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Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

June 9, 2005

Shavuot Gets Hip

Leave a Comment / Up Front /

Is Shavuot becoming hip? The holiday, which begins June 12, may be one of Judaism’s three major festivals, but it had never caught on in America like its more popular cousins, Passover and Sukkot.

The tradition of tikkun l’eil Shavuot, the all-night study session that marks the commemoration of God’s giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, is celebrated by most Orthodox Jews and many Conservative congregations. But for many unaffiliated and non-Orthodox Jews, the holiday has gone fairly unnoticed.

Until recently.

In the past few years there’s been a resurgence of interest in tikkun l’eil Shavuot. Of all the holidays in the Jewish calendar it’s this one, with its focus on intellectual exploration and spiritual self-examination, that is being seized upon by a new generation as a day — or, rather, night — ripe for reinvention.

It’s been happening in the synagogues. Rabbi Daniel Freelander, vice president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said 200 to 300 Reform congregations now hold tikkun l’eil Shavuot sessions.

But beyond the synagogue walls, something even more interesting is taking place: Large-scale alternative Shavuot night happenings are being held in clubs and JCCs on both coasts, where participants prepare themselves for the morning’s revelation with sunset-to-dawn smorgasbords of text study, lectures, music, film, discussion groups, folk dancing, performance art and, of course, cheesecake.

In New York, more than 1,500 came to Alma Tikkun, an all-night study and cultural extravaganza held simultaneously at the Manhattan JCC and 92nd Street Y.

In Los Angeles, synagogues around the city are also sponsoring events — from a cheekily titled “Jews for Cheeses!” at Beth Shir Shalom in Santa Monica to a social justice event at the Westside Jewish Community Center on Olympic Boulevard, sponsored by the Progressive Jewish Alliance and Ikar, a year-old nonaffiliated congregation.

Rabbi Sharon Brous, Ikar’s spiritual leader, said her group will study traditional texts — Torah, talmudic and Chasidic writings — but will use them to discuss hunger and warfare in Africa, immigrant rights and “our commitment to a pluralistic, diverse world.”

Other progressive prayer groups, such as Rabbi Naomi Levy’s Nashuva, will also study mystical teachings in honor of the holiday. At Shomrei Torah in West Hills, the evening fare will discuss “What Is Shavuot Really About?”

Why all this interest in Shavuot?

Ruth Calderon, the founder of Alma College in Tel Aviv and the spiritual force behind the Alma Tikkun in New York, said Shavuot is also compelling to her generation because “it wasn’t ‘taken’ yet.”

“As young secular Israelis, it wasn’t relevant for us in the agricultural sense anymore, but we saw it could be relevant to us as the People of the Book.'”

For more Shavuot events, see our Calendar.

 

Shavuot Gets Hip Read More »

Mensch Seeks Shayna Maideleh

Leave a Comment / Television, Up Front /

The search is on for “a nice Jewish boy” — and no, this time it’s not your mother who’s looking.

A team of scouts is scouring the Diaspora for the ideal single Jewish man for a new Israeli reality television show. Once selected, the bachelor, who according to producers preferably will be good looking and “financially secure,” will come to Israel for the summer, when 15 young Israeli women will compete to capture his heart.

“We all grow up in Jewish houses and we know the dream of Jewish mothers is that their son finds a nice Jewish girl,” said Gadi Veinrib, a producer for the show, to be called — what else? — “A Nice Jewish Boy.”

The bachelor will be sent to Israel “to meet the nice Jewish love of his life,” he said.

The show’s producers will be holding casting calls for the show in New York, Los Angeles and a European city in the next few weeks. There may be teleconferences in Australia as well.

Producers are trying to get the word out via Jewish organizations.

Already they have been flooded by hundreds of queries from the United States, Europe, Australia and South Africa, many from Jewish women offering their brothers, friends and cousins for the job.

In Israel, there also has been a huge response from women hoping to be among the pool of bachelorettes. Scouts also are searching for female contestants at university campuses, clubs and bars. The show is also considering including Jewish women from abroad as contestants, said Veinrib, who was among the production team of the hit Israeli reality TV show “The Ambassador.”

The reality series is to take place over the course of three months. It will be set in a luxurious villa, complete with a pool and a lush garden, in central Israel. The young women will live there, and — as in the American ABC show “The Bachelor” — will be courted by the man on individual dates. Every week another bachelorette will be eliminated, and by the end of the show, producers hope, the man will have found his future mate.

The producers are looking for women in their early 20s to mid 30s and for men from their mid 20s to mid to late 30s. Interested? Send photos and a C.V. to the show at kuperman@hot3.co.il.

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Mensch Seeks Shayna Maideleh Read More »

Obituaries

Leave a Comment / Obituaries /

Greta Furst,
L.A. Free Clinic Auxiliary Co-Founder,
Dies at 73

Longtime Beverly Hills resident Greta Lenetska Furst, L.A. Free Clinic auxiliary volunteer co-founder, died June 1 at the age of 73. Furst was honored Dec. 6, 2004, at the organization’s 28th annual dinner gala at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, where a full house of friends, associates and family were proud to see her honored for the three decades of unselfish service and devotion she has given to the organization.

“It is very personally rewarding to assist in raising funds that provide free medical services to those in need,” Furst said.

Greta was born and raised in New York, and moved to Beverly Hills in February 1957 as the new bride of Lionel Furst. Prior to her marriage, she traveled around the world delighting audiences with her vocal medleys. In 1999, she gave the community a small glimpse of her special talent when she presented a one-woman show featuring a collection of her favorite songs.

Since moving to Beverly Hills, she became active in the community and served on Beverly Hills Traffic and Parking Commission, was president of El Rodeo PTA, and served on the boards of Beverly Hills CPR, Los Angeles County West Mosquito Abatement District and Advisory Committee for Access Services. For 21 years she was on the board of the Los Angeles Free Clinic, continued on the Friends board and founded the New Friends of the Clinic and the clinic’s Auxiliary Group. She was recipient of the clinic’s Lenny Somberg Award in 2004 and was United Way Agency Volunteer of the Year in 1999.

Greta’s example of unconditional love and service toward those in need remains the most precious gift she has shared with our community.

She is survived by her husband, Lionel; daughter, Valeri (Ron Wauschek); son, Larry (Nu Usaha); and granddaughters, Emma and Kate Wauschek.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the L.A. Free Clinic Greta Furst Fund, 8405 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048.

BETTY ABRAMS died May 13 at 93. She is survived by her daughter, Lenore Sherman; eight grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. Groman

Blanche Abramson died May 16 at 95. She is survived by her niece, Sue Rothstein; nephew, Rick Rothstein; and great-niece, Gina Oken. Mount Sinai

BlanChe Ashe died May 9 at 80. She is survived by her daughter, Karen Einstein. Chevra Kadisha

NEIL ALLEN AUERBACH died May 18 at 59. He is survived by his sister, Janet Lapins. Groman

Bouena Avlas died May 14 at 80. She is survived by her daughter, Dora (Solomon) Soulema; sons, Sam and Morris; and six grandchildren. Malinow and Silverman

LAWRENCE BARSKY died May 12 at 84. He is survived by his son, Richard David; daughter, Marcia Spiess; two grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Groman

ALICE BAY died May 9 at 98. She is survived by her sisters, Eve Rosove and Rachelle Elex; brother, Sheldon (Babs); brother, Harry; sisters-in-law, Phyllis and Rita; and 12 nephews and nieces. Hillside

ROBERTA BENNETT died May 15 at 89. She is survived by her husband, Mark; son, Lance David; daughter, Deborah Ann; and one grandchild. Groman

Debra Branker-Ward died May 9 at 87. She is survived by her daughter, Nancy (Stephen) Weled; son, Gary (Suzee) Branker; four grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. Mount Sinai

EVA BRONNER died May 17 at 93. She is survived by her husband, James; son, Dr. Philip; and two grandchildren. Groman

JACK MONROE CAINE died May 15 at 77. He is survived by his wife, Joann; sons, Daniel Port and Robert; daughters, Beth McCain, Julie Hohn and Cary Port; and 10 grandchildren. Hillside

SELMA CHERRY died May 9 at 86. She is survived by her son, Sam; daughter, Paula (Jeff) Proctor; and two grandchildren. Hillside

Murray Cohen died May 9 at 88. He is survived by his wife, Lucille; daughters, Marilyn Zussman and Carole (Robert); three grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and sisters, Ethel and Beatrice Levy. Mount Sinai

Bernice Coleman died May 11 at 82. She is survived by her son, Ira; daughter, Nancy; and grandchildren, Ben and Sarah. Mount Sinai

Harriet Crane died May 17 at 86. She is survived by her son, Donald Glass. Malinow and Silverman

SAADA DAHAN died May 17 at 94. She is survived by her sons, Jacques, David and Maurice; daughters, Nadine Kaufman, Fortune Elgrably, Anne Crosner and Natalie Selzer; 23 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren. Hillside

Hannah Davis died May 12 at 93. She is survived by her sister, Marjorie (Les) Forman; stepson, Richard (Carol Brewer); and brothers, Edward (Bess) and Sherman (Harriet) Sperling. Mount Sinai

ANNA EISENBERG died May 9 at 89. She is survived by her daughter, Marilyn Mandel; and granddaughter, Olivia Mandel. Hillside.

Sarah Fefferman died May 10 at 93. She is survived by her nieces, Julie Freitas and Susan (Charles Alexander); and nephew, Dan (Susan). Mount Sinai

MARVIN FREEDMAN died May 11 at 86. He is survived by his wife, Pauline; and Cheryl Lyons. Chevra Kadisha

NORMAN GENISLOW died May 15 at 55. He is survived by his parents, Seymour and Selma; brother, Howard; and sister, Jeni Deloff. Groman

PAULINE ROTH GEST died May 11 at 92. She is survived by her son, Jonathan; and niece, Marsha Wilson. Hillside

MARJORIE GILBERT died May 10 at 92. She is survived by her nephews, Fred (Marcia) Fink and George King; great-nieces, Gail (Tony) Greer and Cheryl (Cameron) Edwards. Mount Sinai

ANNE GLASER died May 11 at 90. She is survived by her four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Hillside

Betty Greenfield died May 12 at 98. She is survived by her sons, Robert and Leonard; four grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; brother, Irving Myers; and sisters, Jean Myers and Aida Glick. Groman

Ernst Hancz died May 18 at 90. He is survived by his wife, Estu; daughter, Terry Weissman; sons, Danny and Fred; seven grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Sandra Herzberg died May 14 at 95. She is survived by her daughter, Bernyce Green. Malinow and Silverman

Irving Hoffman died May 16 at 90. He is survived by his wife, Rose; daughters, Ellen (Ken) Grossbart and Beth; three grandsons; great-grandson, Brady Solomon; and sister, Anna Reiss. Mount Sinai

SIDNEY HURWITZ died May 14 at 83. He is survived by his wife, Carmen; and brother, Melvin. Groman

ALLYN JACOBS died May 10 at 51. He is survived by his wife, Ana; son, Burt; and father, Burt. Hillside

Lilly Kahan died May 10 at 79. She is survived by her sons, Ken (Roneet), Dennis (Diane) and Stanley (Sandi); nine grandchildren; brother, Frank Oehlbaum; and sister, Ella (Joseph) Brandt. Mount Sinai

Miriam Rae Kales died May 10 at 87. She is survived by her daughter, Sandra (Morris) Alpert; grandchildren, Kevin Alpert and Karile (David) DiNardo; great-grandchild, Payton Grivin DiNardo; and sister, Mildred Weiner. Mount Sinai

JACK KAMEN died May 13 at 91. He is survived by his wife, Sylvia; sons, Robert, Richard and Roy; daughter, Carol Ann; three grandchildren; brother, Seymour; and sister, Lilly Milner. Groman

SHARON KAMINS died May 16 at 82. She is survived by her daughter, Barbara Brown. Hillside

Greta Furst,

L.A. Free Clinic Auxiliary Co-Founder,

Dies at 73

Longtime Beverly Hills resident Greta Lenetska Furst, L.A. Free Clinic auxiliary volunteer co-founder, died June 1 at the age of 73. Furst was honored Dec. 6, 2004, at the organization’s 28th annual dinner gala at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, where a full house of friends, associates and family were proud to see her honored for the three decades of unselfish service and devotion she has given to the organization.

“It is very personally rewarding to assist in raising funds that provide free medical services to those in need,” Furst said.

Greta was born and raised in New York, and moved to Beverly Hills in February 1957 as the new bride of Lionel Furst. Prior to her marriage, she traveled around the world delighting audiences with her vocal medleys. In 1999, she gave the community a small glimpse of her special talent when she presented a one-woman show featuring a collection of her favorite songs.

Since moving to Beverly Hills, she became active in the community and served on Beverly Hills Traffic and Parking Commission, was president of El Rodeo PTA, and served on the boards of Beverly Hills CPR, Los Angeles County West Mosquito Abatement District and Advisory Committee for Access Services. For 21 years she was on the board of the Los Angeles Free Clinic, continued on the Friends board and founded the New Friends of the Clinic and the clinic’s Auxiliary Group. She was recipient of the clinic’s Lenny Somberg Award in 2004 and was United Way Agency Volunteer of the Year in 1999.

Greta’s example of unconditional love and service toward those in need remains the most precious gift she has shared with our community.

She is survived by her husband, Lionel; daughter, Valeri (Ron Wauschek); son, Larry (Nu Usaha); and granddaughters, Emma and Kate Wauschek.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the L.A. Free Clinic Greta Furst Fund, 8405 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048.

Evelyn Kassel died May 10 at 83. She is survived by her sons, Steven and George; daughter, Marlene Josephs; three grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and brother, Jerry Schectman. Groman

BETTY KATZ died May 17 at 94. She is survived by her daughter, Sandra (Selwyn) Ginsburg; and grandsons, Gregg and Scott. Hillside

SALLY KATZ died May 16 at 96. She is survived by her sons, Joel and Burt Stonefield; and nine grandchildren. Groman

WILLIAM FRANCIS KATZKY died May 10 at 85. He is survived by his wife, Anne; stepson, Robert Levin; stepdaughter, Judith Brandon; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Hillside

MANLEY KAUFMAN died May 15 at 87. He is survived by his wife, Sara; sons, Dr. Craig and Rod; five grandchildren; and sister, Emma Goldstein. Groman

Aleck Knell died May 14 at 91. He is survived by his wife, Lena; sons, Bill (Joyce) and Robert (Jacqueline); daughter-in-law, Roslyn; nine grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; brother, David Knell; and sister, Gladys Shapiro. Mount Sinai

ROWBEN KOHANBASH died April 27 at 82. He is survived by his wife, Maryam Rambod; son, Amin; and daughter, Shoshana. Chevra Kadisha

AMY KRONE died May 9 at 87. She is survived by her sons, Martin and Gary; daughter, Elaina (Bob) Mills; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; brothers, Stanley and Leroy (Betty) Goldberg; and sister, Sandra Goldberg. Chevra Kadisha

SALLIE SHAFT LAKE died May 13 at 87. She is survived by her son, Robert; and daughter, Barbara Schemm. Groman

Debra Ann Lebenbom died May 12 at 46. She is survived by her parents, Milton and Marjorie; brother, Stuart; and nieces and nephews. Sholom Chapels

Eugene Loopesko died May 9 at 88. He is survived by his wife, Lila; and daughter, Mara Madieros. Malinow and Silverman

ZELDA LOUISON died May 12 at 77. She is survived by her husband, Murray; son, Raymond; and daughter, Stephanie. Groman

ANN MAKLER died May 18 at 83. She is survived by her daughter, Rochelle; two grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and sister, Mollie. Hillside

Richard Miller died May 16 at 55. He is survived by his mother, Corrine. Chevra Kadisha

MAUREEN MINGAIL died May 7 at 77. She is survived by her nieces, Julie and Susan; and nephews, Steve and Eli. Chevra Kadisha

DORA MITCHNICK died May 16 at 93. She is survived by her sons, Arnold and Les; and three grandchildren. Groman

MURRAY EDWARD MOSS died May 11 at 73. He is survived by his wife, Denise; sons, Randy (Lori) and Craig (Heidi); daughters, Wendy (Joey) Klein and Jody (Barry) Soosman; stepchildren, Michelle and Mark; seven grandchildren; sisters, Ann (Bob) Fry and Nancy (Dr. Bob) Podosin; former wife, Jacqueline; and friends, Milt, Arnie, Vinnie and Spiro. Hillside

Roslyn Hilda Moss died May 9 at 91. She is survived by her daughter, Gayle (Charles) Rosenberg; and two grandchildren. Malinow and Silverman

SOPHIE OENSTEIN died May 9 at 88. She is survived by her husband, William; sons, Paul and Steven; five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and brother, Arnold Eisenberg. Hillside

Anna Perez died May 15 at 89. She is survived by her daughter, Sarah Kasman; sons, Avi (Wanda) and Ethan (LiYan); four grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and brother, Sam (Jeanette) Block. Mount Sinai

Stella Pierce died May 8. She is survived by her children, Leslie Sipos and Susan (George) Sickman; five grandchildren; and great-granddaughter, Leah Sickman. Mount Sinai

Samuel Plevin died May 18 at 75. He is survived by his wife, Lois; daughters, Cheryl Gallon, Francine (Jeffrey Lewis), Danielle (David) Statland and Gloria; four grandchildren; brother, Leon (Gloria); and sister, Marilyn. Mount Sinai

Betty Lois Raykoff died May 14 at 82. She is survived by her daughters, Tina (Jeremy) Oderkirk and Marnell; sons, Robert (Laurie) and Howard (Judy); five grandchildren; and brother, Sidney (Winifred) Reed. Malinow and Silverman

Diana Gloria Reed died May 12 at 63. She is survived by her son, Paul Miller; daughters, Mona Asher, Lori Densing and Heahter Spiro; 12 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and sister, Geraldine Meyers. Groman

George Roane died May 9 at 93. He is survived by his wife, Sally; daughter, Sosha (Calm) Rosen; sons, Malcolm (Debi) and Ken (Carol); six grandchildren; and brother, Herbie Cohen. Mount Sinai

Julie Rogoff died May 8 at 92. She is survived by her daughter, Carol Hallstrom; and son, Richard (Christine). Malinow and Silverman

Eleanor Rose died May 16 at 74. She is survived by her husband, Harold; sons, Alex (Kristi) and Bruce (Rosemary); daughter, Stephnie; three grandchildren; brother, Jack Goldstyn. Mount Sinai

Mae rosen died May 12 at 88. She is survived by her daughters, Dale (Bob) Nater and Jackie (Ron) Clark; six grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; brother, Max Feldstein; and sister, Beatrice Elkind. Sholom Chapels

Morris Rosenblatt died May 12 at 93. He is survived by his daughter, Harriet (Michael) Stepner. Malinow and Silverman

Ralph Rosenstock died May 15 at 102. He is survived by his sons, Jerry and Donald (Bonnie); eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Malinow and Silverman

Ruth Sachs died May 11 at 87. She is survived by her son, Marshall (Janice) Sachs; daughter, Carole (David) Rubinger; and four grandchildren. Mount Sinai

DOROTHY SCHULMAN died May 14 at 92. She is survived by her son, Gilbert; daughter, Ronny Schwimmer; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Groman

Richard Schulman died May 12 at 87. He is survived by his wife, Jeanne; nephews, Jeffrey (Barbara) Robsenbaum and Randy (Debbie) Gallant; niece, Jillian (Rame) Barrett. Mount Sinai

MOLLIE SEDACCA died May 18 at 84. She is survived by her husband, David; son, Dr. Robert; daughter, Helene (Robert) Dolan; and two grandchildren. Groman

IRVING LOUIS SEIFF died May 16 at 89. He is survived by his wife, Molly; daughter, Sara; four grandchildren; one great-grandchild; brother, Leonard; and sister, Judy Karpe. Hillside

Harold Senter died May 16 at 92. He is survived by his daughter, Marlene (Walt) Zaslove; son, Arnold (Linda); three grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and brothers, Stoney (Ellie) and Louis (Betty). Mount Sinai

Albert Simons died May 9 at 82. He is survived by his wife, Barbara; daughters, Patricia (Wayne) Allen, Danielle Bercel and Jan; four grandchildren; and brother, Jesse. Mount Sinai

ADELE SINGER died May 13 at 103. She is survived by her daughter, Elaine Blossom (Irving) Woolf; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Hillside

Marjorie Singerman died May 10 at 80. She is survived by her husband, Millard; sons, Jonathan, Richard (Laurie) and Ron (Iryna); five grandchildren; and sister, Riza (Sy) Rosenthal. Mount Sinai

Harry Snyder died May 18 at 85. He is survived by his wife, Bernice; sons, Ira (Lucy) and Jeffrey (Christine); and three grandchildren. Mount Sinai

MILDRED SPRITZ died May 16 at 92. She is survived by her cousins, Dorothy and Mark Levine. Chevra Kadisha

Dorothy Sriro died May 12 at 93. She is survived by her sons, Harold (Kande) and Gary (Elly); two grandchildren; sister, Ida Blum; and brother, Ben (Jane) Rosen. Mount Sinai

Lillian Stern died May 11 at 88. She is survived by her daughters, Maxine (Seth) Marcus and Shelley (Brian) Ferris; sons, Kenneth (Jacqueline) and Jack; and 10 grandchildren. Malinow and Silverman

Jeffrey Lee Swartz died May 10 at 42. He is survived by his wife, Julie; daughters, Maya and Rebecca; mother, Eunice; father, Louis (Joan); brothers, Jeremy and Jonathan; and mother-in-law, Cele Schoenbrun. Mount Sinai

Leon Tolley died May 17 at 85. He is survived by his daughter, Joy (Bernie) Sullivan; son, Gary (Corky); three grandchildren; and sister, Ida Sugarman. Mount Sinai

JANET TROMBKA died April 30 at 88. She is survived by her sons, Fred and Mark (Judy); daughter, Marilyn (John) Williams; three grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Chevra Kadisha

GERTRUDE UDOFF died May 17 at 86. She is survived by her sons, Martin (Judy) and Barry; daughter, Julianna Brandes; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and sisters, Elaine Haidt and Bunny Rosenberg. Groman

RICHARD LESLIE ULMER died May 9 at 70. He is survived by his wife, Dalia; and son, James Randall. Chevra Kadisha

Clara Viola died May 10 at 86. She is survived by her son, Ronald; daughter, Judy Bandy; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Groman

Dr. Tom Wallach died May 13 at 54. He is survived by his wife, Deborah; daughters, Brittany and Jacqueline; mother, Maggie; brother, Michael; and father-in-law, Charles Royce. Malinow and Silverman

Madelynne Wasserman died May 16 at 98. She is survived by her son, Roger (Julie); grandchildren, Jeffrey (Jennifer) and Amy; and great-grandchildren, Trevor and Abby. Mount Sinai

Cathrine Weiner died May 18 at 81. She is survived by her sons, Thomas (Epi) and Gary; granddaughter, Samantha; and sister, Nellie (David) Gola. Mount Sinai

Beverly Elaine Wexler died May 18 at 75. She is survived by her daughters, Jill (Tracy) Lavarnway and Jodi (Stuart) Silverstein; three grandchildren; and sister, Enid (Marty) Meltzner. Mount Sinai

Ruth Zugsmith died May 16 at 94. She is survived by her son, Mike (Rachel); daughter, Suzan Smith; seven grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. Mount Sinai

 

Obituaries Read More »

Letters

Leave a Comment / Letters to the Editor /

One of the Best

I want to congratulate Danielle [Magady’s] family for finding an educator who really knows his business (“One of the Girls,” June 3).

Rabbi Shlomo Goldberg has hit the nail on the head when he says he is “less concerned with how much they [his students] know than with what kind of people they’ll be.”

Parents and educators should all realize that the fundamental objective of educating young people is getting them ready to work with other people in their community and to be menches. Without this, all the rest of their knowledge is just facts that they can get in the library or on the Internet.

Bobbie Clark
Tarzana

 

Independent Entity

While Jewish World Watch (JWW) was founded and incubated at Valley Beth Shalom (VBS), it does not remain, as was mistakenly reported in the aforementioned article, an organization of VBS (“Sudan Support Marks Memorial Day,” June 2).

In fact, JWW has 16 synagogue members, each of which synagogue has paid from $500 to $1,500 to join the organization and help underwrite its expenses.

Each of the member synagogues has embraced the mission of JWW and has engaged its membership in that mission. The mission of JWW, as adopted by its Governing Council on Feb. 14, 2005, is to mobilize the synagogue community to combat genocide and other egregious violations of human rights around the world.

Janice Kamenir-Reznik
Chair
Jewish World Watch

 

Prayers for Darfur

While I was happy to see your coverage of the Jewish World Watch Darfur programs, I was disappointed that your reporter completely neglected any mention of the incredibly moving and powerful evening that took place at our synagogue, the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center (“Pray for the Innocent of Darfur,” May 20).

We had more than 180 people, which included a broad interfaith coalition, with local ministers participating. The program featured Craig Taubman, who brought not only his energy and spirit, but also brought an Ethiopian singer named Alula Tzaddik, who began the program with Hebrew/African chanting and added his voice and spirit throughout the entire evening.

We ended with all of us arm in arm, together around the steps of our bimah, singing and swaying, with many people in tears.

I hope that future reporting will make sure to include the entire story. We worked hard to make our event a success, which it was, and your readers deserve to know that.

Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater
Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center

 

A Cannes-Don’t

It was very disappointing to read Carole Davis’ article on the Shabbat dinner in Cannes (“Project Shabbat a ‘Go’ In Cannes,” May 27).

In some portions she attempted to convey the good will and feelings of the participants.

However, she was unable to hide her contempt for hardworking people in the film business (or “desperate show biz climbers” as she so charitably describe them).

Of course, it’s very easy for her to sit on her elitist throne of good taste and cast stones at those who deign to make a living creating films for popular consumption. Why does she find it so incredible that many (probably most) attendees do not view the films in competition?

Cannes is not just a festival — it is also a market, a convention of film buyers and sellers. If she could get past your na?ve impressions of the film business — it is a business — she would see that.

As the “banker” (although I am not a banker, just one of many of the well-checked “facts”) in her article, I easily noticed her disdain for commercial films.

As our conversation proceeded and the condescension was oozing from her pores, I specifically asked her to put aside her own personal tastes and attempt to write an objective article to capture the spirit of the evening. I obviously failed in my attempt.

Phil Fier
Via e-mail

 

Anti-Semitism Continues

The letters responding to your “Jewish Festivals of Yore” note both the current divisiveness and laissez-faire approach of most of the American Jewish community to Israel, their Jewishness and a sad lack of understanding of Jewish history (“Letters,” June 3).

Anti-Semitism does not arise because of any particular action, or even the existence of the State of Israel. Arabs in British Palestine massacred hundreds of Jews in the 1920s and 1930s, before there was a Jewish State. The Nazis killed 6 million Jews, simply because they were Jews.

“Anti-Zionism” and “anti-Israel” are just the current, politically correct terms for “hate/kill the Jews.” Jews who dissociate themselves from Israel provide themselves no benefit, for the anti-Semites will define them as Jews — just as was done in Nazi Germany.

Amos Oz summed it up well: “In the 1930s, our enemies said: Jews to Palestine. Now they say: Jews out of Palestine. They do not want us here. They don’t want us to be there. They just don’t want us to be.”

Fred Korr
Los Angeles

 

Where Is the Coverage?

Having just finished reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about the massive anti-Semitism in European media, I find it sad and disturbing that The Journal is aggressively seeking to undermine American Israel Public Affairs Committee, an organization working to protect all Jews (“AIPAC — Let the Sun Shine In,” June 3). Anyone following the attacks on Jews throughout the world might want to acknowledge that the post-Holocaust golden age of acceptance and naivety for Jews maybe coming to an end. Ignoring what is happening to our brothers in Europe while being concerned about how liberal we can be in shul will not make our children or our way of life any safer.

The world has changed and many of us are choosing to deny what is happening. How many articles have been published in The Journal about the problems of Jews in France, Britain or the daily anti-Semitism in the European media? Why is there so little concern about the media coverage around the world that vilifies Israel and Jews, and so much judgment about Jews who are on the other side of the political spectrum? Might it be time to consider that Jews are once again being judged by a different standard and that being Jewish might expose us to some different treatment or even danger. Are we so insulated here that we have lost touch to the undertones being expressed in media bylines — including our local paper?

Articles that attack organizations working to protect Jews and Israel while at the same time giving minuscule coverage to the new reality of the increased risks of anti-Semitism tell me that history’s lessons are again being overlooked by far too many in our community.

Lou Averbach
Santa Monica

 

 

Letters Read More »

Kids Page

Leave a Comment / Kids & Teens /

The Dairy Queen

Do you like ice cream? Cheesecake? Blintzes?

Well, Shavuot is the holiday for you. That’s when the dairy queen grants us our wish: to eat all the sweetest, milkiest foods we want. The rabbis tell us one reason for this custom: The Jews did not eat kosher meat until they learned about it in the Torah. Once the Torah was given, they realized that their dishes and pots were still non-kosher from previous use. Until they could get new ones, the Jewish people ate only dairy.

Piece of Cake

No-Bake Cheese Cake

Ingredients:

1 large package of graham crackers

3 containers of soft cream cheese

1 cup of milk

1 package of vanilla pudding

1. Combine the cream cheese, milk and vanilla pudding together in a mixing bowl.

2. Use a mixer to combine the ingredients (make sure to have an adult help you).

3. While the mixer is mixing, take the graham crackers and line the bottom of a large tray so that they completely cover the bottom of the pan.

4. Add the mix on top of the graham crackers and refrigerate. It will thicken in the refrigerator overnight and be ready in the morning.

You can use different flavored puddings and add any topping you like: fruit, nuts, chocolate sauce — mmmmm.

Enjoy!

 

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Army Chief Doubts Survival of Israel

Leave a Comment / Worldwide /

It’s not every day that Israel’s No. 1 soldier expresses doubts about the country’s long-term survival. But that was part of a bleak message from Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya’alon that has shaken the country’s political establishment.

In a wide-reaching, early June interview in the daily newspaper, Ha’aretz, the retiring Israeli army chief of staff pulled no punches. He put key existential issues on the table, questioned the wisdom of Israel’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank, debunked the notion of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and said it could lead to a “situation in which there will be no Israel here in the end.”

Left-wing and centrist critics are appalled at Ya’alon’s pessimism and accuse him of failing to understand the rationale behind Israel’s withdrawal plan. Some, including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, suggest Ya’alon’s comments stem from bitterness at not having his term as chief of staff extended for another year.

But right-wingers, including the rebels in Sharon’s own Likud Party, have welcomed Ya’alon’s critique. They intend to use it and similar reservations from Avi Dichter, former head of the Shin Bet security service, as central pillars of a new, last-ditch campaign against the planned withdrawal.

In the interview, Ya’alon said his doubts about the peace process with the Palestinians began a decade ago, when as chief of military intelligence, he saw troubling signs on the ground, began asking questions and “did not get convincing answers.”

The core problem in his view is that the Palestinians, even under new leader Mahmoud Abbas, are unwilling to recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state, regardless of its borders.

“The State of Israel is ready to give the Palestinians an independent Palestinian state, but the Palestinians are not ready to give us an independent Jewish state,” he said.

Therefore, he believes Palestinian violence against Israel will continue, even if the Palestinians get a state of their own. In fact, Ya’alon rejected the two-state solution as “an illusory and dangerous paradigm” that will not bring stability, but will become a platform for future war.

The two-state solution, he argued, “is a story that the Western world tells through Western eyes. And that story fails to understand the enormity of the gap between Israelis and Palestinians, and the scale of the problem.”

If a Palestinian state is established, it will “try to undermine Israel,” he declared. “As long as there is no internalization of our right to exist as a Jewish state, and as long as there is insistence on concrete elements of the ‘right of return’ for Palestinian refugees, any such agreement will be like the construction of a house in which you plant a bomb. At some stage, the bomb will explode.”

In Ya’alon’s view, the ongoing conflict eventually could pose an existential threat to Israel.

“I see a combination of terrorism and demagoguery, with question marks among us about the justice of our cause, as a recipe for a situation in which there will not be a Jewish state here in the end,” he maintained.

As for the withdrawal scheduled to begin in August, Ya’alon predicted that sooner or later it will be followed by a new outbreak of terrorism, worse than any Israel has experienced before.

In his view, if Israel stays put on the new, post-withdrawal lines, the eruption will be immediate. Further withdrawals, he said, will win it a bit of breathing space, but the reprieve will be temporary: Eventually, Israel’s capacity to meet Palestinian demands will be exhausted.

“It’s as clear as day to me,” he continued. “If we get into a confrontation at the political level, if we do not give the Palestinians more and more, there will be a violent outburst. It will begin in the West Bank.”

He added that it will include Kassam rockets across the border and suicide bombers all over the country.

The issues raised by Ya’alon are at the cutting edge of today’s political debate in Israel. The fundamental question is how best to consolidate Israel’s existence.

The main argument against Ya’alon is that if his outlook results in continued occupation of land the Palestinians covet, it will lead to Israel’s delegitimization in the international community and to Palestinian demands for a binational state, with a Palestinian majority, threatening the Zionist idea of a Jewish state with a Jewish majority.

Proponents of the two-state solution say it will ensure a Jewish majority in Israel, be endorsed by the international community and be underpinned by international law and give Israel, no longer seen as an occupier, the moral high ground.

In a best-case scenario, the two-state solution is seen as a paradigm for reconciliation and cooperation that could lead to the end of the conflict.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz rejected Ya’alon’s prediction of violence after this summer’s withdrawal.

“There are several possible scenarios, and we don’t have to embrace the most pessimistic one,” he told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday.

Sharon professed surprise at Ya’alon’s analysis, saying he had never heard anything like it while Ya’alon was still on the job.

Ha’aretz said in an editorial that the implication was clear: Ya’alon was attacking the withdrawal plan, because of Sharon’s decision not to extend his term.

Others on the left were less dismissive. In an article titled the “Bogey Horror Show,” Ha’aretz satirist Doron Rosenblum wrote, “Ya’alon’s bleak prophecies should worry us. Most of them make sense. But at least we can take some consolation from the fact that Ya’alon won’t be around to help make them come true.”

Ya’alon’s parting remarks were perfectly timed for the withdrawal’s right-wing opponents. Ehud Yatom, a Likud Party legislator who opposes withdrawal, confirmed Sunday that both Ya’alon and Dichter would be featured prominently in a final campaign to stop the withdrawal.

A booklet on the “security dangers of withdrawal,” citing both former security bosses, will be distributed to households across the country. The campaign slogan seems to paraphrase Ya’alon. It reads: “The withdrawal will bring terror; we need to rethink things.”

The demonstrations, protests and high-profile statements against the withdrawal seem to be having an effect. A poll published in the Ma’ariv newspaper last Friday showed that public support for the plan now stands at 50 percent, a fall of 9 percent in just two weeks.

The Likud rebels hope their new campaign will bring that figure down further and influence key Likud ministers to come out openly against the plan. Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already has, and others could follow suit.

For Ya’alon, the reaction to his views can hardly be surprising. As chief of staff, he said, he grew accustomed to the fact that many Israelis were so desperate for quick peace that they would reject all evidence and arguments to the contrary.

Leslie Susser is the diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Report.

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Books – ‘Love’ Tries to Solve Mystery of the Heart

Leave a Comment / Books, Entertainment /

“The History of Love” By Nicole Krauss (W.W. Norton, $23.95).

“The History of Love” is the name of a book within Nicole Krauss’s remarkable new novel of the same name, “The History of Love” (Norton). The inner novel has had a life of its own, written in Yiddish in Poland and thought to be lost, translated into Spanish in Buenos Aires, unbeknownst to the author, and later into English in New York; it drew on real love and also inspired love. If this were a love letter rather than a novel, it would be a chain letter, broken but ultimately reconnected.

Leo Gursky, a retired locksmith living alone in New York City, who makes a daily commotion in some public place to be sure that he doesn’t die without being noticed, is the unlikely romantic who’s the original author of “The History of Love.” He wrote it while living in Poland, when he was very much in love with a girl named Alma. Jews weren’t safe in their town of Slonim, and he lost Alma, who left for America before he did, and he gave the manuscript to a friend for safekeeping.

Years later at age 57, Gursky, after a heart attack curtails his work; he begins a new book, writing daily. He muses: “At times I believed that the last page of my book and the last page of my life were one and the same, that when my book ended I’d end, a great wind would sweep through my rooms carrying the pages away, and when the air cleared of all those fluttering white sheets the room would be silent, the chair where I sat would be empty.”

Gursky is a man whose suit doesn’t quite fit, who’s always late (“I’ve always arrived too late for my life”). A magnet for small mishaps at inopportune times, he’s cranky and lonely, although still a poetic observer. “Story of my life: I was a locksmith. I could unlock every door in the city. And yet I couldn’t unlock anything I wanted to unlock.”

Also living in New York is a young girl named Alma, who understands that she’s named after every female character in a Spanish novel her late father gave to her mother. Her parents would read to her from the book, inscribed with the words that this would have been the story her father would have written for her mother had he been a novelist. Years later, Alma’s mother is hired to translate the novel into English. Excerpts of it appear throughout the book.

Masterfully, Krauss ties together the stories of Gursky and the young Alma as each searches for clues about “The History of Love.” For Gursky, the manuscript oddly reappears, with the names changed into Spanish. The far-reaching literary puzzles involve Alma’s younger brother, who has messianic impulses; Gursky’s son, a well-known writer who doesn’t know of his father’s existence; Alma’s young friend Misha, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union who learns English by memorizing Beatles songs; and ghosts from Gursky’s past. Krauss’s overarching “The History of Love” is about loss and the transformative force of love; it’s also playful, wise and funny.

Her highly praised first novel, “Man Walks Into a Room,” published in 2002, is about a man who loses his memory. That was a daring first novel, not the more usual coming-of-age story. Beginning the book when she was 25, she wrote from the perspective of a 36-year-old man. Here she inhabits the voices of an old man and a 14-year-old girl, portraying each with convincing power.

Memory is still a theme for Krauss, and as she says, it’s probably one of the things she’ll be writing about as long as she writes. In “The History of Love,” Leo Gursky is overflowing with memories; in many ways, he lives in his memories. But he has no one to share them with.

Krauss has spoken of being really in love as she wrote this, and how that feeling is evident on the page. For her, writing is “a kind of reflex.” She says that her writing has evolved from the tightly-reigned-in prose of her first novel, where she cared a lot about the sentences, to greater expansiveness. Gursky’s voice, she explains, “allowed a kind of openness and honesty felt in the moment.”

Krauss, who began publishing poetry when she was 19, still writes beautiful sentences; her pages are full of energy.

The 30-year-old author, who lives in Brooklyn, is married to the novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, whose second novel, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” is also recently published. Although several critics see parallels between their work, she declines to talk about him, preferring to keep their professional lives separate.

Film rights to “The History of Love” have been optioned by Warner Bros., with David Heyman set to produce and Alfonso Cuaron (known for “Y Tu Mamá También) as director.

On Monday, June 13, at 7 p.m., Nicole Krauss will read from “The History of Love” at Dutton’s Beverly Hills Books, 447 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills. For more information, call (310) 281-0997.

Sandee Brawarsky is the book critic for the Jewish Week.

 

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The Agony, Ecstasy of School Awards

Leave a Comment / Graduation /

Before 18 year-old Sara Smith graduated last June, she made multiple trips to the stage to receive multiple honors at Shalhevet High School’s awards brunch for graduating seniors. In addition to being named class valedictorian, she received the excellence in math award, two Bureau of Jewish Education awards and a plaque from Bank of America.

This June, talented and bright middle school and high school graduates, like Sara, will star in their own school awards ceremonies. They will walk up to the stage, amid hearty cheering by faculty and family, to receive awards for their achievements in such categories as academics, the arts, sports and menschlikhkayt.

At the same time, the majority of their classmates will sit and watch, walking away without any certificates, plaques, trophies or applause and likely feeling that their contributions have been inconsequential. Many might inevitably become less enthusiastic about attending graduation ceremonies and festivities.

That conflict is not lost on the award winners themselves.

“I really didn’t want it to be the Sara show — but it was,” said Smith, now completing a year of study in Israel and attending Brandeis University next year.

What, in fact, is the purpose of school awards? Do they provide a service to students by recognizing excellence in a positive and motivating manner? Or are they psychologically and pedagogically detrimental, polarizing students at what should be a unifying juncture in their academic careers by dividing them into winners and losers? And for those students attending Jewish day schools, are they in keeping with Jewish values and traditions?

“Nothing feels better than to acknowledge somebody who’s worked hard,” said Roxie Esterle, middle school principal of Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School in Northridge. “But the issue [of awards] is just huge,” she added.

Administrators have to figure out, for instance, whether an award should be given to the highest achiever or the person who has made the most progress? Should it go to both a girl and a boy for their eighth-grade year or for all three middle school years?

To minimize the sting on those students not being honored, Heschel last year completely separated the awards ceremony from graduation, including not listing award winners’ names in the graduation program guide. All eighth-graders now stand together on equal footing to receive their diplomas.

Still, Esterle believes that awards are motivating for students.

“You get your best work out of them by helping them realize their potential,” she said.

For parent Lori Berthelsen, whose son, JJ, 15, graduated from Heschel last year with departmental awards in both science and math, as well as two others, recognition can be a plus.

“It really boosted his self-esteem to be acknowledged for how much he had contributed,” she said.

But for her daughter, Nicki, now 18, who didn’t receive a certificate of academic excellence at the end of 11th grade in any of her classes at Milken Community High School last year, the disappointment negated previously positive experiences in those classes.

“I’m really conflicted [about awards],” Berthelsen admitted.

Others, however, are not conflicted.

Awards have a place in an academic institution, specifically a high school, said Milken’s Head of School Dr. Rennie Wrubel. “People who do outstanding work should be recognized in some way,” she said.

Furthermore, she believes awards should be based not only on innate talent but also on passion, collaboration and the ability to make the classroom a more meaningful place.

At Milken, awards are presented at the senior siyyum (literally, completion) that takes place prior to graduation. But, Wrubel stresses, the school also provides multiple opportunities during the year — including art shows, dance concerts, poetry readings and community service projects — for many students to be recognized.

Wrubel believes that sometimes we create a culture of anti-intellectualism by always trying to make kids feel good about themselves.

“I think there is an important side to having students want to excel and to be rewarded for that,” she said.

But Bruce Powell, founding head of school at New Community Jewish High School in West Hills, has a different view. While the school won’t graduate its first group of seniors until June 2006 and the official policy concerning awards is still being formulated, Powell feels that awards are not conducive to building character, and don’t mesh with the school’s philosophy and mission. He sees everything, including grades, as subjective, he questions how schools can fairly determine who should be recognized.

“When you start giving awards, what do you mean by the ‘best’ student?” he asked. “It’s a comparative term which means that nobody else is as good.”

Powell believes that almost all students have equal access to greatness and that they shouldn’t be honored for merely being given a “good genetic lottery number” in English or science, intelligence or kindness. In place of awards, Powell is considering having the faculty write a personal letter to each graduate, reflecting on how they see his or her special character traits and contributions.

Student recognition sends out a message about what a school deems important, according to Sara Lee, director of the Rhea Hirsh School of Education at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, who is ambivalent about awards.

“For Jewish schools, awards can’t be unidimensional,” she said. “They have to recognize service and Jewish values.”

And they have to be careful not to conflict with Jewish ethics.

“The same way we have to be careful about saying negative things, we also have to be careful about saying positive things because it can open the door to lashon hara [hurtful speech],” said Elon Sunshine, rabbi-in-residence at Heschel Day School in Northridge.

With that in mind and with the Jewish directive not to embarrass anyone, Sunshine still believes that awards can be inspirational and motivating for students providing they are presented carefully and respectfully.

Even with that kind of care, the process can hurt students and parents.

“In order for there to be winners, there have to be losers, and I don’t think that’s a message we should be putting on our children any more than the culture already does,” said marriage and family therapist Kathy Wexler, who teaches developmental psychology at Phillips Graduate Institute in Encino and maintains a private practice.

Wexler is especially opposed to giving awards to middle school students, who are struggling to master their environment.

“You want to emphasize what they’ve learned,” she explained, “and not how it compares to what everyone else has learned.”

She worries that awards erode intrinsic motivation for both winners and losers, of all ages.

Parent Bruce Gersh, whose three daughters, ages 9, 7 and 4, attend Adat Ari El Day School in Valley Village, agrees.

“My wife and I are more focused on developing well-rounded children than children who study for awards,” he said.

Gersh, in fact, recently moved his oldest daughter from gymnastics, which was becoming too competitive, to softball.

“We just want her to have fun,” he said.

Perhaps radio and television pioneer David Sarnoff realized this decades ago when he said, “Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in people.”

So can anything be done?

Not according to Josh Krug, 18, who graduated from Milken last year as a multiple award winner and who currently attends Yale University.

“There are so many [competitive] things out there that even if you get rid of awards, it won’t make much of a dent,” he said.

 

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2005 Grads: Oh The Places They’ll Go.

Leave a Comment / Graduation /

Leor Hackel,
Shalhevet School
Pico-Robertson
Yale

Whether it was discussing the Terri Schiavo case or debating whether students should get PE credit for participating on sports team, Leor Hackel had one goal for the weekly town hall meetings he lead as head of Shalhevet’s agenda committee: to keep the students engaged and interested, and to encourage them to take the initiative, just as he had been inspired.

“The school teaches you to really care about your community and to do whatever you need to do for your community,” he said. “Shalhevet gives students a lot of responsibility, and having it really helps you use it and take advantage of it.”

Getting up in front of the entire high school every week was not unnatural for Hackel, who loves drama. He’s had the lead in and directed several plays at Shalhevet, including “Tartuffe” and “Much Ado About Nothing,” and last year founded a comedy improv club at school.

Hackel was captain this year of the Model U.N. team (which came in second to YULA), worked on the school paper and was also the gabbai at B’nai David-Judea’s teen minyan.

Yeshiva in Israel awaits Hackel next year, and after that he’s headed to Yale, where he plans to major in theater studies, cognitive science or English.

Michelle Ahoobim
Taft High School
Tarzana
UCLA

Michelle Ahoobim, student body president at Taft High School in Tarzana, isn’t the type of person to keep things to herself. So in 11th grade, when she got turned on to Torah study and traditional Judaism, it was no surprise that she invited friends to spend Shabbat in her home, and dragged them along to the Torah study groups, run by the National Council of Synagogue Youth and the Jewish Student Union.

“I love it and I want to share it with everyone else, so I do what I can,” said Ahoobim, who is also a varsity soccer player.

While taking on Shabbat observance and keeping kosher, Ahoobim has integrated her Jewish values with the work she does at school. As student body president, she headed up efforts to get her school involved in walks and runs for breast cancer research and other charities. Under her leadership, the school raised $5,000 in pennies for cystic fibrosis. She coordinated with the district to get much-needed benches and tables for Taft students who usually ate lunch standing or sitting on the floor.

Ahoobim also was an organizer for StandWithUs’ Caravan for Democracy, where she got kids together to learn about Israel and socialize. She plans to stay involved in the Jewish community when she attends UCLA next year.

Sami Reznik
Milken Community High School
Encino
Clark University

When Sami Reznik’s mother suggested last December that he get his school involved in advocating for the people of Darfur, Sudan, he was reluctant.

“I wasn’t one of those students who took a lot of time to get involved,” admits Reznik, who played varsity basketball for Milken.

But $15,000 later, Reznik has become proof positive of what a student can get done with some good friends, a lot of hard work, a supportive administration and a passionate student body.

Reznik and his two good friends, Benji Davis and Jason Zarrow, launched Milken’s Gift of Life campaign to build wells in Sudan. They raised a remarkable $9,000 in nine days through a raffle, sold green “Save Darfur” wrist bands and teacher holiday cards and even got the upper-school principal, Roger Fuller, to promise to shave his head as incentive (he did).

In two weeks, the campaign raised $15,000.

Reznik has a junior lined up to take over next year, when he is at Clark University in Massachusetts.

“I learned that a real community — especially a community like Milken, but also the Jewish community at large — has so much potential. I cared so much about this, and I was able to tell my friends that I care, and my friends told their friends, and then everyone cared about this.”

Jessica Lane
Harvard-Westlake
Hancock Park
Dartmouth

Jessica Lane grew up in a family where Judaism was somewhere in the cultural background, but not central in the lives of either her Presbyterian mother or Jewish father. When she was 11, Jessica decided to study for her bat mitzvah at Temple Israel of Hollywood.

She is now in the leadership of Temple Israel’s youth group. In her confirmation class, she studied Reform rabbinic responsa on issues of the day — abortion, gay rights, social action. She has brought those values to bear on her work at Harvard-Westlake, where she heads up the Gay-Straight Alliance.

“My grandfather came out in the ’50s, after he had my mother and her three siblings with my grandmother, so I was always raised in a way where gay relationships weren’t strange — people loved people, and it didn’t matter,” she said.

Lane is a member of Student Activists for Human Rights and on Harvard-Westlake’s basketball team, is a National Merit finalist and plays the bassoon in the school symphony.

Next year she is attending Dartmouth, where she was drawn to the Women in Science program. She plans to major in neurobiology, and eventually get into the field of Alzheimer’s research.

Sara Heller
La Ca?ada High School
La Ca?ada
Amherst College

When Sara Heller found out that the first round of auditions for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Royal Court was on Yom Kippur last year, she arranged for a make-up date.

Sara is co-captain of the La Canada High School girls’ volleyball team, which has won league titles for the last four years and made it to the statewide quarterfinals this year, with Sara, the setter, named as a co-MVP. She’ll be on the volleyball team at Amherst College in the fall. She loves ceramics and arts, was an editor for the school yearbook, is in the National Honor Society and, in her early high school years, was active in B’nai B’rith Girls.

Most of her Jewish involvement comes from Temple Sinai of Glendale, where she tutors bar and bat mitzvah kids.

“I love the prayers, and I really enjoy reliving my religious school experience through the kids I am teaching,” she said. “My bat mitzvah was one of the most influential things in my life in terms of giving me my identity and knowing who I am and who I want to be within the Jewish community.”

Robin Broder
Cleveland High School and Los Angeles Hebrew High
Encino
Barnard/Jewish Theological Seminary

Until her principal pointed it out a few weeks ago, Robin Broder had never calculated that she was spending seven hours a week at Los Angeles Hebrew High School (LAHHS). It was just something she willingly worked into an already packed schedule: swim team, student government, various charitable projects, a women’s group, a school service group and maintaining a 4.3 GPA.

Broder builds her Jewish identity at LAHHS, the Jewish Student Union that meets weekly at Cleveland High, and through United Synagogue Youth’s (USY) Valley Beth Shalom Chapter. Robin spent a summer with USY traveling across the United States on the Wheels program, and another summer in Israel and Eastern Europe.

“In Wyoming we had a synagogue to go to and when I was in Poland the Jewish community was there to help us,” she said.

But it’s more than community that keeps her drawn to the tradition. “There is so much depth and so many layers to Judaism, and things you don’t see if you are in shul twice a year. There is intense, philosophical, intellectual learning,” she said.

Next year, Broder will attend the joint program at Barnard College and the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she plans to major in physics and philosophy.

Aaron Schultz
YULA
Pico-Robertson
Yeshiva University

Aaron Schultz spends several dozen hours a week immersed in studying Talmud.

“The one thing that should guide a Jew in his life is Gemara,” Schultz said.

“Whatever you do in life you have to go beyond the letter of the law and have a positive influence on anyone you interact with, in the Jewish world or in the working world.”

That philosophy also motivates Schultz in his work with the Etta Israel Center, where he volunteers with physically and developmentally disabled children and adults. He accompanies them on Shabbaton weekends and other social gatherings, and is the liaison to YULA to gather other volunteers.

Schultz headed up the school’s champion Model U.N. team, where for the past two years they beat out 30 other schools in debates and policy questions. For the past two years he was named Best Delegate.

A National Merit commended scholar and a member of the National Honor Society, Schultz will attend Yeshiva University in New York as a Distinguished Scholar, after he spends next year at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh in Israel.

A Special School?

While some large schools measure success by how many kids get into the Ivy League or even whether their students have excelled in community involvement, some smaller schools have more basic measures.

Ohr HaEmet Institute (OHI) on Robertson Boulevard near Olympic Boulevard is home to 44 girls of diverse backgrounds. Many, but not all, are from immigrant families from Russia, Israel or Iran. Most girls go there because they need individualized attention and an intimate environment to help them excel.

Tehila Mirakhor, this year’s valedictorian, started at OHI in 10th grade, soon after arriving from Iran. She knew no English, was somewhat familiar with Jewish tradition, and knew only her cousin at the 11-year-old Orthodox girls high school. She was terrified.

Today, Mirakhor has the poise and diction of an accomplished, self-confident young woman.

“The teachers and the students here are very close, and you feel like you are a family,” she said. “They help you gain self-confidence, they help you learn everything you need.”

Mirakhor started in ESL three years ago, and is now in honors English. She knew only some Jewish traditions a few years ago, but now she and her family observe Shabbat and kashrut. She is attending Santa Monica Community College next year, and hopes to eventually go to medical school.

Monika Itaev also had a rough start at OHI.

“In ninth grade I was really obnoxious,” she admits. “I never did my homework, I was in with the wrong crowd — it was a disaster.”

After a few too many visits to the principal’s office, Itaev decided to turn herself around. The teachers and students helped her out, and now her grades are back up and she has become more religiously observant. She plans to continue her Jewish studies next year at Touro College when it opens a new campus in Los Angeles.

“I suggest this school for everybody,” Mirakhor said. “When you graduate, you see the world in a different perspective, and it’s a better world.” — JGF

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Say ‘Hi’ to a College Before You Pick One

Leave a Comment / Graduation /

Every year, the college tour is a rite of passage for students and parents alike, but for some it becomes an occupation. I wanted to make it simple, that is, wait until after my son was accepted, but before we had to give notification to colleges, a two-week period between April 15 and May 1. Had I known that our three-day, three-state, three-college tour was going to be so hectic I might have planned otherwise. I worried: Was this too much pressure, in too little time, to make such an important decision? What was the best approach?

Although there were no right or wrong answers, this rite of passage was harder than I thought to get right: for every decision, another better one could have been made. Of course, I get to do it all over again in four years when my daughter goes to college.

The Big Question: When to Visit

My son and I visited two UC campuses in the spring of his junior year, but by the time senior year rolled around he had forgotten everything he liked about them. And by senior year, unbeknownst to me, he had his heart set on going east. But for those whose first choice is a UC or Cal State, a couple of campus visits, one in junior and another in senior year, makes sense.

East Coast schools are another problem: to visit before, after or both? One father I know took his daughter to New England to see her college choices before she was admitted, and then again afterward. Some parents use the college tour as a kind of marathon summer vacation between junior and senior year, visiting more than a dozen schools on one trip. One parent I know dragged her daughter to 22 different schools.

Since regular students and teachers aren’t on most college campuses during summer, I don’t see the point, other than saving your child from missing classes during the school year.

The other less costly choice is to visit only after the acceptance letters arrive. My advice: resist pressure from other parents and students to go beforehand. All in all, I’m glad we did.

Use the Internet; Make a Date With Your College Interviewer

I found letters from college interviewers telling my son they would be in town on such and such a date buried under stacks of homework papers. When confronted, he told me he didn’t know what he would say to these strangers anyway. After missing a few of these opportunities, his father told him he had to go. He ended up actually liking the interview process, and determined from talking to a Harvard alumnus that he didn’t want to go to an Ivy League after all.

Take advantage of “walking tours” on the Internet — you can get a fairly accurate feel of what college campuses and their buildings look like. Also find out when representatives from out-of-state colleges will be in your area. My son’s best friend decided on Boston University after admission counselors came to Los Angeles and presented a slide show of the new athletic center.

Eating…

Everyone I talked to said eating at the campus cafeteria was mandatory. They didn’t say that what you get with your meal is sometimes more than food. When my son visited Wesleyan University, he and his host ate dinner at the freshman cafeteria. In the middle of the meal, the campus streaker ran into the room, threw off his cape and made a loud proclamation: I am Wesleyan. After getting a bored response, he ran naked down the stairs and out the door. I imagine a lot of students lost their appetites, but perhaps not; after all, Wesleyan does have a clothing-optional dorm.

Sleeping…

Visiting a dorm room is a must. At BU we viewed the sleeping arrangements of a friend, Yoni, and his roommate, who cleverly arranged their beds perpendicular to each other, to leave more communal space intact, i.e. more room for the TV. While there, we also got a taste of the open-door policy. Yoni’s friends were constantly popping in and out, using the computer, making dinner arrangements. I wondered: how do freshmen get any homework done with the doors wide open? The answer: They don’t; that’s what the college library is for.

…And Praying

There are many opportunities to experience Jewish student life. At Wesleyan, Schmooze With the Jews was in full swing, inviting new recruits to meet Jewish students on campus. Schmooze sponsored a Shabbat service, with free bagels afterward. (The congregation was made up of mostly non-Jews, but then I realized-where there’s free food, there’s freshman!) At BU, Hillel is the largest organization on campus, with 25 student groups organized around cultural, social and religious events. At Bard College, there’s a large Jewish presence, lead by President Leon Botstein, the conductor of the Jerusalem Orchestra. As a matter of fact, the first student we met at Bard was Jewish, Ari from Chicago, who played the trumpet and walked around the campus in 46-degree weather, barefoot.

Don’t Judge a College by the Parents It Keeps

The campus tour is a good place for your son/daughter to check out other students and their academic aspirations, while you can check out the parents. Curiously, there was a majority of Californians visiting at the same time as us, easily identified by their unusual clothing. While touring Bard, I met an American Sikh from San Francisco. He told me that he was unsure if his son would be attending college, given that the boy was a sensitive soul concerned with the condition of the world. But when we met up with him later, the Sikh’s son seemed most enthusiastic about the school’s Division III soccer team. As it turned out, he loved soccer more than saving the world.

True or False: The Last College You Visit Will Be the One You Choose

Somewhere I had heard that the last college you visit will be the one your child will remember the most, thus, the one he or she will choose. Wrong. My son picked the first East Coast college he visited. But, it is true that the last school you visit will be the one your child will know most about, because by that time he/she will have discovered exactly what questions to ask, what professors to see, what classes to attend and anything else he/she has forgotten to do on previous visits. In the end, it doesn’t matter because what determines your son or daughter’s choice is oftentimes so elusive, not even you, the wise parent, have a clue. (See next topic.)

The Mystery Factor

How did my son finally choose his college, and when did he know that this was the school for him? His first inkling came when he was walking on the Bard College campus and saw students who looked like his friends back home. I noticed then that his shoulders relaxed. When we visited a friend’s daughter, Corrie Segal, in her dorm room, I stepped back and let the two of them talk. Soon, a roommate joined the conversation while she fried an egg. Turned out their dorm room was a popular destination: dozens of Polaroids of friends who had spent the night on their couch adorned the walls, while tea bags adorned the ceiling. Corrie explained: one day, while having tea, a friend suggested flinging the tea bags toward the ceiling, where they stuck, with the little strings hanging down. Soon, they found that flinging tea bags was a very satisfying thing to do. By the time we visited, most of the tea bags had already fallen, save one or two, but the remaining tea stains made the ceiling look like a distant constellation. My son was impressed. He was also impressed by Corrie’s photographic portfolio, which showed that the school had an impressive arts curriculum, the very thing my son was looking for. In the end, he chose Bard over four other colleges, just in the nick of time; he mailed his acceptance a few days before May 1. I was relieved. He liked the campus, the food, the history class he sat in on, the professors. But I believe it was the tea bags on the ceiling that clinched the deal.

 

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