Pending resolution of the dispute, the Church has refused to pay the taxes, he added.

The reason that the wall that Israel has built to protect itself from Palestinian suicide bombers is "problematic," according to Mikulanis is "because it cuts through church property; it has cut off monasteries; it has cut off schools from their people and it has cut off churches from their people."

He said "Bethlehem basically is surrounded completely by this wall and the people of Bethlehem can't get in and can't get out."  He told of a seminary in Bethlehem where a friend is based. "I asked him to pick up something for me in Jerusalem and he wrote back and said he couldn't because his passport had expired and they weren't giving him anew one.  He can't go six miles from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, and the man is not a terrorist. And it is really problematic in Catholic-Jewish relations, that wall."

On the other hand, Mikulanis said he understands the reason for the wall. "If I were an Israeli father, and my 16-year-old daughter and her boyfriend go out for a pizza ad get killed in a bombing, what would I do?  ... What American would sit still for that kind of thing to happen.  Nobody. We would be more than happy to build walls around areas that we thought terrorists were coming out of.  So we can't just say 'those blasted Israelis, look at what they are doing, until we take care of the problems of what Palestinians in Israel are doing."

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  Jerusalem Diaries
         Judy Lash Balint
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It's time for Ehud Olmert to resign

JERUSALEM—I've lost count of the number of mass rallies I've been to in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv over the past decade. Everything from "The People are with the Golan" to "No to disengagement from Gaza" has found me standing in the tree-lined square in central Tel Aviv along with tens of thousands of my fellow Israelis.

But tonight's event—billed as an "assembly" not a protest, was the first time I've ever seen such a cross-section of Israelis standing together. The occasion, of course, was a follow-up to the release of a summary of the damning Winograd Report, which raked Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz over the coals for their abject failure of leadership in conducting lat summer's Hizbollah war.

When opposing Knesset members, Effie Eitam, from the right-wing National Union party, and Yossi Beilin from the far-left Meretz movement sign a joint op ed piece in the morning paper (Maariv, May 3 2007) calling people to come out to the square, you know there's the potential for a political earthquake.

It seemed to me from my perch at the northeast side of the square, just behind the stage, that while there was a healthy representation of the national religious, knitted kipa crowd, it was an overwhelmingly secular gathering, with a tremendous presence of students and young people, who came not only to join in telling Olmert to resign because of his failed leadership in the war, but also to protest the government's inability to come to a compromise with them over tuition costs.

The side streets around the square were packed with people—mostly subdued, most without signs or flags, although a few choice signs were visible: One, a quote from the Hatikva, our national anthem: "We haven't lost our hope..." Another prevalent sticker stated simply: "Elections Now." It was clear that for many, this was their first demonstration.

Poignant songs by well-known singers interspersed the speeches, delivered not by politicians but by bereaved parents, army reservists and cultural figures who all sounded the same theme—we, the rainbow/mosaic of Israeli citizens are here to tell you: Olmert, you failed, resign.

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Keruv   (Hebrew: To Bring Together} Based at Tifereth Israel Synagogue, we are a Jewish organization that reaches out and welcomes intermarried couples.                                                                                                      | Tifereth Israel Synagogue, 6660 Cowles Mountain Blvd. For more information: Phil Snyder: (619) 475 7775

Israelis, Palestinians market olives in Italy

SAN DIEGO (Publicity Release)— The Peres Center for Peace and the Fred J. Hansen Institute for World Peace of the San Diego State University Research Foundation facilitated the participation of a joint Palestinian-Israeli delegation in the international olive-oil exhibition held annually in Verona, Italy.

Members from the Israeli and Palestinian Olive Oil Boards exhibited in March together in an exceptional display of unity, under the common logo "Olives – The Symbol of Peace" . Cooperation between the Olive Oil Boards was initially facilitated by the Peres Center, which brought together Palestinian and Israeli representatives a few years ago, and has continued to encourage cooperation between them.

This is the second time that the Peres Center has facilitated the joint Palestinian-Israeli booth at the exhibition in Verona, with excellent outcomes resulting from the first experience two years ago, including the signing of official agreements for export of Palestinian and Israeli olive oil, amongst them, with the United States.

The participation of the Palestinian-Israeli delegation in Verona is part of a broad initiative launched by the Peres Center in 2004, which focuses on the growing of olives for quality production in the Palestinian Authority and Israel, through joint combating of the damaging olive fly with environmentally-friendly traps developed in Israel, and the development of the local olive oil markets. The initiative includes a training program sponsored by the Peres Center as well as the nurturing of joint Palestinian-Israeli marketing operations to maximize economic returns.

The participation of the Palestinian-Israeli delegation was supported by Alfa-Laval, Casanova Di Chiatri, VeronaFiere and Mr. Ron Benatoff, Director General of the Israel-Italy Chamber of Commerce.

The foregoing article was provided by the Fred J. Hansen Institute for World Peace at the San Diego State University Research Foundation

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Filner urges Americans to celebrate
Jewish American Heritage Month

Filner also calls for expansion in children's health care

SAN DIEGO (Publicity Release) –U.S. Rep. Bob Filner  (D-San Diego) stated that a top priority of the new Congress, as it reauthorizes the landmark State Children's Health Insurance Program, is to significantly expand the health care coverage of America's children.

"Today, there are nine million American children without health insurance," he said. "In a country as wealthy as ours, that is a national disgrace."

"This disturbing statistic would be worse if it were not for the State Children's Health Insurance Program," pointed out Congressman Filner. 

The State Children's Health Insurance Program —or "SCHIP"— was established by Congress in 1997 to expand health care coverage for children.  It provides matching funds to states to help them provide health care coverage for children living in families that are earning too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance.  Since it was created in 1997, SCHIP has been a successful, cost-effective program.  Currently, more than six million children are enrolled in SCHIP.

"After SCHIP was created, the number of children without health insurance began to fall every year," pointed out Congressman Filner.  "And yet, this past year, for the first time since 1998, the number of uninsured children actually went up.  This highlights the growing number of families without access to affordable health insurance and the need for Congress to strengthen SCHIP this year."

"Studies show us that it makes an enormous difference for a child's health whether or not they have health care coverage," pointed out Congressman Filner.  "We know that children who have health insurance are better prepared to learn in school and better equipped to succeed in life."

Children without health insurance are twice as likely not to receive any medical care in a given year as children with health care coverage.  In addition, more than one in three uninsured children do not have a personal doctor or nurse - significantly higher than the rate for children with health care coverage (13.5%).

"Unfortunately, the President's budget proposes to significantly underfund the State Children's Health Insurance Program over the next five years - not even providing enough funding to maintain coverage for those children already enrolled," Filner stated.  "According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, under the President's budget, more than on million children will lose coverage."

"In sharp contrast, I am proud of the budget that the House passed in March that creates a deficit-neutral reserve fund to provide up to $50 billion in additional resources to expand children's health care coverage," Filner added.

"Ten years ago, Congress was able to come together on a bipartisan basis to establish the State Children's Health Insurance Program," pointed out Congressman Filner.  "Now, ten years later, this new Congress - once again on a bipartisan basis - must come together in order to strengthen it significantly."

"This summer, Congress must pass a strong SCHIP Reauthorization bill that will ensure that all children currently enrolled can remain in the program and accelerate the rate of progress in covering more uninsured children - moving us towards the goal of all of America's children having the coverage they need to stay healthy," Congressman Filner concluded.  "Our children deserve no less."
                                             
The foregoing articles were provided by Congressman Bob Filner's office.

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Freedom at Issue

   
                                                    Bruce Kesler
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Now would be a good time for Steven Spielberg to make a visit to Vietnam


ENCINITAS, Calif—Steven Spielberg admits that he did everything possible to avoid serving in Vietnam, because “My immediate political activity was based on self-preservation,” However, he says, "But if I had to go, I would have gone. That's the truth."

Spielberg had his chance, again, but didn’t. A delegation of Hollywood luminaries just went to Vietnam to advise on how to improve its film industry.

They were invited by the Vietnam Cinema Department, part of Vietnam's one-party communist government, which has recently begun easing its control over the content of Vietnamese films and allowing the development of privately produced movies…. Among them, the visitors have 14 Oscar nominations and two Oscars….

The Ministry of Culture and Information still reviews all scripts before production can begin. But the subject matter is moving more frequently beyond the familiar tales of heroic Vietnamese soldiers and other nationalistic themes into racier, more commercial fare.

Perhaps, if Spielberg had gone along, he could have spoken out about the continued violent repression of Vietnamese political dissidents, ethnic minorities, former South Vietnamese soldiers, or of the religious not part of state-controlled denominations.

Democrat Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez describes the contrast of repressions compared to profits being made in Vietnam by its ruling elite and Western businesses.

The media has historically played a major role in strengthening democracies and fostering development around the world. As a human rights advocate, I think the power of the press and fighting to improve human rights go hand-in-hand.

Government propaganda and press censorship aims to create a distorted reality and manipulate thought among a government's citizenry. Although the Vietnamese government would argue that freedom of the press does exist, how do they explain the recent incarceration of journalists Nguyen Vu Binh and Tran Khai Thanh Thuy?

Although the Vietnamese Constitution says "the citizen shall enjoy freedom of opinion and speech, freedom of the press, the right to be informed, and the right to assemble, form associations and hold demonstrations in accordance with the provisions of the law" the reality is that the flow of information is still subject to the discretion of the government.

The statistics speak for themselves:
- Vietnam has no private ownership of its 500-plus newspapers and magazines;
- Approximately 2,000 of Vietnam's 5,000 Internet sites are currently blocked for posting content that the state has deemed "subversive" or "reactionary;"
- Foreign journalists are subjected to harsh scrutiny when covering stories within Vietnam, and are often expelled if they are believed to be working against the interests of the State;
- Radio Free Asia is continually jammed;
-And journalists, poets, democracy and human rights advocates and "cyber dissidents" continue to be harassed, placed under house arrest, and issued harsh jail sentences….

World Press Freedom Day (observed on May 3) celebrates press freedom and recognizes the on-going plight for journalists to freely report the news. Journalists in Vietnam struggle with censorship and persecution everyday. Despite numerous publications and media outlets operating in Vietnam, information is highly censored and monitored. Journalists risk police retribution in speaking out against the government.

As a member of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and Co-founder of the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam, I've participated in panel discussions on the silencing of media in Vietnam and repeated violations and persecution of freedom of expression and information in Vietnam.

This year, I led an international effort in calling for the immediate release of incarcerated journalist Nguyen Vu Binh, former journalist for Tap Chi Cong San (the Communist Newspaper's magazine). Binh was incarcerated shortly after translating a U.S. Embassy document on democracy which was later published. According to his wife, he has been food poisoned several times in prison and needs immediate medical attention. Although the congressional request gained the support of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Vietnamese government has not released him.

Another press suppression incident includes the recent arrest of Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, an award-winning journalist and writer. Thuy was reportedly taken into custody Saturday, April 21, at her residence, where she was held under house arrest. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CJP) Thuy was charged with violating Article 88 of Vietnam's criminal code, which prohibits the dissemination of information that authorities deem harmful to the state.

Just this year, Reporters Without Borders, reported the imprisonment of seven Vietnamese journalists for violating criminal code for their writings or online postings. Reporters Without Borders says that "Vietnam remains one of the world's most repressive countries where the Internet is concerned." They say, "[the [Vietnamese] government blocks access to websites it considers politically and morally 'dangerous,' including foreign news sites and those of human rights organizations set up by Vietnamese abroad."

Despite their limitations, journalists in Vietnam continue to risk their lives reporting factual information that often challenges and questions government policy. Although the Vietnamese government interrupts and monitors their channels of communication by fire walling internet lines, jamming cell phones, shutting down media outlets and arresting journalists they continue to write.

I will continue to work with my colleagues in the U.S. Congress to promote awareness and policy debate on Vietnam's repressive human rights policy and how it affects our country's relationship with Vietnam.

Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, and is an essential tool in weighing the transparency and openness of society. And Vietnam has a long way to go if it hopes to one day become a fully integrated member of the global community.

Yesterday, by a vote of 404 to 0, the U.S. House of Representatives voted an appeal to Vietnam to honor its words said to gain Western investments:

The resolution (H.Res. 243) by Republican Chris Smith (R-N.J) calls on the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to immediately and unconditionally release political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, including Father Nguyen Van Ly and those who have been arrested in a recent wave of government oppression. The resolution also calls for the Government of Vietnam to comply with internationally recognized standards for basic freedoms and human rights….

In November 2006, pursuant to assurances that the human rights
situation in Vietnam had improved dramatically, the U.S. State Department removed Vietnam from the list of "Countries of Particular Concern" so designated pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act. Late last year, the United States Congress agreed to Vietnam becoming an official member of the World Trade Organization. Recently, the group of Asian countries at the United Nations has nominated Vietnam as the sole regional candidate for a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2008-2009.

"Despite this flurry of international recognition and tangible economic benefit, despite the hopes of many-including and especially the Vietnamese people-Vietnam has reverted back to its repressive practices and has arrested and imposed lengthy prison sentences on numerous individuals whose only crime has been to seek democratic reform and respect for human rights in their country," Smith said during House consideration of his resolution.

A News.Google search this morning only found a brief mention of the AP story in the International Herald Tribune, but nothing in U.S. newspapers. The editorially conservative Orange County Register does report that the advisory body established by Congress recommends that Vietnam be put back on the State Department’s list of countries of concern regarding religious repression. Again, other newspapers draw a blank.

Vietnam was removed from the State Department list in November, on the eve of a visit by President George W. Bush to Hanoi for an economic conference. Amid objections from the commission to that step, the State Department cited the release of prisoners and the reopening of churches.

Vietnam’s press reports that a delegation of some of the most powerful American corporation chiefs is on its way to Vietnam, to further investments, but not how to further human rights or decency.

Its members include representatives of Boeing, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, IBM, Time Warner, Abbott, Ford, and General Electric, among others.

The forum, themed “Vietnam – a bright future for US businesses” is being held by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry and the US-ASEAN Business Council….

They would also pay special attention to intellectual property in the country.

This survey of the investment potentials in Vietnam points out the attractiveness of Vietnam’s “high work ethic and half the average wage of China.” Western businesses are cheap labor exploiters, plain and simple. Vietnamese have had numerous strikes against laboring 10 to 12 hours per day, 6 or 7 days a week for less than $50 a month. See here, for example, “Things Not Jolie For Vietnamese.”

Steven Spielberg, there’s still time for you to serve, by filming the ongoing repression and exploitation of the Vietnamese.

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Rep. Susan Davis wants Post Office to provide
free mail for absentee ballots from home

WASHINGTON (Publicity Release)—Congresswoman Susan Davis (S0Sn Diego) introduced a bill today that would make absentee or mail-in voting free to voters.  The Free Absentee Act, part of a series of bills introduced by Davis to improve at-home voting, would provide pre-paid return envelopes for voters to return their absentee ballots by mail.

"We know that not everyone can make it to the polls on Election Day and we know that some voters prefer to vote from home because they have more time to review their options and do not want to wait in line," said Davis.  "They should be able to vote and put their ballots in any mailbox without worrying about finding the right amount of postage"

The bill would instruct the Post Office to provide no-postage-due envelopes for the return of mail-in ballots, which the federal government would reimburse. The cost would depend on the number of voters who took advantage of the new envelopes.  Because the ballots would be eligible for business reply rates, they would be far less costly than regular first class mail.

"If voters could vote by mail for any reason," said Davis, "without having to worry about postage... more voters would vote by mail, the strain at the polls would be less and I suspect voter turnout would increase dramatically."

Since January, Davis has introduced a package of related bills to improve voting by mail, including the Universal Right to Vote by Mail Act (HR 281) to allow voters to vote by mail for any reason.  She also recently introduced bills to allow voters to track their mail-ballots like they would an overnight package (HR 1646), and to provide states federal dollars to facilitate mail-in voting (HR 1667).

Davis, a former president of the San Diego League of Women Voters, is an active member of the House Administration Committee which oversees federal election issues.

The foregoing was provided by Congresswoman Susan Davis' office

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Sheriff Kolender attends ceremony to watch
Gov. Schwarzenegger sign prison reform bill

SACRAMENTO (Publicity Release)—San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender today witnessed California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sign Assembly Bill (AB) 900 ~ the Comprehensive Prison Reform Package.  AB 900 places a great emphasis on rehabilitation and recognizes the inter-relationship between state and local governments.

“I want to commend the Governor and the Legislature for the courage they displayed in crafting this landmark measure,” commented Sheriff Bill Kolender.  “It is essential we prepare inmates while they are incarcerated, so they may better succeed when released back into the community.”

Establishing re-entry facilities in selected counties will assist in providing vocational, medical, mental health, and community supervision services for those inmates due for release. 

Funding for local jails will afford counties a better opportunity to respond to the public needs of growing populations.  Jails are a vital element of the public safety infrastructure and this funding stream will assist local governments to meet these critical needs.

Sheriff Kolender explained, “AB 900 will also enhance the integrity of the criminal justice system.  Early releases erode public confidence in the system and sufficient jail and prison capacity will help to restore the public’s trust that if you do the crime, you will do the time.”

The foregoing was provided by Sheriff Bill Kolender’s office.

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Jews in the News          
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 News spotters: Dan Brin in Los Angeles, Donald H. Harrison in San Diego, and you. Wherever you are, send a summary and link to us at sdheritage@cox.net.  To see a source story click on the link within the respective paragraph.
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*U.S. Sen. Norman Coleman of Minnesota, a Republican who doesn't approve of the President's war plans, but doesn't like the Democratic pull-out legislation either, describes the atmosphere in Washington as "toxic" in the wake of the President's veto of congressional legislation on Iraq funding. A story by Naom H. Levey and Janet Hook is in today's Los Angeles Times.

*The use of force by Los Angeles police on journalists covering a demonstration at MacArthur Park has prompted Police Chief William J. Bratton to promise an investigation.  KPCC-FM News Director Paul Glickman suggests a police review of policies and procedures is in order to assure the safety of the media.  The story by Anna Gorman and Stuart Silverstein is in today's Los Angeles Times.

*Israel Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has told Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he should step down in the wake of the Winograd Commission findings on the 2nd Lebanon War.  Steven Erlanger of the New York Times News Service has the story in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

*Daniel Hirsch, president of the anti-nuclear group Committee to Bridge the Gap, said a court decision faulting the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to clean up Boeing's Rocketdyne field laboratory near Simi Valley, is a clear victory for environmentalists.  The story by Gregory W. Griggs is in today's Los Angeles Times.

*U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn) says the U.S. government needs to find ways to stop terrorists from recruiting and communicating by Internet. His Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has been holding hearings on the issue. David Lightman has the story in today's Hartford Courant.

*Dr. Carolyn Robinowitz, president-elect of the American Psychiatric Assn., has voiced approval of plans by the Food and Drug Administration to require labels on certain anti-depressants that tell not only the possible dangers but the possible benefits of taking the drugs.  Denise Gellene has the story in the Los Angeles Times.

*Amichai Shai, head of Israel's international crimes unit, said fugitive Knesset member Azmi Bishara is accused of advising his fellow Arabs across the Lebanese border, how to increase the harm to Israel in the 2nd Lebanon War.  The Associated Press story is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

 

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Write.. or you're wrong!

Please send your letters to sdheritage@cox.net, or to San Diego Jewish World, PO Box 19363, San Diego, CA, (USA) 92119. Please include the name of the city where you live.
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The Jewish Grapevine                                                    

*StandWithUs has issued what it describes as a point-by-point  refutation of anti-Israel commentary in former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.  Here is a link to the PDF document the pro-Israel group has created.

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Whimsy, art and pragmatism mark
Zeisel exhibit at the Mingei Museum

By Gail Feinstein Forman

When one walks into the Eva Zeisel exhibit now showing at the San Diego Mingei Museum through August 12, the intricate play of light on the walls and glass exhibit cases sets the tone for what’s to come—a visually stimulating exploration of the phenomenal output and genius of world renown Eva Zeisel, the Hungarian born Jewish industrial designer.

Now celebrating her 100th birthday and still going strong, Zeisel's exhibit at the Mingei exhibit offers the viewer a rare opportunity to see the historic development of her signature style of gently sloping natural forms as they are reflected in whimsical dinnerware patterns, eclectic furniture and other everyday domestic objects. The Mingei has enhanced this exhibition by also showing a documentary on Zeisel’s extraordinarily daring and resilient life, which included a sixteen-month imprisonment during the Stalinist purges, and a timely escape from the Nazis in Vienna. .

Eva Zeisel was born in 1906 Budapest to the well-to-do academically distinguished Striker family. Zeisel grew up in a secular Jewish family. Though her maternal grandfather was highly religious, his children did not follow in his path.  As was typical of many comfortable Eastern European Jews of the 1920’s, Zeisel’s parents felt a strong national identity as Hungarians first and as Jews, next.

Eva began her art training at the Budapest Academy of Arts, planning to be a painter. But while visiting Paris Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels in 1925, she became influenced by the architect Corbusier and abandoned the idea of painting. She apprenticed herself to a traditional potter. She soon graduated to journeyman status. With an unusual audacity for women at the time, Eva advertised in trade papers about her interest in seeking a position. Although she received several offers of positions nearby, she accepted the offer from a factory in Schaumberg, Germany, as it was “the farthest from home.” She wanted to travel, learn and experience more of life. She later took a job in Berlin, where she met her future husband, Hans Zeisel.

Eva loved being in the Berlin of the 1920’s and soaked in the radicalism of Berlin café life. Learning about the ideals of the new Russian society, she went to Russia to experience this newly emerging revolutionary society. She immediately got a job at the Lomonosov State Porcelain Factory and later became Art Director of the China and Glass Industry of the Russian republic in 1935.

Zeisel traveled throughout the Soviet Union to assist in modernizing the industry and to be able to create applicable design prototypes for Russian citizenry. She was widely respected for her work, but her life entered a dark turn when she became a victim of the Stalinist purges and was falsely accused of trying to assassinate Stalin.

She spent 16 months in prison, twelve of which were in solitary confinement. She describes the time in, prison as “without color” and with no time but the present moment. She prevented herself from even thinking about the future, since at any moment, she expected to be executed. Her time in prison was recounted in her friend Arthur Koestler’s novel, Darkness at Noon. She was released in 1937, but to this day, she is not sure was led to her release. She was put on a train to Vienna, where Hans Zeisel was waiting for her.

Fearing the worst for Jews, she and Hans escaped to England reportedly on the last train out of Vienna before Hitler marched into Austria. Eva and Hans married in England and then immigrated to New York in 1939.

Zeisel started teaching ceramic design at New York’s Pratt Institute and remained there through the 1950’s. She also taught at Rhode Island School of Design, and lectured at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. In 1947, she was commissioned by MOMA and the Castleton China Company to design their first modern US porcelain dinnerware. In addition, she created dinnerware patterns for Hall China, Red Wing Potteries and Sears and Roebuck, many examples of which can be seen at the Mingei’s exhibit.

The heart and soul of Zeisel’s work has been simply to make ordinary objects beautiful. She works in a simple everyday language that brings elegance and beauty to common objects. She describes this as ”a playful search for beauty” which is clearly evident in the Mingei exhibit. She designs in “families” of objects, with one piece fitting comfortably inside another, like the Russian Matruska dolls. Though she works with a modernist sensibility, she softens the often-modernist angularity with her gentle curves and swooping styles.

As you walk through the exhibit, you are struck by the familiarity of many of the pieces. You think that you’ve seen these things before, and you have. The curviness of the sculpted pieces mimic nesting birds, or a swan neck. Zeisel was the first industrial ceramist to produce and market all-white dinnerware. Many of the pieces have been popularized in modern dinnerware displays; for example, in a 2005 reissue of Zeisel’s “Classic Century “ dinnerware designs now offered by Crate and Barrel. And do you remember the cute little”schmoo” cartoons popularized by Herb Gardner in the 1950’s? Look for Zeisel’s own early edition- salt and peppershakers in the shape of two “schmooses," leaning their bended necks together for a “tete a tete.”

The exhibit is full of whimsical surprises. Be sure to find the unusual wall divider consisting of hourglass pieces with belly-button indentations all linked together. And take in the ecological recycling wood creation with a place for newspapers below and plastic bags above, just recently designed, (at age 98!), but not marketed yet.

The modest Zeisel says that her work is “less ego and more emotional connection.” Her pieces are designed to be used, not just exhibited. Reflecting on the devotion lavished upon her by her devoted fans, she says,” I love the people for whom I made it, and it comes across—they accept my love.”

I was similarly touched by this exhibit and Zeisel’s amazing life. And when I got home, wanting to stay abreast of her life and work, I added my name to the Eva Zeisel online forum.  After viewing this exhibit, you will, too.

The Mingei International Museum is located in Balboa Park at 1439 El Prado.  It is open from 10a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Its phone is (619) 239-0003

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Cynthia Citron's L.A. Beat

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LOS ANGELES—It’s an interesting phenomenon that so many actors follow their successful parents or siblings into the family business.  For example, the Redgrave dynasty, John and Joan Cusack, Luke and Owen Wilson, and of course, the ubiquitous Baldwin brothers.  When all the parties are good at their craft, the relationship adds a special dimension to their interactions.

It was a particular delight, therefore, to see the always excellent Barbara Bain and her exceptionally talented daughter, Juliet Landau, in a two-person play reading: the award-winning playwright Donald Margulies’ Collected Stories.  The two actresses appeared on a recent weekend at the Jewish Community Centers in Sherman Oaks and West Los Angeles under the auspices of producer/director Alexandra More’s Celebrity Staged Play Readings.

Even without scenery or costumes, and while holding the script in their hands, Bain and Landau brought the play to life and the audience to appreciative laughter.  Donald Margulies specializes in Jewish themes (Brooklyn Boy, God of Vengeance, and Dinner with Friends, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000, and his characters usually engage in the amusing, quirky mishigoss that Jewish playwrights love to embellish their plays with.

In this case, Margulies has taken a familiar theme: the All About Eve syndrome, and adapted it to a teacher of English and her young writer/protégé.  As the young, adoring protégé becomes more valuable as an assistant, she earns the love and respect of her mentor.  She also gains the opportunity to pick her teacher’s brain and learn some pretty interesting pointers on how to write successfully.  And no one is more supportive or elated than the teacher when her young student gets her first story published.

Of course, the worm turns, and in the end the student betrays the older woman by basing her first novel on a very personal love affair that the older woman had confided to her.  Moreover, she had written it as if it had happened to her, rather than to her mentor.

It’s a gripping story, and this mother-daughter team made the sparks fly, especially at the end, when the younger writer tries to justify her actions by claiming that they are a tribute to her friend and teacher, an homage rather than an act of sabotage.

Collected Stories is the next-to-the-last presentation in this year’s popular reading series.  On May 19th and 20th, Ed Asner will star in Herb Gardner’s The Goodbye People with Lauri Hendler and Bruce Nozick.  This comedy/drama deals with dreams, aging, and love—and opening a hot dog stand in Coney Island in the winter.  The performances will take place at the Friends of Valley Cities Jewish Community Center, 13164 Burbank Blvd. in Sherman Oaks at 7:30 p.m. May 19 and at the Westside Jewish Community Center, 5870 West Olympic Blvd. in Los Angeles at 2 p.m. May 20.

Either site is definitely worth a visit.

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