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FROM THE SIDELINES

Three retired generals vie for Israel Defense Ministry

By Rabbi Dow Marmur

JERUSALEM--At least three former Israeli Chiefs of Staff want to be Defense Minister in the Netanyahu government. Moshe “Boogie” Yaalon, dismissed by Arik Sharon for opposing the withdrawal from Gaza, is a new Likud Knesset member who, it’s reasonable to assume, hopes that the parties in the political center won’t join the coalition thus making it possible for him to get the job.
           
Kadima’s equivalent is former Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz who, we’re told, is the only dissenting voice in his party in its refusal to join the coalition. Had Kadima joined, he would get the job. No wonder, therefore, that he’s said to openly disagree with Tzipi Livni’s decision to stay out.
           
The current Minister of Defense is former Chief of Staff Ehud Barak, the leader of Labor, who’s said to go against the wishes of his party and, in the guise of exploratory talks with Netanyahu, is obviously angling for the job. And that despite the fact that, as the just published report of the State Comptroller states, he’s said to have colluded with the army bureaucracy in not providing adequate shelter for the population in the south, failed to equip the citizens of Israel with protection against chemical warfare, and not allocated resources for the army medical corps to take care of the wounded in battle.
          
Judging by the continued missile attacks by Hamas, the result of the Gaza war – under Barak’s watch – may not have been as spectacular as we were first given to believe, and as outgoing Prime Minister Olmert still maintains. Israel’s great hope and its most decorated soldier Ehud Barak may not now be as competent as originally assumed.
         
Both Mofaz and Barak would probably bolt their parties to get the job, but without bringing in the others they aren’t worth much to Netanyahu in his effort to widen the coalition. He doesn’t need another star general to sit at the cabinet table. He needs more Knesset members to vote with him when it matters.
          
We’re given to understand that Barak explains his flirtation with Netanyahu by arguing that if Kadima stays in opposition, it’ll dominate it, turning Labor into a cumbersome and irrelevant fifth wheel. That’s his version of if you can’t fight them, join them. Many, if not all, members of his Knesset faction are said to be fuming.
          
Is Kadima likely to reconsider and join the government? Despite the repeated calls for a two state solution by the long line of visiting foreign diplomats, particularly Hillary Clinton who’s in Israel today, there’s no sign that Netanyahu will unequivocally come out in favor, which would enable Livni to join him.      
           
Obviously that’s what the diplomats want, despite their protestations that they’ll work with whatever government Israel has. The thought of having Lieberman as Israel’s Foreign Minister and not Livni understandably scares them as it scares many of us, despite his repeated statements that he’s a persona grata in all the right circles.
           
Of course, in the unlikely event of Kadima joining the coalition, the chances of Barak staying Minister of Defense will greatly diminish, for his party will be less relevant as a partner. But then, in the absence of Kadima on the opposition benches, he’d become the leader of the opposition, which may assuage his ego, at least for a while.
           
Urgent issues like the economy, education, social welfare, perhaps even defense, seem to have been forgotten. All we hear about is the ambition of retired generals.

Marmur is rabbi emeritus at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. He divides his time between that city and Jerusalem, and may be reached in either place via marmurd@sandiegojewishworld.com.





CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL SAN DIEGO JEWISH CHAMBER







LETTER FROM JERUSALEM


'Change' a watchword for new U.S. and Israeli governments

By Ira Sharkansky

JERUSALEM--There are several crossroads in the near future. The United States and Israel have had their elections, and have chosen (still tentatively in the Israeli case) to depart from the paths of the previous leaders.

Consistent with his campaign theme of Change, the new American president has embarked on an effort to open a dialogue with Iran. An American friend called my attention to an op-ed piece in the New York Times that picks up on this part of the Obama message, and runs with it further and faster than the president.

Roger Cohen argues that Iran is not like Hitler's Germany, and should not be demonized. He asserts that he is not an innocent like those misled in the 1930s by Theresienstadt, the place in Czechoslovakia that the Nazis portrayed as a pleasant place of exile for Germany's Jews.

Varda, my wife, carries the Hebrew equivalent of her Grandmother Rosa’s name. Rosa was an alumna of Theresienstadt, who passed through on her way to a death camp further east.

Iran is not Nazi Germany. History never repeats itself. The details always differ. However, Cohen’s apologetica strikes me as naive. He does not deal with the "death to Israel" proclamations of the Iranian president. He makes a point that the president's opponent in an upcoming election once spoke in a synagogue. He does not mention that the opponent is just as much an advocate as the incumbent of Iran's nuclear options. Cohen claims that Persian Jews have fared better than the Jews of Arab lands. I am not sure that his comparison would hold up against the experience of Morocco and Tunis. It does not square with a conversation I recently had with a neighbor who identified himself as a native of Mashhad in Iran, born into the community that had lived secretly as Jews since given a choice in the 1830s of converting to Islam or dying. It also does not square with people who tell about leaving all their property behind when they left Iran with their families, supposedly on a visit to a country acceptable to the Iranians, that was a really a way stop on their way to Israel. Until the late 1930s, the Nazis encouraged the Jews to leave, and allowed them to take some of their resources.

Cohen also is looking through rose colored glasses at the Lebanese and Palestinians who specialize in aiming their rockets at Israeli civilians:

Hamas and Hezbollah have evolved into broad political movements widely seen as resisting an Israel over-ready to use crushing force. It is essential to think again about them, just as it is essential to toss out Iran caricatures.

Israel's election presents another crossroad. There is not yet a governing coalition, but the prospective prime minister is talking differently than his predecessor, and differently than the past or present American administrations. Netanyahu is reluctant to accept the mantra of a Palestinian state. He is saying that the Palestinians must learn to govern themselves before they are ready for a state. This is against the background of the schism between the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza, and the failure of West Bank leaders to show that they can turn foreign assistance into public services rather than personal wealth for the well connected.

Netanyahu addressed himself to the issue of Iran during the campaign. He said that it would not be allowed to attain nuclear weapons. He did not say who would stop it, or how.

We have to navigate these various crossroads as individuals, as well as watching what political leaders do, and feeling the effects as citizens.

Just yesterday, an Arab friend asked me, in Hebrew, as we were dressing in the locker room of the university gym, "Will there be peace between Israelis and Palestinians?"

I responded that I was hopeful, but doubtful. I asked if there would be peace between Fatah and Hamas. He did not answer.

At these various crossroads, we have to cope with uncertainties that touch upon political tensions between governments, the prospects or demise of national aspirations, and the possibility of nuclear war. Friendship demands that we do not press one another to answer unpleasant questions.

Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University. He may be contacted at msira@mscc.huji.ac.il





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A HERALD IN ZION


Some are intolerant of Jerusalem Museum of Tolerance


By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

MEVASSERET ZION, Israel—The projected Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem has been the subject of criticism from various quarters. Having been involved in translating much of the material associated with the subsequent court proceedings, I feel that this is a subject with which I am well acquainted.

The purpose of the projected Museum of Tolerance, initiated and funded by the Simon Weisenthal Foundation when the late Teddy Kollek was still mayor of Jerusalem, is to constitute an “interactive social centre which will use innovative technology, amongst other things, to foster social interaction between all segments of the population, the object being to promote mutual understanding and respect for the values of others.”  Renowned architect Frank Gehry was asked to design the building and, after visiting Israel several times and examining various sites, he chose a public site at the centre of Jerusalem. This site, on which a car-park was situated, was approved by the Jerusalem municipality, which sought to revive the run-down downtown area which had suffered as a result of terrorist attacks.

When the plans were first submitted, over ten years ago, no objections were lodged with the municipality. The idea of building in the Mamilla district, in part of which a disused Muslim cemetery was situated, was not considered exceptional. In fact, in the late 1920s, during the period of the British Mandate in what was then known as Palestine, the entire area was intended by the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini to be the site of the projected Muslim University. The first building to be constructed there, which later came to be known as the Palace Hotel, was completed in 1929 and was initially owned by Arabs. When human remains were found there in the course of the construction work, the builders consulted the Mufti and other Islamic clerics. In line with similar rulings elsewhere in the Arab world, they opined that the work could continue once the human remains had been reinterred elsewhere, and provided they were treated with due respect.

The principal instigator of the recent legal proceedings brought to prevent the erection of the Museum of Tolerance is Sheikh Ra’ad Salah, leader of the extremist Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement and a leading opponent of Israel’s right to exist. In the past he has spent time in jail for his role in instigating violent opposition to Israeli rule. In 2006, under the aegis of the Al-Aksa Association, one of the radical organizations he heads, an injunction was brought against the Jerusalem municipality to prevent the construction of the Museum of Tolerance. Since then the issue has gone through Israel’s various courts, and not long ago a landmark decision to allow the project to go ahead was handed down by Israel’s Supreme Court.

The area on which the State of Israel is situated has been the site of established civilization for several thousands of years. During that period, countless individuals of all faiths have died and been buried. It is hardly possible to find a single square metre of ground which does not yield archaeological finds or human remains of one kind or another. If one were so inclined, that could be used to prevent construction, modernization and progress of any kind. It is patently obvious that the arguments put forward by those who oppose the construction of the Museum of Tolerance are specious, politically-motivated and self-serving. It is Israel’s right, provided it shows due respect for whatever human remains may be found, to proceed with a project which will serve to stimulate growth and foster interfaith relations.

Shefer-Vanson, a freelance writer and translator based in Mevasseret Zion, may be contacted at dorothea@shefer.comThis article initially appeared in the AJR Journal, published by the Association of Jewish Refugees in the United Kingdom.

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Courage to Care Exhibition promotes understanding

By Garry Fabian

MELBOURNE—The Courage to Care project, run by B'nai B'rith commenced in 1992, and regularly mounts exhibitions and seminars both in Victoria and  News South Wales, both for secondary school students and the public. Initially designed to tell the story of those righteous gentiles, who at the risk of their own lives saved Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe, it has developed into an educational program to teach about tolerance and the evils of prejudice. Its principal label One person can make the difference if they have Courage to Care conveys the message.

Last week, the latest exhibition was staged at a Catholic College in a country centre some 40 kms outside Melbourne.  The opening address given by Paul Desmond, the principal of St. Francis Xavier
College, below, touches on many aspects of the program and the message it is designed to convey.

"What a wonderful privilege it is for us at St Francis Xavier College to welcome you here to the official opening of this outstanding exhibition.  An exhibition which promotes itself as a tribute to extra-ordinary ordinary men and women who risked their lives to save others.  We are taught that there is no greater tribute one human being can pay another than to risk his or her life for others.  So for that reason alone, this is a most worthy exhibition.  But there are many other factors which make Courage to Care a memorable learning experience for us all.

"All too often we hear so called experts raise the question as to whether or not atrocities did actually occur.  Even within our own Church
recently, one high ranking Archbishop suggested the Holocaust may have been overstated.  In a world which sorely needs reconciliation and the hope of a better future, such inaccurate interpretation of historical events are at best, unhelpful.

"The cornerstone of Courage to Care is tolerance.  I would point out that the cornerstone of our own Catholic faith places enormous emphasis upon tolerance.  I would also point out that all Christian faith traditions, as well as the Jewish faith, the Islamic faith, Buddhism, Hinduism, all the major religions of the world, emphasise tolerance as a key factor in a humane society.

"In a society such as ours, even our local community here at St Francis Xavier College, we must foster tolerance if we are to survive.  We
cannot be our best without tolerance.  Australian society is now so diverse at every level that intolerance and discrimination threaten to bring us down.  Intolerance, whether it be racial, religious or economic will tear at the very fabric which holds our society together.  Two
years ago in Sydney we witnessed how fragile our societal unity and harmony can be.  Hot-headedness, racial hatred, youthful
idealism gone wrong, nationalism, religious and cultural bigotry- call it what you will, the Cronulla riots showed us all that our strength
exists in our unity and our unity is healthy only when nurtured by tolerance.

"I commend to you, and to all, the exhibition Courage to Care.  It speaks loudly of those values to which our College aspires:
·        Bravery in the face of injustice;
·        Righteousness in the face of that which is overtly wrong;
·        The importance of learning from our past;
·        The importance of never forgetting the lessons from our past;

Communal survey great success

MELBOURNE- A Jewish community survey that began last year is about to close, with survey organisers asking last-minute respondents to return their forms promptly. Organised by Monash University's Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, the survey is the biggest ever conducted in the Australian and New Zealand Jewish communities.

Attracting funding from key philanthropists, the survey took three years to prepare before forms were circulated to the community in September last year.

Professor Andrew Markus, from Monash University, said the deadline to complete the questions has been extended to cover orientation weeks at Australian universities. Out of a mail-out of 15,000 forms, the survey has so far received more than 4300 responses throughout Australia and New Zealand. An earlier Melbourne study in 1991 drew just 640 respondents.

"That was a scientific sample, whereas this was an open invitation. But nonetheless, what we can do with this is look at the results and weight
them against the Census findings so we have a representative sample," Prof Markus said.

With such a large sample size, the survey can indicate trends within subgroups, such as Russian-born groups, the elderly and university
students, as well as across the Jewish community as a whole.

A team of analysts headed by Prof Markus and research assistant Tanya Aranov includes demographers Gary Eckstein in Sydney and Dr John Goldlust in Melbourne. Analysts from New Zealand will also work on analysing data from the responses.

"The aim is to get a large team involved in the analysis," Prof Markus said. "We're getting such a depth of information, that there will be all sorts of spin-off projects that will want to utilise this data."

Prof Markus said headline findings will be released in August, with further research scheduled for later.

A decade on, Danby still waiting for front bench seat

MELBOURNE-- MP Michael Danby of Melbourne Ports has not given up hopes for a front bench seat.

Speaking on the occasion of his 10-year anniversary in federal Parliament, Danby said he continues to aspire towards a ministerial
portfolio, and hopes that his hard work behind the scenes will be rewarded. "I still haven't given up on advancing more
substantially through the hierarchy," he said.

The Jewish MP said that attaining a coveted ministerial position is a combination of fortune and talent.

"There are a whole lot of things [that can result in political advancement], some of which are luck, some are events," he said. "The other thing is just to continue being hardworking, articulate, policy-oriented and not falling into the trap of letting yourself be pigeonholed or stereotyped by critics."

He also spoke of his ongoing battle, not with the Liberal Party, but with The Age newspaper, which, he claimed, has not allowed him to air his views on its pages.

"I just want to ask Jewish News readers one question. Why do they think Michael Danby -- one of the leading republicans, one of the leading
advocates of electoral reform, both non-Jewish issues -- has never had an article in The Age since he was elected? I say it is because editors
there are unsympathetic to my views on the Middle East."

After being elected late in 1998, Danby was the only Jewish federal parliamentarian for nine years. In 2007 Mark Dreyfus, a man Danby speaks highly of, joined him on the Government benches.

For the past 10 years, Danby has become well-known in the corridors of Parliament as a hard worker, particularly through his roles on
committees dealing with migration, foreign affairs and electoral matters.


Bureau chief Fabian may be contacted at fabiang@sandiegojewishworld.com

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Light Unto the Nations Presentation at Soille Hebrew Day

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — An opportunity for the Jewish people to be a “light unto the nations,” took place on Monday, February 23 as the 7th and 8th grade students at Hebrew Day welcomed 100 guests from High Tech High public school to listen to a special program about the Holocaust.  Students were welcomed by Rabbi Weiser, given a brief history of the Holocaust by Rabbi Hollander, and heard an eye witness testimony from Holocaust survivor, Fanny Krasner (grandmother of Daniel and Ari Krasner) who told of numerous “near death miracles.”  Wet eyes in the audience confirmed the impact the presentation had on the students.

Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School serves children from infants through eighth grade and offers generous financial aid grants to families to make a Jewish day school education affordable to all.  For more information on the school, visit the web site at http://www.hebrewday.org/ or contact Audrey Jacobs, Director of School Advancement at 858-279-3300 ext. 106 or ajacobs@hebrewday.org

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LEARNING ABOUT ANIMALS—Sky Masori, 1, is read from a pop-up book (see the butterfly?) by his grandmother Nancy
Harrison. At right, his brother, Shor Masori, 7, plays at home with his puppy Buddy.


THE JEWISH CITIZEN


The animal kingdom and the 'grandchildrendom'

By Donald H. Harrison


SAN DIEGO—My grandson Sky, who is nearly 2,  loves animals and whenever he visits grandma and grandpa, he likes one of us to read to him “pop up” books featuring jungle critters, or the children’s classic, Brown Bear, or almost any story in which there are animals for him to point to, and identify by name.   He doesn’t speak many full sentences yet, but he has a vocabulary that could catalogue a menagerie.

Sky enjoys going out in our back yard to see if he can meet any of its habitués, which include gophers, lizards and birds of various descriptions.  He likes to feed to the birds bread crumbs made from the crusts that his brother Shor, nearly 8, asks us to pare from his bread slices.  Sky also likes to stand very still at the window of our breakfast nook, waiting for a gopher to pop up his head—just like the animals in his books do.  

Some people wonder why we don’t set traps or poison for the gophers, but I figure they're as entitled to the Earth as we are, and the least we can do is share  with them the little bit of ground that we own.  Besides, they are the source of wonderment for Sky.  I am hoping that a rabbit that used to visit in months gone by will someday return. 

I am more grudging about sharing  the inside of my home with animals.  Shor and Sky have a midnight black pet puppy—“Buddy”—who will contribute endless hours of delight to their childhoods.  Nancy  and I see this pint-sized combination of a poodle and a chihuahua whenever we visit Shor and Sky and their parents,  Sandi and Shahar Masori, at their home.

However, while Buddy  continues to work on  becoming “house broken,” adorable as he might be, the puppy is banned from the inside of our house.  Buddy is welcome to play outside with the birds, the gophers and the lizards, assuming  that his puppyish excitability and volubility don’t drive them all into hiding.

Sky goes to preschool at Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School and there the teachers often read animal books to his class.  I imagine that like his brother, who is now a second grader at the same school, Sky’s favorite Torah portion will be that of Noach, whose possible adventures  with animals aboard the great Ark offer boundless opportunities for a child to give full vent to his imagination.

Coming up behind Sky in grandchildrendom is Brian, now two months old, the son of David and Hui-Wen Harrison. Brian doesn't know much yet about animals, but his parents expose him to flash cards with shapes and colors, and perhaps, an animal or two.

For the moment, Sky seems to get as much pleasure from our back yard as I get from the three wonderful preserves that are not far from my back yard.  I look forward to the day that I can take Sky on nature walks because his interest in the outdoors seemingly is as great as his brother’s fascination with Star Trek, the show on a disc set that Shor and I have “special time” watching together.

Our back yard looks out on the Mission Trails Regional Park and I have learned almost all of its flat trails, some of which are embellished with remnants or re-creations from the lives of the Kumeyaay Indians, who followed the course of the San Diego River long before such upstart explorers as Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo or Sebastian Vizcaino ever saw the shores of San Diego Bay.  At a well-marked place along the San Diego River, one can find “grinding rocks” – small bowl-like depressions in the granite rocks—where  Kumeyaay families pounded acorns into a fine powder, and  then, after using boiling water to leach bitter substances from the mixture,  made an acorn mush, similar in texture to oatmeal. 

There is a re-creation along one trails of an ewa, the small reed-thatched huts that the Kumeyaay put up as temporary quarters while following the river’s course from the mountains to the sea and back depending on the season.  And at the visitor’s center, one can find a re-creation of a Kumeyaay sun dial.

LOCAL FAUNA—A rattlesnake and a rabbit are common sights at Mission Trails Regional Park in the "Grasslands Area" near
Mast Avenue. Geese on the path and a hawk in the sky kept a walk at Lake Murray interesting.

As interesting as these artifacts are, like Sky I find myself more thrilled by the animals I encounter along the path.  Yesterday morning, while walking with friends Dan Schaffer and Shimon Camiel, on a grasslands trail in the regional park, we came across a rattlesnake, which was kind enough to warn us not to come too close.  We also saw a couple of rabbits, and at the old Padre Dam—the first dam ever to be constructed on the West Coast of the continental United States—we saw a few ducks.

The fowl are in much greater supply at Lake Murray, a freshwater reservoir maintained by the City of San Diego.  The lake is a component of Mission Trails Regional Park, and along its paths, my neighbor Bob Lauritzen and I found on Monday not only rabbits, but also squirrels and some pretty possessive geese who defied any human or dog-on-leash to dare come near them.  There are various kinds of water fowl at Lake Murray to keep the walk around its perimeter ever interesting; swans and ducks peacefully share the lake with some interloping seagulls, which one normally associates with salt water. The lake is continually scrutinized from the sky by hawks.


WATER FOWL—There is plenty for birdwatchers to see during a walk around the artificial Santee Lakes

As interesting as Lake Murray is, it does not compare to the nearby Santee Lakes in its varieities of water fowl. The lakes were created by the Padre Dam Municipal Water District more than 50 years ago in a pioneering experiment to use recycled water for recreational purposes.   Besides the varieties one regularly encounters at Lake Murray, here an abundance of egrets, herons and pelicans  make the Santee Lakes a photographer’s paradise.

Although more than 60 years of life divide us, perhaps little Sky and I are alike in this way: we both appreciate seeing animals.   I may be able to name more of them than he can, for now, but he will catch up fast.  Someday,who knows, he might  be teaching me not just their common names, but their scientific ones too.

Harrison may be contacted at editor@sandiegojewishworld.com

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Barry Manilow sings "Copacabana"




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Nikki Yanofsky sings "It Don't Mean A Thing"

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Adventures in San Diego Jewish History

Editor's Note: Read in this continuing column how the generations who came before us helped to build San Diego's Jewish community! You may access an index of San Diego Jewish history articles by clicking here. You may also use the Google search program at the top of this page or on the headline index page to search for keywords or names.


The Christian Nationalist Party, headed by Gerald K. Smith, Has
Begun Its Campaign of Hate in the Los Angeles-San Diego Area
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 17, 1952, page 9

Meeting in San Diego on Sept. 29 in Vasa Hall on El Cajon Blvd., the meeting was opened by the notorious Wesley Swift who informed the small gathering how they can vote for General McArthur and Senator Tenney.  Senator Tenney attended the meeting accompanied by Bert Comparet, a local attorney.

Tenney endorsed Gerald K. Smith and denounced the ADL of the B’nai B’rith who, he stated, had been persecuting him.  He also stated “not one white Gentile American has been shown up as a traitor.”  He also made the statement that there would be a deadlock between the two major parties and that the election would be thrown into the House of Representatives.  “This will be the opportunity for the House of Representatives to elect Douglas MacArthur president.”

Many vicious pamphlets were distributed stating that their group was being opposed by Jews and Communists “who don’t want to see MacArthur elected.” This group holds regular Thursday night meetings at Franklin Hall at University and Kansas Sts.


National Office Accepts “San Diego Plan”
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 17, 1952, page 1

The President of the United Jewish Fund has been advised by the Bonds of the Israel Government of the acceptance of the San Diego Bond plan according to M. D. Goodrich.

In a letter from Leo Bernstein, Director of Field Operations for Bond Sales, the Fund was notified of the complete acceptance of the plan which combines the Welfare Fund Drive and the sale of Bonds.  The plan calls for the immediate purchase of $125,000 worth of 12 years 3½ percent coupon Bonds of the Israel Government in the name of the United Jewish Fund of San Diego to be held in trust for the local community, and when paid to be turned over to the Federation for use in local building projects; control of the Bond sales in San Diego by the local community, and its central community organizations; the sale of Bonds through the United Jewish Fund; and the setting up of a committee in San Diego to be responsible for the sale of Bonds through the United Jewish Fund; and the setting up of a committee in San Diego to be responsible for the sale of Israel Government Bonds.

San Diego is the first community in the United States in which complete coordination of Bonds and free money has been achieved.  Through the San Diego plan and a previous plan of the United Jewish Fund, devised during Vice-President (Alben) Barkley’s visit to this community, San Diego Jewry has made an outstanding record by purchasing over $300,000 worth of Bonds of Israel government in cash in a period of less than a year and a half.

Dr. A.P. Nasatir, who has been appointed chairman of the San Diego Bond Committee, stated that Bonds will be able to be purchased by individuals through the United Jewish Fund Office as soon as the organization for the sale is completed.

Cash Drive Made By Fund
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 17, 1952, pages 1, 4

Shelly Winters, one of Hollywood’s first magnitude stars, will join with Alisa Klausner Eskol, “Israel’s most captivating Good Will Ambassador” in opening the United Jewish Fund Campaign to convert pledges into cash, according to Harry Mallen, Collection Chairman.
The meeting, at which Miss Winter’s latest film “Doing the Impossible,” which she wrote and enacted herself while in Israel will be shown, will be held at Beth Israel Temple on Tuesday, October 21st at 8:00 p.m.

Guest of the evening and principle speaker will be Miss Eskol, one of Israel’s foremost lecturers and writers, who fought in Israel’s struggle for freedom.  She has served as a member of the Speakers Research Committee of the United Nations, and has an important message on Israel’s problems and hopes for the future.

Purpose of the meeting according to Mr. Mallen is to stimulate payment of pledges to the United Jewish Appeal  for work in Israel.  This is part of an intensive campaign throughout the United “States to raise $35,000,000 in cash on pledges already made for overseas and Israel work.

Chairman Mallen stated that there will be absolutely no solicitation made at the meeting.  Plans are under way for a “follow-up –collection” campaign during the days following the meeting.

“Adventures in Jewish History” is sponsored by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg. Our indexed "Adventures in San Diego Jewish History" series will be a daily feature until we run out of history.


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