 14, 2009
Whenever the prolific Rabbi Dow Marmur gets ahead of us with his columns, we double our readers' pleasure and run two columns in the same issue. That's what we have done today!

April 13, 2009
Gary Rotto forwarded this public-use photo of President Barack Obama's seder at the White House. It is a moment in American Jewish history worth remembering.

April 12, 2009 {See video on linked page}
Theatre reviewer Carol Davis passes on this Passover parody on a familiar song:

April 10-11, 2009
While attending the Jewish Film Festival in La Jolla, Sara Appel-Lennon saw the film "Heir to an Execution" and wrote a poem the same night--a poem that ran in her column last week. The film was directed by Ivy Meeropol, the grand-daughter of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Here is a link to a statement by Michael and Robert Meeropol, the sons of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, which we had intended to run with Sara's column

April 8-9, 2009
Don & Nancy Harrison would like to wish the readers, advertisers and staff of San Diego Jewish World a healthy, happy and meaningful Passover. May we cast off any chains that bind us to prejudice, superstition or bigotry. May we always be willing to learn, even when new information challanges long-held assumptions. Let us reach out to those less fortunate, remembering, as the Haggadah teaches, that we too once were strangers in a strange land.

April  7, 2009
NO EDITION ON THURSDAY—In observance of Pesach, San Diego Jewish World will not publish on Thursday, but will return on Friday. Those of you who are fans of "Thursdays with the Songs of Hal Wingard" need not worry. We will run that feature in Wednesday's edition.

April 6, 2009

Bobby Greene, left, led a celebration of husband Norman Greene's recuperation from surgery at a house party at which guests joined in singing show tunes to the Broadway-loving Norman (blue shirt, at right). Gamely, if not tunefully, the guests approximated the printed lyrics and we're very pleased to report that the cacaphony didn't drive the SDJW feature writer right back to the hospital! Wisely, Bobby invited the neighbors to the party so they couldn't complain about the noise.

April 5, 2009 {See video on linked page}
Shahar Masori, who contributes in many ways to San Diego Jewish World, spotted a video about the exponential growth of information technology. The numbers are pretty amazing.

April 3, 2009
Anticipating Passover, Carol Davis, our San Diego theatre reviewer, alerted us to this YouTube video on what you can do with matzoh, starring Michelle Citrin and William Levin

April 2, 2009
Fellow staff members have been helping music columnist David Amos prep for a vacation in Hawaii. "Aloha" is what most Hawaiians say to greet you and bid you goodbye. But Jewish Hawaiians have combined the greeting with the Hebrew "Shalom." Put it together and its "Shaloha" In Southern Hawaii, of course, its "Shaloha Y'all"


April 1, 2009
STAFF BOX
It's a pleasure to know that our columnists read each other's works, and that this occasionally will trigger new columns. Gail Feinstein Forman of San Diego has yet to meet Dorothea Shefer-Vanson of Mevasseret Zion, but a book review has quite an impact, as told below.


March 31, 2009
Our correspondent Dan Bloom in Chiayi City, Taiwan, recently flmed an environmental message for the Class of 2099 at his alma mater Tufts University in Boston. Here's the link.

March 30. 2009
Sara Appel-Lennon is planning a Nice vacation--literally. Nice on the French Riviera. Bon voyage, notre amie!

March 26, 2009 {See video on linked page}
Larry Gorfine, a regular contributor, sends this video of def poet Vanessa Hidary's Hebrew Mamita ripping into anti-Semitism. Some of the language is R-rated.

March 25, 2009
Triple coincidence: Editor Donald H. Harrison interviewed Peter Lemish earlier this week about media accuracy covering the Middle East. Then came a column from Barry Rubin looking at the same issue (but concerning a different story) from another perspective. And to top it off, Garry Fabian's regular column from Australia led off with a controversy between the Jewish community and the media over reporting of its objections to a scheduled appearance by former president Mohammad Khatami of Iran.


March 24, 2009
Rabbi Dow Marmur is a prolific writer, and, in an effort to stay current with his output, we are publishing today two inter-related articles, one of which appeared previously in the Star of Toronto for which he also writes a column

Sigal Peres, part of the San Diego Jewish World team in Israel, sends us this link from the Newseum in Washington D.C., which allows you to move your cursor over a map of the world and see that same day's front pages of newspapers in hundreds of cities. Warning: if you are a news junkie, the Newseum site can be addictive.

March 23, 2009
Laurel Corona, who has been writing some wonderful columns for San Diego Jewish World, lectures at 1 p.m. tomorrow at San Diego City Collge's Faculty Dining Room on The Four Seasons, her new novel on Vivaldi's Venice.

March 22, 2009
Melanie Rubin has come through again with another photo of a Jewish license plate: Mazel (luck) 88. We add it to our growing online collection of Jewish interest license plates and ask our readers to send us photos of the ones that they see.

March 20-21, 2009
Melanie Rubin has been keeping watch for Jewish-interest license plates, which we keep in an on-line collection. So with this one below, now we need to find one that says "Manashe" and another that says "Joseph."

March 19, 2009
Marissa Palin came down with a flu and had to cancel her birthday plans with friends last night. But decicatedl journalist that she is, she arranged with some people who she was going to interview in person to do interviews instead by email after she recuperates. On behalf of the staff and soon-to-be grateful readers: Happy Birthday, Marissa.

March 17, 2009
Hillel Mazansky, a frequent contributor, provides this link to a video urging the U.S. to condition its aid to Gaza on the release of Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit. A former South African, Mazansky also found this PowerPoint presentation of African animals so beautiful a singer suggests "You're God's final creation... on the eighth day!"

March 16, 2009 {See video on linked page}
Joel and Arlene Moskowitz, occasional contributors to San Diego Jewish World, spotted a video that proves the maxim when the musicians are having fun, so is the audience. See if you don't agree.


Andre Rieu leads the orchestra in Hava Nagila above

March 13-14, 2009 {See video on linked page}
Soni Singer, the director of the Ibim Youth Village, who has a column in today's edition, also was the subject of a YouTube video made just after the Gaza War:

March 12,  2009
Rabbi Dow Marmur, who writes for San Diego Jewish World frequently, also is a familiar voice on Canadian Television. Here is a television phone interview that was conducted with him during the Gaza War.

March 11, 2009 {See video on linked page}
Our columnist Natasha Josefowitz, who has a column in today's edition, gives a humorous lecture on aging and retirement for UCSD's Institute for Continued Learning.

March 10, 2009
We thank Carol Ann Goldstein as we continue in the evolution of our website design.

March 9, 2009
Hillel Mazansky, a frequent contributor of Internet and Power Point gems has found this PowerPoint presentation on the decades-long work by farmer Alec Garrard to create a model of the Second Temple. To navigate through the images, use the clicker on your mouse.

March 8, 2009 {See video on linked page}
Shlomo Dubnov, an occasional contributor to our columns who was representing Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, recently debated the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with Nasser Barghouti, executive director of the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) at the East County Democratic Club. Here is a link to a video of their encounter:

March 6-7, 2009
Sheila Orysiek, whose "Reflections" column runs on Mondays is at hpome recuperating from surgery...

March 5, 2009
Melanie Rubin, the super-sleuth of Jewish license plates, found another one for our collection, just below. If any readers have one they'd like to share, please send it to editor@sandiegojewishworld.com

March 4, 2009
As we continue changing our format, we have changed the size of advertisements that appear on this page. Standard ads now measure one column (400 pixels) with advertisers able to purchase double sized ads (800 pixels wide) if they prefer. A single column ad costs $20 per day for businesses, and $10 a day for nonprofit entities. For more information, please call Nancy Harrison at advertising@sandiegojewishworld.com.

March 3, 2009
Almost immediately after we ran the Misha Marmar video featuring license plates from our website, our license-plate-spotter-in-chief, Melanie Rubin, found another one, pictured below, and meaning in a rather enthusiastic spelling, "Grandma" We add it to our online license plate collection and invite readers to send in other photos of Jewish-interest license plates. ... We're pleased to report that Norman Greene is home from the hospital, recuperating nicely.

March 2, 2009 {See video on linked page}
Jay Jacobson, who divides his time between Minnesota and Florida keeps us constantly informed and amused with a steady flow of news and videos. He found this commercial on You Tube, which we thought you would enjoy too!

March 1, 2009 {See video on linked page}
Our correspondent in Taiwan, Dan Bloom, was surfing the net the other day when he found a video, "Vi Bist Du Gevein," by popular Russian Jewish singer Misha Marmar. The images were familiar to Bloom as many of them came from the "Jewish license plates" feature on this website. Many of the photos were collected by Melanie Rubin of the Lawrence Family JCC. We are delighted with Marmar's song, and are glad that the images that we collected are helpful in spreading Yiddishkeit. Here is the video:

February 27-28, 2009
We congratulate our music critic David Amos for having good timing, even with the weather. He and wife Lee went to Seattle to visit his daughter Adina, her husband Don Gillett, and the Amos' grandchildren Zander, 8, and Piper, 4. Barely had they arrived when a blizzard forced cancellation of school, so the grandkids got to stay home. What more could visiting grandparents hope for?

February 26, 2009
We had to make the last edition of San Diego Jewish World a combined Tuesday-Wednesday edition because of remote computer problems making it impossible for us to access the emails by which our wonderful writers send us stories. The problem is now resolved and we are back to our regular schedule.

February 24-25, 2009 {See video on linked page}
Today co-publishers Don & Nancy Harrison celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary. So here's Al Jolson singing a song to which they (and probably every other married couple of their age or older) danced to at their wedding.

February 23, 2009  {See video on linked page}
Misheberachs —Our prayers for speedy recoveries go to two of our writers, Norman Greene, currently recuperating in a hospital, and Sheila Orysiek, anticipating surgery early next month. We offer for them (and for all our readers) "Misheberach" performed by Debbie Friedman. (The initial camera shaking in this video subsides)

February 22, 2009
Rabbi Baruch Lederman of Congregation Kehillas Torah shares with us one of the most painful experiences of his life, the death of his three-month-old son 17 years ago.

February 20-21, 2009
Our slogan is "There is a Jewish Story Everywhere" and Conductor David Amos found how true it is in Chihuahua, Mexico. See his story in this edition! ... Dan Bloom, our correspondent in Taiwan, has a video poem, "In the Eyes of A Child," on the internet. Here's the link.

February 19, 2009
We welcome Heather L. Zeiden, a graduate art student at Lesley University, to our ranks of writers. She debuts with a review of the Academy Award-nominated Waltz with Bashir

February 18, 2009
Thanks to Larry Gorfine for his memories of George Mitchell and other VIPs he has taken around San Diego. Larry also is regularly on the lookout for us for interesting Internet items. In other words, he's a good friend of San Diego Jewish World!We also extend a hearty thanks to those who wrote letters to the editor today, and remind readers that their contributions would also be welcome!

February 17, 2009
The other day Barry Rubin of the Gloria Center in Herzliya, Israel, wrote a letter to the editor complimenting a column by Bruce Kesler that appeared here. Today we have the privilege of running one of Rubin's own columns. We are delighted whenever we have the opportunity to add new writers and to broaden and deepen our coverage of the Jewish world. Anyone out there reading this who'd like to add to our global dialogue, please send your article to editor Don Harrison at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com

February 16, 2009
Editor Don Hatrison's San Diego Police press pass was up for renewal earlier this year, and, given that this publication only rarely covers police stories--unless some criminal targets the Jewish community—the question arose does he really need the pass? However, besides for crime stories, press passes often are required identification for journalists seeking to cover events involving dignitaries. So it was good that he had his renewed pass yesterday, because without it he could not have covered former U.S. President Bill Clinton's appearance here in San Diego at the convention of the International Franchise Association/

February 15, 2009
Professor Lawrence (Laurie) Baron, former executive director of the Lipinsky Institute for Judaic Studies at San Diego State University, has a commentary today on a Holocaust film he recently introduced at the San Diego Jewish Film Festival. Baron is an authority on Holocaust films, having been welcomed at Yad Vashem Memorial Museum in Jerusalem to lecture on his book, Projecting the Holocaust Into the Future. ... Speaking of Jerusalem, two of our correspondents who frequently appear together in these editions--Rabbi Dow Marmur and Ira Sharkansky--recently met there for the first time. Marmur reports the get-together was fun.

February 13-14. 2009
Yesterday, Norman Greene's story on Abraham Lincoln flashed back to the old San Diego Jewish Heritage; today Dan Schaffer's Valentine's Day column on a lasting love harkens us back to the San Diego Jewish Times. Although both beloved Jewish newspapers are defunct, they live on in the writings of their columnists here in San Diego Jewish World!

February 12, 2009
It was a moment of nostalgia for editor/publisher Don Harrison: reprinting in this issue an article by Norman Greene and an illustration by Scott Thomas concerning Abraham Lincoln and the Jews. As co-publishers of the San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage, Greene and Harrison had worked closely with Thomas on themed issues that won numerous awards. ... Among occasional writers for the old Heritage was Myla Wingard, whose birthday her father the songwriter, Hal Wingard, celebrates in song in today's issue.

February  10, 2009
Our Australia bureau chief Garry Fabian lives in Melbourne, Australia, the area devastated by wild fires. He was kind enough to file part of his column early to keep us all posted on the emergency situation. The balance of his column will run, as normal, on Wednesday. ... Congratulations to Fred Reiss, whose book Reclaiming the Messiah was published recently. Editor Don Harrison's review of the book appears in this issue.

February 9, 2009
Sometimes writers suffer from the dreaded "writer's block" and on other occasions, stories seem to flow from them in torrents. So today we're running two commentaries by our columnist Rabbi Dow Marmur because (happily for us) he has been flooded with ideas ... San Diego Jewish World music columnist David Amos and theatre reviewer Cynthia Citron have commented on Southern California audiences; in this issue, columnist Sheila Orysiek, a former ballet dancer, adds her thoughts. ... Starting today, for the convenience of our readers, we are embedding Jewish Internet Favorite vidoes instead of simply linking to them.

February 8, 2009
Our globe-trotting writers: yesterday, we reported that Ulla Hadar was back in Israel from a vacation in Europe. Today, Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal of San Diego writes from Israel where he is attending a rabbinic convention. ... Dialogues: Occasionally our writers like to dialogue on our pages, the latest example coming today with Los Angeles bureau chief Cynthia Citron commenting favorably on a column by music writer and TICO conductor David Amos.

February 6. 2009
Sha'ar Hanegev Bureau Chief Ulla Hadar has returned to Israel, after a trip to Denmark and Italy. Her story on artist Emanuel Luzzati of Genoa appears in this issue. ...We're looking for feedback on the new design and colors of the headline area of this site. We'd also like to know what you'd like to see on the bottom part of this site, where the stories and ads are lodged. Redesign of that portion is our next project. Please email editor Don Harrison by clicking on his name.

February 5, 2009
We hope you like our new format and that you find it easier to navigate around our daily web newspaper. We'd like to thank Carol Ann Goldstein for all her hard work on this redesign project