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GUEST COLUMN

Does government need 'back door'
authority to break encryption codes?

By Martin Charles Golumbic

HAIFA, Israel—Cyber-terrorists are after data, everything from military communications to national defense secrets. We can lock up this data with technology tools called encryption, a word of ancient Greek etymology meaning secret writing.  But what happens when encryption tools, which are readily available on the open market, are used by hostile groups to shield activities from the government’s eyes? Should we regulate the use of encryption programs (even if we could?)

The widespread availability of encryption means that investigators encounter difficulties in accessing information necessary for law enforcement and security purposes.  The stronger the encryption products, the more difficult it is for law enforcement agencies to gather information about terrorists and their plans. And if we did regulate such programs, how would companies producing new and innovative products be sure that their industrial secrets weren’t leaked? For encryption also helps ensure such activities as the secrecy of online payments and the protection of copyrighted music against unauthorized use. We hold dear the right to develop ideas, market them, and make money from them. What kind of chilling effect would the lack of secure communications have on research and development in both the private and the public sectors?

The threat of information warfare demands a reconsideration of the regulation of encryption products. From an economic standpoint, the question is whether terrorist activities concealed by encryption and the breaking of encryption by hostile elements constitute market failures justifying regulatory intervention.

Regulation needs to take into account the extreme cases in society, not the innocent citizen, but the terrorist, who uses electronic communications and other methods protected by encryption. Governmental authorities need a kind of “back door” key to break into them. A 1994 law does require that the software design enable the government to access call-identifying information and allow the transmission of intercepted information to the government.  But giving the government “back-door” control can result in both direct harm and indirect damages.  It is crucial, therefore, to promote and encourage ongoing dialogue between the technology innovators and the guardians of the legal world.  It may not be important for the latter to understand the mathematical details of a particular encryption system, but they should understand the limits to which the various levels of privacy and security can be guaranteed. Law-making and its enforcement demand the convergence of security, technology, and the law.

New legal regulations must be formulated with the characteristics of the Internet in mind. The application of checks and balances to the Internet requires formulating a definition of the circumstances that require the deletion of existing files, the prevention of recording information, and restrictions on saving data.  An explicit, narrow general arrangement regarding encryption may be effective in limiting the indirect damage done to privacy.  The failure to provide law enforcement agencies with sufficient means of decryption (“back-door” access) or the establishment of overly rigid criteria and procedures for obtaining permission for specific decryption operations could bring about an undesirable result in the form of less focused surveillance.  Prior judicial review is essential: any authority that requests the use of “back-door” penetration or any other means of breaking encryption should apply to the court prior to doing so.  The extent of the government’s intervention in the production and importation of technological measures needs to be defined, as does the extent to which the state is entitled to obtain access to “back doors.”   

In Israel, the determination of policy in regard to encryption is carried out by the executive branch without the direction of the legislature.  From the point of view of the principles of administrative and constitutional law, this arrangement is highly problematic, with negative implications. Any system of regulation, ranging from total exemption for civilian products to regulation (such as export restrictions) for products with  a defense or security orientation, needs to be based on the characteristics—and different uses—of the products in question and the functions they are supposed to fulfill.

The law must clearly and explicitly define the extent of the regulation and the boundaries of the government’s discretion. A possible model is to permit registration of encryption products without imposing prior control—this would place a single obligation on the producers of an encryption product: registration of its existence and the provision of general information about the product.  This would allow the government to be aware of products on the market and of their producers, and to apply to the courts for permission to investigate should a need arise.

Martin Charles Golumbic, a computer scientist and senior professor, is Director of the Caesarea Rothschild Institute at the University of Haifa in Israel, and author of "Fighting Terror Online: The Convergence of Security, Technology and the Law"



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SAN DIEGO JEWISH ACADEMY

San Diego Jewish Academy focuses on academics, athletics and arts
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SAN DIEGO (Press Release)—Challenging academics, small class sizes and caring educators are only part of the picture at San Diego’s premier K-12 Jewish day school in North County. San Diego Jewish Academy (SDJA) offers an educational environment that combines a rigorous curriculum and a focus on character education, sports, performing and fine arts programs.

In May 2008, eighty-three SDJA high school students wrote 151 AP exams in subjects ranging from calculus to psychology. Of the exams taken, 28% scored 5, 58% scored 4 or higher and 78% scored 3 or higher. SDJA’s graduating classes have been accepted by some of the finest colleges and universities in the country. The 52 seniors from the Class of 2008 received a total of 200 acceptances to 96 colleges and universities in 26 states and 3 countries. They were offered over $1,700,000 in merit scholarships.

Positioned on a 56-acre campus in Carmel Valley, SDJA has just completed building a state-of-the-art, 35,000 square foot gymnasium that accommodate two regulation-size basketball courts, three volleyball courts, weight-lifting room, fitness rooms, music room with individual practice studios, and athletic offices. Campus facilities also include tennis courts, a roller hockey rink, and a multi-use field for soccer, football, softball and baseball.

An extensive offering of extracurricular activities, performing and fine arts programs enable SDJA students to develop socially, emotionally, physically and creatively.  The upper school’s Maimonides Arts Collective (MAC), encompassing an in-school program and a newly formed after-school program, pools the talents and passions of arts educators and students in the fields of dance, music, theatre, and visual arts. Its goals are to promote awareness and educational opportunities for students to develop their artistic understanding and skills in a given discipline by participating in a comprehensive and integrated arts program.

This year's MAC after-school program will expand opportunities for students interested in developing their awareness of different media; acquiring technical skills through more rigorous integrated programs; and nurturing their passion to create. The ultimate goal of the collective is to provide students with the ability and opportunity to continue their arts education beyond high school.

SDJA is proud to be one of the most technologically advanced campuses around the country, with Smart Boards in every classroom and more than 600 fully networked computers throughout the school.

SDJA holds accreditations from the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

San Diego Jewish Academy challenges students to achieve their full academic potential and become individuals of strong moral and ethical character, while inspiring them to make Judaism a vital and relevant aspect of their lives.

REFLECTIONS

'Ordinary' citizens demonstrated
grace in an extraordinary disaster

By Sheila Orysiek

SAN DIEGO—In a few days Shimmy Biegeleisen was planning to travel to Israel to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, but now he was sitting in his office, on the telephone with his friend, Jack Edelstein.  When Edelstein asked him what he wanted to recite, Biegeleisen replied: “Of David. A Psalm.”   They began reciting together in Hebrew: “The earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it, the world and those that live in it…..”  (Psalm 24)

Edelstein was in Brooklyn in Biegeleisen’s house with Biegeleisen’s wife and other mutual friends.  Biegeleisen was in Manhattan, on the 97th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center.  Having survived the impact of the plane flying into the building, his office was filling with smoke and he knew he was trapped.  Biegeleisen was 42 years old, Vice President at Fiduciary Trust International and the father of five children.  Though I live 3000 miles away and didn’t know anyone on the scene; they were in fact all my brothers and sisters.  I often recite the Psalm that Biegeleisen chose as his final song.

Books about that terrible day, Sept. 11, 2001, seem to fall into one of two categories: an author or group of authors pressing a particular theory, bias or agenda - or setting out to elicit an emotional response from the reader. In both cases I feel this is a misuse of a tragedy to sell a book.  Thus, up until now I had avoided books about that day.

“102 Minutes; the Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers” by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn (Henry Holt and Co., 2006) is not a book with an agenda, nor is it the intent of the authors to wring emotional tears.  Their focus is how people reacted on the scene officially and unofficially, individually and as groups.  Additional discussion of construction and safety codes, interaction between city departments - which could be dry reading - was in fact gripping - I couldn’t put it down.  Well, I did, but only after I had finished it.

The city had changed building, fire, safety codes and procedures to create more rentable space in high rise construction.  The older Empire State Building stairwells are separated into groups situated approximately in its four corners, whereas to increase rentable space in the Twin Towers the stairwells and elevators were in a central core.  Thus if something threatened one stairwell - the others (plus elevators) were close enough that they might be compromised too.  In addition, the code halved the number of stairwells required and eliminated the fire tower which is a stairwell specifically designed with hardened masonry for structural strength and double entry doors to eliminate smoke.

Innovations in building materials and methods which were seen as triumphs of technology were often found wanting on that fateful day.  Some safety “improvements” after the 1993 terrorist bombing turned out to be just the opposite.  Over objections by the Fire Department, “resistors” had been installed to keep elevator doors from being pried open if the car was as little as four inches out of alignment with the shaft opening thus trapping many people inside who could have escaped.  Doors to the roof which had been locked to prevent suicides trapped people above the impact zone as they sought escape. 

The systemic problems between the New York Fire and Police Departments preceded this disaster and exacerbated it.  Not only were the two departments unable to communicate - they didn’t want to.  On every level the bickering had been going on for decades despite the best efforts of several mayors.  Complicating matters even more the Port Authority was officially in control of the Towers.

New radios issued after the 1993 attempt to destroy the Towers were sitting on shelves and in car trunks; unused.  Civilians and hundreds of police and firefighters died because they couldn’t communicate on their old radios nor hear the orders to get out.  However, the lack of cooperation between city departments stands in stark contrast to the grace of response of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the midst of a huge disaster for which no one was prepared.

Based on interviews of survivors as well as telephone tapes - there was no mass panic, no shoving, no fighting, no stampedes.  Those who were young and strong helped those who were not; pushing disabled people in wheelchairs, men carrying injured women over their shoulders - down 80 flights of stairs and more.  At strategic times people with specific knowledge, skills or strength showed up and saved lives of strangers - at imminent risk to themselves.  Others urged on with a song, an embrace, a word of encouragement those whose strength was flagging. Many who had reached safety turned back to help someone they didn’t know.

One group trapped in a dark elevator (there were 99 elevators) found when the doors opened that they were facing a blank wall in the elevator shaft.  A man turned on his laptop computer for light and using improvised tools the group broke through the wall and ended up in a bathroom, then found a stairs and made their way to safety.

To free a group trapped inside another elevator, several people in an upper lobby tried to pry open the doors, but the tops of the doors were stuck together - much too high for anyone to reach.  Miraculously a man happened by who was six foot eight inches tall, easily reached the top and had the strength to open the doors.  On at least one occasion it was advantageous to be small - a petite woman managed to slither through a partially open elevator door and ran to summon help.

Four men reached safety, found a crowbar, went back up and hacked through sheetrock to free people trapped by jammed office doors.  It is estimated they saved over 70 people on four floors, but not themselves.  Others elected to stay with a person - often a stranger - who couldn’t make it because of a disability, injury or asthma attacks.  They died together. 

Of the three stairwells, only one went to street level.  The other two ended at the Mezzanine which was nine floors up.  The one way down was a non-working escalator which was only wide enough for two people abreast.  So, as hundreds came down the stairs, they found themselves in a huge line - which backed up into the stairs - snaking around the Mezzanine to the top of the escalator.  People lined up calmly, waited their turn; no pushing, no shoving.

Many who emerged dazed and injured either at street level or in the underground concourse and subway were shown to safety by others who knew the way and spontaneously began guiding survivors.  There were, of course, police doing this - but ordinary citizens were just as swift to help, forming cordons leading to ambulances. 

People trapped above the impact zone jumped from the windows rather than face the smoke and fire behind them; many held hands and jumped together.  One firefighter in the street below was killed by someone who had jumped.  A police officer stayed at his post at a lobby door watching for falling objects and sent groups of people running across the street to safety when it seemed all was clear for a moment or two. He urged them not to look at the horror on the ground - just keep running.

Police officer John W. Perry was in a city office signing his retirement papers and handing in his badge.  When the news broke he demanded his badge back and ran to the scene.  He was last spotted carrying a woman to safety when the building collapsed.  Perry was 38 years old, held a Juris Doctorate from the New York University Law School and was in the process of converting to Judaism.  The link above to his biography reveals an extraordinary man.

One former Marine awoke late that day, heard the news, put on an old Marine t-shirt and using an old emergency services badge hitched a ride to the site.  Walking on the burning debris he called out: “United States Marine - anyone here?”  Two voices answered from under the rubble begging him not to leave them.  He knew if he left to find rescue workers he might not be able to locate that spot again.  So, he stayed until he was finally able to send someone else to fetch the rescue workers - it took four more hours to free the two trapped people.

Books on this catastrophe tend to focus on the avarice for rentable space and/or the police/fire departments arguing about spheres of authority but this book also presents the palette of human response under excruciating circumstances.  With their lives in imminent danger the “ordinary” people represented the best of humanity in stark contrast to the maniacal murderers who planned this violence. And it is the grace of that response which remains with the reader. Because it is an unemotional presentation of a very emotional event the reader’s reaction becomes part of the story. 

Searching for Courage

We search for courage in the hills of the mind
Search for courage and hope to find
The strength for tomorrow.

Long we lie in sleepless bed
Finding in the morning after night has fled
A remembrance of sorrow.

Onrushing time, but even more behind
The future is past, our death warrant signed
Closer and closer the day.

T’is not the final knell we fear
But only the trap of pain and tear
We are all on our way.

Over the boulders strewn we stumble
Breaking toes and bones, we tumble
Do we think we are exempt?

Less able to cope and struggling for reason
Growing old, long past our season
Our worldly accounts unkempt.

The world sees each as a lonely “I”
Cares not how madly, hurtfully we cry
We join the long parade.

Succor and solace we have sought
But little turned out as it ought
Little peace in the shade.

Is our name yet in the Book of Life?
Years of pleasure, years of strife
Who can foretell the tale?

When the clear Voice calls, names the day
We’ll rush home, this time to stay
Hoisting our homeward sail.

We were born from the common clay
Dying players in a cosmic play
But why the pain until that day?
We get no answer, we have no say.

We do, however, have one choice
To rejoice in another human voice
Take another into our embrace
That is the best of human grace.

Columnist Orysiek may be contacted at orysieks@sandiegojewishworld.com





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Who were 3 most important U.S. Jews?

By David Benkof

NEW YORK—This month marks the 354th anniversary of the arrival of the first boatload of Jews to North America. To honor the birthday of the American Jewish community, I surveyed several dozen leading American Jewish historians about who they think are the three most important figures in American Jewish history. Twenty scholars responded, including perhaps the three leading figures in the field - Dr. Hasia Diner (NYU), Dr. Deborah Dash Moore (Michigan), and Dr. Jonathan Sarna (Brandeis).

Interestingly, although 10 names were listed and 10 more were volunteered, it quickly became clear that American Jewish historians consider three men to be towering figures in the tales they tell. So below I will describe the most important American Jews in history, as defined by the leading scholars in the subject:

1) American Jewish history experts felt overwhelmingly that Louis Brandeis was the most important American Jew in Jewish history. He was the first Jew appointed to the Supreme Court, and he pioneered a uniquely American form of Zionism. Rockaway pointed out that Brandeis "made Zionism a respected American movement and sold the idea to American Jews and non-Jews." Professor Lee Shai Weissbach of the University of Louisville said Brandeis's "elevation to the Supreme Court symbolized the opening of possibilities for Jews in American civic and political life." When Brandeis joined the court in 1916, antisemitism was so intense that one of his fellow justices refused to sit next to him for the official court photo.

For many years after Brandeis's appointment, particularly after Associate Justice Benjamin Cardozo retired and was replaced by fellow Jew Felix Frankfurter, there was a de facto "Jewish seat" on the Supreme Court. Frankfurter was replaced by Arthur Goldberg, who was replaced by Abe Fortas, after whom the tradition ceased. But both of President Bill Clinton's appointees, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer, are Jewish. In addition, President Ronald Reagan tried to appoint Judge Douglas Ginsburg, whose nomination was scotched because of accusations that Ginsberg had smoked marijuana.

Two scholars offered important, final descriptions of Brandeis: Dr. David Kaufman of the Hebrew Union College called him "the personification of American-Jewish synthesis," and Dr. Samuel Heilman of the City University of New York Graduate Center said Brandeis's involvement with the Supreme Court and American Zionism "put the lie to the dual loyalty canard."

2) Perhaps the most important American Jew little-known to today's American Jews is Mordcai Kaplan. Kaufman called Kaplan "the key figure in the Americanization of Judaism." Jewish scholar and prolific author Jacob Neusner said Kaplan "thought through the issues of Judaism in a way that matched the American Jewish situation." Finally, University of Washington Professor Noam Pianko praised Kaplan's "insights into the sociological basis of Jewish peoplehood."

Several key institutions in American Judaism which Kaplan pioneered endure. For example, Kaplan brought the bat mitzvah to America, with his daughter Judith being the first to undergo that new rite of passage. He also helped innovate the Jewish Center movement, the so-called "shul with a pool" (the title of one of Kaufman's books). He imagined that a synagogue should be more than a place to pray - that it should be a place for the social, intellectual, and recreational needs of Jews as well. Today's JCC's owe much to his ideas.

In addition, Kaplan's ideas became the keystone of today's Reconstructionist movement in Judaism. The only major American Jewish movement in which God is not necessarily central, Reconstructionism emphasizes Kaplan's idea that Judaism is an "evolving religious civilization." Reconstructionism also experimented with the havurah movement, growing out of Kaplan's values.

Kaplan had an impact on every American Jewish religious movement - including Orthodoxy, as documented in Jeffrey Gurock and Jacob Schacter's A Modern Heretic and a Traditional Community. At least two generations of Conservative Judaism's teachers and rabbis were influenced by Kaplan's instruction at the Jewish Theological Seminary's rabbinical school and teacher's institute. And Reform Judaism adopted Kaplan's saying that halacha (Jewish law) should have "a vote but not a veto."

3) Finally, 19th century pioneer of Reform Judaism Isaac Mayer Wise came in third place. According to Rockaway, Wise "put Reform Judaism on the map" in the United States. Working from Cincinnati, he established Hebrew Union College, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism), and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He trained hundreds of Reform rabbis, and in Rockaway's words, he "made Reform the strongest Jewish religious movement in America."

The European-born Wise was one of the earliest American rabbis to push for family pews in the synagogue, a mixed choir, and counting women in the minyan. He wrote a new prayerbook entitled Minhag America (American custom), with the goal of uniting all American congregations. He was also an American Jewish press pioneer, publishing his own Israelite newspaper.

David Benkof writes the "Fabulously Observant" column for the Jerusalem Post, where this essay originally appeared. He can be reached at DavidBenkof@aol.com.



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CAMPAIGN 2008 Letters to the editor

Presidential campaign stirs our readers

Matthew Brooks column draws rebuke

{Editor's Note: San Diego Jewish World welcomes commentary from Democrats, Republicans and independents exploring all sides of how the presidential candidates would impact issues of Jewish community concern. Submissions may be sent to editor@sandiegojewishworld.com}

Editor, San Diego Jewish World:

Mr. Brooks, are you serious?

Who are you kidding, using the line that Sarah Palin didn't know the guest speaker of her church (David Brickner a Christian who has been at the head of the missionary group Jews for Jesus and who also
believes God punished the Jews when a Palestinian bulldozer crushed Israeli civilians because they failed to convert) was going to blast the Jews? (Sounds like "the dog ate my homework.")

Did she once protest once she got the gist and say it was wrong? Did she leave in protest? Has she ever once come out against that type of racial madness/hysteria?

Let's not be put off by  Jews who  look the other way when it's convenient and then condemn the opponent because his pastor was 'anti- American' and Afro-American!

And who are you, Mr. Brooks, to tell Democrats to be cautious in what they say after the Palin/McCain attack dogs  spread vicious lies about their opponent and his record and hope they become realities to
the electorate?

Sounds too much like Karl Rove and his operatives. Yes that Karl Rove, the once face of  the Bush administration now working for McCain. The very corrupt Bush administration that McCain wants to distance himself from.

Let's talk about tolerance and the Jews.  Sarah Palin and her ilk have as much religious tolerance as does David Brickner. And OH! Sarah Palin's support of Israel? Right on! Another 12 to 18 million Jews to convert.

If you really want to know what Sarah Palin and her supporters stand for don't let a Jew define her. Check out the Christian Coalition web page and find out for yourself. And then ask yourselves (and click on
the links to capture their agenda), "Is this really what we want, someone like this to be a heartbeat away from the presidency ?"

Mr. Brooks, you may be speaking for the Republican Jewish Coalition in Washington when you express an opinion on these pages but you're not speaking for decent Jews across this great country  in the
cities, states and small counties who have fought all their lives to be able to  practice religious freedom without prejudice or attacks from fanatic nuts who want to convert them. ...

Let's have a conversation on whose doing a disservice to whom.

Your party of change, sir, is simply a wolf in sheep's clothing. Switch out Bush and his henchmen, put a pair of pants on Sarah Palin and what you have is another Bush/Cheney ticket.

In the words of John  Kennedy, "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country".

Well, sir, I will work my fingers to the bone for my country  to see that this election doesn't get 'swift boated' like the last. And I will not take a step back because YOU caution ME to be careful. Neither should caring and dedicated citizens including the 'liberal' press as you call them  (of course we never mention RUSH!) who see through the fuzz your party creates. Have you cautioned your party on
the fairness doctrine yet?

Another eight years of Bush/Cheney, yes, Bush/Cheney, the one they now go by as Palin/McCain, (no mistake because she's leading the charge, not him.) would be a disaster for this country.

If you think you are better off now than you were eight years ago and you think this country is on the right track as it is, then Matthew Brooks and your Republican friends deserve more of the same because
that's exactly what you will get!

Democrats; think Supreme Court, women's rights, health care issues, tax breaks for the rich and oil companies, education, science, stem cell research, independence from government interfering in our
bedrooms, gay rights, religious freedom and freedom from government spying.

As for this Democrat, I think a lot about it and I'm not willing to go down that path again without speaking out.

Carol Davis,
San Diego


Obama didn't protest Wright for 20 years; how would he act towards bombastic leaders of anti-U.S. nations?

Editor, San Diego Jewish World:

Earlier this year Senator Obama finally repudiated Reverend Wright's anti-American, anti-white and anti-Israel sermons, because he had to do it to save his presidential campaign.  Wright repeatedly used these
sermons over the past 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ, where Obama has been a member for the 20 years.  Senator Obama had to hear these sermons or discuss them with other members of the church, but he did not leave the church, he did not question Wright and his sermons, and he did not counter the sermons in any way.

Wright stated: the U.S. invented HIV to wipe out blacks, the U.S. committed terrorism when we dropped the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the U.S. brought on the September 11, 2001 attacks because of our foreign policy.  Wright also used the phrase "God Damn America." Wright endorses Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, who is a fanatical extremist spewing hateful remarks about whites, females, Catholics, Jews and gays.

Do we want an inexperienced and untested President who will just sit and listen to and appease the anti-U.S. ranting of Amadinejad, Assad, Chavez, Castro and Kim Jong Il? Do we want a novice dealing with China and Russia?

Donald A. Moskowitz
Londonderry, New Hampshire





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Thursdays with the Songs of Hal Wingard

Editor's Note: We continue our presentation of the songs of Hal Wingard, moving this week to songs that are adult versions of nursery rhymes. Here is a link to an index of Wingard's songs published by San Diego Jewish World. To hear Hal performing the song, click on its title.


#243, Mary Had a Little Lamb

Mary had a little lamb,
A little lamb, a little lamb.
Mary had a little lamb…(hum…)

Mary had a little lamb.
        It’s fleas were black as coal.
And ev’rywhere that Mary went,
       The fleas would take their toll.

They went with her to school one day,
       As fleas are sure to do.
 They made the children itch and scratch,
       With teacher scratching too.

The lesson Mary learned from this,
       She’s made into a rule:
“Keep the little lamb you have
       At home but not at school.”

“To rid your lamb of itchy fleas,
       There’s this that you can do.
Prepare a tasty rck-of-lamb,
       Or cook your lamb as stew>”

(Hum…)

© 2008 Hal Wingard, September 21, 1995


#244, The Itsy Bitsy Spider

The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.
And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the kitchen wall,
Arriving at the ceiling without a single fall,
Then on that lofty summit, began to stroll around,
Without his ever seeing what was waiting on the ground.

Now, tired of such high living, he dropped on silver thread,
And landed on a skillet, so hot his feet turned red.
So, itsy bitsy spiders, to save yourselves from pain,
Just stay at home in drain pipes and never mind the rain.

(Hum…)

© 2008 Hal Wingard, September 23, 1995.  Words completed September 22, 1996, on United flight San Francisco to San Diego. Melody devised next day.  (In Childhood Rhymes for Older Folks)


#246, The Little Star

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
How I wonder what you are.
       Up above the world so high
       Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
How I wonder what you are.

Tinkle, tinkle, little star.
Do you know how proud we are?
       You’re our toilet royalty
       Ev’ry time you take a pee.
Tinkle, tinkle, little star.
Do you know how proud we are?

(Hum…)

© 2008 Hal Wingard, October 5, 1995.  Words and music completed at home.  (In Childhood Rhymes for Older Folks)
       


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Mental Illness: Coping Strategies, Current Treatments, & Paths to Wellness

SAN DIEGO (Press Release)—On Wednesday, November 5, 2008, The Mental Health Committee of Jewish Family Service is holding Mental Illness in the Family: Coping Strategies, Current Treatments, & Paths to Wellness, a panel discussion in support of mental health awareness open to the community.

The panel features five esteemed professionals in mental health treatment: Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot, a well-known teacher and author who will discuss his own depression; Marc R. Sternberg, M.D., a psychiatrist with expertise in electroconvulsive therapy; Daniel Sewell, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCSD with expertise in geriatric psychiatry; David Feifel, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry at UCSD with expertise in ADHD; and Sidney Zisook, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry at UCSD and Director of Residency Training Program.

The event will take place at Congregation Beth Israel located at 9001 Towne Centre Drive, San Diego, 92122, from 7:00-9:00pm. This event is free of charge and registration is required. CEUs are available for LCSWs and MFTs. For more information and to register, please call (858) 637-3231 or register online at www.jfssd.org.

Founded by Linda Janon, the Mental Health Committee of Jewish Family Service of San Diego provides resources and services for coping and living with mental illness and seeks to eliminate the stigma by increasing community awareness.





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ADVENTURES IN SAN DIEGO JEWISH HISTORY

Editor's Note: To create a permanent and accessible archive, we are reprinting news articles that appeared in back issues of various San Diego Jewish newspapers. You may access an index of the headlines of those articles by clicking here. You may also use the Google search program on our home page or on the headline index page to search for keywords or names.


San Diego Jr. Pioneer Women
From Southwestern Jewish Press, January 13, 1950, page 6

The San Diego Junior Pioneer Women’s Organization is sponsoring a Valentine pot luck supper and card party on Saturday night, February 18, at 6:30 p.m. at the Temple Center corner Third and Laurel.

The program for the evening will feature a pot luck supper followed by cards and Mah-jongg. Door prizes will be awarded during the course of the evening.

Party chairman, Pauline Segal will be aided by Ann Godes, Evelyn Herrmann, Pearl Kaufman, Margit Loesser, Pauline Merkin, Leona Shulkind and Rose Sloane. For reservations call Mrs. Segal at W-9959.

Proceeds from affairs sponsored by the Junior Pioneer Women are used in the achievement of the specific purposes for which the organization is established.

Established in 1925 the Pioneer Women’s Organization has as its specific program the training and adjustment of women in Israel for agriculture and industry. The organization which has branches throughout the United States and Canada cooperate in this effort with the working women’s council of the Histadruth in Israel.

Membership chairman Sylvia Busch of the San Diego Chapter will be pleased to accept names of applicants for membership. She can be reached at T. 1-4349.


Labor Zionists
From Southwestern Jewish Press, January 13, 1950, page 6

The Shekel Campaign has been extended to February 15th, it was announced by Mr. I. Domnitz, President of the Labor Zionist Organization of San Diego.

Sales of Shekels are being made now and a door-to-door campaign is in the process. Purchases can be made b calling R-3028.

The meeting that was held Saturday, January 7th at the Tifereth Israel Synagogue was very successful. Musical numbers rendered by Belle Cohen and William Davis were well received. Approximately 200 people attended this interesting meeting sponsored by Histadrut.

Reports were heard regarding the work of Histadrut in absorbing the newcomers to Israel.


Junior Charity League
From Southwestern Jewish Press, January 13, 1950, page 6

The Junior Charity League met at the home of Mrs. Harry Epsten on Monday, January 9th.  After a short business meeting at which many enthusiastic plans were formulated for the coming year by his small philanthropic group, election of officers was held. The following were elected: Mrs. Sam Fishman, President; Mrs. Harry Epsten, Vice President; Mrs. Leo Greenbaum, Treasurer, and Mrs. Nate Ratner, Secretary.


“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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Dedications of Today's Issue

Today's issue is dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives in the 9/11/2001 terror attacks and to their families and friends, who still grieve.

It also is dedicated to our colleague Norman Manson, who observes his 80th birthday today.