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INTERNATIONAL Israel's new government fails to pass over political chametz ... by Dow Marmur in Jerusalem The cartoon on the opinion page in Monday’s Ha’aretz shows the incoming Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cutting in half a number of briefcases. In order to induce/bribe the other parties in the coalition he has had to give them a lot of ministerial goodies and now not enough portfolios are left for his own supporters.READ MORE
United Kingdom's three victories against radical Islam ... by Barry Rubin in Herzliya. Israel Almost unnoticed in North America, three major victories have been won in the United Kingdom against radical Islamist forces. Collectively, they represent the biggest successes on this front in a decade and may constitute a turning point.READ MORE
Remember, Honor, and Teach: San Diego County Holocaust Commemoration to be held April 19th ... by Michael Bart in San Diego San Diego’s Community Holocaust Commemoration, Yom HaShoah, will take place this year on April 19th at 1:30 pm at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, David and Dorothea Garfield Theater. The theme for this year’s program is "Remember, Honor, and Teach." READ MORE
JUDAISM When you can't get enough of 'Dayenu,' here's that song ... by Cantor Sheldon Merel in San Diego, with audio
The essence of the Passover Haggadah is about Abraham’s vision of one God, and man’s search for freedom. READ MORE
LIFESTYLES Perspectives and patience change as a person ages ... by Natasha Josefowitz in La Jolla, California
A child’s world is not much beyond that of the parents, the nursery, the play group; it's a narrow world. The teenager’s world becomes a bit larger; it is mostly comprised of school, friends, phones, TVs, music, athletic events.READ MORE
ARTS Divorce becomes a big song and dance in Hollywood ... by Cynthia Citron in Hollywod, California
Anyone who has been through a divorce---and some 50% of American couples have---will find that Erin Kamler’s extraordinarily perceptive new musical will strike a resonant chord. READ MORE
Was ancient Romes war with Jerusalem inevitable?...A book review by Fred Reiss in Winchester, California
Gessius Flores, the last of Judea’s Roman procurators, was by far the worst. When he attempted to appropriate seventeen talents of gold from the Temple, the people rioted and later mocked him by passing around a basket to collect contributions on his behalf. READ MORE
ADVENTURES IN SAN DIEGO JEWISH HISTORY December 12,1952; Southwestern Jewish Press Hadassah Plans New Year’s Party READ MORE
New Work Published by Dr. A. P. Nasatir READ MORE
Y.J.C. Plans New Year’s Eve Party READ MORE
Y.J.C. Club READ MORE
City of Hope Jr. Aux.READ MORE
Jolly 16 News READ MORE
JEWISH INTERNET FAVORITES We continue our examination of Jewish entertainers
Lenny Bruce clips, " A thinking man's comedian"VIEW VIDEO
Mel Brooks in "The History of the World" in scene explaining the origin of the Ten Commandments VIEW VIDEO
Susan Cabot in "The Wasp Woman" (What kind of role is this for a Jewish woman?) VIEW VIDEO
Tom Bosley and the rest of the Happy Days cast at 30th reunion celebration. (Bosley, who played the father, gives a wedding toast in the closing segement) VIEW VIDEO
Bonus:
Sandi Masori of Balloon Utopia teaches 6 balloon hat techniques VIEW VIDEO STAFF BOX 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.
DEDICATIONS Each day's issue may be dedicated by readers—or by the publisher—in other people's honor or memory. Past dedications may be found at the bottom of the index for the "Adventures in San Diego Jewish History" page.
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JERUSALEM--The cartoon on the opinion page in Monday’s Ha’aretz shows the incoming Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cutting in half a number of briefcases. In order to induce/bribe the other parties in the coalition he has had to give them a lot of ministerial goodies and now not enough portfolios are left for his own supporters. Hence the slicing of cabinet portfolios to appease as many disgruntled Likud politiciansas possible.
It’s not clear that this will be enough or if some, calculating that the government won’t last long and they’ll have better chances next time around if they join the opposition now, will bolt to Kadima, the party-in-waiting. Ehud Barak was facing the same problem in Labor but appears to have won over most of his original opponents by bringing them into the proverbial tent, i.e., the government. As much as they’re all saying that it’s not the tick (Hebrew for “portfolio”) that counts, it’s difficult to believe them.
As a result the cabinet will be huge. Including deputy ministers and chairs of Knesset committees, at least half of the parliamentarians expected to support the government will have lucrative reasons for doing so. In addition to divided assignments, there’ll also be several members euphemistically described as ministers without portfolio and deputy ministers with phony tasks to feed their self-importance.
Even if a minister does nothing in the cabinet, s/he still costs about 3 million shekels a year in salary, office and staff, security, car and driver, and other fringe benefits. As far as a prime minister who wants to rule is concerned, it’s a small price to pay. There have been several others in that office that have had as large or even larger cabinets
In view of all the “ticking” we haven’t heard much about what the new government will actually do. President Shimon Peres is said to have already initiated a PR blitz to tell the world that the next government will be as good (i.e., not worse) than its predecessors. Are presidents, like diplomats, paid to lie for their country?
Many critics say that even this isn’t enough. There’s a different administration in Washington and it’s bound to demand more from Israel than was offered in the past. The question is whether the Israeli public will also want more. Go to top of right column
A large ad in today’s papers by Peace Now tells readers that the new government isn’t a government of national unity but of the extreme right; it names Barak as one of the right-wingers. It calls for a demonstration outside the Knesset on Tuesday
shortly after the swearing in ceremony. It’s not likely that more than a handful od women and men will turn up, because most people have given up on peace, at least for now. We’re all waiting for creative measures to deal with the economic downturn and the rising unemployment before we know if we are for or against the new government.
To show us that he means business, Netanyahu is said to keep the finance minister’s portfolio for himself. But whether this is a sign of his order of priorities or just a way of keeping out his main rival in the party, Silvan Shalom, remains to be seen. In view of all the “ticking” it’s tempting to opt for the latter.
Chametz, the leaven that has to be removed before Pesach, is the stuff that each of us must get rid of within and without before we can celebrate the festival of freedom. There’s nothing to suggest that this is about to happen in the new government. It’s likely to leave us with all the chametz and more that’ll sour our celebration of freedom.
Marmur, rabbi emeritus at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, spends time in that city and Jerusalem. His email: marmurd@sandiegojewishworld.com
United Kingdom's three victories against radical Islam
HERZLIYA, Israel—
Almost unnoticed in North America, three major victories have been won in the United Kingdom against radical Islamist forces. Collectively, they represent the biggest successes on this front in a decade and may constitute a turning point.
They include: the barring from the country of an extremist Hizballah leader, the government decision to break relations with a radical posing as moderate Muslim group, and the announcing of a new government policy on combating extremism.
First, the Home Office barred Ibrahim Moussawi, Hizballah’s propaganda chief, from entering the country to address a conference at the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
According to a school representative, “"Had he on any previous occasion indulged in any racist incitement, he would not have been allowed to continue with his presentation, and were he to do so in the future, the same would apply.”
Clearly, the school has a rather loose definition of racist incitement since the al-Manar station that he runs claims that the September 11 terror attacks, wars, and the poor state of the economy are all Zionist or Jewish conspiracies. It produced a drama claiming Jews murder children to make matzoh for Passover and Moussawi is quoted as having once said that Jews were "a lesion on the forehead of history." The station also helped channel money to terrorist organizations including Islamic Jihad.
All of this so impressed the U.S. Treasury Department that it gave al-Manar the title of "Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entity" three years ago. France and Germany banned al-Manar due to its incitement to racial hatred and violence.
SOAS must not have been paying attention.
These kinds of victories do not come automatically and, sadly, the massive information- and intelligence gathering apparatuses of governments don’t seem sufficient to find out these publicly reported facts. That’s why research groups like the Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC), which played the leading role in informing the British government and public in this case, are so important.
Yet the group’s second success within a month was even more spectacular.
Back on February 12-14, a pro-Hamas “Victory in Gaza” conference was held in Istanbul, organized by two Saudi clerics who had been supporters of Osama bin Ladin. But it produced a declaration urging jihad to destroy Israel, rejecting any peaceful solution to the conflict. In addition, they called for continuing jihad (read: murdering fellow Muslims, killing Western peacekeepers, and imposing extremist Islamist regimes) in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Little notice of the meeting was taken in the West, whose media usually largely focuses on propagandistic declarations aimed at the West, made in English and designed to show a combination of their grievances and purported moderation.
What made the Istanbul declaration important for Britain was the fact that one of the signers was Daud Abdullah. The problem was that Abdullah is deputy general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, a group which itself purports to be the leader of British Muslims and which the government has purported to be the proper, moderate interlocutor with that community. He is also a member of the powerful, government-endorsed Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board.
In fact, though, many of its leaders are radical Islamists, which makes the idea of its aiding the British government fight extremism to be rather ironic.
Abdullah’s defense of his signing was basically to say that all Muslims must fight Israel and those who support it, but that doesn’t mean all Jews. Of course, it does mean the United Kingdom and all its officers and institutions, doesn’t it?
This is even clearer in point 8 which states the:
“Obligation of the Islamic Nation to regard the sending of foreign warships into Muslim waters, claiming to control the borders and prevent the smuggling of arms to Gaza, as a declaration of war, a new occupation, sinful aggression, and a clear violation of the sovereignty of the Nation. This must be rejected and fought by all means and ways.”
Or, in other words, since the British government supports such action, Abdullah is calling for attacks on his nation’s armed services. And we know, from experience, this means the kidnapping and killing of any individual members of the British armed forces.
Abdullah’s defense was to say that this was a hypothetical situation.
Pressed by the public exposure of these facts, the British government asked the Council how it felt about Abdullah’s statements and whether it would distance itself from them. The Council said it would never support killing British troops but would not criticize Abdullah.
In response, the British government—to its credit—showed backbone and cut ties with the Council.
Finally, at the same time, a new policy was announced by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. The theme was to focus on combating Islamist ideology as well as a call for Muslims to support not violence against the system but rather what she termed "our shared values"— democracy, the rule of law, and the rights of women, homosexuals, other religions, and communities. She concluded: “We should all stand up for our shared values and not concede the floor to those who dismiss them."
Up to this point, the government had subsidized groups which might not engage in violence but do propagate radical Islamist ideas which inspire others toward violence. Or, in the words of Policy Exchange, the government has been, “Underwriting the very Islamist ideology which spawns an illiberal, intolerant and anti-Western world view."
The response to the new policy of Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, the board’s secretary-general, is that if Britain wants to combat the causes of terrorism it should condemn Israel for the “barbaric” “war crime” of its war in Gaza (a war begun by Hamas, which the Board supports.)
The Board has generally, for eight of the last nine years, boycotted the Holocaust day commemoration because it says that Israel is carrying out “genocide” against Muslims. Its leadership has condemned homosexuality as unacceptable, blamed terrorism in Britain exclusively on the country’s involvement in invading Iraq, and advocated a law that would—at least in its interpretation—bar criticism of Islam as religious hatred. This is the group that the British government has entrusted with preparing materials for Muslim schools.
Taken together, the three recent developments are of paramount importance in fostering a more realistic attitude and policy toward the threat of extremism and terrorism by the British government. That this was brought about not by a powerful lobby but by a small number of researchers who merely exposed and publicized the truth is all the more impressive.
Remember, Honor, and Teach: San Diego County
Holocaust Commemoration to be held April 19th
By Michael Bart SAN DIEGO—
San Diego’s Community Holocaust Commemoration, Yom HaShoah, will take place this year on April 19th at 1:30 pm at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, David and Dorothea Garfield Theater. The theme for this year’s program is "Remember, Honor, and Teach." Remember the victims of the Holocaust, honor the survivors, and teach future generations. This year’s focus is teaching future generations about the Holocaust through the experience of survivors, students who have visited Auschwitz and Birkenau, and high school teachers throughout the city.
I am often contacted by committees planning Yom HaShoah programs in other cities asking about our commemoration here in San Diego. I share with them the following goals we have crafted for our local program:
1) To provide Holocaust survivors the program they need.
The six million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust did not have a funeral. Attending this program each year is the survivor’s way of paying respects to those who died. There are many aspects of the program each year that are very emotional and important for the survivors. Some of these include: Opening the program with a Marine Color Guard as a reminder of the US military’s contribution in defeating the Nazis, and liberating the camps. Asking Holocaust survivors to light memorial candles in memory of those who were killed, followed by the singing of the Partisan Song, also known as “Never Say You Are Walking Your Last Road.” This song’s optimistic meaning is to “Never Give up Hope.” The program ends with the survivors placing rocks in the Lawrence Family JCC’s Holocaust Memorial Garden. This symbolic act indicates that family and friends have not forgotten those lost, and it also gives the survivors a place to mourn their loved ones.
2) To ensure the program is a community event that will endure for future generations.
The theme is changed each year so the program is relevant and meaningful for anyone who wants to remember those lost in the Holocaust. The community’s involvement is very important to the survivors and their families so they can tell the world in a united voice, “We have not, and will not, forget the Holocaust,” and to declare, “Never Again.” 3)
To get the synagogues involved.
Each year the committee reaches out to the local synagogues by inviting the rabbis, cantors, executive directors, and temple presidents to participate or attend, and asking them to encourage their congregants to attend the program.
4) To emphasize Holocaust education and awareness.
Most of the Holocaust survivors are now in their eighties and nineties and are very concerned that future generations will not know about what happened in Europe. One of the local survivors recently said, “How will people who are uneducated about the Holocaust educate future
generations?” The YomHaShoah committee has made Holocaust education an important priority.
This is my fourth year chairing this important event along with my co-chair Gussie Zaks, a survivor, and a committee of 17. I am honored to be part of a committee that includes survivors, children of Holocaust survivors, professionals from many of San Diego’s Jewish organizations, and members of the community who deeply care about the Shoah.
Our program sponsors are: The Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County, the New Life Club, the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center Jacobs Family Campus, the Agency for Jewish Education, Jewish Family Service, Jewish Community Foundation, and the San Diego Rabbinical Association.
Our Yom HaShoah Commemoration receives both print and broadcast media coverage and attracts an audience of about 600 each year, including local dignitaries, members of Congress and many Holocaust survivors. It is very important that we remember and teach our history, because if we don’t, who will?
Bart is the son of Holocaust survivors and is the chair of the Community Holocaust Commemoration in San Diego.
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MUSIC OF OUR PEOPLE
When you can't get enough of 'Dayenu,' here's that song From the oratorio, Haggadah, Search for Freedom by Harold Lerner and Morton Gold
To hear Cantor Merel and choir perform Dayenu, please click here
SAN DIEGO—The essence of the Passover Haggadah is about Abraham’s vision of one God, and man’s search for freedom. Last week’s song, the Passover Story, (excerpted from the oratorio, Haggadah, Search For Freedom), described the origin and transmission of our forefather Abraham’s vision, who passed it on to his son, Isaac, who, then passed it on to his son, Jacob.
When Jacob led his people into the land of Egypt, although they were later forced into slavery, the vision of Abraham never diminished. It was kept alive beyond the exodus from Egypt, into the promised land of Canaan, through countless centuries and will be retold in our homes next week when we celebrate the Passover Seder.
Although we continue to celebrate Abraham’s basic dream, I believe it is incumbent upon us to expand, broaden and make the Haggadah story relevant in 2009. The lyricist and composer of Search for Freedom have done exactly this by brilliantly creating new music and updating the text. In this musical version of Da-yenu, ( with cantor, choir and orchestra) they urge us to seek an end to some of the threatening issues facing the world: pollution, war,
armament, nuclear bombs, starving children, and hate between nations.
”If every man was free, and no one understood, Da-yenu”, and concludes , “ When we all understand what freedom really means, (then) Da-yenu, it will be enough!”
And, indeed, we can all say “AMEN” to that.
Next week, San Diego Jewish World will feature a new and stirring version of L’shana Ha-ba B’ru-sha-layim to conclude your Seder. Chag Sa-mey-ach.
Excerpts from the oratorio are on Cantor Merel’s CD, Standing Ovation which is available at www. Cdbaby.com
.Please click the ad above Sandi Masori of Balloon Utopia teaches 6 balloon hat techniques
On this video, Sandi Masori of San Diego teaches beginning balloon artists how to make fun hats for parties. She show first how to make the basic helmet, and then how to decorate it with pearls, spirals, twists, flowers, and "deely boppers."
LA JOLLA, California—A child’s world is not much beyond that of the parents, the nursery, the play group; it's a narrow world. The teenager’s world becomes a bit larger; it is mostly comprised of school, friends, phones, TVs, music, athletic events. Adults’ world is largest—it can encompass everything and anything, from work and travel to involvement in one’s community, in one's society, in world affairs.
An older person can remain active and interested and interesting by pursuing varied interests or allow their world to shrink as one moves out of broad activities into only those concerning one’s health, one’s comfort, a couple of friends, and what’s for dinner!
As the minutiae of daily life is all there is, the importance of what’s in your plate and the time it takes to get there becomes magnified.
Not only is the world getting narrower, the feelings of entitlement get magnified. The child wants his meal or toy right now. The adolescent does not understand why he or she can’t have the car tonight and the senior person wants immediate gratification, with no patience for a slower response to one’s needs. I see this in our dining room at our retirement community where people get very upset if something is not served right away, as if they have an urgent meeting to go to or a plane to catch. I find myself falling into the immediacy trap at times too, with unmet expectations taking a steeper toll than warranted.
When life had many dimensions and so many things were truly important like dealing with job responsibilities or irresponsible children, a home to keep up, meals to prepare, volunteering commitments, life’s small inconveniences were thrust into the background.
With all of the above not an issue anymore, these small inconveniences take on a life of their own and become the main preoccupation. It is similar to people on holiday where they fuss and nit pick about everything, not having the real world to deal with.
The feeling of entitlement is also exacerbated by the inevitable losses incurred in older age: whether it is some impairment of one or more of the senses such as sight or hearing or loss of a friend or family member; this deprivation is also coupled with changes in the brain. The area designated for impulse control shrinks and one has less patience with waiting, one is more irritable, quicker to anger. “Grumpy old men” is a reality for many as well as “cranky old women.” This loss of impulse control also expresses itself by sometimes inappropriate comments or rattling on for far too long about events in one’s past.
On the other hand, there are also those people who appreciate more than ever every day they’re alive, grateful for the sun, for the friends, good health—theirs and family’s—for an ice cream cone, a fun movie, an evening out, appreciating all the small events that make up our days.
How to strike a more balanced perspective? Thinking about the incongruities of living with everything done for us in a beautiful place and a responsive staff and still find things to complain about while the rest of the world is suffering from famine, floods, fires, and earthquakes, not to mention wars with their displacement of entire populations becoming homeless.
I’m not advocating becoming Pollyannaish because it is indeed important to keep improving one’s environment, I’m advocating appreciation of everything we have—from good enough health to attentive enough children and grandchildren. I’m advocating gratefulness for all that we have from the time we wake up in this beautiful part of the world to the time we go to bed surrounded by quiet for some or by the sound of the ocean for others.
Yes, gratefulness, everyday, and many times during the day.
Actually, the choice is ours whether to grouse or be grateful.
Josefowitz's column also appears in La Jolla Village Voice
HOLLYWOOD, California—Anyone who has been through a divorce---and some 50% of American couples have---will find that Erin Kamler’s extraordinarily perceptive new musical will strike a resonant chord. Like Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ five stages of grief, Kamler’s Divorce! The Musical takes us through the stages that often accompany divorce: shock, sadness, nostalgia, uncertainty, regret, and finally, acceptance. But Kamler does it with Sondheim-like songs: clever wording, marvelous music, and a pace that moves the story along with dispatch, humor, and style.
Penny and Rich (Lowe Taylor and Rick Segall) open the show with the exuberant song that accompanies their wedding ceremony, “Till Death Do Us Part.” (They make loving vows to each other, including Rich’s promise “not to turn gay.”) But the very next scene shows them four years later expressing their grievances to a typically unctuous psychiatrist (Gabrielle Wagner) who offers them platitudes and keeps responding to their emotional outbursts with an inane, “But how do you feel?”
Rich is a “celebrity radiologist” who serves as a consultant for a popular “ER”-like television series. Penny is a would-be actress who makes a career, as Rick sees it, of spending his money. But the real problem is that he wants to start a family and she doesn’t. At least, not yet.
He is angry; she is bewildered. Moving toward divorce, they sing, regretfully, that they can no longer be “half lovers, half friends,” and each hires a lawyer. His is a snarky, big-time, Beverly Hills go-for-blood shark (Gabrielle Wagner again); hers is a disorganized, somewhat clueless attorney (Leslie Stevens) whose office is (heaven help us!) in the San Fernando Valley. The lawyers exchange a series of letters, then finally meet and begin to collude. Lauren, the shark, takes Lisa, the little carp who swims out of the mainstream, under her gills, so to speak, and teaches her the ins and outs of “Fighting Dirty.”
Meanwhile, Penny and Rich, in a steamy, show-stopping tableau, engage in “Rebound Sex” with partners they don’t even like. Here Danny Cistone’s Shaker-style set is put to most effective use, as the two principals perform in counterpoint to each other in the center of the stage. The rest of the set is equally balanced: matching windows, matching staircases, and matching box-like cubicles that revolve to become the offices of the two attorneys. The two matching doors at the rear of center stage also open to reveal a revolving set that represents the office of their psychiatrist. The Shakers, with their passion for evenly balanced architecture, would give Cistone their highest seal of approval.
Later, Penny and Rich inadvertently meet in a Brentwood Whole Foods store and, in a touching duet, reminisce about the “good things” in their past. But the divorce proceedings continue as their case goes to mediation. Gregory Franklin is the slick-talking barker who turns the mediation into a splashy game show, flashing lights, buzzers, and all.It’s ironic that as Penny and Rich sever their relationship, the people around them become closer. The two lawyers, in cahoots, sing about becoming “Best Friends,” and Rich’s parents, who have had a toxic relationship for years, sing a triumphant “We Stuck It Out.”
Rick Sparks, who staged and directs Divorce! The Musical is aided by two of the best technicians in L.A.: Jeremy Pivnick on lights and Cricket Myers on sound. Denitsa Bliznakova is the costume designer, and a small orchestra consisting of Anthony Fanning on cello, Adrienne Geffen on woodwinds, and David O, who serves as musical arranger and conductor, on piano, serve the performers well. But the real star is Jewish playwright Erin Kamler, whose previous stage works include The Jews of Calabasas. She plumbed her own two divorce experiences to write the music, lyrics and book, and make it all ring true. If the story of a divorce can be tender, funny, and sorrowful, yet fast-paced, gripping, and thoroughly alive, Divorce! The Musical does it. It’s a show that anyone contemplating divorce---or marriage---should definitely see.
The world premiere of Divorce! The Musical will continue at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 through April 26th. Call (323) 960-1056 for tickets.
Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations; by Martin Goodman, Vintage Books, New York, NY; ISBN 978-0-375-72613-2, 2008, $18.95, 598 pages
WINCHESTER, California--Gessius Flores, the last of Judea’s Roman procurators, was by far the worst. When he attempted to appropriate seventeen talents of gold from the Temple, the people rioted and later mocked him by passing around a basket to collect contributions on his behalf. Flores, greatly insulted, chose a course of revenge. All those visiting the upper market in Jerusalem on 16 Iyar 3826, corresponding to April 27, 66 CE, were massacred. On hearing the news, the distraught worshipers broke down the colonnade connecting the citadel Antonia with the Temple. They were ready to obey the emperor, but would never pay homage to Flores. A little while later, the Zealots captured Herod’s fortress, Masada, a mesa in the Judean desert, and priests stopped offering the customary sacrifices for the emperor. Thus begins the infamous Jewish War. In 67, Nero ordered Vespasian and his son Titus, to quell the rebellion. Through a twist of fate, Nero dies and Vespasian is ordered to Rome and becomes emperor. In 70, Titus sacked Jerusalem and destroys the Temple.
Martin Goodman, author of Rome and Jerusalem, asks was war between the Jews and the Roman inevitable? To formulate an answer, Goodman examines the social, economic, and political forces within the two arenas of power. How did Rome differ from Jerusalem? How did Jerusalem and subsequently the life of the Jews fare under Roman rule? To what extent
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did Rome tolerate diversity? Could one be a Jewish-Roman as well as a Roman Jew? How did the Jewish outlook on life differ from Rome’s perspective? Could Romans reconcile their belief in a multitude of God’s with a people who fervently worshipped a single invisible God? How did Roman morality, hedonistic lifestyle, and martial culture influence how it treated the Jews of Jerusalem? Indeed, whom did the Romans consider to be Jewish? At first blush, one might conclude that we are comparing poverty with wealth, or provincial insignificance with grandeur and haute culture. But a careful analysis provides some surprising answers.
The Jewish war, according to Goodman, could have been avoided. No major incidents ever occurred that required a severe response from Rome. A small faux pas here, some insensitivity there, failure to recognize the true core of the Jewish people by various Roman rulers of Judea, and slowly the tipping point is reached. More important, Goodman asserts that the destruction of the temple was an accident, which Titus spun into a humiliating defeat. Vespasian, who was now emperor with a mediocre military record, seized on this small victory as a great triumph.
Goodman continues the history and sociological analysis of the Jews of the Roman Empire into late antiquity and the subsequent rise of Christianity and anti-Semitism. Rome and Jerusalem is the definitive work on the Roman Empire and its interaction with the Jews and other peoples of the Middle East from the mid-first century to the time of Constantine. It’s a must reading for everyone interested in Roman or Jewish history in and around the time of the destruction of the Second Temple and its aftermath.
Reiss is a retired public and Hebrew school teacher and administrator.
He is the author of The Standard Guide to the Jewish and Civil Calendars and Ancient Secrets
of Creation: Sepher Yetzira, the Book that Started Kabbalah, Revealed. His latest book, Reclaiming the
Messiah was published in December 2008. He can be reached through his web site,
www.fredreissbooks.com
Adventures in San Diego Jewish History With thanks to Gail Umeham for the transcription
Hadassah Plans New Year’s Party Southwestern Jewish Press December 12, 1952, page 4
The second annual New Year’s Eve party, sponsored by San Diego chapter of Hadassah will be held at Club El Morocco, 5108 Federal Blvd., December 31, from 9:00 p/m/ until the early hours of January 1, 1953.
Guests will be treated to a continuous buffet of roast beef, turkey, chicken, spaghetti, molds, salads, relishes and delicious delicacies too numerous to mention. A continental breakfast will be served in the wee hours of the morning.
Pauline Gleason’s orchestra—San Diego’s most popular musicians—will play for dancing. The El Morocco will abound with traditional New Year’s Eve decorations—everything from favors and confetti to noisemakers.
Reservations must be limited due to space. Anyone interested in attending may call: Pearl Lieberman, B-3728; Helen Schulman, R-6169; Barbara Kaner, B-4436; Anne Lederberg, B-4263; Alice Solomon, R-2798, or Bunny Weinstein, B-2-3762.
New Work Published by Dr. A. P. Nasatir Southwestern Jewish Press December 12, 1952, page 7
After more than nine years of research and study, Dr. A.P. Nasatir has seen the publication of his two-volume “Before Lewis and Clark,” published by the St. Louis Historical Documents Foundation.
Dr. Nasatir did a great deal of the work during his stay in France last year. A further report on the Nasatirs’ activities reveals that Abe has left for Puerto Rico for the biennial meeting of the Phi Alpha Theta Fraternity, the national history honor society, representing San Diego State College. Ida, of course, will take off for San Francisco to visit with her folks and await Abe’s return on January 5th.
Y.J.C. Plans New Year’s Eve Party Southwestern Jewish Press December 12, 1952, page 7
“Never before has there been such stirring and excitement, such gayety and merriment, such glittering and glistening as there will be at the big, community-wide New Year’s Eve party sponsored by the young Jewish Couples Club at the Vasa Club House at 3094 El Cajon Blvd.,” commented Jean and Herman Hornstein, social chairmen for that affair.
There will be dancing to the music of a large orchestra. A most interesting floorshow has been planned. The David Proctors, food chairmen, are reporting that there will be a delicious dinner served, and there will be drinks galore.
Tickets may be obtained by calling Jean Hornstein, T.1-9420; Sandy Alter, R-1681; or Bernard Garber, J-2780.
Y.J.C. Club Southwestern Jewish Press December 12, 1952, page 8
The anxiously awaited and long promised talk on Don’t Surrender to T.V. by Dr. Frank Johnson, Professor of English Literature at State College, will be forthcoming at the next meeting of the Young Jewish Couples Club, at the Tifereth Israel Synagogue, Sunday, December 21, at 8:00 p.m.
Witty and vivacious, Dr. Johnson is most interested in the new medium, T.V., and in the part it plays in the modern home. He will discuss the proper time and place for this new entertainment both for adults as well as children. He will discuss its relative importance among all the other activities of home life.
Pertinent and up to date, this topic will, no doubt, be of great interest to almost all families today, and the Club will be
most happy to welcome all interested couples at this meeting.
City of Hope Jr. Aux. Southwestern Jewish Press December 12, 1952, page 8
The City of Hope Junior Auxiliary thanks Bud Sewell, radio M.C. of the Coffeeklotch Program, for the time he spent to acquaint the people of San Diego with the wonderful work the Hospital at Duarte performs for cancer and T.B. patients.
Mr. Sewell devoted a whole program of his Coffeeklotch period Monday, Dec. 1, to interviewing Lea Hoggard, City of Hope Junior Auxiliary member, about the work of the Sanitorium, and also in interviewing Jill Wigley, a former T.B. patient there, about her experiences while she was restored to perfect health.
Continue listening to Mr. Sewell on KCBQ for further announcements about the City of Hope at Duarte.
The November luncheon meeting of the Jolly 16 was held at the home of Mrs. Harry Klaskin.
The Jolly 16 wish to thank all their friends for the capacity attendance at the Annual Autumn Dinner Dance on November 9. Mrs. Maxwell Kaufman, chairman, and Mrs. Louis Steinman, president, express their gratitude and trust all who attended had a most enjoyable evening.
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Jewish Internet Favorites ... featuring notable Jewish community members* Visit our Jewish Internet Favorites index to find links to other videos
Lenny Bruce clips, " A thinking man's comedian"
Mel Brooks in "The History of the World" in scene explaining the origin of the Ten Commandments
Susan Cabot in "The Wasp Woman" (What kind of role is this for a Jewish woman?)
Tom Bosley and the rest of the Happy Days cast at 30th reunion celebration. (Bosley, who played the father, gives a wedding toast in the closing segement)
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SAN DIEGO—
San Diego’s Community Holocaust Commemoration, Yom HaShoah, will take place this year on April 19th at 1:30 pm at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, David and Dorothea Garfield Theater. The theme for this year’s program is "Remember, Honor, and Teach." Remember the victims of the Holocaust, honor the survivors, and teach future generations. This year’s focus is teaching future generations about the Holocaust through the experience of survivors, students who have visited Auschwitz and Birkenau, and high school teachers throughout the city. 
SAN DIEGO—The essence of the Passover Haggadah is about Abraham’s vision of one God, and man’s search for freedom. Last week’s song, the Passover Story, (excerpted from the oratorio, Haggadah, Search For Freedom), described the origin and transmission of our forefather Abraham’s vision, who passed it on to his son, Isaac, who, then passed it on to his son, Jacob. 
