SAN DIEGO — Preseason football is entering its final few games before the regular season begins. It still hurts to no longer have my beloved San Diego (Super) Chargers on the schedule. I used to hang up my lightning flag and all my football decorations, bracing myself for a nerve-wracking and stressful viewing experience. That was in the days before they left San Diego. I follow the Los Angeles Chargers and find new head coach Jim Harbaugh promising. With the official season beginning Thursday, Sept. 5, with the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, the research begins on how to put together the best fantasy football team. It’s fun to boast when you join a league, and it’s fun to put together the best “dream team” when all those players happen to be on the same team.
Here are some Jewish NFL players I may keep an eye on when it comes time to build my fantasy team:
Offensive Tackle for the Chicago Bears, 26 years old Jake Curhan from Larkspur, California. Curhan attended the University of California, Berkeley and was nicknamed “Bear Jew.” Since he is under contract with the Chicago Bears, his nickname still works.
Running Back of the Green Bay Packers, 26 years old, AJ Dillion from Baltimore, Maryland. Dillion confessed his sins at a Jewish Youth Movement convention, where he recounted his experiences as a black Jew and joked about skipping Hebrew school football practice as a child.
Tight End for the New York Jets, 29 years old, Anthony Firkser from Manalapan, New Jersey. Fiskser told the Jewish Telegraph Agency about his love of latkes and his bar mitzvah.
Placekicker for the Green Bay Packers, 30 years old, Greg Joseph from Johannesburg, South Africa. Joseph attended a Jewish day school as a child and was involved in the Jewish communities in every city he played in during his four years in the NFL.
Temple Emanu-El‘s First Fantasy Football League – Bagel Blitzers meets on Wednesday, September 4th at 6 p.m. Pizza and beer will be served and you must be present at the draft to participate. Click here to RSVP.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Chabad of the University City announces “Chumash class with Rebbetzin” Sura Unfortunately” at 8pm on Wednesday, August 28th. This class is for women only. Click here for the Google Meet link.
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Chabad of the city center announces that two rabbinical students will be assisting the community for the next two weeks. The rabbis-in-training are available for home visits, study sessions, Q&A sessions, or meeting for coffee. Click here if you are interested in getting in touch.
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Chabad of East County Registration for the Hebrew School of the Arts is open to children in preschool through 7th grade.th Class at 4:00 p.m. beginning Mondays in September. Curriculum includes Jewish holidays, history, love of Israel, and reading Hebrew. Click here to register.
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Jewish Federation of San Diego announces that the next LEADS group starts on Tuesday, September 3rd. LEADS is a program for young adults in San Diego that focuses on networking and community engagement. This program is designed for young professionals with 10 years or less of work experience. Click here to apply.
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Congregation Beth El‘s Women Connection announces its “Rosh Chodesh Gathering” on Wednesday, September 4th at 5:30 p.m. The evening will begin with greetings leading into blessings and the program. The evening will end with closing blessings and a shofar blowing. Click here for more information.
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Tifereth Israel Synagogue is offering a lecture on “The Middle East After October 7: Historical Legacies, Challenges and Hopes with Dr. Yoav Alon” on Wednesday, September 11 at 7 p.m. Dr. Alon will present his analysis of the current situation in the Middle East since the terrorist attacks of October 7. Click here to register.
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Congregation Beth Israel, We go together And Jewish Federation of San Diego to support a lecture by two IDF officers on Wednesday, September 11th at 6 p.m. That evening, Major Ilan Schulman and Lieutenant Colonel Amit Grinfeld. Click here to RSVP.
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Chabad at La Costa announces “N’Shei Chabad of San Diego, Unite for Israel” on Wednesday, September 18th at 7:30 p.m. The gathering is described as a women’s gathering to pray, learn and inspire. This event is hosted by Chabad at La Costa and Chabad Encinitas. Click here to register.
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JEWISH HUMOR
Young Israel from San Diego shared the following joke: Sadie has a terrible headache that just won’t go away, so she goes to her rabbi to see if there’s anything he can do. She moans and cries and talks for hours about not only her headache but also her terrible living conditions. Suddenly, Sadie exclaims, overjoyed, “Rabbi, I think your holy presence has healed me! The headache is completely gone!” To which the rabbi replies, “No, no, Sadie, it’s not gone. I have it now.”
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Chabad of East County shared the following joke: “A Rabbi’s Blessing” Rabbi Levine is slowly walking out of a synagogue when a gust of wind blows his hat down the street. He is an old man and can’t walk fast enough to catch his hat. Across the street, Bernie sees what is happening, runs over, grabs the hat and gives it back to Rabbi Levine. “I don’t think I could have caught my hat,” Rabbi Levine says. He puts his hand on Bernie’s shoulder and says, “May God bless you.” Bernie thinks, “I just got blessed by the rabbi, this must be my lucky day.” So he goes to a betting shop and sees a horse named “Top Hat” in the first race at 20 to 1. He bets $50 and the horse finishes first. In the second race, Bernie sees a horse named Fedora at 30 to 1, so he bets it all and that horse finishes first too. When Bernie finally gets home to his wife, she asks him where he’s been. He tells how he caught the rabbi’s hat and was blessed by him and then went to a bookie and started betting on horses that had a hat in their name. “So where’s the money?” she asks. “I lost everything on the ninth race. I bet on a horse named Chateau and it lost.” “You fool, Chateau is a house, Chapeau is a hat.” “It doesn’t matter,” Bernie said, “the winner was a Japanese horse named Yarmulka.”
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JEWISH HISTORY
The August issue of Toldota publication of the Jewish Historical Society of San Diegocontains two entries from the diary of Edith NaimanOne of them, dated October 7, 1926, describes a surprise that the Daughters of Israel had planned for her to honor her two years as secretary of the group that was the forerunner of the sisterhood in Tifereth Israel SynagogueThe other, dated December 20, 1931, reported how she and her husband, Adolf Naimanwere honored at a celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary. She carefully records who was present at each event, bringing the activities of Jewish community leaders of the time into focus. Click here to view the Jewish Historical Society of San Diego’s collection.
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Obituaries
Martin Rosenberg (Mordechai ben Shmuel Yakov) father of Yossi Daniel Rosenberg died on Wednesday, August 21. The funeral was held on Thursday, August 22 in Los Angeles County. Shiva will be at the Rosenbergs’ home in Fletcher Hills, Chabad of East County reported.
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Joan Schauder died on Friday, August 23rd. Funeral services will be held on Sunday, August 25th at 11:30 a.m. at the Home of Peace Cemetery. Rabbi Zevi NewCEO of the Youth Action Movement, officiating, reported at Israel Mortuary.
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Stern Slipock died on Saturday, August 3. The funeral was held on Wednesday, August 7 at El Camino Memorial Park with Rabbi Scott Meltzer as a clergyman, Am Israel Mortuary reported.
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Cailin Acosta is deputy editor of the Jewish World in San Diego.
