Louis Rose Society Newsletter #1 March 30, 2007 |
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A Sad Farewell to the |
The San Diego Jewish Times has sent out letters to its columnists that as of the Passover edition which recently came out, that newspaper is ceasing publication. From personal experience of being forced by financial considerations to close down the San Diego Jewish Press- Heritage, I know what a sad time this is for Jewish Times publisher Mike Schwarz, editor Mike Sirota, production manager Leslie Pebley and all the other people associated with that newspaper. In a very real sense, condolences to them are appropriate because the death of a publication is like the death of a human being. It will leave a very big hole in our community. Now, the San Diego Jewish Journal is the only English-language Jewish news organ in San Diego. As you know that publication is a monthly. It bears a grave responsibility to our community.
If enough of you are interested in writing and receiving local e-news that would be sent in messages such as this one no more than once a day, but possibly as infrequently as once a week, I will be happy to oversee such a newsletter. But I will not assume any of you want to receive such e-mails; I will send it out only to people who tell me by return email at sdheritage@cox.net, that you want to receive the newsletter and that you will set your email preferences accordingly so that the newsletter does not get trapped in your "junk mail" file. This newsletter will only be sent to members of the Louis Rose Society. If others want to receive it, please suggest that they send a check for $36 to the Jewish Community Foundation/ Louis Rose Fund at 4950 Murphy Canyon Road, San Diego, CA 92123. In the meantime, here are two stories that
would have run in the next edition of the San Diego Jewish Times
dealing with the celebration of Louis Rose's 200th birthday at Old Town
San Diego State Historic Park on March 23. I am also attaching a
photograph of the celebration showing Yale Strom and his band Hot
Pstromi peforming. I think of Yale's band as the embodiment of an
interesting mathematical concept. How do you divide Pi in half. As you
can see, in Pstromi, he does it with his last name. Louis Rose 200th birthday celebration Changing weather in Kfar Saba Yale Strom serves up meaty concert Africa has problems; Mideast the oil Profile of Eric Frydler Jewish license plates ________________________________________________________________________ Personal, communal events stir thoughts of obligation to history By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO, CA—From both the personal and communal standpoints, the month
of March was a time for thinking intensely about history, genealogies,
and leaving our records behind. For me, a pair of family events
bracketed two communal events. On Sunday, March 11, my second grandson,
Sky Masori, was born at Kaiser Permanente Hospital and on Sunday, March
18, he had his brit milah at the Soille San Diego Hebrew Day
School, in front of the locker that his brother, Shor, uses as a
kindergartner there. Rabbi Moishe Leider of Chabad of University City
served as the mohel, while the officiant was the Soille headmaster,
Rabbi Simcha Weiser. Sky was held on a pillow during the brit milah
by his uncle David, whose birthday is March 27. Although there are
nearly 32 years separating them in age, David’s and Sky’s two birthdays
will be so linked as the March birthdays of our family.
· * All these events made me realize that I need to consider the questions that future generations will have about us. I have a trunk full of unlabeled photographs, a computer full of unidentified digital images; and countless old papers and ephemera that might someday help historians understand the times in which I have lived since 1945. For these materials to serve any such purpose, however, I need to address myself to identifying them, and then to arranging for their donation to an appropriate collection.
True, my life in itself has not been so significant that all my effects
are worth preserving in a museum or archive somewhere, but various parts
of my life were shaped by larger societal forces that historians may
wish to study. Judaism is the most obvious example: as an active member
of the Jewish community, not only have I written numerous articles and
columns on Jewish subjects but I also have picked up here and there
various bits and pieces that belong to the historical record. Some
examples might be a printed invitation to someone’s simcha, a
program to a community event, or photographs of my fellow Jews at our
gatherings. in front of the Robinson-Rose House at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. (Nancy Harrison photo) Hot Pstromi: A band providing meaty music By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO, CA —Yale Strom and his band Hot Pstromi added an exciting musical dimension to the celebration of Louis Rose’s 200th birthday in the Old Town Plaza. The band opened with Lustig Zayn, a catchy klezmer tune from the 19th century that generated a rhythmic response from the entire audience. A young African-American woman, standing at the periphery of the sea of seated fourth graders,began swaying, then, with raised arms and a big smile, spontaneously choreographed a sequence of steps and spins to the infectious music. The ensemble concluded with Mir Zaynen alle Brider. Everyone, young and old, participated in the oy, oy, oy chorus. In between, Strom and his ensemble gave a musical biography of Rose’s life. A tune from the Stoliner Chassidim had relevance because the founder’s son moved to Frankfurt, Germany, carrying on the Stoliner tradition not far from Rose’s birthplace. A German-Jewish wedding waltz, Mey’en Nigun, was probably familiar to Rose. Di Grine Kuzine represented Rose’s immigration to the United States. It was carefully translated and beautifully sung by Yale’s mellow-voiced wife, Elizabeth Schwartz. Hearing her sing Yiddish is a special treat.
Also included for their historical connections were renditions of
When the Saints Come Marching In, representing Rose’s time in New
Orleans, and John Kanaka, a 19th century song of the Polynesian
longshoremen who once worked in San Diego.
Hot Pstromi consists of Yale Strom, fiddle, Tripp Sprague, saxophone,
George Svoboda, guitar, Jeff Pekarek, bass and Elizabeth Schwartz,
vocals. As scholar-in-residence in the Jewish Studies Department
of San Diego State University, Strom continues to enrich the community
with outreach programs such as this. By Muriel Goldhammer Kfar Saba, Israel--It's raining mud today. All over the world the spring equinox is a time of troubled weather -- one day it's like summer, and the next like winter. Here in Israel we're caught in the crosswinds of Europe, Siberia, Arabia and Africa. Almost always around Passover, the prevailing winds will blow a sandstorm from Egypt, and everyone will close their windows, opened just two days ago to welcome the spring air, in order not to have to vacuum and dust again after a fine dust settles everywhere. But this storm slipped across the borders silently. Two days ago the sky was blue, but yesterday it was a dark gray caused by sand from the Sahara that completely shut out the sun. The air was heavy and warm and chilly, all at the same time. The weatherman promised us rain, which arrived last night. My daughter Cindy predicted that it would rain mud. This morning, as I walked my puppy, I could see the Sahara dirt splashed on all the automobiles parked on the street. Mud indeed. I've been taking a class in Bible history from Rabbi Yosef Leibowitz, formerly of New York and Berkeley. Currently we are studying the prophet Isaiah. Typical of his teaching, we move from Isaiah to Mt. Sinai and the golden calf, and back to Egypt and return to Isaiah and the politics of the Middle East in which the kingdoms of Israel and Judah are caught in the crossfire between the big empires or wannabe empires of Persia, Assyria, Egypt, Greece and Rome. And later, the economic interests of a Europe hungry for the products of the Far East that came by caravan over the Silk Road, and later yet for the oil riches of the region. Israel today is still at the crossroads. I started counting the nations that border us - our small sliver of land on the Eastern Mediterranean. To the North is Lebanon and Syria; to the East, Jordan; to the South Saudi Arabia and Egypt. And this is not counting the Western nations that have an interest in the region, and the Palestinian Arabs who want a state of their own. Even the birds see our tiny country as a strategic asset - a resting place as they fly from Europe to Africa to escape the frost of the North and back again to Europe to enjoy a more moderate summer. We count many species as temporary and beloved visitors, though they are a hazard for airplanes and a nuisance to farmers competing with the birds for both grains and fish. Each year new strategies are developed to assure a warm welcome for the birds and protection for our fields and fishponds. The rain will wash away the dust. The sun will come out tomorrow. And if the weatherman permits, we will have beautiful weather again for Passover, Hag Pesach Sameah! Africa deserves world's attention, but the Middle East is where the oil is By Ira Sharkansky Jerusalem—The Middle East is one of the two most unsettling regions. The other is Africa. But who among those who really count care about Africa? It is worth an occasional pathetic picture on the news and the report of another human disaster, but little more than a charitable campaign, a song, and a few platitudes about not doing enough. The Middle East is the heartland of Islam, oil and gas. All those get more than some clucking of our collective tongues. While some of us do what we can to shore up our defenses, others do what they can to placate the faithful. The problems worth bothering with spill over national boundaries, or even the region, in ways that should worry lots of us. Prominent are the Sunni- Shiia splits in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, and a few other places; the Kurdish issue that may begin in Iraq but hovers over Turkey and elsewhere; the ethnic and tribal conflicts in Afghanistan that provide the basis for Al Quaida and all that means; the Arab-Muslim rampages against Africans, Christians, and Pagans in Sudan; secular-Islamic conflicts where they are especially tense as in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine, and Lebanon; and unabsorbed Palestinians in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and some other places. Do not forget Israel. Its existence serves those who wish to distract restive hoards from local abominations. There are also several million unabsorbed migrants in Western Europe, including those who are talking about the reconquest of Andalusia. Will they keep the tourist signs in the Juderia of Cordoba? What about the moderate Arab states? One Jewish friend traveled to Saudi Arabia as part of a professional mission. She had a thrilling experience. When asked if she was candid about her background on the visa application, she responded:
I understand my friend. "Thou shall not bear false witness" cannot be an absolute when Jews want to travel in the Middle East. However, we should not overlook this and similar incidents. One of the best friends of the West insists on being be Judenrein, except for Henry Kissinger and a few important others. The last time I looked, there was a Jordanian law indicating a death penalty for anyone selling property to one of us. The Middle East is not all bad. Spring is well along. There is a flowery hillside a few steps from my front door. From my balcony I see sheep and goats munching on grass that looks luscious after the winter rains. May you all have a Passover that is appropriate to your tastes. For those with literate computers, I wish you
חג שמח
Eric Frydler: Talent through the roof By Jerry Levens CORONADO, CA—We went to the Coronado Playhouse, Friday evening, February 9. My wife Rachel and I were invited by Eric Frydler to see a play adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula written by John Mattera. This particular version was presented as a musical play with an original score composed by Frydler. I have known Eric since we worked together in the publishing industry during the mid-late ‘90’s. His creative abilities were quite evident at that time and have now grown considerably and diversified into many areas. His first love is composing music for the theatre. However, if the need should arise, Frydler's background will allow him to step in as playwright, lyricist and even producer. He also maintains a day job, as we say in the world of theatre, as Advanced Concepts Inventor for both Hasbro and Mattel Toy Corporations. He also creates product line concepts for several other companies. Given the above list of talents, I presently enjoy referring to Eric as the emerging Jewish Renaissance man of the Southern California art scene.
Frydler grew up in New York City-Queens. Both of his parents emigrated from Europe after WW II. His mother came from Warsaw, Poland and was rescued from the camps, literally at the last minute, by Eric’s father. This, however, is another story worth telling in its own right. His interest in music started at a young age and he was invited to attend graduate classes in music at both Stony Brook and The Juilliard School while still in his early teens. Later, his reaching out for new and innovative forms of expression landed him in The Performing Gallery, an off-Broadway theater group where his experimental plays, especially in the Sci-Fi genre, preceded later trends in Hollywood. But, alas, the Broadway Angles were reticent to subsidize such avante-guard theatre projects and he had to turn to Madison Avenue. After several successful years, writing for such advertising agencies as J. Walter Thompson, Frydler decided to move to Los Angles where he was hired by Mattel Toys. Again, Eric’s creativity flourished and led to development of some of Mattel’s biggest hits including: “He-Man”, “She-Ra” and “Popples”.
Since the primary purpose of this article is to introduce Eric Frydler to our readers, I would be remiss if I did not comment on his latest achievement: the original musical score for John Mattera’s delightfully humorous adaptation of Dracula. For me it was one of the highlights of the evening. From the very first parting of the curtains in scene one, to their final closing, his music set the appropriate mood. The sounds he created where crafted well; starting with a sense of tremulous apprehension and building to more forceful crescendos . At times they were menacing, at other times they opened our senses to better relate to the action on stage. As a composer, I feel that Frydler displays both an intuitive, as well as structural, understanding of the musical language necessary for effective dramatic theatre.
We were assured beforehand that we would experience much more laughter than fear, and so it was. Under Gary Byrd’s able direction, the two and one-half hour performance moved along smoothly. The first act I felt was somewhat slow in parts. Jeffrey James Lippold as Count Dracula, delivered the required evil demeanor. I thought he could have held back little on the volume and intensity of certain lines thus allowing him to build up to a more forceful and threatening display of violence as the play progressed.
The story of Dracula is fairly well known
gothic fantasy meant to bring up our repressed fears and erotic
feelings. The play’s author, John Mattera, is a member of The Dramatist
Guild and Horror Writers of America. By combining this tail of horror,
with a strong dose comic relief, delivered so very well by the
multitalented Ivan Harrison as Charles and Charley Miller as the
mentally deranged Renfield, Mattera brought the whole fantasy together
in a much more enjoyable format. It was a good evening of fun and
laughter, which we all need more of today.
Melanie Rubin
photographed two more license plates for her Jewish culture on the road
collection:
Hag Sameach,
Don Harrison
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