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Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

May 14, 1998

Bagel Factory Wages

Leave a Comment / Community, Old Stories /

These days, the CEOs of Noah’s New York Bagels andWestern Bagels may be getting less sleep at night, thanks to theBagel Factory.

The kosher-certified chain, billing itself as”Simply The Best,” threw down the gauntlet in the battle for bagelshop supremacy last month, opening it’s newest outlet on the busycorner of Sunset Boulevard and La Brea Avenue. The high noon grandopening unfolded with a ribbon-cutting ceremony inaugurated by theHollywood Chamber of Commerce and much musical fanfare, courtesy ofthe Hollywood High School Sheiks Marching Band.

“I just had the greatest peanut butter bagel I’veever had,” decreed honorary Hollywood mayor Johnny Grant as hesnipped the official ribbon.

Owners Mark Powers and Sonny Brody had their handsfull, serving pizza bagels and gladhanding guests. But they foundtime to present charity contributions benefitting Hollywood HighSchool and L.A. Bridges Theatre Company of the Deaf. Crowed a proudBrody, “This is the home of the original bagel recipe, brought overto this country and never changed.”

Also on hand for the ceremony was Rabbi Dr.Yehudah Bukspan, who provided the kosher supervision. Fans of”mini-mallism” should stop by the strip-mall shop for some of theirfine culinary arts (which include cocoa rolls, lentil soup and omeletsandwiches), or drop by other Bagel Factory locations in West LosAngeles, Torrance and Manhattan Beach. — Michael Aushenker, CommunityEditor

Like Magic

Up Front has seen the future of Jewish unity, andeaten it. Last Thursday night at the Magic Carpet restaurant, as UpFront was discussing right-wing Orthodox rabbis, one of those verysame rabbis walked in and ordered dinner. No sooner had ourconversation shifted to left-wing Orthodoxy than one of Israel’sleading Orthodox peaceniks walked in with his guests and took anothertable. We think they both ordered the tumeric-laced Yeminite chickensoup, or maybe it was the grilled homemade lamb and beef sausage orthe ethereal humous with fava beans. Whatever, the coincidencesparked an idea: All these commissions and committees and conferencesseeking to forge Jewish unity should meet at places like the MagicCarpet, where at the very least the opponents could agree on thefood, then move on to less important matters. (The Magic Carpet, 8566W. Pico Blvd. 310-652-8507)– RobEshman, ManagingEditor

 

Bagel Factory Wages Read More »

Singles

Leave a Comment / Old Stories, Singles /

I’m not mental. Really. I’m not manic-depressive,hypomanic, borderline schizophrenic or psychotic. I don’t hear voicesor imagine I’m being followed by Marie Osmond. I don’t have tics or acompulsive need to wash my hands or avoid cracks in thesidewalk.

Like a lot of people, I could just use someone totalk to. That’s all. I figure it can’t hurt.

After all, my family is like a Who’s Who of mentalillness.

When I read about a study that indicated thatAshkenazi Jews have a higher incidence of depression, I wasn’tsurprised. Relatives on both sides of my family have spent short andlong stays at various mental institutions. “Grandma had to go awayfor a coupleof weeks,” and “sometimes Grandpa doesn’t like to get outof bed,” and “there’s the mental hospital your Uncle Marty was in,”are things I heard while growing up.

So far, save a few bouts of garden-varietymelancholia, I seem all right. But with genetics like mine, you can’tbe too careful. That’s why I’m on the hunt for a goodmental-health-care professional.

Since relocating to Los Angeles, I’ve had notrouble finding a hairdresser, a reliable dry cleaner and a woman whoadministers an almost painless bikini wax. After just about a year ofliving here, it finally seems time to track down someone who willgladly listen to my problems for money.

But how?

In my mind, I picture a sort of therapist datinggame. I line them up and toss off a series of questions: TherapistNo. 1, if you were a vegetable, what would you be? Therapist No. 2,if I were to have a nervous breakdown at 3 a.m. and call you at yourhome, what would you do? Therapist No. 3, if I were to use humor inthe course of discussing my life, would you laugh? Or would you juststare blankly and ask why I feel the need to joke?

I’ve heard that getting a referral is the way togo, but from whom? It’s not the kind of question you want to ask justanyone. I’ve gingerly approached the subject with a fewacquaintances. Sometimes, people hand over the name of a trustedtherapist without flinching. Other times, I can just see themthinking, “I had no idea Teresa was mental.”

I’m a little leery about referral agencies eversince my experience with 1-800-DENTIST. I called, asking for afriendly, experienced dentist in my area and ended up with a palsiedoctogenarian whose 1950s dental machine was dinette-table yellow andprobably about as sterile as a deli counter in Kabul.

I go see “Beth,” the therapist of a friend ofmine. Beth’s office is conveniently located and her building has freeparking, so I’m really hoping for the best.

I don’t want to say she wasn’t nurturing, but itwas like talking to the Great Santini in a flowing pants suit.

“Are you always this nervous?”

“No. Only when I’m about to have my head shrunk tothe size of a pea by a woman with the demeanor of a drillsergeant.”

Well, that’s what I said to myself. What I said toher was, “Do I seem nervous?” Perhaps I was thinking about the checkI was going to have to write. She informs me that I need “deep” work.I think she means deep into my pockets. She assures me that many ofher “industry” clients become outrageously successful under hertherapeutic tutelage, and I am enticed by her self-proclaimed Midastouch. Still, I doubt she is “the one.”

Lots of counselors and counseling services don’teven return my calls. I’m feeling rejected. The whole process makesme needy and insecure, the very qualities I’m trying toameliorate.

I press on. I’ve got people asking people to askpeople for their people. It won’t be long before that perfecttherapist, sort of a cross between Barbra Streisand in “Prince ofTides” and Judd Hirsch in “Ordinary People” comes along.

Those feelers are out there. Just last night I gota call from a perspective therapist.

“So, why are you seeking therapy?”

“Oh, you know, the usual stuff, who am I? What amI going to be? What’s it all about? Why is Marie Osmond followingme?”

“What?”

“Just a joke.”

“Why do you feel the need to joke?”

And the search continues.

It won’t be long before that perfect therapist,sort of a cross between Barbra Streisand in “Prince of Tides” andJudd Hirsch in “Ordinary People” comes along. Above, Barbra Streisandas she appeared in “The Prince of Tides.”

Teresa Strasser is a twentysomethingcontributing writer for The Jewish Journal.

Singles Read More »

Torah Portion

Leave a Comment / Old Stories, Torah /

In April 1994, following numerous suicidebombings, 400 American Jewish leaders took a two-day trip to Israelto show American Jewish support for the besieged State. With a30-percent tourism drop due to the terrorist bombings, these leaderswanted to encourage American Jews to visit Israel.

During its quick trip, the delegation met numerousgovernment officials, including President Weizman. At the president’sresidence, one of the delegates asked: “Mr. President, with the peaceprocess moving forward, what is your vision of Israel 50 years fromnow? How will the State of Israel look 50 years hence?”

Weizman answered: “I must be honest with you; I amnot worried about what Israel will look like 50 years from today,geographically. What troubles me, however, is what Israel will looklike Jewishly.

“Please understand, I am not a religious orobservant Jew, and I am not talking from such a perspective.Nevertheless, I realize that the Jewish character of the State ofIsrael is what will sustain it or destroy it.”

He then announced that he was organizing a taskforce to address this issue, and that he was inviting the best mindsto convene a conference on this topic.

Now, four years later, as we celebrate Israel’sjubilee, these concerns remain high on the agenda. The issue of howto survive Jewishly, however, is really as old as the Bible itself.The opening verse of this week’s Torah portion provides sound adviceon this very issue.

The Sedreh begins with an unusually wordedcommand: “And God said to Moses: Say to the Priests, the sons ofAaron, and you shall say to them: To a dead person he shall notbecome impure among his people.”

Rashi, the classical biblical medievalcommentator, wondered why the word “say” is followed by the redundantphrase, “and you shall say.” He suggests, “this wording is to enjointhe adults to concern themselves with the minors.”

They also must teach those laws to theirchildren so that their children will know how to follow them. Above,a bar mitzvah trainee learning about tefillin from hisrabbi. Photo from “The Jews in America,”1989

Rashi here implies that it is not enough for theadults to practice rituals and observe the laws of impurity forthemselves. The Torah also wants them to impart these laws and teachthem to their children. The first “say” refers to the fact that adultPriests are forbidden to make themselves impure and must follow thelaws themselves. The second, “and you shall say,” indicates that theyalso must teach those laws to their children so that their childrenwill know how to follow them.

Jewish parenting has never been an easy job, but,today, the task seems almost insurmountable. Jewish educators arefrustrated. Inspiring children with Jewish spiritual values in ahedonistic society goes beyond the classroom. Teachers require thehelp and commitment of parents who understand the meaning of theTorah text. First, parents themselves must become role models, and,second, they must encourage their progeny to emulate a Jewishlifestyle.

Certainly, President Weizman’s concern aboutJewish identity isn’t limited to Israel. This is a universal issuethat affects all Jewish communities. And, just as in the time of theTorah, we today are responsible to save the children and inspire thenext generation.

Rabbi Elazar Muskin is rabbi of Young Israel ofCentury City.

 

Torah Portion Read More »

Payback Time

Leave a Comment / Entertainment, Old Stories /

You’ll never find “The Cadillac,” on any critic’slist of top 10 “Seinfeld” episodes, but I don’t care. “The Cadillac,”episode 124 in the Seinfeld oeuvre, IMHO (in my humble opinion, forthose who don’t use Internet shorthand), is the real thing, among theshow’s most authentically Jewish episodes, revealing theuncircumcised heart within a sitcom generally acknowledged to reflectonly callousness, narcissism and an urbane hipness in post-shtetlAmerica. And, in a small way, “The Cadillac” changed my life.

Here’s the plot of the show that ran February 8,1996 as a 60-minute “Seinfeld” special.

Morty and Helen Seinfeld have been worrying foryears about their son’s ability to earn a living as a stand-up comic.Morty, in particular, has suggested over time that Jerry enroll in abusiness internship program or go back to school. Anythingstable.

Now Jerry’s nightclub act really is making it big,and to prove it, he buys his folks a Cadillac. Immediately, the giftbackfires. The car, enormous, obvious, and an egregious symbol ofAmerican success, makes Morty and Helen a spectacle among the formershmatte salesmen and other luftmenschen of their Florida condoproject where Morty is president.

None of Morty and Helen’s neighbors believe thatJerry can afford to buy the car for his parents. Suspicions aboutMorty become so strong that he faces impeachment as condo president,and has to prove to his arch-rival Jack Klompus, that he himselfdidn’t embezzle the money to buy the car. After endless complexity,the Cadillac is returned.

Why did this show make such an impact that myfriends and I were laughing about it weeks later? Just the words “TheCadillac,” has become shorthand to us, indicating a host of familialjoys and tensions which until then had gone unarticulated.

Well, of course, it’s because we’re in “TheCadillac” stage of life too. For what are the 40s in the course of anadult life if not “payback time.” The time of the commandment tobring honor to thy father and thy mother; when we show them who weare. The 40s are the time when parent-and-child stuff finally getssorted out, and the gifts of kindness, generosity and considerationbegin to flow the other way.

But in a way it’s too late. As “The Cadillac”shows, reconciliation is not easy. Jerry’s parents have stoppedwaiting for their payback; Helen and Morty have moved on and nowaccept Jerry as the limited, sarcastic being he has become. TheCadillac means less to them than the respect of their peers.

Moreover, what does it mean to have a son who canafford to buy you a Cadillac? It’s a mixed blessing to be upstaged,diminished in your child’s eyes. For many older “Seinfeld” watchers,writer Larry David is merely updating the wisdom of Lao Tsu: Bewarewhat you wish for, you may get it.

But how ironic it is that only now, when itmatters less to his folks, does Jerry want to please them. Theparents who have eternally been the butt of jokes for their boringstolidity now seem paragons of loyalty and islands of admiration. Atshow’s end, Jerry is bewildered that he can’t persuade Helen andMorty to keep the car. He shrugs, as if to say: see, no good deedgoes unpunished.

For most of “Seinfeld’s” nine-year run, Jerry andhis buddy George (Jason Alexander) have slowly, painfully and withlimited success been working to see their parents as people, not asjudgmental tyrants. What’s striking is the strength of that need;these hardened cynics, who can drop girlfriends and best-friendsbecause they don’t like the way they answer the phone, still feel theumbilical chord strongly attached. In the midst of the “Seinfeld”universe, where people use, abuse and lie to each other without asecond’s guilt, it’s amazing to find an ongoing plot line concerningparents and adult children who try to turn things around.

Another of my favorite continuing story linesconcerns George’s parents (played by Jerry Stiller and EstelleHarris), who are having marital troubles.

GEORGE: Oh my God! You know what I just realized?!If they get divorced an’ live in two separate places? That’s twice asmany visits!

JERRY: I never thought of that.

GEORGE: Imagine if I had to see them both on thesame day? [mirthless] Haha! It’s like runnin’ the doublemarathon!

ELAINE: Hey George, did you have any idea thatanything was wrong?

JERRY: Have you ever spent any time with thesepeople..?

George and Jerry never actually stopped judgingtheir parents. But sometime during this show’s great run, it seems tome that I have.

So if I never buy my parents a “Cadillac,” I have”Seinfeld” to thank for that.

Marlene Adler Marks is senior columnist at theJewish Journal. Her e-mail address is wmnsvoice@aol.com. Her5-session writing retreat”Writing and Reading for Heart and Soul”begins May 16 at the Skirball Cultural Center.

SEND EMAIL TO MARLENE ADLER MARKS
wmnsvoice@aol.com

May 1, 1998 —StillDead

 

May 1, 1998 —Israel: Reclaimingthe Feminine

 

April 10, 1998 —The ExodusThroughout the Years

 

April 3, 1998 —A Worrier’sDelight

 

March 27, 1998 —Clinton and theFeminists

 

March 20, 1998 —Shabbat, AmericanStyle

 

March 13, 1998 —The PublicMan

 

March 6, 1998 —Taster’sChoice

 

February 27, 1998— ALiberal Feminist Meets Modern Orthodoxy

 

February 20, 1998 —Spinning theWeb

 

February 13, 1998 —How Do We DoIt?

 

February 6, 1998 —One by One byOne

 

January 30, 1998 —TheDaughter

 

January 23, 1998 —Babysitters NoMore

 

January 16, 1998 —FalseAlarms

 

November 28, 1997 —As AmericanAs…

 

November 21, 1997 —The ThirteenWants

 

November 14, 1997 —Music to MyEars

 

November 7, 1997 —Four Takes on50

 

October 31, 1997 —ChallengingHernandez

 

October 24, 1997 —CommonGround

 

October 17, 1997 —Taking Off theMask

 

October 10, 1997 —Life’s a MixedBag

 

October 3, 1997 —And Now ForSomething Completely Different

 

September 26, 1997— An OpenHeart

 

September 19, 1997— My BronxTale

 

September 12, 1997 — Of Goddesses andSaints

 

August 22, 1997 — Who is Not a Jew

 

August 15, 1997 — A LegendaryFriendship

 

July 25, 1997 — A Perfect Orange

 

July 18, 1997 — News of Our Own

 

July 11, 1997 — Celluloid Heroes

 

July 4, 1997 — Meet theSeekowitzes

 

June 27, 1997 — The Facts of Life

 

June 20, 1997 — Reality Bites

Payback Time Read More »

Letters

Leave a Comment / Letters to the Editor, Old Stories, Opinion /

I agree with Joel Kotkin that any politicalactions that serve to further divide Californians along racial linesare hurtful to all of us (“The Racialization of L.A. Politics,” May8). However, I take issue at his support of Proposition 227 and itsco-author Ron Unz.

As a teacher in inner city Los Angeles for 10years and a bilingual teacher for three years, I am aware that thebilingual program is not completely successful. I taught for a numberof years at a school where few, if any, students were transitionedinto mainstream English. I am currently at a school where thetransition rate is very high and has been increasing over the pastseveral years.

As current law mandates, parents may opt theirchildren out of a bilingual program as they see fit. Individualclassroom teachers and the levels of implementation at specificschools make the difference between a successful and an unsuccessfulbilingual program. In my second grade classroom, my students recentlytook the Stanford 9 Examinations along with non-bilingual studentsacross LAUSD. I would not be surprised if my students’ scores equalor surpass the scores of their non-bilingual counterparts in ourcluster.

Proposition 227 is written in a way that restrictsteachers’ abilities to effectively teach limited English proficiencystudents. It mandates a ridiculously short time limit for students toacquire sufficient English language skills to become literate.

I cannot disagree that the bilingual programstatewide is full of failures. I can only offer that there are also agreat number of successes. Proposition 227 does not seek to build onthe successes and minimize the failures, it seeks to prohibit thesuccesses.

I had a chance to hear Mr. Unz speak on thismeasure in a forum where teachers from across the state, both for andagainst Proposition 227 got a chance to speak their minds. Mr. Unz isseeking a political foot in the door and is using a very unfortunateinstance that occurred in one specific school (which should not havehappened under the current laws) to prevent parents, teachers andschools from having a choice.

Yes, every child in our country should speakEnglish and every student graduating from our high schools shouldhave a level of English literacy that will provide them with accessto higher education or viable working skills. On those points I agreewith Mr. Unz. But as one of the individuals charged with theresponsibility of giving children these skills, don’t tie my handsand prevent me from giving my students all the success that Ican.

Katje A Lehrman

Los Angeles

Leaving Behind Hate

The inspiring article on former skinhead FrankMeeink (“Leaving Hate Behind,” May 8), who has repented of hisviolent hate-filled past, left out a salient detail explainingMeeink’s change of heart.

Your article suggests that, in prison, he juststarted to relate to blacks, Hispanics and Jews. But as I have readelsewhere, Meeink had a religious epiphany while in prison after afellow inmate shared a Bible with him. He became literally whatChristians would term born-again. That is the explanation for hisremarkable and dramatic transformation in deciding to love his formerenemies and forsake his former friends.

His conversion was not the result of some ad hocmulticultural sensitivity or diversity training course, but rather,came from newly acquired religious convictions. Meeink has beenquoted as stating that the work he is doing in preaching tolerance isGod’s work, and that God has intended for him to continue in thatwork. Such language would lead many secularists to term him areligious fanatic. And I am aware that, unfortunately, there are manyreligious groups who actually preach the hate which Meeink formerlyprofessed. But their failure to grasp the ideals of their religionshould not tarnish his success in putting those ideals intopractice.

It is interesting to note that onlyreligious-based programs seem to have any impact in redressing theevils of drug addiction, alcoholism, and teen-age promiscuity.Perhaps hate is in the same category, and only will yield toreligious morality.

Carl Pearlston

Torrance

On Israeli Men

I just loved Teresa Strasser’s column (“WhenFlattery Turns to Fatigue,” April 17). It had me laughinghysterically because it was so true apart from one fact: Israeli menonly like pretty women.

This was demonstrated to me last year in Israel. Iwent for a drink with two girlfriends and I was made up and lookingcute in a sexy dress.

As we were standing in the bar, an Israeli guycame up and offered me his seat. My two friends said, “Israeli mennever offer their seats to anyone.” And I felt like saying “with theway you two look, I’m not surprised.”

They basically looked like Ms. Frump and Ms.Frumpier. No makeup, no lipstick, wearing dirty old jeans with theirgray roots showing through. And they both live in Israel and shouldknow better; I’m a yearly visitor.

Long live all our gorgeous Israeli men!

Sharon Joseph

Los Angeles

Poland and NATO

As U.S. senators debate Poland’s entry into NATO,they ought to consider that, in recent weeks, the Polish governmenthas approved the building of a parking lot and a visitor’s centerthat would include a fast food restaurant just across from the maingates at the Auschwitz death camp. This, of course, would be aterrible desecration of Jewish memory.

Also, the construction of the parking lot andvisitor’s center as well as a church established in Birkenau in 1984in the only building remaining of SS headquarters, is in violation ofthe international UNESCO agreement which forbids any constructionwithin 1,000 meters of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.

May Poland be trusted to become a member of NATOeven as it violates international agreements on an issue as sensitiveas Jewish memory at Auschwitz?

We think not.

Rabbi Avi Weiss

National President

Coalition for Jewish Concerns-Amchaof the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, N.Y.

“A Price Above Rubies”

Regarding Sally Ogle Davis’ review of “A Price Above Rubies” (“Putting on the Sheitel,” March 27):

The film does not do justice to its theme: theemotional and spiritual nature and needs of a woman in a rigid,patriarchal community based on teachings hostile to the life force,to passion, romance, and worship of the goddess in women.

If only it had been more subtle, less obvious, andwith less clichéd characters, instead of assumptions by thedirector that the audience needed to be hit over the head with thethemes.

Her interwoven spirituality and sexuality isstifled by patriarchy. She drops out of the Chassidic community,realizing that she, as an individual, is not suited for it. Thequestion is, “How many Jewish women have dropped out for similarreasons?”

“A Price Above Rubies” is a flawed film. ThePuerto Rican character is clichéd; the brother-in-law isunremittingly despicable. The incredibly insensitive sexualintercourse with its absence of sentiment, passion, romance,affection shown as characteristic of these Brooklyn Orthodox Jews hasto be exaggerated.

Emelie Berger

Los Angeles

Thanks Rabbi Huttler

As the teacher representing the class of 35Russian immigrants who are studying English at Etz JacobCongregation, I would like to express our deep appreciation to RabbiHuttler for his understanding, kindness and wisdom. He has opened notonly the doors of the congregation, but also has taught us thehistory of the Jewish people, our heritage, as well as the meaning ofthe laws of the Torah.

Rita Medved

Russian Class Teacher

Etz Jacob Congregation

Los Angeles

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Letters Read More »

Seining Off

Leave a Comment / Entertainment, Old Stories, Television /

American Jewswoke up in a different country today, now that “Seinfeld” signed off.

We no longer live in a country whose favoriteentertainment is to turn on the tube and watch a New York Jew sitaround schmoozing dyspeptically with his friends. After nine seasonsand 170 episodes, Jerry and his three pals, George, Elaine andKramer, will exist only in syndicated reruns.

Big deal, you might say. Television has showcasedJewish comics before, going back to Jack Benny, George Burns andMilton “Mr. Television” Berle. As for Jewish characters, think of”The Goldbergs,” “Northern Exposure” and “The Nanny.” What’s sodifferent about “Seinfeld”?

Well, firstly there’s a matter of scale. It’s thebiggest thing on the tube. His show has topped the ratings for fiveyears running. For two years now he’s been named personally in Harrispolls as America’s best-liked television personality. He is aphenomenon. And unlike Berle and Benny, he never changed hisname.

Television, media mavens say, is a “cool medium,”up-close and intimate, lowering walls between performer and viewer.Viewers choose shows, so the programmers believe, based on whomthey’d most like to invite into their living rooms. Right now that’sJerry Seinfeld.

In effect, America has chosen a Jew as itsfavorite Thursday night date. This is not a small thing.

When Seinfeld and real-life pal Larry David firstpitched their sitcom idea to NBC, network chief Brandon Tartikoffdismissed it as “too Jewish.” No self-hating assimilationist,Tartikoff was a fairly devoted Jew by Hollywood standards. His jobwasn’t promoting Jewish art, though. It was building TV audiences. Hedidn’t believe viewers in the heartland would bond with a gang ofcosmopolitan Jewish slackers trading angst in Manhattan.

A non-Jewish underling thought differently andordered four episodes. But the show’s Jewishness was toned way down.Ultimately, two of the four characters, George and Elaine, were madeexplicitly non-Jewish. Only Jerry remained openly Jewish.

Not thatanybody was fooled. George, especially, was one of the most wildlyJewish characters in TV history, regardless of what the scripts toldus. Oceans of ink were spilled comparing him to Woody Allen, terminghim a “nebbish,” noting that he was based on the very Jewish LarryDavid. George’s parents, Frank and Estelle Costanza, were played tothe hilt as stereotypically suffocating,health-and-rye-bread-obsessed Jewish parents by Jewish characteractors Jerry Stiller and Estelle Harris.

As for Seinfeld, his Jewishness was clear from theoutset. One of the earliest episodes depicted a family dinnercelebrating his Polish-born cousin Manya’s 50th anniversary inAmerica. Jerry offends Manya by denigrating ponies, unaware she hadone in the old country. She’s so upset, she keels over and dies. Theepisode established both Jerry’s Jewishness and his trademarkmisanthropy.

The kosher-on-wry combo was a hit with Americanviewers, who tuned in with growing loyalty. The one group that had aproblem with it was Jews. Every time another Jewish plot twistappeared — a bris, a rabbi, a girlfriend who keeps kosher –switchboards would light up at the Anti-Defamation League. Twoprofessional Jewish media monitors, Rabbi Jonathan and Judith Pearlof New York, declared “Seinfeld” a continuing hotbed of anti-Jewishstereotypes.

A few TV critics piled on, too. The WashingtonPost’s Tom Shales, who long disapproved of the show’s nastiness,recently wrote that “Seinfeld” was “self-hatingly Jewish.” He wasseconded by the Atlanta Constitution’s Bob Longino.

Compare these reactions to those of, say,Latvians. In a classic 1993 episode, George tried converting toLatvian Orthodoxy to woo a young lady. The producers got a stack ofthank-you letters from Latvian-Americans, grateful for the attention.Latvians, it seems, can take a joke.

Actually, so can some Jews. In a survey lastJanuary by the Middle East Institute, Seinfeld came in second, rightbehind Elie Wiesel, as the Jewish American most admired by his fellowJews. Evidently the guardians of Jewish honor don’t speak for all theJews. No, “Seinfeld” did not practice warm, kind comedy. Everyone wasmade to look foolish. If the writers went after Judaism more oftenthan Latvian Orthodoxy, that’s because they were mainly Jews, notLatvians. “You write about what you know,” Larry David once told aninterviewer.

Of course, lots of television shows had Jewishwriters. But there was only one “Seinfeld.”

In real life, only one of the show’s four leadactors is not Jewish: Michael Richards (“Kramer”). Another, JuliaLouis-Dreyfus (“Elaine”), could be described as not particularlyJewish. Born to an assimilated French-Jewish investment banker and aNew York writer, she attended non-Jewish prep schools here and abroadand is married to a non-Jew.

That leaves Jerry Seinfeld and Jason (“George”)Alexander. Alexander was born Jay Greenspan, son of Alexander andRuth Greenspan of Newark, N.J. His stage name, chosen at 15, isactually his own name: Jay-son (as in ben-) Alexander. Married to aJew, father of Gabriel and Noah, he serves in his spare time as aspokesman for the Anti-Defamation League, narrating their publicservice announcements. The relationship began in 1991, when ADL senthim on what he calls a “life-changing” mission to Israel. In 1994, ina celebrity “Jeopardy!” charity appearance, he named ADL to receivehis winnings, a tidy $11,800.

As for Seinfeld himself, he is an enigma, or triesto be. Famously reticent about his private life, he has admitteddabbling in Scientology and oriental religions. What he hasn’t sharedis that he is a major donor ($10,000-plus) to New York UJA-Federationand gives heavily to other Jewish causes as well. One of his recentJewish donations was $1,800, or 100 times “chai,” which an officialat a major Jewish philanthropy called “an extremely informeddecision.”

And, of course, there was his girlfriend. How manyTV idols date women named Shoshanna?

This is not Jewish self-hatred. It’s somethingelse: a new generation of Jewish humor. Unlike Berle or Benny — orthe Three Stooges, the real antecedents of “Seinfeld” — Jerry andcompany wore their Jewishness comfortably on their sleeves.

It’s a Baby Boomer Jewishness: at home in America,taken for granted, more than a little ambivalent. It’s as much a partof them as family, sex and work, and just as ripe for satire. There’snothing worshipful there. You can take it or leave it. Most of usloved it.

J.J. Goldberg is the author of “Jewish Power:Inside the Amercan Jewish Establishment.” He writes regularly for TheJewish Journal.

 

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Musical and Comic Legends

Leave a Comment / Entertainment, Music, Old Stories /

“Rhapsody in Blue: The George Gershwin Story,” withRobert Alda as Gershwin and Joan Leslie as a fictional loveinterest.

If all you knew about composer George Gershwin washis body of work — “An American in Paris,” “Rhapsody in Blue,””Porgy and Bess,” plus countless enduring melodies — you would thinkhe lived to a ripe old age. But, in fact, the musical legend was only38 when he died.

Gershwin was born to Russian immigrant parents in1898, and, beginning in 1931, he and lyricist brother Ira composedscores for four Hollywood musicals — until George’s death six yearslater. This week, the UCLA Film and Television Archive brings backthese movies, as well as seven other films either based on thebrothers’ theatrical works or original musicals with the scorescompiled posthumously from George’s surviving work.

The series, “Strike Up the Band! George Gershwinon Film,” begins on Thursday, May 21, with the 1945 biography”Rhapsody in Blue: The George Gershwin Story.” With Robert Alda asGershwin and Joan Leslie as a fictional love interest, many of Gershwin’s contemporaries appear as themselves, including Al Jolson.There is also a full-length performance of “Rhapsody in Blue,” led byits original conductor, Paul Whiteman.

Among the other films in the series: the 1937 FredAstaire-Ginger Rogers vehicle “Shall We Dance?” which screens with “ADamsel in Distress,” featuring Astaire, George Burns and Gracie Allenon Saturday, May 23. The 1959 feature version of “Porgy and Bess,”directed by Otto Preminger and starring Sidney Poitier, Sammy DavisJr. and Pearl Bailey, will show on Sunday, May 24.

Two versions of “Girl Crazy” will screen: the 1943production, with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, and the lesser-knownfilm made a decade earlier. “The Goldwyn Follies,” the final filmthat George and Ira worked on, plays with the Rooney-Garland “Crazy”on Thursday, May 28; it features Adolphe Menjou, a screenplay by BenHecht and cinematography by Gregg Toland, best known for his workwith Orson Welles. A double feature of “An American in Paris,” withGene Kelly, and “Funny Face,” with Astaire and Audrey Hepburn, closethings out on Saturday, May 30.

All programs begin at 7:30 p.m. in the JamesBridges Theater on the UCLA campus, with the exception of “Porgy,”which will begin at 7 p.m. For a detailed schedule, call (310)206-FILM.

The Nuart Theatre pays homage to another legendthis week: French funnyman Jacques Tati. “Jour de Fete,” his firstfeature, with Tati portraying a village postman inspired to save timeafter seeing a newsreel of the American postal system, will playthrough Wednesday, May 20. Originally shot with two cameras — oneusing an experimental type of color film and a backup shootingblack-and-white — the color version will now screen for the firsttime in a newly struck print, taking advantage of more recenttechnology.

On Saturday, May 16, and Sunday, May 17, at noon,the Nuart will present Tati’s best-known classic, “Mr. Hulot’sHoliday.” A double feature of “Playtime,” with Monsieur Hulot tryingto survive Paris, and “Mon Oncle,” a silent Hulot gem in color, willshow on Thursday, May 21, only.

The Nuart is at 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., LosAngeles. Call (310) 478-6379 for show times.

 

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The Editor’s Corner

Leave a Comment / Old Stories /

Several monthsago, I happened to be present when Yoram Ben Ze’ev, Israel’s ConsulGeneral in Los Angeles, addressed a local group at the JewishFederation offices on Wilshire Boulevard. The talk, of course, wasabout politics: the conversion bill, the peace process, Israel andAmerica — the standard fare.

Then a man in the audience rose to ask a question.Well, actually, it was more of a statement than a question. The gistof his remarks was that Israel should adopt a tough stance withArafat and the Palestinians. If they didn’t shape up, the IsraelDefense Force should lend a forceful hand. After all, Israel hadtanks, an air force, the latest in sophisticated weapons, and an armyunmatched in the Middle East. The man appeared to be in his late 60s,maybe early 70s, and he clearly intended his statement-question to besupportive of Israel and the Consul General.

But Ben Ze’ev surprised him…and many others inthe audience. Such a policy, he asserted, was unacceptable. War wasunacceptable. There was a secret fraternity in Israel that boundtogether everyone who had fought, or who had family members who hadfought, in one of Israel’s five wars these past 50 years. Those whoknew war firsthand were dedicated to peace, he said. They knew thecost of war, for both sides, and were determined to prevent it fromhappening again. It was peace that required a tough stance, he added,and was far more the heroic course for Israel to follow.

It was a bold statement, passionate and eloquent;it left the audience silent. He might have added, but did not, thathis father had fought and died in the closing hours of the 1948 Warof Independence. That he himself was wounded in Jerusalem in theSix-Day War of 1967 — in the exact place his father had fallen 19years earlier. That he recovered, his father did not, in the samehospital. And that he was wounded again in 1973. Perhaps for thosereasons, he was determined that his two sons and his daughter wouldnot have to fight in another war because his generation had failed toachieve peace.

The exchange seems, to me, vintage Ben Ze’ev. Itcaptures his passion, his articulateness, his sense of conviction.But in a subtle way, it also reflects just how familiar and at easehe is with Jewish Americans. Indeed, he served as consul for pressand information at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles from 1981 to1985. That experience is serving him well today. Certainly if a timeexisted for someone in his position to be on intimate terms with thefeelings and sentiments of American Jewry, that time is now.

The reasons are obvious. Oslo’s aftermath, theMideast peace process, appears to be at an impasse; the White Houseand the Republicans in Congress are at odds over President Clinton’sperceived attempts to muscle Prime Minister Netanyahu into place; andIsrael has suddenly become a key divisive factor in U.S. politics,particularly for American Jews.

We have not even mentioned the conversion bill andthe anger of Reform and Conservative Jews over their sense ofdisenfranchisement in Israel.

But the central issue at this moment has to dowith peace in the Mideast. Do we (American Jews) support PresidentClinton’s efforts to pressure the Netanyahu government into acceptingthe American peace proposal? Or do we condemn it? We are conflictedhere, and aggressively so; there is no tolerance for fencestraddling.

It is no accident that local federationsnationwide are announcing that UJA funds headed for Israel have beencut to about 35 percent, with the rest slated for local needs. Orthat for the first time in a long while, criticism of Israel and itsprime minister is being voiced publicly by American Jews and by someJewish organizations as well.

In this context, it is fortunate that Ben Ze’evhas all the right credentials. Immediately prior to his appointmentin Los Angeles, he was acting deputy director for the Middle East andthe peace process in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a posthe held from 1993 to 1995. In short, he was intimately involved inthe peace negotiations.

Moreover, he is acquainted with Netanyahu. Severalmonths ago, the Israeli press reported that the prime minister hadasked him to sign on as his chief of staff.

It is this background, presumably, that leads himto say today that no matter what occurs in the next few weeks, thepeace process itself is irreversible. It has changed the status quofor Israelis as well as Palestinians, and there really is no goingback. However, he argues, the Israeli prime minister is getting a badrap in America, for he is following the letter and spirit of Oslo.One only needs to look at the agreement in Hebron. This doesn’tchange the fact that the obstacles are monumental, he adds. Everyonecan see that. But patience is required

One problem lies with Chairman Arafat’sperceptions, says Ben Ze’ev. He has failed to grasp that he mustpersuade the Israeli public he wants peace desperately and sincerelyenough so that he will make every effort to guarantee their security.It is the Israeli people he must win over, explains Ben Ze’ev, and itis not clear he fully understands this.

Ben Ze’ev is a rarity, a seventh-generationIsraeli whose ancestor walked out of Russia in the 18th century. Inpart, this may account for his tendency to take the long view, pastas well as future. It is this propensity perhaps that leads him tostate that the problem looming for Israel is how it will remain astrong democracy and still be a Jewish state.

After peace is achieved, he says, that will be thedifficult task for Israel in the 21st century. But he may leave thatsolution to his children. –GeneLichtenstein

Consul General Yoram Ben Ze’ev Photo by Peter Halmagyi

 

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An Unlikely Inspiration

Leave a Comment / Entertainment, Old Stories /

Early Sunday morning, just before 1 a.m. Israelitime, a roar was heard coming out of living rooms across the country.Israel had just won the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held thisyear in Birmingham, England, and watched by as many as 100 million TVviewers in Europe and Asia. Wildest of all, Israel’s representativeat the contest was singer Dana International, a tall, dark,thirtysomething transsexual who had grown up as a boy named YaronCohen.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Eurovision was a majorcultural event for Israelis. Along with the European Cup soccertournament, it was the only popular venue in which Israel could testitself against the big outside world. But in recent years, as Israelhas become less isolated culturally, economically and politically,and as most Israelis have realized that Eurovision songs are catchybut not very good, the contest has diminished in stature. But withDana carrying the national colors, 47 percent of Israeli TV viewersstayed up to watch.

After she was named the winner for her dance song,”Diva,” a couple of thousand homosexuals, along with a smattering ofheterosexuals, took to Tel Aviv’s Kikar Rabin and danced, drank andsplashed in the fountain until dawn. “We’re on the map,” yelled onemiddle-aged man, masked and costumed as if it were Carnaval time inRio de Janeiro, and waving the rainbow-colored flag of the gaynation.

Yet it wasn’t only homosexuals who cheered Dana.Liberal Israelis saw her as the answer to the recent “Jubilee Bells”debacle in Jerusalem, where religious politicians forced the BatshevaDance Company to cancel its performance of a Passover song because itstrips down to shorts and body shirts. Dana’s supporters thought thatshe gave a healthy jolt to the country’s image. No longer wouldIsrael be personified to the world only by a hawkish prime ministerand a clutch of grimacing rabbis; now everyone would know that atranssexual singer could also represent the Jewish state.

“On the night of Eurovision, Dana became a symbolof a pluralistic world. She symbolized our potential for freedom,and, for a moment, we seemed once again like a country where dreamsare made, a country for rebels, a lost paradise of chaos andharmony,” wrote columnist Sarit Fox in Ma’ariv.

Dana was the first good news to hit the countrysince Israelis finished with their bout of self-celebration duringthe Independence Day festivities. As soon as the “Jubilee Bells”concert rang down, the controversy over Batsheva got the bad bloodgoing again between the haredim and secular. This wascompounded by the annual State Comptroller’s Report, which showedthat haredim had received more than $100 million in state aid thatthey weren’t entitled to from overly friendly governmentministries.

There were accusations of a fix in the nationalsoccer championships, won by “Israel’s Team,” Betar Jerusalem. Thecharges weren’t proven, but the bad taste lingered. It intensifiedwhen, amid the throngs of Betar fans whooping it up one night in thecapital, the chant of “Death to the Arabs” was heard loudly.

There was a spasm of violent crime. Dr. MosheZiegelbaum, head of rehabilitation for the country’s prisons system,was blown up in his car. Suspicion fell on the violent Uzi Meshulamcult, which had threatened Ziegelbaum before, charging that he wasdenying Meshulam medical care in prison. (The Meshulam cult claimsthat an Israeli conspiracy is covering up the “kidnapping and sale”of thousands of Yemenite immigrant children during the first years ofstatehood.) A battle in an ongoing gangland war was fought at asidewalk cafe near Tel Aviv. The hit failed — not only did thetarget survive his gunshot wounds, but a number of customers atadjacent tables were injured by flying bullets. Israeli police wereforced to admit that crime, especially organized crime, had grownwell beyond their meager means to cope with it.

And hanging above all these depressing events, ofcourse, was the widening breach between the Netanyahu and Clintonadministrations over Israel’s planned withdrawal from the West Bank,and the fear that the peace process was about to finally stop idlingand shift roughly into reverse.

So Dana’s victory was like water in the desert. Apoll by the Geocartography Institute found that 59 percent ofIsraelis were “proud” to have her represent them at Eurovision,against only 17 percent who weren’t. Winning the contest, whichIsrael hadn’t managed in 20 years, was a patriotic affair; it alsomeant that next year’s contest would be held in Israel.

Predictably, a few haredim grumbled. Haim Miller,the deputy mayor of Jerusalem who first blew the whistle on Batsheva,said he would keep Eurovision out of the capital just as he had donewith the dance company. But Netanyahu and Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmertcongratulated Dana and vowed that Jerusalem would host the 1999contest. Olmert spoke for many Israelis, religious and secular, incalling Miller a “blabbermouth.”

For her part, Dana was too happy to be mad atanybody. “God is with me,” she said. She had made her name as afemale impersonator in Tel Aviv nightclubs, then went the whole routewith a sex change three years ago. Army Radio named her singer of theyear in 1996. Standing onstage at Birmingham in a tight-fitting blackdress with feathers, waving her country’s blue-and-white flag, shetold the cheering crowd, “See you next year in Israel.”

The nation’s second 50 years had begun.

 

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Breakfast with Mr. Security

Leave a Comment / Old Stories /

Arik Sharon,the last of the great Israeli war heroes/politicians.

Photo by Peter Halmagyi

Last Saturday morning, as the Middle East peaceprocess careened toward yet another crisis point, Ariel Sharon washolding court at a back table in the Peninsula Hotel in BeverlyHills.

Sharon’s ample presence was further magnified by astony security detail and a handful of well-heeled local supporters.”This is a real hero!” proclaimed Uri Harkham, the Israeli-immigrantowner of the Jonathan Martin clothing company.

Sharon is indeed the last of the great Israeli warheroes/politicians. Credited with defeating the Egyptian army inSinai, he also carries the stigma of failure for the 1982 LebanonWar. But this morning, he seems to be luxuriating in his ability toexert a powerful hard-right pull on Binyamin Netanyahu, in whosegovernment he serves as minister of infrastructure. “I’ve been incontact with the prime minister four or five times in the last 48hours,” he tells The Journal. Indeed, one Israeli analyst speculatedin the morning press that Netanyahu dared not accede to Washington’srequest for a 13-percent pullout from the West Bank so long as Sharonwas out of the country.

But, The Journal asks the general, what’s the bigdeal over a couple of percentage points? “This isn’t the stockmarket,” he says. “Every percent is meaningful.” There arefresh-water sources, crucial security emplacements, holy sites, notto mention Jewish settlements. American Jews, Sharon says, just don’tunderstand this. That explains why, in a recent Israel Policy Forumpoll, 80 perecent of them said they support President Clinton’sefforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. “Who knowsfrom here what our security requirements are?” asks Sharon. “Whoknows here what happens in another state, even?”

As a combat hero and builder of numerous West Banksettlements, Sharon’s credentials as Mr. Security are impeccable. Hissupporters will tell you that only Arik can be trusted not to giveaway the store, and Sharon boasts to a reporter that even thePalestinians prefer dealing with him. “They know exactly where Istand.”

This gives Sharon, who is 70, the veto on the nextphase of Oslo. If Mr. Security says 13 percent is fine, so will mostIsraelis. If not, not. That arrangement brings a slim smile toSharon’s lips. In The New York Times last month, Thomas Friedmansuggested that Sharon now has a chance to enter the history bookslike that other war hero/ peacemaker, Yitzhak Rabin. “I am familiarwith that article,” Sharon says. “Of course, I would like to see thenext step [of Oslo] and to contribute to it, but I feel I have beencontributing to peace.”

The Journal brings up Dan Kurzman’s new biographyof Rabin. In it, Kurzman writes that Rabin had warm personal feelingsfor his fellow officer, though they had sharp politicaldisagreements. Sharon says the fondness was mutual, the disputes notso sharp. “You know, Rabin told me, ‘If I would have been able, Iwould have dragged it [Israeli withdrawal] out for 20 years.'”

Sharon says he thought Rabin himself had beendragged into signing the Oslo accords. He doesn’t allow for thepossibility that Rabin, who also was a Six-Day War hero and Mr.Security during the intifada, might have actuallyseen no better deal for Israel’s security than Oslo. For Sharon, onthe other hand, waiting 20 years may be just about right.

 

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