Jews in the News            --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Like you, we're pleased when members of our community are praiseworthy, and are disappointed when they are blameworthy. Whether it's good news or bad news, we'll try to keep track of what's being said in general media about our fellow Jews. Our news spotters are Dan Brin in Los Angeles, Donald H. Harrison in San Diego, and you. Wherever you are,  if you see a story of interest, please send a summary and link to us at sdheritage@cox.net and we'll acknowledge your tip at the end of the column. To see a source story click on the link within the respective paragraph.

*Columnist Gregory Rodriguez says there has been a lot of "winking ethnic innuendo" about Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa since the details of his affair with television reporter Mirthala Salinas has become known. He says this kind of press behavior would never be tolerated if they started making similar jokes about mayors of other ethnicities, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. His column is in today's Los Angeles Times.

*National City has bay frontage, but no recreation areas, only industry. Some oppose any effort to substitute parks for work places as harmful to the economy.  But others including San Diego Port Commissioner Laurie Black say a balance between the two competing goals is necessary.  The story by Maureen Magee is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

*Tzipi  Buchis was a child in 1974 when terrorists associated with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine seized the school in Maalot, killing 24 people, mostly children, and wounding others, including her.  With Israel now permitting Nayef Hawatmeh, head of the DFLP, to return to the West Bank, as part of a confidence-building measure with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, she is quite bitter: "I will never forgive or forget what he did or those who want to allow him back in the country."  The Associated Press story by Karin Laub is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

*When little Violet Feldman came with shorn hair to Temple Israel pre-school in Los Angeles, her classmates taunted her: "You look like a boy."  But the taunting was nipped in the bud by teachers who had undergone training at the Anti-Defamation League's World of Difference Institute.  The story by Carla Rivera is in today's Los Angeles Times.

*Concert pianist Natalia Karp, whose talent so enchanted the commander of the Plaszow Work Camp that he let her live, has died a natural death at age 94.  Her obituary by Valerie J. Nelson is in today's Los Angeles Times.

*Hamas-run Al-Aqsa television has a new cartoon character to teach Arab children to hate and kill Israelis.  Having shown Farfour the Mouse being beaten to death by an Israeli, the television show now has introduced Nahoul the Bee who wants "to take revenge on the enemies of Allah."  The story by Yaakov Lapin was carried by Israel's Y-Net News.

*Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (Democrat, Van Nuys) may not have gotten his bill to require neutering of most dogs and cats through the California Legislature, but he could claim or decry another accomplishment.  His ill-fated legislation may have begotten a Pet Owners Rights movement that could go national. The story by  Partrick McGreevy is in today's Los Angeles Times. An editorial in today's San Diego Union-Tribune said the bill's demise was deserved.

*Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met at the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem today, where they ironed out details for Israel's release of 250 prisoners.  The story by Rony Sofer was carried on Israel's Y-Net News.

*A residence in Sderot was hit by a rocket fired today by a wing of Islamic Jihad from Gaza, within hours of the meeting between Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas. The story by Shmulik Hadad was carried over Israel's Y-Net News.

*Actor Steven Seagal is suing the Loeb & Loeb law firm for allegedly overcharging him for representation during a trial in which his former business partner was accused of extortion.  The firm charged $1.1 million, and after paying $500,000, Seagal was advised by outside legal auditors that he was overcharged.  The story is in today's "Public Eye" section of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

*Samuel Isaac Weissman, a chemist who was part of the Manhattan Project to develop an atomic bomb, has died at 94, still harboring mixed feelings about the role he played in the development of such a powerful weapon.  The obituary by the Associated Press is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

*Knesset member Yitzhak Ziv has been accused of sexual assault by a woman who is a worker for the Pensioners Party, which he represents.  She said she came to his home to do work one day and that he encircled her with his arms from behind, pulled up her blouse, fondled her breasts, then maneuvered her to the bed. But she said she was able to elude him and run out of the house.  Ziv denies the accusation made by a woman identified in records as "R" and has hired the same attorney who represented former President Moshe Katzav.  The story by Efrat Weiss is on today's report of Israel's Y-Net News.

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News Sleuths: Bush-Mideast Watching the media gathering and reporting the news of Jewish interest

{The following news conference at which State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack introduced Assistant Secretary of State C. David Welch was held at the State Department  shortly after President Bush's speech on the Middle East.}

MR. MCCORMACK: Assistant Secretary David Welch is down here to talk to you a little bit about the President's speech, answer any questions that you may have that arise from that speech. The briefing is on the record, so I will turn it over to David.

ASSISSTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Thank you, Mr. McCormack. How's everybody today? So far so good. Well, I'll try and improve on your day.

Okay. I hope by now everybody has -- if not -- if you haven't seen the President's remarks on TV, you may have had a chance to read parts of them. So let me just make a few introductory remarks and then we can go right into questions and I will attempt to give you answers.

First, in giving this speech, the President wanted to signal to all those in the region and in the international community who are looking at events in the area today that responsible countries, led by the United States but not limited to us, have a role in affecting the balance between moderates and extremists in this part of the world. This is readily apparent to all of those of you who have been following the debate about Iraq, but it has also been crystallized in the military coup by Hamas in Gaza. There's a choice that lies before Palestinians now and there's a leadership among Palestinians willing to take the right course. So that's the context for the President putting his personal imprimatur and his commitment on trying to advance the situation between Palestinians and Israelis.

Second, the context is right in Palestinian terms, too. I think the situation in Gaza has led to a different and disturbing reality that the Palestinian political community is trying to cope with. And as I said, they have leaders who are now represented in the Palestinian government who are willing to take chances for peace. This is the best Palestinian government since the formation of the Palestinian Authority in 1994 and it is incumbent on those in the region and in the international community to support it because they are taking great risks and we need to be behind them.

In terms of the practical things announced in this speech and the work ahead, let me make a couple of observations. First, the President laid out and addressed a new, as he put it, financial commitment. I'd be happy to answer questions about that and give you some more of the details behind the President's words in that regard. The key thing here is the United States has always been a leader in providing support for Palestinians in financial terms and we think that just as we faced the situation before Hamas took over the government, after the PLC elections early last year, now there's a moment in which we have to redirect and reinvigorate that support.

Second, we want to show how we would strengthen our political and diplomatic commitment. And there, the headline in the speech obviously is the President's call for an international meeting in the fall to bring the weight of the United States in the lead and others with us in support of getting at the negotiations that are necessary to build a Palestinian state.

We also want to signal with this speech a commitment to supporting the international effort in that regard. As you know, we've worked within the Quartet to give a new mandate to former Prime Minister Blair as an envoy to address some of the issues necessary in building Palestinian statehood. In any schematic of what would happen to get to a successful Israeli-Palestinian peace, which establishes a Palestinian state alongside Israel, it's necessary that Israelis have confidence in what's on the other side of that arrangement and that there should be not only a responsible Palestinian partner but institutions and a system that works.

So those are kind of the center -- the points I want to center your attention on. You notice that in the speech we also gave some mention to the principles that must be addressed in the negotiations. And this speech was not intended to negotiate things in advance or to get into the negotiations themselves, but the United States does have some views and we've laid out some of those ideas.

What will we do now? First, I think we'll back up the President's financial commitment with an effort to, with congressional agreement, bring American taxpayer dollars in support of these objectives. Second, as you know, the Secretary of State will be returning to the region along with Secretary Gates to work on broader regional issues, but also will devote her presence, again, to advancing the Israeli-Palestinian track. We will also, third, work on the international support element of this. We have a Quartet principals' meeting scheduled for Lisbon later this week and one of the things we expect to do at that meeting is welcome former Prime Minister Blair and launch him on his new mandate.

Okay, those are some introductory remarks and I'll take questions and I hope I'll give you answers.

QUESTION: Can you describe this conference in any greater detail: who you expect to attend and, sort of, you know, what -- anywhere and when? And with -- along with that, why now? Why talk about that now, some distance away from it?
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 Gotthelf Art Gallery announces Jewish exhibits

General Information: The Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS, is located at 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla.  Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday 12 noon-5 p.m.  For more information about the Gotthelf Art Gallery and other programs of the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture, visit the web site at www.sdcjc.lfjcc.org. 

The preceding story was provided by the Lawrence Family JCC

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Arts in Review  by Carol Davis

Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight

SAN DIEGO—There’s a very fine line between comedy and tragedy, at least in the three Shakespeare plays currently being mounted and playing in repertory through Sept. 30 on the Lowell Davies Festival  Stage at this summer’s Shakespeare Festival. Hamlet, the one true tragedy is coupled with The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Measure for Measure. Both Measure and Gentlemen are counted among the comedies.

If the true definition of a comedy is a play or story of light and humorous character, and that of a tragedy is the opposite, then I’ll concede. In Shakespeare’s day, a “comedy is about mistaken identity, or about a person who loves somebody else that loves another person; a drama in which life is treated with humor”. (ThinkQuest Lib).

But the means don’t always justify the ends. And in the two above mentioned comedies, or tragicomedies, there is more tragedy on the social front, than comedy. However, both directors, Matt August (Gentlemen) and Paul Mullins (Measure) use a lot of physical maneuvers, slapstick, low comedy and wonderful costumes (Fabio Toblini, Gentlemen and Robert Morgan, Measure) to get the comedic points across and divert the underlying context. Should we take it too seriously or just let it be what it is, a Shakespearean comedy? That’s for you the reader to decide.  Some are amused at Shakespeare’s attempt at comedy, yours truly, is not.

Gents may be Shakespeare’s first known  comedy for the professional stage, possibly written around 1590. It is perhaps the first of the Shakespearean comedies  with As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night  and others following. There are seventeen in all.  Ironically, Measure, written about 1604, is included among the last of the comedies. Both of these works are problematic. Adding to the irony, Merchant of Venice is also considered among the comedies, most naturally with an asterisk; problematic, as are the other two. Woe is me!

With Hamlet, there is no doubt. The tragedy of Hamlet is  in the text and the in the outcome. Probably one of the more popular and regularly produced, there are no surprises. The changes may come about in the costumes, placing the time in the present rather than the actual period it was written or in the set design. The little comedic effects come in a play within the play by a band of wandering actors who come upon the kingdom.  Hamlet engages them  as he concocts a story to ferret out the truth from his uncle, the now King, and his mother (who is married to his uncle)  whose deeds he accepts were the cause of his late father’s death.

Back by popular demand, director Darko Tresnjak serves as artistic director of the festival and also is at the helm of Hamlet. Tresnjak, whom I consider a citizen of the world,  was born in Zenun, Yugoslavia, which is now Serbia, and was taken to the U.S. by his mother when he was ten. He served as festival chair last year and directed the controversial, but well done,  Titus Andronicus. Over the years he has directed at least a dozen of the Bard’s works. This is his first attempt at Hamlet.

He  studied under and consulted with James Shapiro, whose book Shakespeare and The Jews seems to be the definitive work on the subject. This year, Tresnjak directed  the highly acclaimed Merchant of Venice,  starring F. Murray Abraham. The production started in New York at The Theatre for a New Audience and went to Stratford-upon -Avon to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Complete Work Festival. And while Merchant played in repertory with The Jew of Malta, Tresnsak confided to me that he could never feel comfortable directing the later. I will be speaking with him on his reasons at a later date.

In February 2008 he will make his Los Angeles Opera debut directing the double bill of Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg and, in it’s U.S. premiere, Viktor Ullmann’s Der Zerbrochene Krug. The program is presented as part of the company’s Recovered Voices Series, dedicated to performing the works of composers  in the camps who were suppressed by the Nazis. He is probably one of the most dedicated and compassionate man I have met.

Trejnak’s Hamlet is pretty straight forward. It’s set for the period Shakespeare wrote it. Robert Morgan’s costumes, in shades of black white and gray are stunning. But when Hamlet comes out in the final scene, dressed in red, we know, there’s trouble on the horizon. And in a dramatic vision, a red scarf, as in blood, unfurls and cascades down the balcony and covers the  stage suggesting the bloodletting that takes place in this tragedy.

Lucas Hall who plays the young Prince, the troubled son of the now deceased King Hamlet is one of the many highlights  of this particular production. Handsome, agile and commanding in his portrayal, he gives a solid performance; three dimensional with all the thoughtfulness needed for this complex and complicated character. From the outset, when he learned of his father’s death, his mother’s and uncle’s marriage, the arc of his performance continues  without fault.

Celeste Ciulla gives  a commanding interpretation of Gertrude, the Queen, Hamlet’s mother. Her speaking voice is deep, resonant and clear. Hers is a Gertrude who doesn’t know much shame, who lives, loves and enjoys life for the entire court to see, including her concerned son. Bruce Turk is a sinister looking Claudius, the new King who shows no remorse, shame or compunction about his actions and new standing in the court. There were times, on opening night, that I had trouble understanding him. In fact, I found him a somewhat weak character, contradictory to who he was supposed to be.

Charles Janasz’s portrayal of Polonius was less than satisfying in both looks and delivery. Janasz, who was so wonderful in last year's Titus, couldn’t measure up to the easy, twinkle in your eye performance given just recently by Daiken Matthews in the South Coast Repertory’s production. Polonius is the meddling , long winded counselor to the King who goes off on tangents while professing to be brief.

“My liege, and madam, to expostulate, What majesty should be, what duty is, What day it is, night night, and time is time, Were nothing but to waste night, day and time; Therefore since brevity is the soul of wit, and tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief”…  (Act 2 scene 2). Unfortunately for Polonius, his meddling was the one act that got him killed. So much for being a snoop.

In Shakespeare’s Two Gents,  all plausibility must be put aside for this rough and disturbing comedy. The plot pits two good friends, Valentine (Ryan Quinn) and Proteus (Corey Sorenson) against each other in friendship, love, moral character and sensibility. To simplify the complicated and nonsensical plot: Valentine decides to leave Verona to see the world. Proteus, who is in love with Julia, (Joy-Farmer Clay) decides to stay behind. And while they have pledged their love for each other, Proteus changes his mind about staying behind in Verona and  decides he too, must  head off to Milan as well,  to the Duke’s (Tom Hammond) court, where his father thinks he can learn a few things.

The lovers exchange rings and he goes off on his journey. In the meantime, Julia decides to follow Proteus by disguising herself as a boy so she can travel freely. Back  in Milan, Valentine has fallen in love with the Duke’s daughter, Silvia (Stephanie Fieger) but is banished from the court when Proteus confides to the Duke that his best friend and Silvia plan to elope. How convenient that when he  arrives at the court, Proteus also falls in love with Silvia and being the nice guy that he is,  vows to do anything he can to take her away from his best friend.

The Duke’s palace is overrun with mayhem and the characters look like something out of Cirque’s Zumanity. It is absolute decadence. With  their  white painted faces, heavy lipstick, outlandish costumes and not too subtle in the sexual innuendo department, it’s enough to make the orgies an eye popping experience.  All this diversion is going on while the two Gents are supposedly improving themselves before settling down.

Back on the ranch, or rather into the woods, Valentine is captured by a group of gentlemen outlaws who demand he become their king. He accepts. At some point, all the young people end up in the forest where the truth is out and the friends regain their perspective but not until after Silvia is almost raped by Proteus with Valentine watching in the wings. And here’s the best part, Valentine jumps in to save Silvia and then has the chutzpah to give her to Proteus as a token of their friendship. Tragedy or comedy? Proteus decides that he really loves Julia and Valentine gets the prize, Silvia. What were they thinking?

All in all, the cast and ensemble do about as good a job as can be expected with a less than wonderful script, even though it is Shakespeare.

Measure for Measure measures a little bit better in the credibility department but is worrisome, nonetheless. Once again, there is nothing straight forward in Shakespeare’s comedies. As usual there are disguises, mistaken identities, falsehoods, deceit and, lest we forget, a moral lesson.

Rather than inflict the strict morality laws of his corrupt Vienna, the Duke, (Tom Hammond is excellent) decides to leave his trusted and hardcore deputy, Angelo (James Knight, perfectly cast) in charge while he, the Duke, goes off and disguises himself as a friar. That way he  can eavesdrop on Angelo and see what he does and no one will recognize him. The strict and righteous Angelo closes whore houses, cleans the drunks from the streets and is on his way to becoming the most detested person in town.

More serious, however, is the case of one Claudio (Rhett Hinckel) who has gotten his betrothed pregnant before their wedding day. His punishment is…death by hanging.

Now Claudio has a sister, Isabella, (Stephanie Fieger) who is just about ready to take her final vows to becoming a nun. On the advise of Claudio’s friends, Angelo sends for Isabella and behind closed doors tells her that if she has sex with him, he will release her brother from jail. Nice moral guy!.

By now,  of course the Duke is sneaking around town and hears of Angelo’s plan to hang Claudio, use Isabella and just plain be a jerk, so he comes up with a subplot, convoluted as usual, of his own to head off any wrongdoing his henchman is up to.  Once again, we have a young woman in harm's way, and it seem to be O.K. But Isabella says, “No” to Angelo, much to his ire.. and decides to go along with the Duke/friar in his plot against Angelo. Smart girl.

Things go from bad to worse until they get back to better again. And in an all’s well that ends well finale, just when we think morality and sensibility has been restored to Vienna, the Duke makes an unexpected pass at Isabella. Oops, just kidding. I keep wondering why this is so funny.

Director Paul Mullins does nice work in his casting and several of the actors who are playing in repertory in one or more of the festival shows do yeoman’s work. In particular Lucas Hall who is so fine as Hamlet is now Lucio, the nimble footed friend of  Claudio. Charles Janasz who was O.K. as Polanius in Hamlet is excellent here as Escalus, the D