Recommended reading and viewing #6

Josh Gerstein, “Israeli lawyer & peacenik guilty of leaking FBI secrets,” on Politico. com

Ben Kamin, “Hanukkah connects the land to the Jews forever,” in examiner.com

Ben Kamin, “Uncommon rabbi-scholar remembered twenty years later,” on Examiner.com

Yoel Meltzer, “Why make aliyah?” on Y-Net News

Barry Rubin, “What’s really going on in Palestinian politics: springtime for Abbas,” in Rubin Reports. 

Jon Stewart and John Oliver, “The Daily Show” White House/ Chanukah parody

Robin Washington, “Black, the Jewish faith and Hanukkah,” on NPR Reports.

Recommended Reading and Viewing #5

Danny Ayalon, “An Open Letter to the Arab World” in Asharq Al-Awsat (forwarded by Jack Forman of San Diego)

Theodore Bikel, “Chanukah Song” video on You Tube (forwarded by Phyllis Kahn)

Jake Coyle, “Once an underdog, Reitman now an Oscar favorite,” in San Diego Union-Tribune

Rabbi Ben Kamin “For Christmas, we’d like Jerusalem, no returns necessary”, on examiner.com

Naomi Hizak Mazon explains the dreidel game to San Diego Fox TV.

Barry Rubin, “Two Big Developments: Hillary Announces Start of Sanctions Push, Arab Poll Says Iran is Bigger Threat than Israel,” in Rubin Reports

Arthur Salm, “If the Soledad cross isn’t religious, why not take it down?” San Diego News Network

Scott Silverman’s Second Chance was boosted by CNN with a broadcast about the organization’s fundraiser featuring creative gingerbread houses designed by local architects.

Links to recommended viewing and reading #4

Judy Lash Balint provides us with a link to her story about a Jewish bride and a father who were arrested for seemingly praying on the Temple Mount.

Ulla Hadar, our Shaar Hanegev bureau chief, spotted this piece on Yahoo.com about how peaceful life has become in the wake of Operation Cast Lead on  Nahal Oz kibbutz, which is a neighbor of hers.

Phyllis M. Kahn pointed to us to a story by Tom Gross on National Review Online concerning growing prosperity in the Palestinian Authority.

Bruce Kesler sends us the link to an old-time hillbilly cartoon set to Yiddish lyrics. For good measure he also sent us another link to Mickey Katz singing “Duvid Crockett.”

Rabbi Dow Marmur has a column in The Star of Toronto weighing the ethical pros and cons of possibly  swapping 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for Gildad Shalit.

Links to recommended viewing and reading #3

David Brooks, “The Hannukah Story” in The New York Times (a different take)

Keith Darce, “Scripps Hospital in Encinitas Gets $10 million donation (from Leichtag Foundation,” San Diego Union-Tribune

Daniel Gordis, “A Real Miracle or the Doing of Extraordinary People,” in the Jerusalem Post

Phil Jacobs, “Sharansky comes to Baltimore,” in Jewish Times of Baltimore

Barry Rubin, “The Palestinians Tell the World Their Strategy: Why Make Peace with Israel When We Can Get Everything from You Instead?” in Rubin Reports

Reza Soltani, “Peace Song–Arabic and Hebrew” on YouTube

John Wilkens, “Make it yourself menorahs,” in San Diego Union-Tribune

Links to recommended reading and viewing, #2

Judy Lash Balint in Jerusalem tells of “anti-freeze” demonstration, favoring continued construction

“Jewish Federations of North America Update on Rescue of Yemen Jews”

Donald H. Harrison, “Santee Lakes are models of recreation and reclamation,” Examiner.com (Don is now doing general sightseeing stories in addition to his work as editor of San Diego Jewish World.  Friends may follow the link and subscribe to his new column on things to do and see in San Diego County)

Donald H. Harrison, “Jewish surprises found on tour of Cuyamaca College” (This is the second story Don has placed on Examiner.com.  If you follow the link, and hit the subscribe button, you will receive emails with links to each story Don subsequently writes for that publication.)

Adam Levick, “Anti-Israelism and Anti-Semitism in Progressive U.S. Blogs/News Websites: Influential and Poorly Monitored”

Barry Rubin, “Let’s Get Real: Obama’s Foreign Policy is Failing; Time to Wake Up, Change Course, and Do It Right” in Rubin Reports.

Tablet Magazine has a video piece on Sen. Orrin Hatch (Republican, Utah) helping to create a new Chanukah song.  Hatch, a Mormon, routinely wears a mezuzah under his shirt.

Wedding video, YouTube has an Israeli comedy sketch of a photographer shooting photos at a wedding

Some recommended reading on other sites, #1

Judy Lash Balint, “Starting Over: Gush Katif refugees begin again,” The Jewish Star of Long Island.

Jane Fantel refers us to a speech in 1991 by Severn Suzuki, a 12-year-old Canadian girl, about global warming.

Yarden Frankl refers us to a video dance tribute to the late Australian philanthropist Richard Pratt.

Rabbi Ben Kamin, “Afterlife? Got enough to worry about until next Tuesday,” on examiner.com

Bruce Lowitt and David Brin separately alerted us to “Yes, Miky, There are rabbis in Montana,” by Eric A. Stern of the New York Times

Barry Rubin, “Analyzing Why and How So Many Western Intellectuals Hate Their Own Societies and People?” in Rubin Reports

United Jewish Federation of San Diego County has some Chanukah recipes: Ever try an eggplant latke?