San DiegoJewish World San Diego's Online Jewish Newspaper

HERZLIYA, Israel—The Iranian crisis is being fought out on three fronts.

The first, and the one properly receiving the most attention, is inside Iran itself. Commentators have now found the perfect phrase for describing the outcome there: As a result of the stolen election, demonstrations, and repression, Iran will be changed forever.

OK. But changed how? If the regime puts down the demonstrations, it will be ruling lots of deeply dissatisfied citizens. Yet overall, not much will change within the country. Presumably, there will periodically be other such upheavals until the day the regime is overthrown altogether. But how long will that take? None can say.

More can be said about the other two fronts. The one changing the least is the regional aspect. Events in Iran will not change minds in the Middle East.

On one side are the radical Islamists. These include pro-Iranian forces--Hamas and Hizballah; the Syrian regime, and many in Iraq--won’t have their minds changed by the post-election upheaval. They will go on being radical Islamists and believe that these demonstrations are creations of American intelligence (whether President Obama praises them or not will have no effect) and that the marches represent only a tiny minority of malcontents.

The same conclusion, however, will be reached by the anti-Iran Islamists, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, and the much smaller base of al-Qaida. They and their supporters will go on seeking Islamist regimes in their countries, notably Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia. They won't be affected either.

But there is another factor regarding the Islamist side. In thirty years I have literally never heard an Islamist say—in contrast to how Communists used to speak about the USSR, or China, or Cuba—that they want an Islamist state modeled on Iran. Obviously, Sunni Islamists (including Hamas) want to downplay any such desire to clone Iran because its Shia republic is alien to their traditions.

And while Hizballah may be the closest of all followers for the Tehran regime, it also does not say that it's dreaming of an (Islamist) green Lebanon, just like the Islamist regime they know in Tehran.

For many years—20, even—Islamists in the Arab world have known that Iran is not a utopian society and that its institutions or practices don't appeal to the Arab masses. They have long learned to dissociate themselves from the social, economic, and cultural policies of Iran—which are already alien by being both Persian and Shia.

So proving that Iran is repressive will not weaken support for Islamism among Arabs. No Islamist in the Middle East is going to say: “Wow, that Iran is a terrible place! I better become a liberal democrat right away!”

Why then do people in the Middle East either follow Iran or have a similar ideological approach to the problems of their societies and states?

Simple: Power. The Iranian regime is strong. It fears no one and projects power. It defies the West and apologizes to no one. It swears allegiance only to Islam—at least in its own interpretation. It rewards its friends and kills its enemies (I'm tempted--but won't--joke that the West does the exact opposite.) And soon it will have nuclear weapons, too.

Now, how will such people interpret the regime’s no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners, tough-guy approach to internal dissent?

Will they say, as Westerners do—or at least should do—This is terrible! They are beating and repressing people?

Or, will they say: Awesome! Are these guys tough, or what?

Successful repression, like a successful terrorist attack with maximum civilian casualties, brings admiration, not horror in these circles.

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But what about all those in the Middle East who hate Islamism and fear Iran? Well, they already feel that way, don’t they? The Egyptian, Jordanian, Saudi governments, for example, may not

be thrilled with the idea of mass street protests against another government, but they aren’t going to dislike Iran more than they already do. They are hardly surprised by that regime’s behavior. And so is the small minority of Arab liberals. No minds or policies changed here either.

Oh, but there is one aspect of the crisis that might affect their thinking:

Wow, those Westerners sure are afraid of criticizing Iran.

And that brings us to the Western front. Here is the one where change might be most significant.

Will people in western Europe and North America conclude from this that the Iranian regime is mad, bad, and its dangerous if Iran's rulers know how to make nuclear weapons? Are they going to perceive in the adventurous, risk-taking, brutal, and ideologically dizzied regime a true danger to themselves and their countries’ interests? Is the fact that it is a, to coin a phrase, “Tehranical” regime going to translate into an understanding of its foreign policy.

Surely, some of this has got to be sinking in, right?

But quick: how many massive street demonstrations are there in these countries condemning the trampling of the Iranian people’s rights and violent repression in tha tcountry? One-half of the reaction among students, elites, and supposed human rights' supporters to false accusations against Israel? One-fourth? One-eighth? Keep going into even smaller fractions.

And yet, it is here that the biggest and most important effect of the events in Iran might be felt. It isn’t too late to oppose Iran’s ambitions and nuclear weapons’ drive. Are people in democratic states going to wake up about the Iranian regime's threat?

The great danger is that one will be able to say regarding the effect of Iran’s current crisis:

All quiet on the Western front.

Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal.

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THE JEWISH CITIZEN

Correspondent Marmur, a Diaspora Jew, tells of the life
journey as pulpit rabbi, Zionist, that led to home in Israel

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO—If we adopt our correspondent Rabbi Dow Marmur’s terms of reference, he is now once again engaged in his fifth life, but when winter comes to Toronto, Canada, he will return to his sixth in Jerusalem.

Marmur’s memoir, Six Lives, speaks of each country where he has spent a significant portion of his existence, as one of his lives. He was born in Poland, and during World War II he was deported to the Soviet Union with his family. That accounted for his first two lives. In the post-war, the family moved to Sweden, where Marmur was schooled and where he married Fredzia, a Polish Holocaust survivor. Life number three.

Next the Marmurs went to Great Britain, where he became a pulpit rabbi and author, and they became parents of Vivica, Elizabeth and Michael Life four. Marmur developed sufficient gravitas in Great Britain, for example as chairman of the Council of Reform and Liberal Rabbis, that he was recruited as senior rabbi by one of the major congregations in Canada, Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. Life four morphed into life five.

Anyone who has served on a synagogue board or staff will recognize some of the situations and power alignments within that congregation with which Marmur had to cope after arriving in 1983 —or depending on your point of view, with which he made others cope for the next 17 years.

He was one of those rabbis who some in Reform think of as right-wing because he wore a tallit and liked the idea of c congregants wearing kippot, among other changes in the accepted way of doing things. He was unenthusiastic about Reform's decision to recognize patrilineal descent, concerned it would drive a bigger wedge among the various Jewish movements. He became quite active in the Reform movement’s Zionistic movement—the Association of Reform Zionists in America (ARZA)—but in those quarters, he was considered left-wing because of his sympathy for Palestinians.

Next he moved to Jerusalem, serving in an interim capacity as executive director of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, and eventually settling into a frenetic form of retirement, the situation in which readers of San Diego Jewish World have come to know him as a columnist. While in Jerusalem—where his son Michael is now dean of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Marmur writes a column called “From the Sidelines” in which he comments on the latest political goings-on in Israel.

He can perhaps be described as a member of the loyal opposition. Whereas some of his columns have been quite critical of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his predecessor Ehud Olmert, his obvious affection for Israel permeates the body of his work. He may disagree on this or that strategy of some of Israel’s leadership, but clearly Marmur desires a healthy , prosperous state living in peace with its Arab neighbors.

In a final chapter of his book, Marmur pondered the difference between the fear he felt as a child of German invaders bringing their Nazism to the Soviet Union, and of Soviet authorities often acting like Nazis. When he moved to Sweden, he wrote, his fear of identifiable external threats was transformed into anxiety--not about a specific threat, but as a condition of his existence.

"Anxiety is doesn't require an object, one s anxious first and then finds something to be anxious about," he wrote. "It's therefore harder to bear than fear, perhaps because outer circumstances, viewed objectively give little cause of it."

In Israel, he added, "my anxiety has reverted to fear: I know what to fear and whom to fear. I know that my Israeli grandchildren and their parents need physical protection from identifiable enemies. Even though I'm not in a position to provide for their security, I still find fear much esier to bear than nameless anxiety."

In Israel fear has an escape valve: Older Ashkenazic Israelis can talk to each other about what they had to endure during the Holocaust, and there are people who understand. In contrast, in the Diaspora, neighbors often have no real frame of reference. Similarly, in Israel one can discuss existential threats to the Jewish state, or hear them analyzed endlessly in the public media. In the Diaspora, such knowing analysis may be lacking.

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An interesting component of Marmur's book is his self-searching. He is a fairly tough critic on himself, dismissing his accomplishments as efforts to avoid failure, rather than as positive achievements. Reciting his al chets, he finds certain character flaws, among them, giving the impression of haughtiness to others--a negative character trait he diagnoses as an effort to hide his deep insecurities.

Marmur's columns, which I've been reading attentively ever since he agreed to have them carred in San Diego Jewish World, focus on his ideas about Israel, and are rarely concerned with his personal life. For those of our readers who have become as addicted to his writings as I am, this 2004 memoir published by Key Porter Books Ltd of Toronto is most welcome. It fleshes out the man behind those ideas.

Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. His email: editor@sandiegojewishworld.com

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Haganah munitions plant, food, and archaelogical site just some of the attractions San Diegans find on Israel tour

By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal

TEL AVIV—Although my home in San Diego has lovely views they do not compare to looking out the window and seeing the beaches of Tel Aviv kissing the Mediterranean Ocean! Breathing the fresh sea air was a wonderful way to begin our second full day in Israel.

Our group of 29 travelers arrived late Wednesday afternoon. We had just enough time to freshen up before walking to Maganda, one of my favorite restaurants. Maganda is owned by a Yemenite Jew whose great-grandfather many years ago opened a small kiosk in the same neighborhood to serve the needs of early immigrants. As in many traditional Mizrachi (Middle Eastern) restaurants, the feast began with never ending plates of salads followed by Moroccan "cigars" (meat stuffed tubular pastries), felafel, kabob, grilled pieces of chicken on skewers, watermelon, baklava, and mint tea. No one left hungry.

On Thursday we visited the "Ayalon Institute." Anticipating the upcoming war of Independence, the leaders of the Haganah (the precursor to today's Israel Defense Force) had sufficient weapons but little ammunition. They secretly imported vintage bullet manufacturing equipment from Poland and built an underground munitions factory on a kibbutz right under the nose of the British. They disguised the opening to the underground factory by placing it under a huge commercial washing machine that slid aside to reveal the entrance.

Manufacturing ammunition was extremely dangerous work. Not only was the process inherently dangerous but so was the potential for discovery by the British. Nevertheless, in the three years before the 1948 War of Independence this small factory managed to turn out two and one half million bullets.

Switching gears and going back centuries, we continued to Tel Maresha at Beit Guvrin. A tel is a hill that was constructed by new civilizations building on top of older ones. Tel Maresha is an active archeological site in which amateurs are invited to participate. We climbed down to hollowed out caves which were used as storage shelters by the inhabitants above. We dug into the soft dirt to expose pottery shards, animal bones, and other remains.

These "finds," which go back to the time of the Maccabees, will later be cleaned, recorded, and catalogued by professional archeologists who are attempting to learn more above the history and culture of Tel Maresha's former inhabitants.

Today (Friday) we woke up early to visit the Palmach Museum, Kikar Rabin, to say a prayer for the fallen prime minister, and the home of Yossi Lugasi, a unique self trained mosaic artist. We ended our formal day of touring at Nachalat Binyamin, Tel Aviv's famous outdoor arts and crafts market. On Fridays the area known as Nachalat Binyamin is sealed off to vehicular traffic and turned into a giant market place.

Hundreds of vendors line the street and sell everything from jewelry to pottery to stained glass. Religious and nonreligious themes are equally represented and the street is filled with people buying their last minute gifts before Shabbat arrives.

This evening we will have our own version of "Pray at the Beach" as we walk across the street to hold informal Kabbalat Shabbat services on the shore of the Mediterranean. We will join for kiddush, motzi, and a festive Shabbat meal before entering a much needed day of rest.

Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue (Conservative) in San Diego

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UC Santa Barbara ends inquiry into professor who compared Israel to Nazis in email to his students

Editor's Note: The following article was distributed by StandWithUs, an Israeli advocacy group, which is quoted within, but which is not affiliated with the public interest newsletter, Inside Higher Ed, for which it was originally written. Here is a link to the Inside Higher Ed website.

By Scott Jaschik
Inside Higher Ed

SANTA BARBARA, California—In a limited sense, the case of William I. Robinson is over.

On Wednesday, he was notified that a faculty committee had found no "probable cause" to undertake a full investigation of complaints filed against him related to e-mail messages he sent to his students in which he compared Israelis and Nazis. Further, he was notified that the administration at the University of California at Santa Barbara had accepted the faculty members' analysis, and that the case was over -- without his ever having faced formal charges before a disciplinary committee.

Supporters of Robinson, a tenured professor of sociology, agreed with those findings. But they said that grievances filed over e-mail messages sent in January should have been seen immediately as baseless, and that allowing the case to linger for months endangered the academic freedom of Robinson and others.

"We're pleased, but this decision is too late," said Yousef K. Baker, a graduate student and one of the organizers of the Committee to Defend Academic Freedom at UCSB. "I don't think it is enough for the university just to say that this case is terminated. The university needs to be held accountable for the chilling effect that their tardiness in doing what they have done now has created."

In a statement, Robinson said that he is waiting for "a public apology from the university as a first step in clearing my name after it has smeared my reputation and undermined my professional integrity." He added that he plans to file a grievance over how he was treated in the case.

The case has attracted attention far beyond Santa Barbara, with the American Association of University Professors last month calling on the university to "pause" its inquiries because of the academic freedom issues involved. Cary Nelson, national president of the AAUP, said Wednesday night that "although I am pleased that the Robinson case has been closed, I am also concerned that unnecessary investigations of faculty exercising their academic freedom are having a serious chilling effect on our more vulnerable or less courageous colleagues."

The dispute dates to an e-mail message that Robinson sent to the approximately 80 students in January in a course about sociology and globalization. The e-mail contained an article criticizing the Israeli military's actions in Gaza. Part of the e-mail was an assemblage of photos from Nazi Germany's persecution of Jews and from Israel's actions in Gaza. Students were invited to look at the "parallel images." A message from Robinson argued that Gaza would be like "Israel's Warsaw."

In February, the Anti-Defamation League's Santa Barbara office wrote to Robinson to protest the e-mail and to urge him to repudiate it. "While your writings are protected by the First Amendment and academic freedom, we rely upon our rights to say that your comparisons of Nazis and Israelis were offensive, ahistorical and have crossed the line well beyond legitimate criticism of Israel," the letter said. It went on to say that the "tone and extreme views" in his e-mail were "intimidating to students," and that using his university e-mail to send "material that appears unrelated to" his course violated university standards for faculty members.

Following that letter, two students in the course dropped the class and filed complaints against Robinson. One student wrote that she felt "nauseous" upon reading the e-mail, and felt it was inappropriate. A second student complaint accusing Robinson of being unprofessional -- also from a student who dropped the course after receiving the e-mail -- said that Robinson has "clearly stated his anti-Semitic political views in this e-mail."

Under Santa Barbara's faculty governance system, such complaints go to a "charges officer" and then -- if they are serious -- a committee may be formed, somewhat like a grand jury, to determine whether formal charges should be brought against the professor. Robinson and his supporters have maintained that the e-mail was so clearly covered by academic freedom that the faculty charges officer should have dropped the matter. Instead, a committee was formed to determine whether the charges merited consideration by the standing committee that considers such allegations and can recommend sanctions against a professor. It was that non- standing committee that determined that there was no need to bring charges for a full investigation. Under the university's rules, no official statement is released about why charges were not brought. But earlier memos suggested that the two rules Robinson was accused of violating were measures that bar faculty members from "significant intrusion of material unrelated to the course" and "use of the position or powers of a faculty member to coerce the judgment or conscience of a student or to cause harm to a student for arbitrary or personal reasons." (Many of the

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documents related to the student complaints and various university communications about the situation may be found on the Web site of the Committee to Defend Academic Freedom at UCSB.)

The position of Robinson and his supporters has been that Israel's conduct in Gaza was in every way appropriate as a topic for discussion in a class on global issues, and that the complaints filed against him were a simple case of students (and some pro- Israel groups) disagreeing with Robinson's analysis. Robinson could not be reached Wednesday, but last month he told Inside Higher Ed that the charges against him were "absolutely absurd." He noted that he is Jewish and said that he abhors anti-Semitism, and that his academic freedom is being violated by the university taking seriously charges that link his e- mail criticisms of Israel's government with anti- Semitism. "This is all because I have criticized the policies of the State of Israel."

Stand With Us, a pro-Israel group that has been organizing petition drives to back the idea of a full investigation of Robinson, issued a statement Wednesday night questioning the university's decision. "We are surprised and disappointed that UCSB chose not to uphold their standards for professional conduct, and that it has blurred the lines between responsible education and the peddling of propaganda. It is unfortunate that students will continue to be victims of partisan indoctrination and misinformation," said the statement, from Roz Rothstein, international director of the organization.

The Stand With Us Web site features analysis on why the group does not feel Robinson's e-mail should be protected by academic freedom. "We applaud the UCSB administration's decision to investigate whether Robinson abused the Faculty Code of Conduct guidelines. This investigation is critical for stemming the politicization of academia and the rising academic support for anti-Israel propaganda," says the Web site (in a posting that does not reflect Wednesday's news that the investigation is over). "The administration will be under intense political pressure from those who oppose the investigation. Let the administration know that there is also strong public support for their decision."

The Academic Senate at the university has passed a resolution to study how this investigation was handled -- and many faculty members have questioned whether the process used was appropriate, with many critics noting that pro-Israel groups have encouraged criticism of Robinson.

Paul Desruisseaux, associate vice chancellor for public affairs at Santa Barbara, said that because this case is a personnel matter, the university would have no comment on the case. He said that it was important to note that the university "places great importance on the defense of academic freedom," but that academic freedom "does not exempt a faculty member from the provisions of the faculty Code of Conduct," or limit the ability of people inside or outside the university to file grievances.

Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, blogged in support of the university's decision Wednesday. "Stripped of the jargon of sociology and the politicization of the issue by both sides, the question becomes whether or not the professor in what essentially amounts to a global politics class can give his opinions about global politics," he said. "While many of his critics would prefer to see the Professor Robinsons of the world denied this right, in the end, we all benefit from classroom and academic discussions in which the exchange of ideas is as free as possible."

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San Diego County and California Jewish news and publicity

Two prayer vigils planned Monday
to get the attention of Legislature

SAN DIEGO -- Two interfaith prayer vigils will be conducted at noon Monday to urge the Legislature to give buget priority to programs that serve children, the disabled and the unemployed, according to Rabbi Laurie Coskey, executive director of the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice in San Diego County.

Coskey said those participating in the prayer vigils also will fast during the day to further emphasize to the Legislature "the hardships state budget cuts will inflict on patients, clinics and other community members on the margins of society."

One vigil will be held from noon to 1 p.m. at the Comprehensive Health Center, 286 Euclid Avenue, San Diego, CA 92114. The other will be conducted simultaneously at Vista Community Clinic, 1000 Vale Terrace, Vista, CA 92084.

Under California's state Constitution, the Legislature is supposed to have a budget adopted before by June 30--the end of the fiscal year.

Preceding provided by the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice in San Diego County

Poizner says prosecutors need discretion to decide if a crime is
a felony or a misdemeanor

SACRAMENTO (Press Release)—Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner on Thurssay warned Sacramento policymakers that their proposal to eliminate the discretion that prosecutors currently have to classify dozens of crimes – including types of insurance fraud – as either a felony or a misdemeanor and instead make them all misdemeanors would have the unintended consequence of severely eroding the state’s efforts to fight insurance fraud and convict criminals.

“Fighting insurance fraud is a complex and time-consuming task,” said Commissioner Poizner. “Luckily, we have hundreds of the most dedicated sworn police officers at the Department of Insurance who fight insurance fraud every day. This proposal would severely limit their ability to go after career criminals, making simple and complex illegal enterprises much harder to prosecute -- and in the process let criminals off the hook.”

This change in the classification of crimes will have at least three unintended consequences related to fighting insurance fraud, including:

Search warrants can only be served in felony cases. If types of insurance fraud are deemed a misdemeanor, search warrants cannot be issued and executed.

The statute of limitations is much shorter for misdemeanors. For a felony, the statute of limitations is at least three years from the date the crime was discovered. For a misdemeanor, the statute of limitation is one year from the date of the crime – in many cases the crime is not uncovered until years after the act occurred, rendering prosecution impossible.

There are a number of recent, high-profile cases that could not have been prosecuted under the new proposal.

“The costs of insurance fraud are ultimately paid for by consumers,” said Commissioner Poizner. “I hope the policymakers carefully consider the unintended consequences of this action and ultimately remove this provision from the budget proposal. California should not send criminals the message that they have a free pass for illegal activity because of the state’s budget woes.”

Letters

Jews not immune from bigotry

Editor, San Diego Jewish World:

I have read your (Donald H. Harrison's) piece on "Live and Become" with interest. I have also seen the film, and agree with your sentiments. We Jews are not insulated from being bigots.

In fact I can add to the tale, from what I saw with my own eyes,
when during the war in the ghetto/concentration camp, with everyone being in the same mess, German Jews looked down on Polish Jews, who in turn looked down on those from Latvia and Lithuania.

When Jews from Europe arrived in Australia in the late 1930's the
local Anglo-Jewish establishment looked down on them and treated them with condescension at best or with contempt in most instances

Yes, while we often pride ourselves as being "People of the
Book," unfortunately much too often we fail to read the message in
the Book and act accordingly towards our fellow Jews.

Garry Fabian
Melbourne, Australia

MYD CHAI deciphered?

Editor, San Diego Jewish World:

I'm pretty sure MYD CHAI means mid life. I enjoy your paper very much, especially the San Diego Jewish History section. It's fun to read about the people I knew as a child.

Susan Brooks
San Diego

Jewish Community creates fund
to help those in economic need

SAN DIEGO (Press Release)—The San Diego Jewish Community Economic Recovery Fund was established in the spring of 2009 by the Jewish Community Foundation and United Jewish Federation in response to extensive and profound needs related to the economic downturn, acknowledged by Jewish community leaders from a broad spectrum of Jewish institutions in San Diego County.

The Fund Goals are as follows:

To reduce the effect of the economic crisis on individuals and families in the San Diego Jewish Community through critical assistance that will help stabilize personal and family situations.

To strengthen San Diego Jewish organizations, synagogues and schools and enhance their ability to respond to the economic crisis.

To promote a caring, inclusive, and embracing Jewish community.

For more information about the San Diego Jewish Community Economic Recovery Fund, please call 858.571.3444.

Preceding provided by United Jewish Federation

Cyber-Referral

Larry Gorfine spotted this story in the sports section of the San Diego Union-Tribune about a rabbi who is also a professional boxer. If he serves a congregation, his board just might be hesitant to criticize him!

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Bible in Pop Culture: Trees of the Field

Genesis 2:5

Now all the trees of the field were not yet on the earth and all the herb of the field had not yet sprouted for Hashem God had not sent rain upon the earth and there was no man to work the soil.

Illustration at left is of the "trees of the Field (Guide)" :-)

* * *

Do you have a photo that you think illustrates how a biblical verse has worked its way into pop culture. Please send it to us for possible publication in this series, "The Bible in Pop Culture."

You may send your jpg photo for posting online to us at San Diego Jewish World, emailing it to editor@sandiegojewishheritage.com.

If possible, please send it at 72dpi resolution and 400 pixels wide. Please include the name of the photographer, the date and place the photo was taken, and any other relevant caption information.

For our growing "Pop Bible" collection please see Bible in pop culture index

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REFLECTIONS

Some color in otherwise dismal arts education picture

By Sheila Orysiek

SAN DIEGO—“Your tax dollars at work” is a familiar sign alongside various highway construction projects – but seldom do we see the results in a gratifying way such as the smiles of accomplishment on the faces of children. Our tax dollars work best when married to the initiative of the private sector and the passion of people who love what they are doing and want to share and pass that blessing on.

Steven Wistrich, Artistic Director of City Ballet of San Diego, is committed to spreading the joy which the performing arts impart to those who partake as well as those who observe. Too often in dismal economic circumstances the first to feel the axe of budget constraint are the arts in both sustaining performing companies and education. But the need for art is intrinsic in the human spirit – whether as drawings on ancient cave walls or in the hallowed proscenium theater. I don’t think it is an accident that in my fairly extensive travels one of the poorest places I visited – Port au Prince, Haiti – was also the richest in art; down on the street art – but still beautiful art.

Each year City Ballet has a series of guest teachers giving a series of “summer intensive” ballet classes which culminates with a student performance. Three years ago when they performed at Hamilton Elementary School, a resource teacher at the school and the principal, Lillie K. McMillan, saw an opportunity for their students. An ardent advocate for arts education, McMillan approached Wistrich and proposed a joint venture. Using a grant from the California Arts Council, Wistrich teamed up with Hamilton’s own PTO. The school dedicated a room for ballet classes and raised funds to provide ballet slippers. City Ballet provided the teachers and portable barres. Hamilton is in the City Heights area of San Diego which is economically challenged with a widely diverse population.

A one hour weekly ballet class, for a total of 29 weeks, was given to the entire second grade. This age group was chosen because the children are mature enough to comply with group instruction but have not as yet solidified any particular bias about performing arts which might inhibit their full attention. Understanding the need for both genders to be represented, the dance room was decorated with posters of male and female ballet dancers and male and female teachers were selected to conduct the classes.

The children of the second grade took this class not as an extra-curricular activity, or on a volunteer basis, but as a fully integrated segment of their general education. School principal McMillan wisely knew that this would give it the importance it deserved as well as fulfill the state mandated requirement for arts education in the school curriculum. This is the second year of this program and whether it continues is contingent upon further grants being obtained by City Ballet.

In a telephone conversation McMillan told me that this is often the only way for many children in this economic demographic to see and or participate in an art form such as ballet – and for the parents to have the opportunity to see their children learn and appreciate the arts. The school has also raised funds for buses to transport the student body to various arts functions including ballet performances in a

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theater, trips to museums, etc. This also ultimately educates the adults – teachers and families – as they begin to experience an art form close at hand.

McMillan also expressed to me her thanks to City Ballet for taking on this responsibility and opening up doors which might otherwise remain closed. Other arts activity at the school include: theater, music and creative dance.

The culmination for this year’s ballet study was presented in two performances on June 25, 2009 in the multi-use room of the Hamilton School to the applause of the entire student body as well as parents and friends. They used Mary O’Neill’s delightful poem “Hailstones and Halibut Bones” wonderfully read by John Nettles, who not only taught the ballet classes with Ellen Davis, but also composed the original music played by the young and talented musicians of the Bunnell Strings.

With girls in pink slippers and boys in white, each group of approximately twenty children (five groups in all) wore color coordinated t-shirts. The program’s theme of “Adventures in Color” - yellow, blue, orange, green and red – were danced and mimed to the words of the poem. The choreography was by necessity – given the technical level to be expected after only 29 one hour lessons – kept simple, but was clear and well defined using basic ballet concepts of tendu (stretching out and returning the foot) and plié in first position and then moving into a small jump, skipping and chassé (sliding step) en diagonal.

The port de bras (movement of the arms) was well thought out and nicely done. Everything was well coordinated, everyone knew what to do, where to be – and most of all looked comfortable and happy with the experience.
Having run a program for ten years such as this in the Spring Valley School District (also an economically challenged area) I am very much aware of the difficulties encountered and the tremendous amount of care, time and effort it takes to move so many children through even the simplest dance design.

City Ballet also has a program at the City Heights Public Library where those children who wish to pursue dance study can enroll for a nominal registration fee. Class size is limited to fifteen (which is optimal for ballet) and there is a waiting list. Should a child wish to further study he/she is filtered into the ballet classes at City Ballet’s studios. This provides a means for a child to enter a world in which art is the watchword no matter the wallet.

The program at the Hamilton Elementary School this is team effort and needs support and cooperation on every level; faculty, staff, administration, parents and community. In the end, everyone participating benefits as does society as a whole. McMillan informed me that the school is already in the process of raising funds to buy ballet slippers for next year’s second grade.

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nancy.harrison@americasvacationcenter.com

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Book Serialization

I'm still here ... Memoirs of Laura Simon, 103

Editor's Note: Today San Diego Jewish World continues the-weekly serialization of I'm Still Here by Laura Simon, a San Diego resident who is still going strong at 103. She wrote this book to mark her 100th birthday.

We will maintain a list of links to the installments of her story on Laura Simon's archive page, which can be accessed any day of the week through the "authors" pulldown tab below our masthead. Laura, who once painted canvases in vivid colors, today is legally blind, so she is unable to read e-mail. However, she says anyone who wishes to contact her may do so through the e-mail of her son, New York playwright Mayo Simon at mayosimon@aol.com The book may be purchased via its publisher's website, www.montezumapublishing.com or via Amazon or Barnes & Noble's websites.

Dinah, My Stepmother

On Potomac Avenue, my father is at our door again. He’s giving my mother the five dollars; a different man -- white shirt, bow tie, his dark penetrating eyes shining with joy, his black hair combed to a side, smoking his cigar -- a rich man suddenly, proud of all that smoke he is creating in the air while telling my mother that she is now a free woman. She can go and marry someone else as he has done, a prayer with a closed hand to his chest, grateful for his new wife, the prize of the
Northwest side. And she sings like a bird. Comes from a doctor family -- that will be good for Laura.

“So I want her to come and stay with us for a while.”

“Just for a few days maybe,” my mother said, already back in the house rushing around for clothes for me to take along, to get the bubbe dress ready, ironed to put over me, tied this time with a ribbon so that it doesn’t look that big gathered at the waist. Before turning me and the satchel over to my father waiting at the bottom of the steps, she looked again at her hair, comparing it to the photograph on the wall, taken when her hair was still shiny and black. Her step was light as if she
were going along, away from the forever fishy smell, the smell of horse dung, the peddlers, the crowing chickens, the crowds.

“You’ll have streudel and wedding songs,” a good-bye kiss. “You’ll have a good time.”

The door closed behind her.

We’re going on a streetcar. I’m going someplace with a satchel, someplace away from medicine and cod liver oil. I was going with my father into his new life. As a monkey does, I did too,
a closed hand to my chest, to my father’s God.

I had a torn feeling that I had left my mother in that washed-out house dress, saying over and over again, “When the Meshiach comes,” as if my father was there listening “while I’m on my hands and knees with paper and wood for the stove in middle winter in the dark so you can be warm when
you talk to God. And just call me Ida or Chaya and never mind the Esther, Queen. When the Meshiach comes.”

Finally off the streetcar.

“And you’ll have a dog to play with,” my father said as we walked up the stairs into his flat of riches to a splendor I had never seen before, green-blue velour drapes tied to a side with a gold cordand tassels, green-blue, the color of my mother’s eyes, green-blue, as though she had followed us so she could be with me; maybe to remind my father’s prize to give me that tablespoon of cod-liver oil.

She came prancing to the door to welcome us, “Oh, so you brought her, Gott sei dank, Eddie.” Her hands pressed closely to her. Was she praying too? Looking at my father’s narrowing eyes, a twitch of a smile through anger.

“She belongs in America too,” he said.

She patted me on the head giving her approval. “Sit down. Make yourself to home.”

Surprising me when quickly stepping over to my father where he sat on green-blue plush with pillows that she made sure were plumped up, leaning him back. “There. Comfortable? God forgiveyou shouldn't be comfortable.” Going behind him to kiss the back of his collar. Swinging around and giving her hand that he kissed happily. “Liebe.”

“Of course, I have for you love, too, and for you Laura, my sweetheart,” prancing over to me,

“I’m your new mother,” a hard pat to my head with a whiff of rose perfume like my mother brought from the dime store when she worked part-time sometimes; her hands smelling of freshly killed chickens when she touched my face, then to smooth her hair all the way down her back swinging
with a quick jerk like a horse’s tail, stopping at an ornate mirror to count her teeth; then disappearinginto the kitchen, my father calling out, “Liebe? It’s roasting?”

“Sure,” she called out loudly, “day and night, sure, just for you,” letting out a “Laura” that sounded just like my Aunt Bessie when she let go:

“Jelly bread and jelly all day long for you kids!”

My new mother was calling, taking me away from Aunt Bessie, “Laura, Eddie, it’s ready so put away the cigar for a change,” a pot banging on the stove, “the stink in here is terrible.” And like an old pitiful horse, over-worked, over-tired, ready to collapse from spooning some scrambled eggs on our plates, klopping her spoon on the table, “So eat.”

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My father’s sharp eyes held me quiet. Was I showing signs of the fighting at our table about us having more on our plates than his, considering that he was a slave worker in the shop for her, paying twelve cents for bread when the eleven cent one was just as good. Satisfied with my empty stare he stood up and said a prayer over the bread. Dinah, pleased by the prayerful sounds, looked at him tenderly. I looked down at the slice of bread and wondered if it cost too much to eat. Could she be that interested in me?

“My cousin-doctor is coming to take a look at you. He’s an expert.” No sooner said he’s walking in, my father yelling at Dinah, “I’m not a millionaire.” The doctor glanced over at Dinah, holding his black case close under his arm.

“The kitchen is no place to examine this child. I have an office.” Turned and walked out.

Dinah to show her anger threw an empty cup at the wall saying, “I married you for differentreasons. I thought you were a big sport.” My father quickly jumped up to dance around her.
“Liebe.”

“Liebe yourself. You want her to stay here? And I should be the cook? And her mother is on a vacation? Your Queen Esther? Out to find herself another king? She can take Laura with her.

Didn’t you ever see how a chimpanzee acts when they take the monkey away from her? Weren't you ever at a zoo?”

She suddenly stopped to wonder about the yelping dog in the yard. Running out and down the few stairs. “Enough. Enough. Stop that barking.” My father and I already on the porch leaning over the railing watching her struggle with the dog.

“You bad boy. You bad boy you.” The dog stops and crouches down, has a changed mind and jumps up and gives a good loud answer. She’ll fix the both of them. She leaves him and his temper, heads for the basement door.

“You’re opening the store now?” he asked.

“Yes. I’m sending you home with a present for her -- the bottom fertel. If you think good you do good. That’s me.”

Hanging over the porch, he says, “You got so smart all of a sudden.”“You shmendrick! You shnorrer!”

“Me or the dog?”

“You! You nothing hiding the schnaps in the shisel of feathers to make the chickens crazy.”

“I knew I would have trouble. Everything left what I had to come here to walk into your beautiful view -- trees, flowers, and grass and a picture of Buckington Palace, short of money.”
The dog growling at him.

“High class. You drank the good stuff and put water in the bottle.”

Jumping from Dinah’s hand at the collar to growl closer to us. Dinah holding him back with great effort.

“Sweetheart,” she pleaded, quieting her beloved who listened to her whimpering, “Never married I didn’t stay smart,” patting the head, “and now no children to bless me,” kissing the dog all over. “No you don’t,” as he tries to get into the store with her. “Marrying you! Come down and help here. All I got from you was broken English.”

“All I know are Slavicks and Russian Jews!” my father yelled back at her, the dog going wild inbarking, not knowing who to chew up first.

“Quiet,” she says to the dog. Chickens wake up and the dog is down there to get them. “No, you don’t,” pushing the dog away. He backs off, comes at her. He smells chicken, too.
“No, you can’t go in there! No, you bad boy.”

My father cries out, “God of the Universe.”

“Ask Him for a lawyer for a divorce. You’re experienced.” The dog taking a nip at her leg.

“You hound, look what you did.” He growls. “What do you want me to do? Master of the Universe. It’s your dog.”

Kids running into the yard yelling. “The dog catchers are coming. Look, she’s foaming at the mouth,” scrambling away in every direction.

“You meshuggener.”

I’m wondering -- to my father or the dog who doesn’t understand Yiddish.

“Enough! Enough!” To quiet the wild barking. “Go back to Potomac Avenue to your greeners. To the wife who misses you.”

The dog catchers with a net on a long handle. The dog goes wild. He’s going to eat them up. Isaw a horse jumping up wild once and I ran and hid.

“We got him!”

“My poodle. My poor poodle.” Crying. “Don’t take him. I have for him love.”

“And we’re taking her too,” one of the men said. “Taking her to the doctor.”

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Adventures in San Diego Jewish History

Birdie Stodel to Hold
Fashion Show June 8
Southwestern Jewish Press May 29, 1953 Page 3

The next regular meeting will be a Luncheon and Fashion Show to be held Monday, June 8th, at 12 noon at Temple Center. Be sure to attend, to see the chic and moderately priced clothes to be shown. Program Chairman Thelma Weiss promises an entertaining afternoon.

Calendar—June
Southwestern Jewish Press May 29, 1953 Page 3

3rd—Hadassah Donor Luncheon—El Cortez Hoel—12 noon.
4th—Pioneer Women Installation—Beth Jacob Center—12 noon.
6th—City of Hope Jr. Aux. Installation, Dinner-Dance—El Morocco—9:00 p.m.
6th—Beth Jacob P.T.A. Card Party—Beth Jacob Center—8:30 p.m.
7th—Jewish Labor Com. Program Celebration, Warsaw Ghetto—Beth Jacob.
9th—Tifereth Israel Sisterhood Installation—11:30 a.m.
11th—N.C.J.W. Installation and Luncheon—Manor Hotel—12 noon.
12th, 13th, 14th—Calif. J.W.V. and Aux. Convention—Hotel Del Coronado.
20th—B’nai B’rith “Cotton Ball”—Beth Jacob Center.
21st—Pioneer Women Donor Dinner—Manor Hotel.
24th—B’nai B’rith “Youth of Year” Presentation—Roosevelt Jr. Hi.
31st—Beth Jacob Picnic—Pepper Grove—10:30 a.m.

N.C.J.W. Members Attend workshop In Los Angeles
Southwestern Jewish Press May 29, 1953 Page 4

Several members to the new board of the National Council of Jewish Women, San Diego section, attended a Council workshop in Los Angeles Thursday, May 21 at which Council’s purposes and program for the coming year were discussed.
San Diegans present were: Mrs. Milton Roberts, newly elected president for the local section; and Mesdames David Doctor, Robert Speigel, George Uris, Harry Haimsohn, William Schwartz, Sidney Smith.

Plans are being made for this group’s formal installation to be held Thursday, June 11 at a noon luncheon in the Manor Hotel. Mrs. Samuel Friedman will be installing officer; Chaplain Murray Blackman from Camp Pendleton will give the opening prayer.

The theme for the event will be “Council Futurama” and Council’s program will be explained through the slogan “Council’s Future Is Human Welfare the World Over.”

Picnic and Conclave
For City of Hope
Southwestern Jewish Press May 29, 1953 Page 4

Due to ill health Sophie Himmel has resigned as first Vice President, and we are happy to announce that Ethel Berwin has been elected to complete the term. Delegates elected to the coming Convention of City of Hope, to be held the 4th of July weekend at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, are Ruth Aronoff, Pres., Charter Delegate, Ethel Berwin, Ruth Douglas, and Fanny Addleson, Jean Camiel is going as Honorary Guest of the Sanitorium, as founder of the Jr. Auxiliary during her term.

Plans are under way for the Annual Picnic, which again will be held at the Beth Jacob Center. Anyone wishing to volunteer, call Mrs. L. Addleson, T.1-1748 in charge of contributions; Mrs. Anne Shelley, W. 5-2566, in charge of Foods; and Mrs. Sam Rassin, in charge of Door Prizes and Raffle Tickets. Be sure to mark Sunday, July 12, on your calendar for this wonderful Indoor Picnic and enjoy yourself from 12 noon to 12 midnite. There will be good times, good food, and good values, for your pleasure.

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Jewish War Veterans
Southwestern Jewish Press May 29, 1953 Page 4

Jewish War Veterans Post 185 and Auxiliary will hold their regular business meeting Monday, June 1st at 8:30 p.m. at War Memorial Bldg., Balboa Park.

As Memorial Day falls on Saturday the Post will hold Memorial Services on Sunday May 31st at 11 a.m. at Home of Peace Cemetery. Rabbi Morton J. Cohn, Post Chaplain will officiate.

The Department of California Jewish War Veterans Posts and Auxiliaries 1953 Convention will be held June 12, 13 and 14th at Hotel Del Coronado. Memorial Services will be conducted by Rabbi Monroe Levens, Friday evening, 8 p.m., June 12th at Hotel Del Coronado. The public is invited to attend this service.

No social meeting will be held in June by San Diego Post 185 and Auxiliary due to the Convention.

Dedication of Ark and
Synagogue Postponed
Southwestern Jewish Press May 29, 1953 Page 5

At the last meeting of the Beth Jacob Board of Directors it was resolved to postpone dedication ceremonies of the Synagogue and its newly completed Holy Ark, originally set for July 26, to Chanukkah, Sunday December 6, 1953. A Special Committee consisting of representatives of all Beth Jacob affiliates has been appointed. Dr. A. P. Nasatir and his charming wife, Ida, have agreed to be chairmen for the Dedication, which promises to be an outstanding and memorable event in the annals of the fabulous growth of the Beth Jacob Synagogue.

Beth Jacob Picnic, Bazaar Sunday, May 31— A combined picnic and bazaar of the congregation and its Sunday School will be held on Sunday, May 31st in Pepper Grove, Balboa Park, beginning at 10:30 a.m. The Committee plans to approach members and friends of the Synagogue for merchandise to be auctioned at the bazaar.

For further information please contact Ann Shelley.

Beth Jacob P.T.A. Card Party Saturday, June 6
Beth Jacob P.T.A. will hold a card party Saturday night, June 6 at 8:30 p.m. at the Beth Jacob Center. Proceeds to be used exclusively for our Religious School. Spend an enjoyable evening with us, and help our school to expand.

Tifereth Israel Services
Southwestern Jewish Press May 29, 1953 Page 5

Through the Summer months, Sabbath Services at Tifereth Israel will be held according to the following schedule:

Friday Evenings at 8:00 p.m.—A brief Worship Service only.

Saturday Mornings at 8:30 a.m. —Regular Saturday Morning worship.

Saturday Evenings one hour before Sunset—Minha Service.

The daily Minyan meets for Morning Worship, Sundays at 8:00 a.m. and weekdays at 7:30 a.m.—Evening Service by arrangement.

Deceased {Sarah Gershon}
Southwestern Jewish Press May 29, 1953 Page 5

Mrs. Sarah Gershon, 75, passed away on May 19th. She had been a resident of San Diego since 1914. Services were conducted by Rabbi Monroe Levens on May 21st in the Lewis colonial Mortuary. Burial was at the Home of peace Cemetery.

Survivors include two daughters, Mrs. Mary Kantor and Mrs. Harry B. Sugarman, and a son, Phil, all of San Diego, and a daughter, Mrs. Lester Scott, and a son, Dan, both of Los Angeles.

“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.