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Lifecycles

An Artistic Homage to Big Brother

Naomi Pfefferman January 29, 2004

Not many artists begin an ambitious new series at 76, but Arnold Mesches did just that after receiving a large box stuffed with FBI documents in 1999. It had taken the Jewish American painter three years and dozens of letters to obtain the 760-page dossier, his FBI file from 1945 to 1972. The papers — obtained under the Freedom of Information Act — chronicle his left-wing activities from the Communist red scare of the 1950s to the Vietnam War era.\n\n

Vista Del Mar’s Grand Dame

Michael Aushenker January 29, 2004

Ruth Shuken\’s backyard is a floral wonderland. Shuken, who turns 94 on July 4, strolls through aisles of roses, lilacs and azaleas. Her green thumb has also served her well in cultivating a garden of mitzvahs.\n\nShuken\’s Beverlywood manor, which she has called home for 55 years, is a short drive from Vista Del Mar, the place she has served for more than five decades. Vista Del Mar operates on a $32 million annual budget to assist teens from troubled backgrounds.

Making Sense of My Mother’s Death

Rabbi Eli Hecht January 29, 2004

Recently, I was working at my school office planning a day of classes and interviews when I was notified of an incoming call from New York. It was my cousin, Shion, a hospital chaplain and a fine rabbi.

\”Have you heard the news?\” he asked.

I thought his voice sounded pensive and without waiting for an answer he went on to say, \”There has been a fire, your mother didn\’t make it and your father is in the hospital.\”

Aging: A Jewish Community Issue

Molly Forrest January 29, 2004

When I first met Sarah, she was bent over her walker intently making her way through the gardens of the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging (JHA). While her steps were merely a shuffle, her brown eyes were lively.

I often walk through our Grancell Village and Eisenberg Village campuses to visit with our 800 residents. I frequently ask the question: \”What makes the Jewish Home Jewish?\”

Sarah had a ready answer.

The Yiddish Guide to Retirement Planning

Les Abromovitz January 29, 2004

When I help my mom with her banking, she\’ll invariably talk to me in Yiddish to avoid anyone overhearing the details of her financial situation. Unfortunately, I\’m in the dark as well, just as I was growing up when she and my Dad spoke Yiddish at the dinner table to avoid disclosure of secrets they wanted to keep.

Helping Your Parent Defeat Depression

Dr. Rachelle Zukerman December 18, 2003

For elderly people, mild disappointments and grief can set off depression. According to estimates from the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 750,000 older Californians suffer from depression each year. Put in another way, 50 percent of all seniors will endure a depression at some point in their later years.

Depression can affect the entire family — but the family can also help intervene.

Myriad Options for Senior Living

Nancy Sokoler Steiner October 30, 2003

At the ages of 83 and 84, Rose and Sam Leff began to feel isolated in their two-bedroom Woodland Hills apartment. \”We had given up driving, so there really wasn\’t too much for us to do,\” Rose said.

The Leffs decided to move to a residential care facility at the Jewish Home for the Aging, which provides kosher meals, housekeeping services, transportation, social and recreational activities and a medical clinic on-site. While they agree it was difficult adjusting to living in one room (\”If we have a fight, I\’m out in the hall,\” Sam joked), four years later, they have no regrets about their decision.

Sandwiched Between Generations

Nancy Sokoler Steiner October 30, 2003

Like many working mothers, Rose Ziff was already spread pretty thin when she took on care-giving responsibility for her 85-year-old mother. The Culver City resident works full time as an administrator at UCLA. She and her husband, Ron, are raising two daughters, ages 12 and 10, and dealing with their younger daughter\’s recent autism diagnosis. In her limited discretionary time, Ziff was co-leading the 10-year-old\’s Brownie troop, serving on her synagogue\’s board of directors and co-chairing the religious school\’s parent association. In April, Ziff added another ball in the air by moving her mother, Evelyn Goldman, from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Widows, Widowers Seek Ways to Cope

Gaby Wenig July 31, 2003

When Esther Goshen-Gottstein\’s husband of 39 years died, she felt like her world had crumbled. \”The bottom had fallen out my life, as in an earthquake, when the ground on which one has stood firmly for years suddenly collapses,\” she writes in \”Surviving Widowhood\” (Gefen, 2002).

Lunch at Langer’s With Eddie and Irv

Hank Rosenfeld July 31, 2003

e Fridays, if I\’m lucky, I get to eat pastrami with Irv and Eddie at Langer\’s, the great old delicatessen on Seventh and Alvarado streets across from MacArthur Park. Irv and Eddie are in their 80s, so the fight over the check begins before they even order anything.

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