The Circuit

In Memory of Meyerhof

The Otto Meyerhof Medical Center was dedicated last month at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Meyerhof was a pioneer biochemist who discovered the fixed relationship between the consumption of oxygen and the metabolism of lactic acid in muscles. Together with English physiologist A.V. Hill, Meyerhof won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for 1922. Forced to flee Germany during Hitler’s rise, Meyerhof moved to the United States in 1940. He was made research professor of physiological chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, where he worked until his death in 1951. Meyerhof’s three children — Dr. Geoffrey Meyerhof of Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia; Dr. Bettina Emerson of Bellevue Hospital in Bellevue, Wash.; and Dr. Walter Meyerhof of Stanford University — spoke at the recent dedication.

Meyerhof’s grandson, Burbank resident David Meyerhof, an LAUSD teacher for 24 years, teaches at Nightingale Middle School in Highland Park. “I was very happy that my grandfather, who was Jewish, was being honored by the country that expelled him 66 years ago,” David Meyerhof said.

Steinberg to Speak at Gala

California Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg will address Gateways Hospital and Mental Health Center’s mid-year dinner May 31 at the Olympic Collection in West L.A. Gateways, which serves homeless emotionally disturbed adolescents and mentally ill offenders, has found a kindred spirit in Steinberg, who has crafted legislation dealing with the homeless mentally ill. For more information on the midyear dinner, chaired by Myles Weiss, contact Ken Weinberg at (323) 644-2000, ext. 263.

The Celebration Continues

Israel Consul General Yuval Rotem and his wife, Miri, hosted a Beverly Hills Hotel reception to mark Israel’s 53rd anniversary.

The normally exuberant celebration was dampened by continuing fighting in Israel, but, as Rotem noted, “The Jewish people have always lived with tragedy alongside triumph.” He added, “There is no alternative to eventual reconciliation between Jews and Arabs.”

Soprano Hila Plitman led a rousing rendition of “Hallelujah” by M.C. Mike Burstyn and Oshrat. — Tom Tugend, Contributing Editor

Next Stop: The Laugh Factory?

Sen. Joseph Lieberman proved he lost none of his wit on the long campaign trail as Democratic vice presidential candidate when he addressed 400 supporters of the Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life at USC.

While delivering the Carmen and Louis Warschaw Distinguished Lecture, Lieberman designated as his favorite campaign slogan a hand-lettered sign held by a Latina that proclaimed, “Viva Chutzpah.” Runner-up slogan: “Lox and Load” for the Lieberman-Buchanan “ticket” in the mixed-up Florida election.

On a more serious note, the Connecticut senator accused the Bush administration of supporting a policy of what Lieberman called “unilateral disengagement” in foreign affairs and global environmental concerns. — T.T.

Virtual Becomes a Reality

Agnes and Rabbi Erwin Herman will help establish a virtual resource center at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR). The center will be dedicated to the memory of their son, Jeff Herman, and will be committed to promote inclusiveness and sensitivity within the Jewish community to lesbians and gay men and their needs.

Marathon Man

Let’s give it up for “Marathon” Marty Lipstein, the Bronx-born, 80-year-old former marathon runner and health advocate who was honored with an “Eighty Plus One” public birthday party at Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, sponsored by Los Angeles Alliance for Survival.

Putting the “Fun” in Fundraising

Jack and Blanche Howard will be honored at Israel Cancer Research Fund Goes to the Races, a Hollywood Park fundraiser that aims to fully fund the $25,000 Patty Franklin Fellowship established for outstanding cancer researchers. The fundraiser will take place June 10. Lou and Cathy Rosenmayer will chair the event….

Wilshire Boulevard Temple Elementary School and Mann Family Early Childhood Center will hold its annual fundraiser at Hollywood’s Garden of Eden on May 19….

“Laughing Matters,” a Los Angeles Free Clinic fundraiser hosted by Renee Taylor and including Cindy Williams, Sally Struthers and JoAnne Worley in a panel showcasing the trials and tribulations of comediennes, sold out, attracting 350 people to the event at the Wyndham Bel Age Hotel.

Transition, Transition, Transition

The Real Estate and Construction Division (REC) of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles honored Mark Weinstein of MJW Investments, who stepped down as the division’s chair after more than two years in the position. Brad Luster of Major Properties was installed as the new REC Division Chair.

Men of Honor

The Santa Monica Bay Area Region of the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) paid tribute to Dr. Stu Bernstein among the honorees at the human relations organization’s 41st Annual Humanitarian Awards. Bernstein has been an active champion of diversity and outreach within the Los Angeles school district and has served many organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Committee. He also co-founded LAUSD’s Multicultural Coalition of Administrator Groups and programs such as the Black/Jewish Youth Experience….

BSA Honor

Westside community leader Dr. Jerome Tamkin received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, one of the highest honors presented by the Boy Scouts of America, at the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills. Tamkin, a longtime supporter of the organization, has funded the Handicapable Special Needs Program of Scouting since its 1990 inception. He has also contributed to various Jewish organizations, including the Jewish Home for the Aging, Bureau of Jewish Education, Vista Del Mar, Stephen S. Wise Temple and Milken Community High School….

Joshua Fellow

Daniel Greyber, a fourth-year rabbinical student at University of Judaism, was awarded the Joshua Ventura Fellowship for his entrepreneurial efforts launching Lisman, a six-week egalitarian summer yeshiva program for students ages 18-25.

A Fair to Remember

Kadima Hebrew Academy seventh-grader Michael Goldrich took second place in the physiology section of the junior division of the 51st Annual Los Angeles County Science Fair. Also garnering honorable mentions: the Woodland Hills’ school’s Jonathan Glicksberg, seventh grade, and David Levi, sixth grade. n

Honorable Mentions

Jona Goldrich, founding partner of Goldrich & Kest and prominent philanthropist, will be honored by Real Estate & Construction Division of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. The gala will take place May 31 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills. Stephen S. Wise Temple will honor Dafna Presnell at the Skirball Cultural Center’s new Ahmanson Hall. For more information, call Harriet Zolan at (310) 889-2232.

Bureau of Jewish Education’s Leyb Nathanson Torah Mitzvah Awards Committee will present its 16th Annual Student Recognition Awards program at Temple Isaiah’s Social Hall in Los Angeles. For more information, call (323) 761-8640 or visit www.bjela.org.

The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at University of Judaism will present the Rabbi Simon Greenberg Award for Lifelong Achievement in the Rabbinate to Rabbi Mordecai Waxman at its third annual ordination ceremony May 21 at Sinai Temple. The honor is in recognition of Waxman’s efforts on behalf of interfaith relations.

Exhibiting Sensitivity

From May 3 — July 4, the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust will exhibit the winning entries of the Jay Shalmoni Holocaust Arts and Writing Exhibit, which enlisted students to creatively interpret their meeting Holocaust survivors. A reception for the artists will take place on the evening of May 22. For more information, call (323) 761-8170. For a list of winners, go to www.remembertoteach.com .