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FRIDAY, JUNE 20 Temple Solel Freilich Friday
Friday, July 11 Congregation Beth El Kabbalat Shabbat Services
THE VIEW FROM JINSA
Hamas will rebuild during the ceasefire
By Shoshana Bryen
 WASHINGTON, D.C—It is hard to begrudge Sderot relief from the rockets and mortars that have plagued, injured and killed its people for the past two years. And we don't. But we are concerned that the respite they will receive under the terms of the upcoming hudna (temporary cessation of hostilities) will only provide time for Hamas to recover from its current difficulties and increase the ultimate cost to the IDF when it (inevitably) has to enter Gaza in force to remove a burgeoning Iranian proxy.
Hamas has been feeling the effects of Israeli targeting of its senior leadership and had real trouble explaining a "work accident" (a premature explosion in a Hamas bomb-making facility) that killed a four-month-old girl. Infighting between Hamas and Fatah forces in Gaza has cost more than 400 Palestinian lives. Hamas hoarding of food and fuel has become obvious to the people of Gaza as well as to the international relief agencies working there. Attempts to "crash" the Israeli border have not succeeded, and Israel killed a major Hamas bomb-maker who moonlighted as headmaster of an UNRWA school. The people are not happy and Hamas needs a "breather."
Enter Egypt. Unable to stop the smuggling through tunnels originating in Egypt, the Egyptians have been negotiating a six-month "truce" to give Hamas respite from Israeli strikes and an easing of the blockade at the border crossings.
Will Israel get respite from rocket attacks? Perhaps, although it not hard to imagine that "rogue" Palestinians will shoot rockets and Hamas will disclaim responsibility. Remember the old Arafat line? "It wasn't me. It was the damned terrorists trying to make me look bad." And then the State Department will caution Israel against retaliation for fear that it would "undermine" the truce.
Will Israel at least get Gilad Shalit back? Not clear. The first reports on the truce, noting that it will begin Thursday, say only that Israel "has demanded progress in talks on the release of Gilad Shalit." What constitutes progress? Shalit has been held for two years in absolute violation of the Geneva Convention; his release should he a minimal condition, but we don't believe Israel will hang its hat on that demand.
So, on Thursday, the clock will begin ticking toward the six-month marker. What the parties do with the time will determine what happens right before Christmas 2008.
Hamas will certainly use its hudna to regroup, rearm and restock supplies. It will improve its perimeter defenses, continue to teach hatred to its children and continue to send terrorists-in-training to Iran. It will retain its commitment to the violent destruction of Israel. It will not accept Fatah leadership, consider a negotiated settlement with Israel or shut down the tunnels.
And Israel will take six months of quiet - punctuated with "rogue" attacks - and use it for... what?
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THE JEWS DOWN UNDER
New Zealand TV group apologizes for slurs
By Garry Fabian
 WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A TV company in New Zealand that promoted a new program with a derogatory slogan about Jews has apologized.
The company, Prime Television, also has dismantled its billboards in Auckland and Wellington promoting the show, Madmen: The Glory Years of Advertising with the slogan: Advertising Agency Seeks: Clients. All business considered, even from Jews.
Prime spokesman Tony OBrien told the Dominion Post that all the billboards were removed on Wednesday following complaints by the Jewish community, and an apology would run in the next edition of Timemagazine, which published a two-page advertisment with the same slogan in its local edition.
“We take full responsibility for this and we have totally apologized to the Jewish community,” OBrien said. The campaign crossed the line from being provocative to being offensive.
Geoff Levy, chairman of the New Zealand Jewish Council, told the newspaper, “The wisdom of the entire project defies belief. Long ago we moved on from this sort of language, but obviously not. In these days of 60 years plus since the Second World War, I never thought it would come again, let alone to New Zealand.”
Regional Wellington Jewish Council chairman David Zwartz said the campaign suggested Jews were some other sort of class of human beings, second-class citizens. He said the ads reminded him of a time “when it was acceptable to be anti-Semitic."
“It's not the case now, especially in New Zealand. It was totally derogatory to Jewish people, in any context.”
Jewish achievers honoured in Queen's Birthday List
 CANBERRA, Australia - Members of the Jewish community in a variety of fields have been honored on the Queen’s Birthday list. Their names are printed below in boldface:
Peter Baume, a former Liberal Party senator and Chancellor of the Australian National University, was awarded a CA,(Companion of Australia) as was Dr David Bennett, who has been Commonwealth Solicitor-General since 1998.
Baume, who was named a Member in the General Division (AM) in 1992, served in Canberra between 1974 and 1991 and also served as head of the school of community medicine at the University of New South Wales between 1991 and 2000.
He has also held positions of leadership in bodies such as the Law Reform Commission, the Australian Sports Drug Agency, Sydney Water Corporation and the Futures Foundation.
He is a long-time member of North Shore Temple Emanuel in Sydney.
Dr Bennett was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) in 2000 for his service to the law and to the legal profession.
He has been a member of the International Legal Services Advisory Council since 2005 as well as a leader of the Australian delegation to the Convention on Jurisdiction and Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments‚ which became the Choice of Courts Convention, Hague Conference on Private International Law, from 1998 to 2004.
He was also president of the Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences from 2000-01.
Melbourne academic and long-time AIDS activist Dennis Altman was honoured for his work as a social commentator and his raising awareness of human rights issues with AM.
So too was Australia Israel Cultural Exchange founder and chairman Albert Dadon, who was recognised for his service to the arts, particularly through the Melbourne Jazz festival, as well as for various philanthropic endeavours.
Melbourne music identity Tania de Jong received an AM for her service to the arts as a performer and entrepreneur and her development of music and arts enrichment projects.
Sydney lawyer David Freeman was recognised with an AM for his many years of service to the Montefiore Home and before that, the Wolper Jewish Hospital.
Another to receive an AM was Melbourne gastroenterologist Associate Professor Jack Hansky for his research and clinical practice in the treatment of gastric bleeding.
He is also former vice-president of the Mount Scopus College Foundation.
Stanley Roth’s outstanding service to the United Israel Appeal, which included a six-year stint as federal president, as well as his other charitable work, was recognised with an AM.
Sydney identity Penelope Seidler was honoured for her work in preserving Australia’s cultural heritage, particularly through the Australiana Fund, with an AM.
Phil Wolanski, a former Maccabi Australia administrator of the year, who is a director of the Football Federation of Australia and until recently, a director of the National Institute of Dramatic Art, also received an AM.
Monash University law professor Richard Fox received an AM for services to the law and legal education.
Those to receive the Medal in the General Division of the Order of Australia (OAM) included Sydney educator Susie Breiger, Melbourne community identity Helen Brustman, Sydney legal academic Andrew Lang, Melbourne Holocaust Centre supporter Phillip Maisel, Perth printing community figure Richard Pilpel, Melbourne community worker Ron Raab, Sydney Central Synagogue identity Anne-Louise Oystragh, Perth Jewish community leader Stuart Silbert and Coralie Wood, a well-known member of the entertainment industry in the Australian Capital Territory.
Community event makes comeback
MELBOURNE, Australia— The popular “In One Voice” concert is set to return after a two-year absence, with a comeback event planned for March 2009.
The new-look event will include stalls, food and entertainment, but could have a change of venue and be shortened to one day, with the Saturday night component likely to be axed.
The event will be operated by S.K.I.F. and the Labor Party Bund on behalf of the community.
Organisers are looking at several venues for the concert, including Caulfield Park, Elsternwick Park and Caulfield Racecourse, and are expecting a turnout similar to previous years of about 15,000.
Convenor Nathan Kayser is calling for members of the community to participate. “We’re looking for anyone who wants to bring some fresh ideas to the table and wants to get involved in any way,” Kayser said.
“The concert will be based on the old format, but with a few different changes. Kayser also stressed the importance of community support to ensure the success of the event.
“Fundraising is obviously really important. In the past, we’ve had benefactors and we’ll be looking for that again, but we also need the community to get behind it and support it as well.”
Kayser said his focus for the next year’s concert in the park would be to deliver an event that was accessible to all members of the community.
“I really want to emphasise that this is a community event and will be open to all the different realms of the community. Regardless of if you’re more religious or secular, this is ‘In One Voice’ so we’re all there together as a community. There’s no politics.”
Police allegations rattle Adelaide community
ADELAIDE, Australia- South Australian Jewish community stalwart Jack Hines has expressed grave concern for South Australian Jewry after police recommended that Rabbi Yossi Engel face 17 counts of fraud over more than $50,000 in funding applications for a Jewish school.
“This is a most horrendous situation for the Adelaide Jewish community, but it also has wider ramifications for the Australian Jewish community generally,” Hines said.
“The Adelaide Jewish community is struggling ... there is a general level of distaste keeping people away from shul and from involvement in Jewish community affairs.
“We Jews have enough people out there who like to point the finger at us, and exposure of these latest problems in the media is not going to help at all.”
Hines, a businessman who is now based in Melbourne, is immediate past president of the Jewish Community Council of South Australia, a past president of Massada College and of the Jewish National Fund, and a former board member of the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation (AHC).
But a close friend of Rabbi Engel and his family blasted AHC, which terminated the rabbi’s employment in 2006, and accused it of waging “a political campaign”.
Linton McGirr, a former AHC board member, stated that Rabbi Engel “has been treated in a way totally unbecoming of a Jewish community”.
McGirr, whose seven-year-old child attends classes Rabbi Engel has been conducting since his departure from AHC, said he fully endorses the embattled rabbi and “will be helping him with emotional and moral support whenever I can ... It’s very unfortunate it’s come this far. We never wanted it to come to this point.”
Rabbi Engel has been recommended for prosecution on nine counts of false pretences and eight counts of deception, in relation to funding applications made by the Spirit of David Adelaide Hebrew School, to South Australia’s Ethnic Schools Board.
The rabbi’s lawyer, Ron Bellman, said last week he would make a statement shortly, but had not issued any comment to date.
Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia president Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick said his organisation would not comment on the reports to the Director of Public Prosecution’s (DPP) office unless Rabbi Engel was charged.
The Rabbinical Council of Victoria (RCV) issued a statement that “there is a presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and the RCV will reserve further comment until such time as clarity has been achieved”.
The Victorian rabbinical body last year attempted to broker a deal where Rabbi Engel’s protracted dispute with AHC -– in which he challenged the synagogue’s decision to terminate his employment -– would be settled by the London Beth Din, but the British religious court pulled out of the controversy before an adjudication began.
Police said that after their recommendations were made to the DPP’s office on June 3, moves got underway to prepare a prosecution brief to bring Rabbi Engel to court.
A police statement stressed that they would not arrest the rabbi, but issue a report of his alleged offences to the DPP’s office.
Police said that after the DPP’s office had assessed a brief of evidence, which could take six to eight weeks, Rabbi Engel was likely to receive a summons to appear in court for charging.
A 10-month investigation, headed by Detective Senior Constable Stan Tsoulos of the Adelaide Criminal Investigation Branch, which has interviewed more than 50 people, is set to continue, and a second person linked to the case is likely to be reported to the DPP’s office this week.
In July last year, two school reports, dated 2001 and 2003, both allegedly carried Rabbi Engel’s signature as teacher. One of the reports was allegedly co-signed by Rebbetzin Chana Engel as teacher.
Police said that the alleged offences “relate to the filling out of forms and applications submitted to the Ethnic Schools Board in order to receive funding”.
Rabbi Engel’s dispute with AHC over his termination was settled in the synagogue’s favour last year when the South Australian Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the rabbi and ruled that his contract with AHC had ended.
But Rabbi Engel, who is barred from the premises of AHC and Massada College, has remained active in Adelaide’s Jewish community, conducting his own Jewish classes.
Rabbi Engel first came to Australia from the United States as a Chabad shaliach in the 1980s and worked in Sydney’s Chabad community before returning home.
He returned to Australia to commence his job as the AHC’s rabbi in 1998.
Victoria and Israel - Best of friends
MELBOURNE, Australia- Israel and Victoria joined hands in an official declaration of friendship a couple of weeks ago.
Representing the Victorian Premier John Brumby, MP Tony Lupton presented Israel's President Shimon Peres with the document in Tel Aviv. The declaration recognises the "long and enduring friendship" between Victoria and Israel. It commends Israel for its democratic processes, its encouragement of cultural diversity, its creativity and innovation and its efforts to "restart the peace process" in Annapolis.
"I was delighted to convey Premier Brumby's best wishes to President Peres and underline our strong and enduring friendship", Lupton said, who was on a seven-day visit to Israel.
Jews champions for indigenous rights
MELBOURNE, Australia- Australian Jews are duty-bound to continue fighting for indigenous Australians because of their deep understanding of what it means to be dispossessed, the audience of over 100 at a special Shavuot eve event heard from leading Melbourne barrister Ron Merkel.
"Jews and Australian Aborigines represented two of the oldest living civilisations and had suffered similar tragic experiences after being alienated from their traditional land.
Merkel, a former Federal Court Judge and long-time campaigner for the rights of indigenous Australians, said that it was unthinkable that in 1941 - when he was born - policemen could walk into people's homes and remove Aboriginal children.
He compared the post-Holocaust reparation to Jews with compensation to Aboriginal communities for for the trauma of the forced removal of their children.
Merkel praised the apology to the stolen generation earlier this year by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, but said it needed to be accompanied by compensation to individuals or communities, which was a more meaningful gesture.
He said that by paying for its prior unlawful conduct, the state was acknowledging "never again" and its intention that specific groups of people would not become powerless victims.
Indigenous educator Dr Mark Rose, speaking on the evening said that Jews and Aborigines had similar collective consciousnesses, which emphasised homage to their ancestors and family, education and rebuilding.
"The way your community has reached out to ours is remarkable" he said, as he called for efforts to close the 17-year life expectancy, literacy and incarnation gaps.
Community celebration for Israel's 60th
MELBOURNE, Australia- A large communal function hosted by the State Zionist Council (SZC) and the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) was held last week. Speakers included the Victorian Premier, John Brumby, the Leader of the Opposition Ted Bailleu and Israeli Ambassador Yuval Rotem.
Premier Brumby stressed to close and ongoing relationship between the State of Victoria and Israel, its joint projects in scientific and health related research, and the other areas. He added that the official declaration of friendship handed to President Peres recently was the first for any Australian state, and underlined the strong bonds that existed between the two.
Opposition Leader Bailleu spoke glowingly not only of Israel, describing it as one of the strongest democratic countries, but quoting from a speech by Ben Gurion in 1948 who said, "to be a realist you have to believe in miracles". Bailleu described how a fledgling Israel, attacked by seven armies in 1948. had not only survived, but had become a nation that is a shining example of resilience indeed underlined Ben Gurion's point of view.
He also praised the contribution the Jewish community had made to Victoria and Australia for over 200 years, as one that was quite unique.
Ambassador Rotem said that 1938 will never happen again when Jews in Europe, and later in Arab countries were dispossessed and killed, and that today's Israel is a strong and resolute country not only for its own citizens, but for world Jewry.
Anti-Semitic graffiti marks disturbing trends
MELBOURNE - On the same night that the leader of Victoria’s Jewish community implored the Government to crack down on hate crimes, a billboard in the heart of Jewish Melbourne was defaced with a swastika.
An advertising hoarding outside a Jewish family’s home on Balaclava Road, Caulfield was vandalised on Wednesday night when a large black swastika was spray painted on it.
The billboard was advertising an upcoming camp for Zionist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair.
Dion Gery, a representative from Hashomer Hatzair, said that he is disturbed by the incident.
“It just feels really unnecessary,” he said. “I can’t get over how pointless it is.”
He added that he believes the work is of an ignorant individual, not the dominant opinion of the wider community.
“I think the event is relatively isolated,” he said. “It’s not the general feeling.”
On Wednesday night the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) and the State Zionist Council of Victoria hosted a function in the city to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary.
JCCV president Anton Block told the audience, which included Victorian Premier John Brumby and Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu, that more needs to be done to prevent racism and discrimination in the state.
“Strategies must be developed to inculcate the sense of acceptance and respect into the very core of our culture,” Block said.
Block, a lawyer by profession, said that it is not good enough for society to accept anti-Semitic behaviour just because it do not breach the Crimes Act.“The thrill of hate grows in its hunger,” he said.
“Today it may be satisfied, by yelling out the car window “You F***ing Jew”, tomorrow it may be satisfied by daubing a swastika on the wall of a synagogue, the day after that it may require assaulting a Jewish teenager with a baseball bat, but the day after that may require the firing of a gun at a Rabbi. When we reach that point, it is too late.”
World B'nai B'rith President to visit 'Down Under'
SYDNEY, Australia- B'nai B'rith International president Moishe Smith of Ottawa, Canada, will visit Australia at the end of October, to attend the B'nai B'rith Australia/New Zealand national conference, it has just been announced. This will be Smith's first visit to Australia with a stop-over in New Zealand currently under discussion, depending on his schedule.
Nancy Harrison
cruise & tour specialist
(619) 265-0808
THE JEWISH CITIZEN
Russert's death prompts walking regimen
By Donald H. Harrison
 EL CAJON, California —Part of the fallout from Tim Russert’s untimely death on June 13 at age 58 is that my wife, Nancy, has become overly concerned about my health. “Look,” she says, “he was even younger than you are. He had all that stress as a journalist. And I’ll bet he was constantly at his computer the way you are.”
Oh, c’mon, I thought. There’s no way that putting out an online daily Jewish newspaper even begins to compare with the kind of stress Russert must have been under as moderator of NBC's Meet the Press and guru of national and international politics. And, from what I could see of Russert, he was constantly on the go, probably getting plenty of exercise. “So really, Nancy,” I said, “there’s no comparison, and no reason to be any more worried than you were before.”
This was not an argument I could come close to winning. Nancy reminded me of my high cholesterol. She pointed out, with what I thought was perhaps a bit too much emphasis, that I am not at my best fighting weight. In other words, like most middle aged men, I’m overweight. And she insisted that I really need to get more exercise, that I can’t just go strolling occasionally, that I need to build exercise into my daily regimen.
If Nancy had her druthers, I’d be power walking on a treadmill, getting my heart rate up, burning calories, training for a gold medal in the competition to live longer. If I had my preference, I’d be standing in a museum, stepping a few feet to this exhibit, then stopping and reading, then taking a few more steps to the next exhibit—what Nancy describes uncharitably, but with accuracy, as no exercise at all.
There had to be a compromise between exercising only the brain and exercising only the body. And that’s when the idea hit me. Maybe what I should do is visit as many college campuses, public parks, municipal squares and other outdoor venues as possible, exercising while walking but also continuing to give expression to my curiosity and to the ongoing quest to find Jewish stories, which are everywhere.
So, that’s how I happened to be walking on Tuesday, June 17, on the campus of Grossmont Community College in El Cajon, which is a relatively short drive from my home in San Diego. To increase my walking distance—and, I’ll admit, to avoid having to purchase a daily parking permit—I parked on the public streets several blocks away and then walked to the campus.
With a copy of a campus map, readily available on the campus, I decided to walk in a clockwise direction. The Hyde Art Gallery was closed for the summer, so I was thwarted from backsliding into my old museum-browsing habit. I did, however, wander into a nearby building where they teach media communications and noted that one of the journalism instructors there is none other than Michael Grant, who served as a columnist for the San Diego Union back in the days when I was that morning newspaper’s political writer (1972-1980).
Grant, who talks as slowly as Nancy accuses me of walking, wasn’t in his office. However, on a hallway wall I found an intriguing poster that made me smile, both because of its content, and because I already had found something Jewish.
Called “Wisdom of Einstein,” it provided some wonderful quotes from the genius physicist: “Imagination is more important than knowledge,” he said. “Knowledge is limited; imagination circles the world.” Furthermore, Einstein claimed, “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
Other Einstein quotes on the poster included: “With fame I become more and more stupid, which of course is a very common phenomenon.” And, “Wisdom is not the product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.”
Known for being sartorially challenged, Einstein said: “If I were taking care of my grooming, I would no longer be my own self.” On a similar theme, he proclaimed “I have reached an age when, if someone tells me to wear socks, I don’t have to.”
One of my favorite quotations dealt with relativity, but this wasn’t the E=MC Squared formula for which he is famous. “An hour sitting with a pretty girl on a park bench passes like a minute, but a minute sitting on a hot stove seems like an hour.”
As I continued to circumnavigate the campus, I found some newspaper racks containing both the May 6 and May 20 editions of The Summit, the campus newspaper. Names are tricky, you can never from them if someone is Jewish or not. Look at me, I am Jewish, and my surname is Harrison; look at Whoopi, she’s not Jewish, and her surname is Goldberg. In both instances, original family names were changed, mine several generations back.
Nevertheless, I noted the names of two high achievers at Grossmont Community College whose names suggest further investigation might be warranted. Both were involved in sports.
In an unrelated story, the newspaper quoted Dana Quittner, associate vice chancellor of the college district. I have known Quittner for many years, dating back to the time that she was president of the local League of Women Voters, and know that she is a member of the Jewish community.
 In front of Grossmont Community College’s Library and Technology Mall is its “Walk of Fame,” on which plaques are embellished with a griffin—the mythological creature from which Grossmont sports teams take their nickname. The plaques honor alumni who have achieved a measure of fame in their careers. Next to a plaque honoring former Cleveland Browns quarterback Brian Sipes is another that was awarded posthumously to Bernard “Buddy Blue” Seigal, a Jewish musician who took classes at Grossmont College between 1977 and 1982 and served as editor of the student newspaper.
When not performing “jump blues,” under his stage name of Buddy Blue, Seigal was critiquing other acts—sometimes quite harshly—as an occasional pop music critic. Seigal was even younger than Russert when he died in 2006 of a heart attack—only 48.
L.A. BEAT
L'il Noodle, a kid who'll steal your heart
By Cynthia Citron
 LOS ANGELES - A Chinese housekeeper leaves her 6-year old son (BaoQi Chen) with her Israeli employer, Miri (Mili Avital), for “just one hour” while she rushes off to attend to some urgent errand. By the next day she has still not returned.
Miri is a twice-widowed flight attendant for El Al. Sharing her apartment is her sister Gila (Anat Waxman), who is squatting there with her teenaged daughter while she contemplates divorcing her husband. What they don’t need is a little boy with an unpronounceable name who speaks not a word of Hebrew. In fact, he speaks no word at all in his anguish at having been abandoned by his mother.
The little boy is a Chinese Charlie Brown: big round head and woeful eyes, and the sisters cannot bring themselves to abandon him a second time. Thus begins their strange odyssey of trying to find the mother, trying to communicate with the boy, trying to get a translation of the message his mother has scrawled in Mandarin on a wall of their squalid home, and finally, trying to figure out how to get the boy to Beijing, once they learn that that’s where his mother has been deported. (She was picked up by Immigration officers shortly after she left Miri’s apartment.)
Because she entered Israel illegally, she is not registered in the country. Nor is her son, even though he was born there. So, in legal terms, neither of them exists. To prove that he was born, that he exists, and that he is his mother’s son, involves voluminous paperwork in both Israel and China, DNA tests, notarized affidavits, official documents and processes that will take, the sisters estimate, at least a year to complete.
Meanwhile, the boy, whom they call Noodle, after his favorite food, has begun to loosen up in their care. Easily the most adorable and lovable child actor since Shirley Temple, he is playful and mischievous and imaginative and bright. And while he grows to love the sisters and they him, they are aware that they will have to return him to his mother. How they do that involves a plan so elaborate that it might have been concocted by Inspector Clouseau.
Noodle is a delightful film: warm, funny, and emotionally satisfying on all counts. Written by Shemi Zarhin and Ayelet Menahem and directed by Ayelet Menahem, it won the Special Grand Prize of the Jury at the Montreal World Film Festival last year and the Best Supporting Actress Award of the Israel Film Academy for Anat Waxman, as well as nine other nominations.
Although the film was released in Israel in 2007, it has only been seen in this country in the 2008 film festivals in Palm Springs and Santa Barbara, and now as part of the 23rd Israel Film Festival, currently screening at the Laemmle Theaters (the Royal in Los Angeles, the Sunset 5 in West Hollywood, and the Fallbrook 7 in West Hills), running from June 12-26. From here the festival goes to New York November 5-20, and to Miami December 10-18.
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San Diego County Jewish Trivia Journalism
Adapted from San Diego Trivia (1989) and San Diego Trivia 2 (1993)
{Editor’s Note: Retired librarian Evelyn Kooperman, a friend to the Jewish community, enjoys playing the cello and collecting trivia about her native city of San Diego. This column excerpts Jewish communal items from her two books, San Diego Trivia (1989) and San Diego Trivia 2 (1993). Readers should note that the information has not been updated since the books were published. Kooperman still has a limited supply of the two books, which cover the general San Diego community in all its aspects. Either of the two volumes sells for $5 and may be obtained by telephoning the author at (619) 461-6095.}
By Evelyn Kooperman
 SAN DIEGO—Q1: Bernard Lansky who graduated from San Diego High school in 1943 created what nationally syndicated column?
Q2: In 1987 what Tribune journalist won the Pulitzer prize for a series on immigration reform?
Q3: The hair of what local tv personality was auctioned off for $25 at a 1974 fundraiser?
Hint: It was the first fundraising aution of KPBS. Architect Homer Delawie auctioned the coat off his back. Then a woman from Coronado offered $25 for this tv personality's braid. As she had been planning to change hair style anyway, the on-air personality agreed.
ADVENTURES IN SAN DIEGO JEWISH HISTORY
Robinson-Rose House
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Old Temple Beth Israel |
Lawrence Family JCC |
Editor's Note: We are reprinting news articles that appeared in back issues of various San Diego Jewish newspapers. You may access an index of the headlines of those articles by clicking here. You may also use the Google search program on our home page or on the headline index page to search for keywords or names.
UJF Youth Division Organizes
From Southwestern Jewish Press, March 20, 1947, page 7
“One percent or $3,599 of the San Diego quota is to be raised by our Youth Division of the United Jewish Fund,” Rene Perlmutter, co-chairman of the Youth Division, announced at the workers dinner held for the group at the New Palace Hotel last Sunday.
“Already $912.00 of this quota has been met through gifts from thirteen of the young people of the community,” she said.
Under the guidance of Al Hutler, executive director of the fund, plans were made for conducting the fund-raising campaign among young members of the community. Mr. Hutler emphasized the responsibility of each young person to make a sacrifice gift this year and pointed out that all contributions over ten dollars could be made by installments over the period of a year.
It was determined by the group to seek pledges at regular meetings of the various youth organizations and Sunday schools.
Group captains for the Youth Division drive were selected, as follows: Joe Wertheim, Jules Raleigh, Estelle Addleson, Stanford Brust, Gerry Platt, Sylvia Horowitz, Mitzi Schiller and Yale Naliboff.
The committee to plan a youth rally for the fund which will be held sometime in April will consist of Eva Garber as chairman, Estelle Addleson, Ben Siegel, Hadarah Domnitz and Ned Weiss.
Highlighting of the dinner was an address by Master Sergeant Leo Molow, and the presentation of the movie, “Time to Build” showing the work of the Joint Distribution Committee with the French Boy Scots.
Co-chairmen of the Youth Division are Rene Perlmutter and Sallie Stone, while Joan Jacobsen and Stanford Brust handled arrangements for the dinner.
Sergeant Inspires Youth Division
From Southwestern Jewish Press, March 20, 1947, page 7
Speaking before thirty young workers of the Youth division of the United Jewish Fund last Sunday, Master Sergeant Leo Molow now stationed in San Francisco told of the solemn pledge he made himself while overseas. Deeply affected by the scenes of Jewish grief he had witnessed Sergeant Malow said, “I pledged myself to go among my people over here and to tell them of the suffering and sorrow I had seen over there.
“Where Hitler previously held the decision of life and death over European Jews, said Sergeant Molow, “now it is we, American Jewry, who hold that decision. It is our supreme task to accept the responsibility for the survival of a whole people.”
“Today all Europe is a gas chamber,” he continued, “with thousands of Jews trying to get out. Their success in escaping European terror will depend upon the success of the United Jewish Fund.”
Master Sergeant Molow, who spent much of his army career in the German theatre during and after the war, holds a Distinguished Service citation for valor shown in action against the Siegfried line.
‘Personality’ Talk Impresses TYL
From Southwestern Jewish Press, March 20, 1947, page 7
By Myron Shelley
Last Sunday, March 16, 1947, the members of the Temple Youth League enjoyed a talk by the Reverend Alec Nichols of the Asbury Methodist Church. The Reverend Mr. Nichols spoke on “Personality” and defined it as consisting of eight points: Vitality, Dress, Makeup, Emotionality, Mentality, Individuality, Sincerity and Spirituality. One of the most sought after speakers in san Diego, Reverend Nichols came through with some frank talk seasoned with clever humor.
We were particularly impressed with some things the Reverend said when on the topic of Emotionality. “…a smile begets a smile, hatred begets hatred, love begets love…read good books to give yourself better conception of your present and future life and read the newspapers and magazines for your own enjoyment…but above all, for good personality, be yourself.”
In closing, Reverend Nichols expressed the hope that he had not spoken too long and to illustrate his point told the story about the Yale alumnus who was addressing the graduating class. “Now I want to talk for twenty minutes on the Y, twenty minutes on the A, twenty minutes on the L, and twenty minutes on the E,” and he proceeded to do so. When he finished, he asked, “Now are there any questions or remarks? From the rear row of the auditorium came a voice, “Thank God we’re not graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.”
The Temple Youth League wishes to extend its thanks to Reverend Nichols for making last Sunday afternoon such an enjoyable one.
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Answers to San Diego Trivia Questions 1) Seventeen; 2) Jonathan Freedman; 3) Gloria Penner
SAN DIEGO JEWISH WORLD THE WEEK IN REVIEW
United States of America
Jews are Obama’s base, not his problem by J. Zel Lurie in Delray Beach, Florida
San Diego
Orthodoxy and sports juxtaposed at gala by Donald H. Harrison in San Diego
Obituary: Isadore Horne, Holocaust survivor, 92 by Donald H. Harrison in San Diego
The Arts
The Jewish history of the Incredible Hulk by Rabbi Simcha Weinstein in New York
Adventures in San Diego Jewish History
—March 20, 1947: Pioneer Women
—March 20, 1947:Appeal for Seder Home Hospitality for Servicemen
—March 20, 1947:B’nai B’rith Presents Wheel Chairs to Hospital
—March 20, 1947:Carl Esenoff to Head Jewish Welfare Society
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