Today's Postings

Donald H. Harrison in San Diego: "Mision Trails reverie: Moses, Kumeyaay Indians, U.S. history."

Joe Naiman in Lakeside, California: "Youkilis played part in Red Sox ALDS sweep over L.A. Angels"

Sheila Orysiek in San Diego: "California Ballet dances Giselle"

Dorothea Shefer-Vanson in Mevasseret Zion, Israel: "Life is returning to normal in Israel as it is finally 'after the holidays.'


                              The week in Review
                            (click on dates to see back issues)

A Herald in Zion Notes from Mevasseret Zion                       Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

Life returning to normal in Israel as it is finally 'after the holidays'

MEVASSERET ZION, Israel—‘After the holidays’ is a key concept in Israeli life and culture. It is the stock answer to such questions as ‘When will the car be mended?’ ‘When will the plumber come?’ ‘When can I see the doctor/ dentist/ hairdresser?’ etc.

In Israel religious festivals are marked on a national level, schools and offices close, and everyone slopes off to the beach or synagogue, according to their inclination. Some years, because of the strange concatenation of the solar and lunar calendars, the Jewish holidays (lunar) fall solely on weekdays (solar) for a month. This means that during that period Israelis pass routinely from weekend to holiday to weekend to holiday, with scarcely a single working (or shopping) day in between. In the entire month of October there might be just eight full working days.

Schoolchildren rejoice, and probably so do their teachers. Their parents, however, are less happy. Anyone working in a tenured position also benefits, as all those days off are both compulsory and paid. Good Jewish housewives slave incessantly in steamy kitchens while their husbands pray for the good of their souls (but displayed less concern for the state of their soles).

When the month is over and normal service is resumed a huge sigh of relief can be heard throughout the country as children go back to school, parents return to work, and the shops fill with customers once again. However, many supermarket shelves remain empty as produce had not been picked, milk had not been pasteurized and poultry and beef had not been ritually slaughtered during that time.

On the other hand,  after the holiday month ends phones ring incessantly. My new curtains can be put up, bridge groups meet again, new treadmills are delivered, etc.

It all seems somewhat loony.

To learn more about the Agency for Jewish Education, please click on this ad



 
 

__________________ The Jewish Citizen              by Donald H. Harrison

Mission Trails reverie: Moses, Kumeyaay Indians, U.S. history

SAN DIEGO—While enjoying the visitors center at Mission Trails Regional Park recently, I realized that the story of the baby Moses being floated on the Nile in a basket probably would have been quite agreeable to the Kumeyaay Indians who once camped along the San Diego River in what is today the park.

Just outside the back of the visitors center, near a re-creation of the flume that carried water from old Padre Dam to Mission San Diego, is a clump of basket grass, also known to naturalists and hunters as deer grass, and to botanists as Muhlenbergia rigens.

Left: Handwoven Kumeyaay basket on display at visitors center of Mission Trails Regional Park. Right top: Deer grass.  Right bottom: Windows of library at Mission Trails.

The visitors center’s library is located within a circular room with an arc of windows that offer a panoramic view of Mission Trails Regional Park.  Within the library’s collection is  San Diego County Native Plants, a 2004 guide by James Lightner, which informs that deer grass  is the “preferred bed of does yielding fawns.” 

One assumes if it is soft and comfortable enough for a new-born fawn, a similar plant species might also have been comfortable enough for a first-born Hebrew child.

One of the park’s brochures, Mission Trails Plant Identification Walk, explains that the “stems of this grass are foundation material in coiled baskets.”  An online source about Kumeyaay history includes an article from the North County Times by Agnes Diggs in which she reported that the Kumeyaay soaked such baskets before putting them into use.  The soaking caused the grasses to swell, making the basket watertight.

One wonders if Moses’ mother’ Jochebed and sister Miriam wove and soaked the basket during the first  months of Moses’ life before he was set adrift on the Nile to be found by Pharaoh’s daughter.

As readily as the grass had me wandering down mental pathways to one of the foundational stories of Judaism, so too did it lead to reveries about the founding of the United States of America as the exceptional country that it is.

Muhlenbergia grasses are named after one of America’s earliest botanists, Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg, a Lutheran minister who in 1789 became  the first president of Franklin College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Some years later the college was named Franklin and Marshall College to honor both Benjamin Franklin and John Marshall.  A biographical sketch provided online by the college reports that its first president is credited with compiling America’s first English-German and German-English dictionary.

Born in 1753, Muhlenberg was a contemporary with the last generation of Kumeyaay to live in San Diego before Spaniards arrived and built the Presidio and the Mission.  When Father Junipero Serra and Gaspar de Portola founded San Diego in 1769, it was only seven years before the Declaration of Independence was adopted on the East Coast of the future United States.

One of Muhlenberg’s brothers, Peter, was a general in the Continental Army, and served with George Washington both at Valley Forge and at Yorktown.  Another brother, Frederick, was president of the Pennsylvania State Convention which ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1787.   He subsequently was elected to Congress and served as the first speaker of the House. 

Grasses, it would seem, not only weave baskets; they also weave together histories.

 


Jewish Sports
Youkilis played part in Red Sox ALDS sweep over L.A. Angels

By Joe Naiman

LAKESIDE, California—Kevin Youkilis, the only Jewish player in Major League Baseball's postseason, fared better than his statistics indicated during the Boston Red Sox's televised three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels in the American League Division Series.

Youkilis had a .250 batting average, consisting of three hits in 12 at-bats.  That doesn't include a sacrifice fly or a walk resulting in a first-inning score, and a groundout advancing a runner who later scored is counted as an at-bat and not a hit.

Youkilis first came to the plate in the bottom of the
first inning against Angels pitcher John Lackey.  He
sent Lackey's pitch over the left-center field wall of
Fenway Park for a home run and a 1-0 Red Sox lead in the
first game October 3.

The home run was the first career post-season hit for
Youkilis, who had two at-bats but no hits in the 2004 ALDS.
Ironically, Youkilis also had a home run for his first-ever
major league regular-season hit when he made his Red Sox
debut in 2004.  Youkilis was on the roster for the 2004
World Series, which gave the Red Sox their first world
championship in 86 years, but he did not play in the four-game
sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Youkilis' home run October 3 wasn't his final contribution to the Red Sox offense that day.  In the fourth inning he doubled, and he advanced the rest of the way to the plate on David Ortiz's home run.  The Red Sox's 4-0 victory gave them the initial game of the series.  Youkilis had two hits in four at-bats October 3, scored twice,
and drove in one run.

Youkilis also scored the Red Sox's first run of the
series' second game October 5.  In the first inning he walked,
and the trip while on base would extend another 270 feet.
The Angels came back for a 3-2 lead by the middle of the
fifth inning.  In the bottom of the fifth David Pedroia
doubled, sending Youkilis to the plate.  Because Youkilis
did not bunt, advancing Pedroia to third was not considered
a sacrifice and Youkilis was charged with an at-bat without
being being credited for any other offensive statistic.

The Red Sox, however, were credited with the tying run
when Mike Lowell's sacrifice fly scored Pedroia.  The
game remained tied until Manny Ramirez homered with two
runners on in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 6-3
Red Sox victory.  Although Youkilis was hitless in four
at-bats, his run and his advanced runner equated to
contributions to the Red Sox scoring efforts.

The Red Sox completed the sweep October 7 in Anaheim.
Youkilis had one hit in four at-bats along with a sacrifice
fly.  The sacrifice fly occurred in the eighth inning to
score Pedroia and gave the Red Sox a 4-0 lead.  The
hit, a leadoff single, occurred in the ninth inning,
so Youkilis opened the series with a hit and closed it
with a hit.  The Red Sox advanced to the American League
Championship Series with a 9-1 victory.

Youkilis, who also played third base and outfield
during the season and was a third baseman for the Red Sox
when he was called up in 2004, is now Boston's regular
first baseman.



 

Dance~The Jewish C~o~n~n~e~c~t~i~o~n       by Sheila Orysiek

California Ballet dances Giselle

POWAY, California—First performed in Paris in 1841, Giselle is the quintessential Romantic Era Ballet incorporating all the elements which defines that genre of dance.  It is considered the touchstone - the Hamlet - of ballets for the ballerina.  The role opens with her portrayal of a young naïve village girl who moves from innocent happiness to suffering the betrayal and death of that innocence - both mentally and physically.  In Act II, Giselle returns as a spirit but with the full complement of the ideal forgiving heart of a mature woman.  At the same time the ballerina must surmount significant technical demands as well as investing the role with artistic sense and power.

The ballet is also a test for the two lead male roles: Prince Albrecht who trifles with and betrays Giselle, and Hilarion, a village youth, impelled by his jealousy tries to save Giselle but becomes instead the instrument of her demise.  In the second act the men are forced to dance to death by the merciless Wilis - spirits of women who died of unrequited love.  Giselle, now a Wili, dances to save the man who betrayed her. 

 In both acts, the corps de ballet is challenged, but most especially in Act II where their ghostly character must be matched by ghostly lightness while moving unerringly together as one.  A dance company, and most especially a ballet company, is judged by its corps de ballet.  A ballerina or danseur may be brought in as guest artists, but only a well directed company can put a coherent corps de ballet on stage.  It takes artistic vision as well as technical expertise and time to produce such a corps.  The great companies of the world are judged not by the stars they produce, but by the quality of the corps de ballet.


Corps de ballet in California Ballet's Giselle

There is no place to hide in this ballet; the story, set, costumes and choreography (Coralli/Perrot) is so well known that any deviation will be noted.  The technical demands are unrelenting and success is measured not by making the difficulties obvious, but how well they are hidden. Within the confines of a fairy/folk tale, suspension of belief must seem natural and any evidence of effort will destroy that vision.  The observer needs to be incorporated into that imaginary world; otherwise the magic of the theater doesn’t work.  To undertake this ballet is a challenge to any company.

The Poway Center for the Performing Arts is a small theater - 815 seats - and though not completely filled - of those that were occupied, I would be surprised if any of the occupants left unhappy with the performance.  It was a credit to the Company. 

The set (designed by Charles McCall) of Giselle’s house before a backdrop of forest trees was attractive, while the house across the stage, usually assumed to be used by Albrecht, was more of a rustic tool shed.  No matter, he couldn’t logically live there - it was only used to hide his sword and cloak.  That made sense actually, since Albrecht as an “outsider” wouldn’t reside in a close knit village anyway. 

The scene could have been more colorful - but this seems to be a trend in costume and set design with “peasant” equaling various shades of earth tones (brown).  Though not emphasized in this production, Giselle’s story takes place during a grape harvest festival.  Folk costume for festivals is extraordinarily colorful - with bright embroidery and other adornments.  The long sleeves on the costumes of a few of Giselle’s “friends” were a break with tradition.  Generally speaking, long sleeves are the prerogative of the nobility, while the peasantry wears sleeves above the elbow - ready for work. National Ballet of Canada’s 1985 production (Kain, Augustyn) made a point of this in the characterization.

The Peasant Pas de Deux, danced by Chie Kudo and Raydel Caceres, was commendably performed.  This pas de deux is often undertaken by principal dancers in major companies, and though the characters are not major roles in the story, the technical dance demands are.  Caceres executed a couple of exciting fully split sissonnes.  Kudo is a bright sparkly dancer but might consider elongating her line by reaching toward an unseen infinity.  Many physically small dancers thus manage to fill a huge stage such as the Bolshoi.

Jennifer Curry has singing arms - all else is moot.  She has many other qualities, but if the arms don’t sing, nothing else matters.  Blessed with long limbs, she attenuates them by her intelligent use of time and space.  That intelligence guides us to what she wants us to focus upon while the “retard” in her arms gives us time to see it. The Giselle she portrayed ran the gamut from the fragility of rustic naiveté to the ultimate strength of love overcoming the fragility of life. 

In the “mad scene” which ends Act I, the ballerina is given wide latitude to portray - and convince - a modern urban audience that it is possible to go both emotionally mad as well as die of a broken heart. The musical time allowed for this interpretation is fairly lengthy and either gives the ballerina ample opportunity or can seem an eternity of time to fill.  Curry had no problem with this; she filled the scene with meaning.  Especially gripping was her reprise of the earlier happier episode of pulling out flower petals in the “he loves me/he loves me not” sequence.  As a happy maiden she had plucked them gently - hopefully.  In her descent into madness, as she reenacted that scene, she ripped them out - the difference was evidence of her ripped heart and trust.  This was an intelligent alternative to the “frenzy” often seen.

Just as the mad scene begins the corps de balle—other villagers ranged behind Giselle —froze in place which allowed the action of the story to come front and center.  Only later do they rejoin the story action and participate in the tragedy before them. 

Hilarion (Pablo Infante) was believable, properly proprietary of Giselle without overdoing his attempts to physically constrain her interaction with the interloper, Albrecht.  I have seen productions in which Hilarion rudely, roughly, and repeatedly grabs Giselle, which not only gives her good reason to reject him but also loses for him the sympathy of the audience.  An argument can be made for either interpretation, but I rather liked this one. It emphasized her naiveté. 

Andrei Jouravlev’s “Albrecht” was manly, princely, properly flirtatious, regaining his noble hauteur when greeting his true royal fiancé, and finally convincingly repentant.  He is a good partner for Curry - attractively matching her lines.  In the Act II over the head lifts, the first floated up worthy of any world class stage, the second of the lifts went up, a nano less of a float.

Andrei Jouravlev

At one point in Act II, the ballerina stands squarely “un face,” center stage in fifth position, and slowly lifts one leg into a second position extension.  This is totally exposed choreography.  The difficulty is in balancing with the supporting foot flat on the ground in a pointe shoe.  The shoes were made to dance, balance, move on pointe (full toe), and they are difficult to balance in on one foot when flat on the ground.  Yet, there the ballerina stands, with nothing to distract us from that slow développé of the leg. She then changes direction of the body and continues that full flat one footed balance in arabesque penché.  Curry accomplished it with only a momentary hesitation at the very beginning, no more than I’ve seen from world class names. 

Kristie Cordle-Infante’s “Myrtha” was icy and as imperious as she needed to be.  She was only minus an inch away. The thumb is an interesting appendage - its opposition to the fore finger allows humans all manner of dexterity and accomplishment from bringing music from a violin to building a pyramid.  But it is also the finishing touch to the hand, which is the culmination of the arm.  The difference between that thumb adding to the beauty of the arm/hand or distracting from it - is probably about an inch; an important inch. 

This ballet doesn’t work if the corps de ballet doesn’t.  California Ballet’s corps de ballet did work.  In Act II as the corps makes visible the growing tension in the music - it is crucial as their lines intersect in the series of arabesque voyagés (traveling arabesques), that every leg is held firm and steady, every arm and head be exact.  Ballet is art that moves, those movements have to be coherent, serving the overall design, or the painting becomes chaos.  At that crucial moment - every leg, arm, head and skirt become one head, one arm, one leg, and thus one synchronous movement and except for a single leg which only once - way in the back - flew higher than her sisters - deserved the applause they received.

The lighting design (by Eric Keel), was (thankfully) lit enough to see the action in Act II (in some productions the moonlit glade becomes a moonless grave), but I felt it a tad too “warm” which brought out the flesh tones of the dancers.   However, I did appreciate Albrecht’s costuming in muted lavender rather than the all too often choice of black which condemns the male dancer to obscurity.  Some productions do it in white, which also works well.

The music (by Adolphe Adam) was taped and aurally comfortable, for which this reviewer is always grateful.  Costumes were designed by Robert Eaton.