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Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

October 12, 2000

Team Player

Leave a Comment / Entertainment /

“I’m not the kind of viewer who usually goes to see this kind of movie,” director Boaz Yakin admits of his latest film, “Remember the Titans,” a Walt Disney film based on the true story of a high school football team that helped desegregate a Southern city in 1971. “I’m from the independent film world. I’m not a big sentimentalist.”

Blunt, edgy Yakin previously earned kudos for his Sundance-winner “Fresh,” about a black Brooklyn boy who thwarts rival drug-lords. He raised ire with “A Price Above Rubies,” about a Chassidic woman burning with suppressed sexuality, which so angered observant Jews that dozens turned out to shut down production in Borough Park.

Yakin wrote both those movies and didn’t fancy himself a director for hire. But he couldn’t get a job for a year after “Rubies,” until producer Jerry Bruckheimer approached him to direct “Titans,” starring Denzel Washington. “It’s not a Boaz Yakin film,” the filmmaker acknowledges, “but it’s a nice story with a good message. … And I realized that unless I made a mainstream movie, I’d be fighting an uphill battle for the rest of my life.”

Yakin is used to conflict. His Israeli-born parents, who met while studying pantomime with Marcel Marceau in Paris, were secular Jews, but, settled on the Upper West Side in New York, they sent young Boaz to an Orthodox yeshiva in the Bronx. Apparently, they wanted their son to learn Hebrew. “But it was a very schizophrenic existence,” says the director, who was called into the principal’s office at age 8 for contradicting the principle of creationism.

While his parents immersed themselves in the theater (both taught at Juilliard), Boaz experienced a segregation as intense as his characters’ in “Remember the Titans.” His high school, he recalls, consisted of “120 pimply Jewish boys stuck up in Riverdale,” but Yakin was scared to transfer. “When you grow up isolated, you become afraid of the outside world,” he says. “I was afraid of going to school with Blacks and Asians.” Even when he finally escaped to the Bronx High School of Science, he confides, “I could hardly stammer a word out around girls due to 10 years in yeshiva.”

“A Price Above Rubies,” he insists, wasn’t so much his revenge as his exploration of the way all patriarchal societies stifle individuals. (“Sympathy for the Devil,” his upcoming movie, will give Southern Pentecostal Christians the same treatment.)

In the meantime, “Titans,” for Yakin, has been a kind of “Big-Budget Filmmaking 101” – one that began with an intensive research period in Alexandria. The director visited the home of coach Herman Boone, the strong-willed African American who “literally streamrolled” his Black and white players into accepting each other. He tooled around Alexandria with Bill Yoast, the gentle white assistant coach whose daughter, Sheryl, was obsessed with football.

At one point Yoast stopped at a cemetery with a startling revelation: Sheryl, who is depicted in the film as a precocious 9-year-old, was buried there, Yoast said. “I hadn’t known that she was dead,” says the filmmaker, who is slated to direct and co-write “Batman Beyond” for Warner Bros. “I thought about that constantly on the shoot. I knew how happy it would make Bill that his daughter could live up there on the screen, at least for a while.”

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Humor

Leave a Comment / Community /

As I see it, the big problem with the political debates isn’t, as everybody contends, the candidates; rather, it’s the format. It’s too polite, too genteel. You wind up with two men, who have spent months accusing each other of being treacherous fools, suddenly having to put on their company manners. They wind up acting as if they just might vote for the other guy. The whole thing is as phony as a bad amateur production; mediocre lines delivered by over-rehearsed robots who have been dressed by a wardrobe lady with way too many red neckties at her disposal.

At the end, you don’t know either man any better than you did at the start. Personally, I would like to see a return to old-fashioned, bare-knuckle, last-man-standing showdowns. And I’m not referring to Kennedy-Nixon in 1960 either. The only things that came out of that televised affair: it let everyone know that the Catholic candidate didn’t have horns and cloven hooves, and reminded us that Nixon had come to look exactly like the sewer rat that political cartoonist Herblock had been sketching for the previous dozen years.
No, when I wish for a return to the good old days, I’m talking about the old days at the house in which I grew up. When my relatives congregated, you had the full spectrum of political opinion, and not just Democrats and Republicans. Predictably, the elderly cousins who worked for minimum wage in the shmatte business could be counted on to vote the straight Socialist ticket.

We even had a delusional Communist in our midst. Uncle Sidney was truly a screwball. He had made his fortune during World War II, wheeling and dealing in Chicago’s black market. He then moved to L.A., where he invested his ill-gotten booty in parking lots and slum housing. I used to delight in pointing out to him that, card-carrying or not, with his record for greed and financial chicanery, come the revolution, he’d be among the first lined up against a wall and shot.

Political discussions in our house were as much like these televised cotillions as mud wrestling is like a tea party. A polite exchange would consist of “Shut up, you don’t know what you’re talking about!” followed by “You’re full of it! You shut up!” I hate to think what would happen to a couple of preppie fellows like Bush and Gore if tossed into one of these family skirmishes. For all their alleged differences, these are two privileged peas from the very same pod; they’re both rich sons of powerful fathers, graduates of the Ivy League. As babies, these two scions could have sucked on the same silver spoon. Hell, if they were any more similar, they’d have to be Siamese twins.

In my house, without a Jim Lehrer to keep the bullies at bay, you wouldn’t have had a chance to hear Gore courageously confess that he’s for Social Security or Bush take the bit in his teeth and announce to all the world that he thinks education is a really, really good thing. My relatives wouldn’t have let these two hothouse orchids get a cliché in edgewise. They’d have had these two puppet boys for lunch. During election years, especially if you couldn’t take the heat, you definitely stayed out of my mother’s kitchen.
When it comes to helping one make a decision about which candidate to support, I find the TV debates absolutely useless. Understand, I’m not saying that I would have voted for any of my relatives, but at least after an hour or two you knew that among the uncles, Irving was the loudest, Nathan was the rudest and Jake was the least informed.

You also knew one other thing: namely that should the Russkies, by some awful miracle, go on to win the Cold War, Uncle Sidney would have been in for a hell of a big surprise.

Humor Read More »

Decisions, Decisions

Leave a Comment / Politics, San Fernando Valley /

The race for the 41st Assembly District, which includes Santa Monica, Malibu, Brentwood and the southwestern San Fernando Valley, is the perfect microcosm of the Jewish voting dilemma: whether to cast one’s ballot for the Jewish candidate or the candidate who, although not Jewish, is favored by a majority of the community’s leaders.

On the one side is Republican Jayne Murphy Shapiro. A longtime Valley resident and registered nurse, Shapiro raised her four young sons on her own after her husband, Dr. William Shapiro, died in 1990 following a short but brutal bout with cancer. She managed to put all four boys through Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School in Northridge while also volunteering for Jewish organizations including AIPAC and The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles’ Valley Alliance.

A petite brunette with lightning-blue eyes, Shapiro, 54, has a substantial list of endorsements, including former Gov. Pete Wilson, former Congresswoman Bobbi Fiedler and Earl Greinetz, past president of the Valley Alliance. A number of Shapiro’s supporters have crossed party lines to endorse her, a tribute to her long involvement in causes like the Valley Alliance (for which she was chair of the Women’s Division in the mid-1980s) and KIDSAFE, the organization she founded in 1995 to help get legislation passed to protect children from sexual predators.

Shirley Levine, principal of Heschel Day School, is one of those Democrats who have come out in support of Shapiro, saying the Republican candidate’s interest in doing right for the Jewish community and as an advocate for children are issues unrelated to party affiliation.

“It takes issues for me to cross party lines, [but] I think Jayne has proved universal in her appeal, in her advocacy for Jewish causes and for children,” Levine said. “She has certainly made a huge contribution to our school when we needed her, not just financially but through the hard work and hours she was willing to dedicate as a member of our board. She worked to make our school a success for years and years even after her children graduated. Jayne is the kind of person who looks at things and tries to figure out what is fair and what is just and how to make the world a better place.”

Ironically, Shapiro herself admits that she could “just as easily be a moderate Democrat.” Indeed, her positions on certain key issues lean more to the left than the right. For example, because of her late husband’s experience fighting cancer, she supports decriminalizing marijuana for medical use. She believes in a woman’s right to choose regarding reproductive health and would support funding to preserve the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Among her endorsements are two former leaders of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization of Women, hardly a conservative stronghold.

However, Shapiro says she chose the Republican Party because she is more comfortable as a fiscal conservative. She favors tort reform, expanded tax cuts and breaking up the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“I think people automatically assume Republicans are not for the environment, that they are not for control of guns,” she said. “There are people more to the right who hold that position, and the media tends to pick up on that, but that picture is not accurate.”

Shapiro faces stiff competition from opponent Fran Pavley, who holds the advantage in this heavily Democratic district. Pavley’s endorsements are even more impressive than Shapiro’s, including nearly every Democratic elected official from Gov. Gray Davis to Congressman Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) to Sheila Kuehl, whom she would be replacing, plus both major teachers unions (the California Teachers Association and United Teachers of Los Angeles) and L.A. city and county firefighters.

Pavley was the first mayor of the city of Agoura Hills and was later elected to four terms on the Agoura Hills City Council. She has an established reputation as a leader on environmental issues, serving as a member of the California Coastal Commission and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Advisory Committee. She has two grown children and lives with her husband, David, in Agoura Hills.

A former public school teacher, Pavley would bring to the job an insider’s view on education, one of the most important issues in this year’s election.

“I think the greatest difference between [myself and Shapiro] is my experience,” Pavley said. “My four terms as mayor and my years as a council member has allowed me to work with local, county, state and federal officials on a variety of issues. I’ve worked with current representatives like [County Supervisor] Zev Yaroslavsky, Congressman Brad Sherman and Sheila Kuehl for years and have a very good relationship with their staffs. They have endorsed me in this race not just because I am a Democrat but because they know I’m an effective leader.”

Pavley admits that, beyond working on campaigns for officials like Yaroslavsky and attending the various anti-hate rallies following the 1999 shootings at the North Valley Jewish Community Center, she has had little involvement in Jewish causes. However, she said if elected she would do her best to represent the interests of all the members of her district.

“Our city [of Agoura Hills] has been very active in passing anti-hate crime legislation, and as a schoolteacher I was extremely involved in teaching not only tolerance but appreciation for all races and religions,” Pavley said. “If elected, I will continue to support tolerance among people from all ethnic and religious groups.”

So there is the race: two strong women, each with unique qualifications for the California State Assembly. The decision in the 41st district will not be easy for voters not already committed to the Democratic or Republican parties. But if term limits have accomplished anything, they have at least made the entry of more varied candidates possible – and perhaps made state elections a little more compelling.
For more information about Jayne Murphy Shapiro, visit www.shapiro2000.com. For information on Fran Pavley, visit
www.fran2000.com

Decisions, Decisions Read More »

What To Do With Your Kids

Leave a Comment / Community /

A selection of this week’s Jewish events for children:

Saturday, Oct. 14
o Temple Isaiah: 9:30 a.m. Sukkot Tot Shabbat. Join the rabbis and cantor for a short age-appropriate service with stories and art projects. 10345 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 277-2772.

Sunday, Oct. 15
Skirball Cultural Center: 2 p.m. “Celebrate Sukkot” art workshop for ages 4 and up, including arts and crafts and stories about Sukkot traditions. $5 per child. 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. For reservations, call (310) 440-4636.

Temple Ner Tamid of Downey: Noon. The ongoing Lunch Bunch youth program meets today for a picnic lunch at the temple, followed by a trip to Golf & Stuff. $9 (members); $10 (nonmembers). 10629 Lakewood Blvd., Downey. For reservations, call (562) 861-9276. -By Mike Levy, Calendar Editor

What To Do With Your Kids Read More »

Daddy Track/We’re No Angels

Leave a Comment / Community /

What does it mean to be a Jewish father? If you’re from a religious Jewish background, you know just what to do. You basically raise your child the way you were raised.

What if you aren’t all that thrilled to be Jewish? You might say what my buddy said when his first son was born: “My wife and I haven’t decided how much religion to inflict on the child.”
What if you’re somewhere in between?

I’m struggling to figure out what being a Jewish dad today is all about. What do I want to show and tell my kids about being Jewish? What does being Jewish mean today? Something? Anything? Everything?
Everybody talks about how the moms feel when their kids go off to preschool, the senior prom or the Navy. No one really asks dads, particularly Jewish dads, what it all means to them. Now I’m asking myself and others this.

What was it like when your son was circumcised? What were you thinking about? How did it feel when your daughter went to services for the first time? What about your child’s first Chanukah, or Yom Kippur? What are you telling them about sex? Death? Israel? The Holocaust? When do you bring up these things?

Why?

This is a fascinating and complex time to be a Jewish anything, let alone a Jewish father. We live in a society where, practically unique in Jewish history, you can be Jewish and nobody really cares. You have total freedom to eat Jewish, look Jewish, dress Jewish, pray Jewish. You can wear a bekishe, streimel and tallis and walk down the streets to Sabbath services and no one looks twice at you. We’ve seldom been so free to be ourselves.

The flip side (some might say the downside) of freedom and tolerance is that Judaism actually becomes harder to sustain in the absence of true enemies. When it’s this easy to be Jewish, it’s equally easy not to be Jewish. Nothing keeps Jews from merging completely with the dominant society around us. Since that’s the case, how much of Judaism do you follow, and how much of that do you pass on to your kids? Just how Jewish do you want your kids to be?

My wife is in early labor with our first child; we just returned from our last OB/GYN visit prior to the trip to the hospital. Soon, all the theoretical questions about raising a child Jewishly will become real for us. And we have no idea what we’re going to do. We don’t have a plan. These words are definitely a cry for help to all the other Jewish fathers. How’d you do it? What worked? Any regrets?

According to the Talmud, an angel teaches all of Judaism to the unborn child while it’s still in the darkness of the womb. Just prior to birth, the angel touches the baby between the upper lip and the nose, causing the baby to forget everything that’s been taught over the last nine months. (This explains, according to the Talmud, the little indentation we all have between the nose and the mouth. Of course, gentiles have that indentation as well. How’d they get it?)

I like the idea that my child, right now, knows 99.9 percent of Jewish law and history. (Every Dad wants to think his kid is smart.) I’m sad that he or she (we don’t know yet) will have to start learning it all over again. To put it bluntly, I’m no angel. In fact, when it comes to transmitting Judaism, I’m almost as much in the dark as is our baby. I’m not the ideal transmitter of Jewish thought, values, and rules because I’ve never had a consistent approach to Judaism.

Briefly, my mother’s grandparents were Chassidic Jews. Her parents were nonpracticing Orthodox. My father’s father was president of his Conservative congregation; he and my grandmother cooked and served lobster in the garage. My parents brought up my sisters and me in a Reform temple; we were Bar and Bat Mitzvah and gone. When I was in college, I visited Israel and spent a year in a ba’al teshuva yeshiva, or school for confused American Jews, and am now somewhere between my mother’s parents and grandparents in terms of observance. My wife? She’s from China. She converted to Judaism. So neither of us has a clear path to follow, or to offer our offspring.

The point is that people aren’t supposed to be angels. We filter Judaism through our own perceptions and we do the best we can. It’s time for this Jewish Dad to find his voice.

Daddy Track/We’re No Angels Read More »

And They Say Kids Today Don’t Care

Leave a Comment / California, Community, Politics /

Sixteen-year-old Maxine Perkins, a senior at Brentwood School, wanted to get involved in Election 2000. The former intern for Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg was eager to support fellow-Jew Joe Lieberman. And changing the world, so they say, begins at home. Perkins turned to her mom, a toy manufacturer, and had her create what is know in the business as a plush.

Thus was born the Democratic Donkey, a cuddly little beast decked out in red, white and blue and featuring a countdown clock set for Nov. 7. She’s donating a portion of the proceeds from the stuffed toy to the Democratic Party and the Make a Wish Foundation. After being featured on national television, Perkins decided to go bipartisan, and an elephant joined her menagerie (a portion of those profits go to the Republican Party). After Nov. 7, the countdown clock can be reset to Jan. 20, 2001, Inauguration Day – on either toy. – Staff Report

And They Say Kids Today Don’t Care Read More »

Campaign Kippah

Leave a Comment / Community /

The red-and-white lettering that reads GORE-LIEBERMAN 2000 is already on signs, bumper stickers and buttons. But thanks to Marsha Greenberg of Stamford, Conn., vice-presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman has it stitched on his kippah.

Greenberg crocheted the blue campaign kippah for Lieberman when the news broke that Vice President Al Gore asked Lieberman to be his running mate.

Greenberg got the kippah to Lieberman through her friend, Harold Bernstein, who is a cousin of Lieberman. Bernstein gave it to one of Lieberman’s aides when the candidates were in Stamford recently.
It was an instant hit with both Lieberman and Gore, but Gore immediately claimed it for himself. So Greenberg, who has crocheted kippot since she was a high school student, made another one for Lieberman.

The vice-presidential candidate isn’t the first high-profile politician to wear one of her creations. The late Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin also had one. The kippah design she made for the race for the White House has been getting a lot of attention. The Associated Press circulated the story of the kippah and The New Republic wrote about it.

“Five thousand years of Jewish history and never has one yarmulke caused so much commotion!” said Greenberg. She has received offers upward of $75 for it.

Whether or not the Democratic ticket wins in November, Greenberg knows there is historical value to the kippah. The National Museum of American Jewish
History in Philadelphia wants one. She also plans to donate one to the Smithsonian Institution for its exhibition on Presidential campaign memorabilia.

This story appears courtesy of The Connecticut Jewish Ledger.

A Modern Orthodox
Top Ten

Within hours of the official announcement of Sen. Joe Lieberman as a contender for the vice presidency, people started sending their “Top Ten” lists about a Jewish veep over the Internet. Early on, Marsha Greenberg composed a distinctly Modern Orthodox version: “Top Ten List of Ways the White House Would Change Under Lieberman.”

10) The State of the Union address would end with an appeal.

9) Air Force One grounded on Shabbat and yom tovim, and seats reconfigured to allow space for minyanim.

8) Young Israel of Pennsylvania Avenue due to open across the street.

7) Supreme Court Justices’ robes to be routinely checked for shatnes.

6) Mohel appointed surgeon general.

5) Traditional Easter Egg Hunt on White House lawn replaced by bedikat chometz.

4) Israeli diplomats visiting White House for state dinners will have to preorder treif meals or risk having to eat glatt kosher with everyone else.

3)First lady’s inaugural gown to be ordered with matching snood.

2)National prayer breakfast to conclude with ecumenical learning of “Daf Yomi.”

1)Secret Service to confer with local Orthodox rabbis to discuss feasibility of enclosing the White House and Capitol in an eruv.

Sherry Shameer, Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Campaign Kippah Read More »

Jewish Veep Glut

Leave a Comment / California, Community, Politics /

Nat Goldhaber has a suggestion to spice up the political debates leading up to the November elections.How about a lively discussion on the laws of kashrut among the three Jewish candidates running for the vice presidency of the United States of America?

Hold on there. We know about Sen. Joseph Lieberman running for vice president on the Democratic ticket. But who are the other two?

Well, there is Goldhaber himself, a dot-com California multimillionaire, who is the number two man on the Reform Party ticket. Or at least that part of the splintered party backing John Hagelin and bitterly opposed to the other faction, led by the strident Pat Buchanan.

Rounding out the trio is Winona LaDuke, the vice presidential candidate of the Green Party, headed by consumer advocate Ralph Nader.

Winona LaDuke somehow doesn’t sound like a member of the tribe, but her mother is Jewish, and her father is a Native American. While she follows her father’s American Indian traditions, she does celebrate Passover and Chanukah and comes “from a family of very progressive Jews,” she says.

When it is put to Goldhaber, a Reform Jew and intermittent shul attendee, that the devoutly Orthodox Lieberman might have an edge in a kashrut debate, Goldhaber demurs.

“I was raised in a kosher home and as a teenager attended an Orthodox synagogue in Berkeley co-founded by my mother,” Goldhaber observes. “I think I could hold my own.”

While displaying a nice sense of humor, the 52-year-old Goldhaber, his round face framed by a neatly clipped mustache and beard, is completely serious about his first foray into the political arena.

He is spending the weeks before the election full-time on the hustings, piloting his personal Citation Jet from city to city.

Tops on his political agenda is a drastic reform of political campaign financing, which, he says, is corrupting the entire legislative process.

This corruption is preventing Congress (and state legislatures) from making rational decisions, he believes.Polls show that so far the Reform Party, even unsplintered, is attracting a minuscule percentage of the electorate, but Goldhaber is unfazed.

“Look at Jesse Ventura,” he says.

Even in defeat, third parties are important, Goldhaber argues, because often their ideas – from child labor prohibitions to Social Security – are adopted and put into law by mainstream parties.

Goldhaber made one fortune in 1987, when he sold a software company he created for $20 million. Last month, he made another $27 million on paper by merging a dot-com company with his Oakland-based Cybergold Inc.

The Buchanan forces, whose adherents, he says, have sent him occasional anti-Semitic e-mail, have charged that Hagelin picked Goldhaber to finance the Reform Party campaign.

However, Goldhaber maintains that he has given only $50,000, the top limit if his party is to receive $12.5 million in matching federal funds. (The federal windfall is at the core of drawn-out court battles between the Buchanan and Hagelin factions.)

Goldhaber and his wife Marilyn are the parents of 12-year-old boy triplets, who attend a Jewish day school and are preparing for their Bar Mitzvah next June at Temple Sinai in Oakland, a Reform congregation.”I think that the United States is ripe for a spiritual revolution,” says Goldhaber. “In the face of material abundance, I think there is a deep hunger for spiritual fulfillment, though it need not necessarily be based on religion.”

Jewish Veep Glut Read More »

A Place of Their Own

Leave a Comment / Community /

Reuben Dahan lives just down the block from his nearest synagogue. Yet every Shabbat, for the past seven years, Dahan, an Israeli immigrant who grew up in Petach Tikvah, has gone the extra mile, literally, to worship at a place he calls his spiritual home.

“I live near Chabad,” he says, “but I walk 20 minutes.”

Dahan is a member of Yad Avraham.

A small Sephardic congregation that has been meeting for the past 10 years in a converted storefront on Burbank Boulevard, Yad Avraham has built a loyal following among its members and a reputation for its warmth. Yad Avraham has attracted foreign-born Jews who have turned to the synagogue as a way of retaining their native culture.

The congregation is predominantly Israeli, and many believe their sabra roots form the unifying bond within the synagogue.

“This synagogue helps us keep our culture,” says Shmuel Nouriel.

“We like to have an Israeli place,” adds Avi Edry.

Others say it is the very welcoming and family-like atmosphere of the synagogue that keeps them coming back.

“This synagogue is unique. It is a big family,” says Nouriel, who has attended Yad Avraham since its inception in 1987.

“It is very warm,” says Ramah Palmari. “If you come from the outside, they make you feel at home.”
According to Palmari, who joined the synagogue two years ago, recent immigrants “are thirsty for like-minded people. Here, you are never alone.”

The synagogue has a Shabbat hosting program that helps new attendees meet other members of the congregation.

Although predominantly Israeli, many of the members’ parents immigrated to Israel from various countries including Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Morocco and Syria.

Unlike many Sephardic congregations in the neighborhood that pray according to Moroccan tradition, or nusach, Yad Avraham uses a more generic Sephardic style, according to Rabbi David Adatto.
“The point was to make everyone feel comfortable,” he says.

However, at communal Shabbat lunches, various culinary heritages meet.

“We share cultures,” says Edry, the synagogue producer. “We mix all the foods. One week we all eat couscous, the next week we’ll eat kubeh.”

Most members of Yad Avraham were secular and became ba’al tshuvah (returned to Judaism) after joining the congregation.

According to Adatto, many were first drawn to the synagogue solely for cultural reasons. “Secular Israelis in America want something Israeli,” he says. “Before you knew it, they were part of the community.”
Joshua Assis believes his commitment to Orthodoxy is an outgrowth of his work with the synagogue.
“I was here from the beginning,” says Assis, the synagogue treasurer. “It is like raising a baby. It becomes part of you, your blood.”

Besides weekly services, the synagogue holds weekly classes for men and women on Jewish studies or issues relating to upcoming holidays. Rabbis from nearby synagogues, including Ashkenazic ones, lecture at Yad Avraham.

Sun., Sept. 24, after spending the past decade renting space, Yad Avraham finally broke ground on a permanent home.

The new building, scheduled to be completed in time for next Rosh Hashanah, will be located on Chandler Boulevard near Whitsett Avenue.

“It will be a place that we can truly call our own,” Adatto says. “It will enable us to increase our base. From there we will be able to expand, grow and reach out to the community”

Along with a synagogue, Yad Avraham also plans on opening the Jerusalem Israeli Community Cultural Center within the new facility.

“We want to build an Israeli culture center to teach the children,” says Edry.

Members of Yad Avraham say the center will also cater to the social needs of immigrants, especially to the thousands of Israelis who have moved to the Valley during the 1990s.

Along with social programs, members of Yad Avraham believe that the center will be a window on the their little slice of Israel in North Hollywood.

“We want to show the outside the love and joy we get from our community,” says Edry.

A Place of Their Own Read More »

Persian Pursuasion

Leave a Comment / Community /

On any given weekday, Elat Market, the Pico-Robertson supermarket, is already a hub of hustle and bustle for the Persian community. So one can imagine the human traffic on the Friday morning before Yom Kippur – getting ready before Shabbat and yontiff. Standing outside the market on this busy morning, it becomes apparent that Elat is somewhat of a de facto community center, a nexus where friends – young and old – run into one another and splinter off into small congregations of conversation.

That is exactly why Marjan Keypour and Mary Koukhab were out there. The co-founders of the Iranian-Americans for Democratic Action (IADA), Keypour and Koukhab, both 20-something professionals, have something else in common – their concern that not enough Iranian American Jews are registering to vote.From a small table set up in front of Elat Market, Koukhab and Keypour, sporting flashy sequined patriotic caps, approached shoppers as they entered and exited the market. It quickly became evident that the two had tapped into an important vein. In the course of an hour, some 30 people registered to vote. And these registrants – members of Southern California’s Persian community, which includes roughly 30,000 Iranian Jews – seemed to appreciate having these two energetic women reaching out to them in their native Farsi tongue.

“It’s a fantastic idea,” said Edna Radnia of the registration booth. “I was too lazy to go to do this.””It’s very good,” agreed Eden Faknim.

For Koukhab and Keypour, registering many of these newly naturalized citizens also meant educating them about the voting process, as a lack of communication and information has hampered their ability to participate. One man erroneously believed that the presidential election was on Oct. 7 until Keypour informed him that it was, in fact, a month later. An older man in a kippah also came to the table for assistance – like many in the community, he was handicapped by his lack of command of the English language.

“He picked up the forms yesterday and brought them in to make sure they’re right. The dates and signatures are still missing,” Keypour explained to The Journal.

Keypour and Koukhab expressed mixed feelings over the fact that they were filling a void in political outreach.

“That’s personally satisfying, but in terms of community organization, it’s disappointing,” said Keypour. “One would think that some organization would have already thought to reach out to the Iranian-American community, but remarkably, no one has.”

That’s why IADA was formed. The Koukhab-Keypour cause had its genesis back in August, when Gore and Lieberman came to town.

“We both went to the Democratic National Convention and were so excited about the Democratic campaign platform,” Keypour said. Soon after, Koukhab contacted an acquaintance, 1988 Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Dukakis, about becoming involved with the party. Dukakis suggested that Koukhab turn to her own community. Keypour and Koukhab credit fellow volunteer Reuben Zadeh, active in Democrats for Israel and the Westside headquarters of the Democratic Party, for assisting them in their outreach.

In addition to their Elat Market spot, Koukhab and Keypour have helped people register in front of the Democratic Party offices. They also supplied Persian Jewish destinations – such as the Iranian-American Jewish Federation in West Hollywood and the Nessah Cultural Center in Santa Monica – with registration forms and dropped off forms at Iranian businesses, such as some of the book, music and rug stores in Westwood and Santa Monica.

The women had learned much over the course of their weeklong campaign.

“I am surprised by the mere fact that so many people do not know the basic information. Almost everybody is a first-time voter,” said Keypour. “We have to inform them that by registering to vote, they have not voted. We have to remind them to go and vote on Nov. 7.”

Some of the Iranian Americans filling out forms at the IADA table voiced their support for the Gore/Lieberman ticket.

Explained Keypour, “People in the Iranian Jewish community have been more receptive to the Democratic party because Lieberman is a Jew. It makes them proud. In Iran, Jews can not run for high offices.”Their second day in front of Elat Market, Keypour and Koukhab rapidly ran out of Gore/Lieberman stickers and buttons. Although Democratic Party literature was on display, the two women were more concerned that people vote, regardless of what candidate they support.

For Koukhab, who grew up in Michigan and has only been a part of the local community for four years, helping get the word out was at once exhilarating and satisfying: “I feel like it’s an obligation to bring them into the process in a way that’s comfortable to them.”

Koukhab was heartened by the number of Persian Jews who had been receptive to the idea of registering, once presented with the information and materials.

“Those who understand the significance are ready to jump on right away,” said Koukhab. “People are realizing that it’s important to them as they become part of the larger American society.”Said Radnia as she registered, “It’s important for us as a community to participate. We live here, we pay all our taxes, we should be involved.”

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