February 2, 2006
Wasserstein Chronicled Modern Women
Playwright Wendy Wasserstein, known for wry portrayals of strong, conflicted, contemporary women in prizewinning works such as “The Heidi Chronicles,” died this week in New York.
While not always overtly Jewish, her characters still bore the mark of the playwright’s traditional Jewish upbringing in New York.
Later in her life, the feminist writer became a Jewish mother, although perhaps not in the way her own Jewish mother pictured.
Wasserstein, 55, died Monday of lymphoma.
Wasserstein wrote “in ways that are profoundly Jewish,” said Joyce Antler, professor of American Jewish history and women’s studies at Brandeis University.
Her “ideas of show business came from the synagogue — for her that sense of theater as a space for expressing these views was influenced by her Jewishness,” Antler said.
Although her focus was on the American woman, not just the Jewish American woman, she expressed “the modern dilemma of American women with a Jewish accent, a Jewish sensibility,” Antler said.
Susan Weidman Schneider, the editor in chief of Lilith Magazine, said, “She may be the only playwright of national stature to capture, moment by moment, the changing lives of women in the last part of the 20th century.”
Her best-known work, “The Heidi Chronicles,” won a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award in 1989. The play narrates the life of Heidi, a feminist art historian, over the span of a few decades, from a dance school in 1965 to her decision to adopt a child and become a single mother in 1989 — a mirror to Wasserstein’s own decision to have a baby by herself in 1999. Another work, “The Sisters Rosensweig,” featured three middle-aged Jewish siblings who come together in London for a birthday party.
In that play, “she was able to have anger at aspects of Jewish family life and yet be appreciative,” said Schneider, of both “the discomfort and warm pleasures of family life.”
“Sisters” deals with “developing new identities out of Jewish expectations,” Antler said.
One sister, who is secular, comes home, discusses with her siblings what it means to be Jewish and discovers her Jewish identity.
“And issues are raised and discussed in a Jewish communal way,” Antler said.
Even in plays with less overtly Jewish themes, Wasserstein’s work reflects the perspective of “a woman who bears demographic accents of a Jewish woman,” Antler added.
The lead protagonist in her first play, “Uncommon Women and Others” in 1977, is Holly, a Jewish woman in the last year of an elite women’s college similar to Mount Holyoke, Wasserstein’s alma mater.
The play continues six years later when Holly and her friends reunite over lunch to compare life paths. Each one is simultaneously successful and lacking in her life — the professionals are still seeking fulfilling relationships; one is happily married and pregnant but unemployed and unsure of whether she should have pursued a career.
The member of the group that has both a fulfilling marriage and career is unable to attend the gathering, having moved to Iraq — the implication being that in order to achieve both these things, she had to make an extreme sacrifice.
Wasserstein’s characters mostly aged with her, continuing to be strong, interesting and passionate, if conflicted, and generally “uncommon.”
The playwright, who attended a yeshiva in Brooklyn as a child, “was extraordinary in her ability to be deeply honest in a kind of sidelong and ironic way in writing about her experience as a Jewish woman,” Schneider said.
Wasserstein, who once said that her traditional parents allowed her to study at Yale’s School of Drama in the hope that she’d find a doctor or lawyer to marry, celebrated “educated women dealing with professional ambition and societal expectations in terms of marriage and/or procreation,” Schneider said.
In addition to about a dozen plays, Wasserstein’s oeuvre included two collections of essays, “Bachelor Girls” and “Shiksa Goddess: or, How I Spent My Forties”; the non-fiction work “Sloth,” a parody of a self-help book; and a forthcoming novel.
Her plays might have been loosely autobiographical, but her essays were frank discussions of events in her life, such as her decision to have a child on her own.
“She followed a path from career woman to being a Jewish mother,” Antler said. And though she didn’t follow the traditional route, “she is the voice of her generation as a proud Jewish mother.”
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Letters
Jack Abramoff
We stand guilty as charged — and we are proud of it.
David Klinghoffer correctly notes (“In Defense of Jack Abramoff,” Jan. 27) that Orthodox writers — left, right, and center — expressed their embarrassment about Jack Abramoff’s behavior. Jews are meant to be exemplars of God’s teaching. When they get it wrong, the Divine Name itself is desecrated. If the rest of the community fails to speak out — with a communal “Not in Our Name” — they are seen, with some justice, as being complicit.
Klinghoffer is right that Abramoff — the person — should not be abandoned or distanced. It is the behavior that needs the public criticism, not the person. We should feel for his tragedy, and wish him well.
He is wrong about other issues. Unanimous court verdicts are perfectly acceptable in a Jewish court, except in capital cases. Abramoff’s repentance does not change the need to distance ourselves from the original misdeeds for a host of reasons, not the least of which is that repentance before God is ineffective in sins between Man and Man. Mitigating Abramoff’s behavior with a Robin Hood defense is a worse error. It is precisely because so many people feel that they can take ethical shortcuts for a “higher” purpose that we need to remind ourselves and the world that this is unacceptable.
While I didn’t claim to know what Abramoff was actually thinking when he wore the hat (I was trying to put a more positive spin on his behavior, something I recall that Klinghoffer elsewhere in his piece suggest we all do), I do have a pretty good idea of what I wrote and thought. I did not suggest that returnees are more likely to have character flaws than those born into observance. My life’s work with returnees to Jewish tradition and my regard for them are a matter of record [at www.cross-currents.com], including my belief that many show up at the gates of observance with better character traits than those who preceded them since childhood.
Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein
Sydney M Irmas Chair, Jewish Law and Ethics
Loyola Law School
David Klinghoffer’s article on Jack Abramoff was so full of lies, distortions, half truths and illogic that it should win the first annual James Frey award for deception in Jewish journalism.
According to The New York Times (Jan. 10), Abramoff has expressed contritions to some, while “in conversations with people he considers sympathetic, he has insisted that his practices were Washington business as usual.”
Klinghoffer said Abramoff’s confession was “not a stark and true representation of crimes committed” but a confession squeezed by a plea bargain. But The New York Times also reported that Abramoff “recounted in detail” his crimes to prosecutors. Is Klinghoffer implying that Abramoff is now compounding his crimes by committing perjury during the testimony required in his plea agreement?
Finally, the Klinghoffer/Abramoff team can’t even get its spin straight on the “fedora issue.” Abramoff told Klinghoffer it was just a “a crushable rain hat.” But The Forward (Jan. 6) reported that Abramoff purchased the fedora from Bencraft Hatters, a Brooklyn-based haberdasher, for $200. A quick look at The Jewish Journal cover or many of the other photos of that day show clearly that was no “crushable rain hat”
Hmmm, doesn’t inspire confidence as to the rest of the article does it? It would take an hour of Oprahlike dissection of Klinghoffer’s piece to do it justice.
Perhaps The Jewish Journal should publish future articles by Mr. Klinghoffer in its fiction section.
Lawrence Weinman
Los Angeles
I am ashamed that The Jewish Journal not only carries [David] Klinghoffer, but that you allow such anti-Jewish hogwash when he spouts about the crook, [Jack]Abramoff. There is no question that Klinghoffer is spouting his Republican right-wing apology for Abramoff and does it in the name of Judaism. That is too much.
Abramoff stole money from Indian tribes, used the money to support his own style of life and has created a crisis in government in Washington through his using such money to buy Tom DeLay and Bob Ney. He created false organizations, including Jewish ones, hired wives and daughters of congressmen who did nothing but rake in money from him. Then has the chutzpah to want sympathy as a poor Jew in a black hat, and Klinghoffer supports him.
It is not bad enough that he has pleaded guilty to multiple crimes, but he has demeaned the good works of Jews in this country. Abramoff deserves nothing less than a prison term, a loss of citizenship and for my part, the use of RICO [Act] to take all of his possessions that he acquired. He is and has been an evil man, who has helped to destroy democracy.
How Klinghoffer can have the guts to absolve him and accuse other Jews of turning against Abramoff is totally beyond me. I would say the same whether Abramoff was a Democrat or a Christian. The fact that he was Jewish only offends me more. It means that he learned nothing from his religion.
Al Mellman
Los Angeles
The less said about your whitewashing this man due to his “good deeds” the better.
I. Grossman
Los Angeles
There is good reason to be critical of [Jack] Abramoff.
Anti-Semites throughout the United States will point to him as an example of the corrupting influence of Jews in the United States. What happens in the United States is reported throughout the world; so this will effect the greater Diaspora.
This is just something else that militant Islamic extremists will point out to their children as to why Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth.
Michael L. Stempel
Chatsworth
We thank David Klinghoffer for his thoughtful article regarding the dreadful way many in the Jewish community have behaved toward Jack Abramoff.
Elaine and Robert Leichter
Westwood
THE JEWISH JOURNAL welcomes letters from all readers. Letters should be no more than 200 words and must include a valid name, address and phone number. Letters sent via e-mail must not contain attachments. Pseudonyms and initials will not be used, but names will be withheld on request. We reserve the right to edit all letters. Mail: The Jewish Journal, Letters, 3580 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1510, Los Angeles, CA 90010; e-mail: letters@jewishjournal.com; or fax: (213) 368-1684
Obituaries
Tavous Ahdout died Dec. 27 at 81. She is survived by her husband, Aziz; and sons, Saeed and Massoud. Chevra Kadisha
Libby Blank died Dec. 29 at 90. She is survived by her son, Alan (Diane); and sisters, Sarah Segal and Pearl Diamond. Malinow and Silverman
Harry Bogner died Dec. 29 at 88. He is survived by his wife, Adele; sons, Ronald and William; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Groman
ROSALYN GREENBERG BRASKIN died Dec. 28 at 83. She is survived by her children, Sherry and Steve (Carol); grandchildren, Aaron and Kim (Paul) Silva; great-grandsons Ben and Jeremy; and sister, Shirley Levine. Hillside
Sheldon Roland Caplow died Dec. 28 at 81. He is survived by his wife, Adele; daughters, Denice Grant and Cheryl; and brother, Elliott. Groman
David Davidson died Dec. 28 at 90. He is survived by his sons, Ronald and Dennis; and four grandchildren. Groman
Max Harold Denoff died Dec. 28 at 93. He is survived by his son, Dennis; and two grandchildren. Groman
Bella Eil died Dec. 27 at 76. She is survived by her children, Steven, Martin, Cheri and Randy (Daune); 10 grandchildren; one great-grandchild; brother, Leo (Doreen) Hasson; and sister, Goldie Paquet. Mount Sinai
Kate Shapiro Friedman died Dec. 29 at 87. She is survived by her daughter, Nancy Yarkoni; and grandchildren. Chevra Kadisha
Seymour William Gershon died Dec. 26 at 75. He is survived by his daughter, Sheri Rimer; grandchildren, Jared and Denah Rimer; sister, Eunice (Ben) Ruben; and brothers, Jerald (Frances) and Herbert (Vicki). Mount Sinai
HELEN GILBERT died Dec. 27. She is survived by her husband, Dr. Clifford; and son, Scott. Sholom Chapels
Jeanne Gilden died Dec. 27 at 88. She is survived by her son, Ronald; daughter, H. Marks; five grandchildren; and sister, Agnes Masson. Groman
Ruvim Gitis died Dec. 27 at 84. He is survived by his son, David; one grandchild; and sisters, Clara Kaufman and Raya Drucker. Groman
VIRGINIA BARD GLASBAND died Dec. 27 at 86. She is survived by her son, Richard (Jennifer); daughter, Cheryl; daughter-in-law, Jill; three grandchildren; sister, Evelyn Kellogg; brother-in-law, Joseph; many nieces and nephews. Hillside
Naomi Goldberg died Dec. 27 at 77. She is survived by her daughter, Janis Johnson; and one grandchild. Groman
Jennie Ruth Grobman died Dec. 28 at 95. She is survived by her sons, Stanley and Kenneth; daughter, Bonnie Levin; and sister, Bernice Cohen. Groman
Moussa Hanokai-Motlagh died Dec. 30 at 72. He is survived by his wife, Shahla Sharifi-Azad. Chevra Kadisha
Batia Hanasabzadeh died Dec. 31 at 78. She is survived by her daughters, Mahnaz and Ronetta; and friend, Issac. Chevra Kadisha
CARL HARWOOD died Dec. 30 at 87. He is survived by his sister, Dorothy (Sherman) Broidy. Hillside
TERI JEWELL died Dec. 26 at 56. She is survived by her husband, John; mother, Joan Zimmelman; brother, Steve Zimmelman; and niece, Ana Hanlon. Hillside
ELIEZER KLAVANSKY died Dec. 27 at 83. He is survived by his son, Zvi Kinor; sister-in-law, Esther Silber; nephew, Abe (Cheryl) Silber; and niece, Marlene (Roy) Alter. Sholom Chapels
Joan Kranz died Dec. 29 at 90. She is survived by her husband, Irving; son, Paul; and daughter, Karen Marcus. Chevra Kadisha
Miriam Kunkis died Dec. 27 at 81. She is survived by her husband, Abe; daughter, Carol (Larry) Cohn; son, Michael (Terry); grandsons, Brian and Evan; and brother, Jack (Lillian) Schrier. Mount Sinai
Gussie Lebon died Dec. 26 at 91. She is survived by her daughter, Joyce Baron; three grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. Groman
FLORENCE LEITZMAN died Dec. 26 at 102. She is survived by her niece, Andrea Berman. Hillside
Allen Minas died Dec. 28 at 83. He is survived by his wife, Debbie; sons, David and Mark; daughter, Pamela Kreitenberg; eight grandchildren; and brother, Samuel. Groman
MELISSA MARANTZ NEALY died Dec. 26 at 28. She is survived by her husband, David; parents, Sidney and Joan Marantz; sister, Wendy (Eric Levine) Marantz; grandmother, Bella Adler; parents-in-law, Dr. Kenneth and Carol; and uncle, Richard Marantz. Hillside
AARON ABRAHAM PODWAY died Dec. 28 at 37. He is survived by his parents, Martin and Hope; and sister Robin. Hillside
Rena Rajna died Dec. 29 at 64. She is survived by her sons, George and Michael; and brother, David (Ruth) Levine. Mount Sinai
Touba Samahi died Dec. 27 at 82. She is survived by her daughter, Mahuash Saberan. Groman
Adele Sanders died Dec. 31 at 76; she is survived by her son, David; and her daughter, Laurie Sanders. Groman
Vera Mary Slone died Dec. 27 at 83. She is survived by her husband, Sam; daughters, Lisa (Gary) Brotz and Monica; and five grandsons.
WILLIAM STEINBERG died Dec. 26 at 91. He is survived by his wife, Sylvia; son Alan (Phyllis); daughter, Susan (Joel) Needelman; four grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. Hillside
SOPHIE STOCKTON died Dec. 27 at 86. She is survived by her children, Anna; Robert (Shawnna) and Steven; and four grandchildren. Hillside
Dawn Weiss died Dec. 28. She is survived by her daughter, Melody; son, Adam; one grandson; and sister, Irene. Malinow and Silverman
Out of My Comfort Zone
Each morning at the Anti-Defamation League’s Grosfeld National Youth Leadership Mission in Washington, D.C., which took place in November, about 20 students crowded into a hotel room for student-led Shacharit, or morning prayers.
What was notable was that many of those students weren’t Jewish. Each student was nominated by their school, and then chosen after writing an essay and being interviewed.
Having never been to a Jewish prayer service before, the non-Jewish students wanted to see what it was like. The tradition fascinated many, and everyone could relate to the singing and dancing.
For me, as a student who grew up going to day schools, this conference with 109 other high school juniors was my first opportunity to interact extensively with non-Jewish students.
I was apprehensive at first. My tendency was to mingle with the other Jews. But this conference was about eliminating discrimination and hate in our schools and communities, and I knew it was necessary to leave my comfort zone to appreciate the diverse backgrounds of the people there. I would soon find out the most rewarding conversations I was to have would be with non-Jews.
When the delegates were broken up into small groups, I had the opportunity to discuss diversity, racism and tolerance with Jews and non-Jews alike. I sometimes discuss issues of hate and racism with my friends at Shalhevet, but generally we all derive our beliefs from Jewish understandings discussed at school. However, brainstorming the topics with non-Jews at the conference threw me into contact with points of view I was not used to.
For example, while they have varying stances on Israeli politics, everyone I have spoken with at Shalhevet is pro-Israel. They believe Israel should exist. Some at the ADL conference, however, disagreed with this viewpoint, and in this regard, I sometimes felt uncomfortable.
In one particular instance, a delegate explained that his sister had lived in Israel for a year and had returned with a predominately pro-Palestinian view of the situation. While I believed his claims were insufficiently supported, I lacked the knowledge to refute his remarks. Still, I was comforted in finding that just because he claimed to be pro-Palestinian did not mean he thought Israel shouldn’t exist.
Speakers brought in by the ADL described how they had made a difference by leading the fight against racism and hate in their communities. Between speakers, including civil rights leader and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), students took part in breakout sessions. There, we discussed how hate can manifest itself, and later on, how to fight it by joining school advocacy groups and lobbying politicians. On the last full day of the conference, we visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which helped to drive home the reality of what can happen when discrimination and racism go unchecked.
Although the programming was inspiring, the greatest highlights were not the planned events. Rather, they were the spontaneous ones created by students, such as the Shacharit services, which I organized, along with Alex, another Shalhevet student, and Justin, a public school student from New Orleans.
At our Shacharit services the first morning, Justin led the prayers with great kavanah (faith). His house had been flooded by Hurricane Katrina, forcing him to live temporarily in Georgia. Still, he plans on returning soon and maintains his tremendous faith in God.
I prayed for a better understanding of the people and points of view I was interacting with. The fact that non-Jews were present helped me realize that even if we had varying political and religious beliefs, we had all come to the conference for the same reason. Additionally, the services allowed me to reconnect with the comfort zone I was used to back home.
A constant battle within traditional Judaism is over the extent to which Jews should interact with the secular world. Every Jew has a personal degree of willingness to explore outside the religion. While we don’t want to assimilate, we must communicate with each other to better interact with our surrounding society.
The ever-growing contingent of non-Jews at our prayer services may not have understood the prayers, but they could relate to the singing and dancing, and the fact that they were experiencing something different. Just as they have explored our culture, we should attempt to explore theirs, while still maintaining our Judaism.
Benjamin Steiner is a junior at Shalhevet, where he serves on the Model UN and writes for The Boiling Point, the school newspaper.
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Choosing Pluralism
We were all seated in our respective minyanin when a large outburst sounded from the Orthodox group down the hall. Within a few moments, teenagers were running out from every direction, anxious to see what the excitement was about. As I edged closer, I realized it was not disagreement, but joyous celebration filled with shrieks and songs.
Before I could gather my thoughts, someone grabbed my hand and I was swept up in a whirlwind of excitement and shoved against Jewish teenagers of every denomination in a celebration of Shabbat, Israel and Jewish pluralism.
Attending the North American Association of Jewish High Schools’ (NAAJHS) leadership conference last year awakened me to the great possibilities of Jewish pluralism. NAAJHS was founded as a forum for Jewish community high schools to exchange ideas and work toward the betterment of Jewish education.
Sensitive to the needs of students that affiliate themselves with different denominations, the heads of the program offered a variety of minyan choices, from liberal nature services to Orthodox services with a mechitza. However, as Shabbat approached and we gathered in our separate alcoves, a spark of enlightenment surged across the room as we felt the need to enact the Jewish pluralism that we discussed in our daily seminars.
Clasping hands with Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and Reconstructionist Jews, we proclaimed our love for Judaism in an outburst of song and dance, putting our differences in belief behind us.
Hidden beneath such Jewish rituals and celebration lies the true nature of pluralism. As Rabbi Harold Schulweis discusses in his essay, “The Pendulum of Pluralism,” the Talmud prescribes benedictions for all of life’s wonders — upon seeing a rainbow, nature, the ocean — but upon witnessing a Jewish audience we are commanded to pronounce: “Blessed is he who discerns secrets, for the mind of each is different from the other, as is the face of each different from the other.”
Are we living up to this commandment?
Earlier this year, Rabbi Schulweis came to Milken Community High School to engage in a discussion with teachers and students about pluralism. As a school that prides itself on pluralism within a community setting, Milken sought clarity and distinction about a concept that can become cloudy and convoluted.
I was seated on a panel with other students and faculty members, and after our prescribed questions were asked and answered, one teacher in the audience asked a monumental question, one that broadened the question of internal Jewish pluralism to our place in a larger, pluralistic culture: How can we truly embrace pluralism within our society if we are the chosen people, deemed by God to be prosperous and blessed?
Rabbi Schulweis answered the question without hesitation.
“I don’t believe that any religion is chosen by God,” he said, “I believe that we are a choosing people, not a chosen people.”
If we as Jews were to walk around deeming ourselves higher than our surroundings, we would fail to accept others as equals. However, the first step in solving this problem of universal pluralism is addressing the problem of denominational pluralism within our own faith.
Too often we neglect the tension that exists between the Jewish people in order to focus on more prominent, global concerns. By choosing to engage in study and discussion with Jews from all denominations, we will instead model the very behavior we wish to incorporate into larger American society. As the modern enactors of our ancient covenant with God, we must emphasize “choosing” over “chosen,” equality over factionalism and denominationalism.
This transition from passivity to action must first be implemented in solving what Rabbi Schulweis identifies as a key tension within Judaism — the sectionalism among Jewish youth. Conservative teens attend United Synagogue Youth (USY) events, Reform teens attend North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) events, and Orthodox teens attend National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY). Each youth group provides a comfortable environment for teens to interact with one another, forming friendships that emphasize Jewish values and the importance of Israel. After reviewing the mission statement on each group’s Web site, I found an abundance of overlap and commonality. Each group aims to develop a strong attachment to the Jewish people and to the state of Israel by engaging in study, participating in services, and living a Jewish life. Why don’t these groups explore their own beliefs and values through interaction with each other?
As a student of Milken Community High School, a school in which Reform, Conservative and Orthodox teenagers study together, I have made it my personal goal to traverse the boundaries of my affiliation with the Conservative movement. If we take a step back from our differences in opinion — take a step back from the confines of our denominations, the limits of our beliefs and the restrictions of our own subjectiveness — we will truly be able to embrace pluralism. As Rabbi Schulweis writes, “Pluralism is not the surrender of debate or the bleaching of passionate conviction … pluralism calls forth an ethic of openness, a disposition to inclusiveness.”
Ashley Reich is a senior at Milken where she is co-editor of The Roar, the school’s newspaper.
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There’s the Rub — in Tel Aviv
Tierra couldn’t be more Los Angeles. But for this nouveau combination of mostly organic restaurant, massage parlor and oxygen bar, you’ll have to go to Tel Aviv, where this combo venue clearly out-Hollywoods Hollywood.
The only thing missing — so far — is a Hollywood-style patron, such as Madonna or Oprah. In the meantime, you can settle happily for Yaniv Ben Rachamin, the handsome young waiter. On a recent visit, he needed some crib notes to describe the eclectic menu offerings, but he’s surefooted and helpfully well muscled for any visitors who order the seven-minute, 22-sheckel (about $4) massage with their entree.
Like the others of the wait staff, Ben Rachamin is a certified masseuse. His specialty happens to be a Chinese-style regimen whose name he had trouble translating into English. But as he willingly demonstrated, the good fight against carpal tunnel syndrome knows no language barriers. You just remain at your table in your chair and let him go to work.
Tierra’s setting in its bustling, mostly residential neighborhood is stylish coffeehouse; the food is inventive. One typical appetizer consisted of figs stuffed with mushrooms, macadamia nuts and chicken — flavored with cardamom, cinnamon and a Hindu date dressing (34 sheckels). Not all the entrees strain to be eccentric; there’s “grilled pullet and polenta” for 58 sheckels and “calamari paperdello” for 54 sheckels. Some menu offerings are mouth watering; others more creative than tasty. But there’s a full bar to wash everything down.
Co-owner Yonatan Galili says he keeps the menu as organic as possible — except when going exclusively organic would raise prices. He’s gone through several career iterations, including successful industrial engineer, to reach this entrepreneurial exploration of the mind/body/stomach connection.
He sees the massages as a way for a person/diner to “be with himself for seven minutes.” He adds: “We are very aware of the Western way of life. We serve food that is friendly to the stomach so you can eat here and then later keep on working.”
Of course, another option is to get high at the oxygen bar and forget all about working. Galili has two flavors of oxygen — “secret” concoctions created specially by an expert in designing flavors for oxygen bars. One is to relax you; the other to energize you.
The giddy feeling that ensues doesn’t seem quite legal, but apparently, it’s OK to inhale. Just be glad that you’re not the one flying the airplane home.
Tierra is located at Yirmiyahu 54, Tel Aviv, 03-604-7222. Hours: 9 a.m. to last customer.
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Oy! It’s Oscar Time
Two films that have encountered fierce controversy in the Jewish community and Israel are in the running for Oscar honors as nominations for the Academy Awards were announced Tuesday morning.
“Munich,” Steven Spielberg’s take on the Israeli hunt for the killers of its athletes at the 1972 Olympics, did better than some critics expected with five nominations.
These include best picture, best director (Spielberg), adapted screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, film editing and original musical score.
Picked among the top five foreign language film entries is the Palestinian “Paradise Now” by director-writer Hany Abu-Assad, which follows two suicide bombers from Nablus on a mission to blow up a Tel Aviv bus.
Nominated in the same category is Germany’s Sophia Scholl: The Final Days,” about an anti-Nazi resistance cell in Munich during World War II.
The actor nominations have a Jewish flavor, as well. Joaquin Phoenix, whose mother was born into an Orthodox New York family, received the nod in the lead-actor category for his portrayal of country music legend Johnny Cash in “Walk the Line.”
Jake Gyllenhaal, another son of a Jewish mother (screenwriter Noami Foner Gyllenhaal) was nominated for best supporting actor in the gay cowboy saga “Brokeback Mountain.”
Fully Jewish Rachel Weisz is in contention for best actress in a supporting role for her performance in “The Constant Gardner.” The London-born actress’ father and mother fled Hungary and Austria respectively in the 1930s in the face of the rising Nazi menace.
Woody Allen was named for “Match Point” in the original screenplay category, as was Noah Baumbach for “The Squid and the Whale.”
“Capote” scored an adapted screenplay nomination for Dan Futterman.
Two Jewish personalities will also have key roles on March 5. Jon Stewart of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” fame will serve as Oscar host for the first time, while veteran producer Gil Cates will captain the 78th Oscar telecast for the 13th time.
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Oxnard Kosher Dining Is a Sur Thing
“Kosher gourmet” sounds like an oxymoron. And “Oxnard kosher” sounds like the nocturnal ravings of some deluded diner.
Well, get used to it. Gourmet kosher dining has arrived in the Southern California farming community of Oxnard. Paris, London, New York maybe. But Oxnard? Home of big-box grocery chains, Mexican cantinas and strawberry fields forever.
Oxnard’s population is more than 70 percent Latino, which could explain why Tierra Sur, the finest new kosher restaurant on this coast (or almost any other), has decided to open with a decidedly Mediterranean-Spanish flavor, with a large dose of Tuscany thrown in for good measure.
So what’s a nice kosher restaurant doing in a place like this?
Tierra Sur is found deep in the heart of Oxnard’s industrial section, 60 miles north of Los Angeles and a mile and a half off Highway 101, nestled in the confines of the Herzog Winery.
Herzog itself has come a long way. It began making kosher wine back in 1848 in the small Slovakian village of Vrobove, where Philip Herzog crushed grapes for Austro-Hungarian royalty. The winery moved to upstate New York in the early 20th century, and then switched to California, where it is now headquartered and makes surprisingly good wines.
The front of its $13 million state-of-the-art winery houses an elegant tasting room and gift shop, which features high-end table wear, glasses and gifts appropriate to the sophistication of the entire operation.
But the pièce de résistance is Tierra Sur, with its high-ceilinged dining room, flanked by tall windows draped in heavy silks, soft leather dining room chairs pulled up to intimate-sized tables adorned with white table clothes and Reidel crystal stemware. The lighting is subdued, and the color scheme — earth tones of soft olive, gold and browns — highlights the elegant Mediterranean menu.
All this décor is very nice of course, but what about the food?
It more than measures up to the ambience.
Chef Todd Aarons, who grills some of his best creations in an outdoor wood-burning fireplace on the patio, grew up in Los Angeles, graduated from the California Culinary Academy and cut his kitchen teeth at San Francisco’s Zuni Café. Two years later he moved to Savoy in New York’s Soho district. However, his cooking chops and tastes were really formed during a sabbatical in Tuscany, working at four restaurants and imbibing the culture of the Mediterranean table through his pores.
Following his return to California, Aarons went to a post-graduate program at Beringer Vineyard’s School for American Chefs in Sonoma, developing his skills in matching wine with food.
But it was while working for an Italian coffee company in Israel, and developing menus for Italian-Mediterranean restaurants in Netanya and Tel Aviv, that Aarons rediscovered his Jewish roots, fell in love with an Orthodox young woman and eventually became a ba’al teshuvah. Now the dietary laws of kashrut have became the most important element of his cooking.
Aarons commutes to the new restaurant from his home in North Hollywood, where he lives with his wife and three young daughters within the eruv.
Before his Oxnard venture, Aarons ran Mosaica, an upscale glatt kosher French Mediterranean restaurant in New Jersey. But the opportunity to create a restaurant from scratch with the financial support of the Herzog brand was impossible to resist.
So with sous chef Chaim Davids, Tierra Sur opened in late 2005 with kosher supervision by the Orthodox Union. But if you expect pickles, corned beef on rye, or matzah ball soup — fuhgeddaboudit.
Dinner with five-star service — on a par with a dining room in a Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton — changes not just with the seasons but every evening according to the chef’s whim and the availability of the finest and freshest ingredients.
The Mediterranean influence is most visible in the appetizers, many of which come directly from the Spanish tapas or Greek mezes so beloved of the countries bordering that sea.
Platillos were small plates of delicate salt cod beignets; mushrooms a la Greque, cooked in truffle oil (one of the many instances where the absence of butter in the kitchen does nothing but improve the flavors); and a baba ghanoush that is fire roasted in the patio oven. The boudin blanc was a house-made veal-and-chicken sausage with roasted pink lady apples and turnips, and a corn and salt cod chowder was a warm starter on a foggy Oxnard eve.
The dinner entrees, which range in price from $25 to $44, include a farm-raised venison imported from the Mashgichim farm in Goshen, N.Y.; a delicate pan-seared wild Pacific king salmon with braised leeks, root vegetable Spanish tortillas and tarragon salsa; a marjoram and honey roasted chicken leg stuffed with porcini mushroom and chick pea ragout; and a pomegranate-marinated roasted lamb with sautéed broccoli rabe and fresh fava beans. Hannibal Lector eat your heart out. (A more modestly priced menu of soups, salads and sandwiches is available for lunch.)
Desserts like orange almond flan, a warm Mexican chocolate cake with caramel frozen custard and churros y chocolate are simple, inexpensive and delicious.
And, of course, the food can be accompanied by a dazzling selection of kosher wines — by the glass or by the bottle — from winemaker Joe Hurliman.
Already Tierra Sur, which also offers a wine-tasting menu, has been discovered by the Ventura dining cognoscenti and its private dining room has become a popular spot for everything from award dinners held by the Ventura’s Jewish Federation and its various offshoots to dinner celebrations for local corporate heavyweights such as Camarillo’s Amgen.
And the Orthodox are coming from miles around. There is always a fair sprinkling of men in kippot and women in wigs lining up to wash their hands at the small stainless steel sink hidden discreetly in a corner of the dining room.
On the night we went, customers included a couple who had driven up from Hancock Park, a family from the San Fernando Valley headed by a lady who doubles as the Jewish chaplain for the Los Angeles womens prison and a grandmother from Leisure Village in Camarillo who was treating her grandson and his wife from Philadelphia to a wedding anniversary dinner.
And in all cases, their food reviews were a unanimous thumbs up.
Tierra Sur Restaurant is located at 3201 Camino Del Sol in Oxnard. The restaurant is open everyday but Saturday for lunch, and Sunday, Tuesday through Thursday for dinner. For more information, call (805) 983-1560 or visit http://www.jewishjournal.com/local/KosherEats.php for links.
Sally Ogle Davis is a Southern California-based freelance writer. Ivor Davis writes a column for The New York Times Syndicate.
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Acts of Faith
Rabbinical School Moves to UCLA Hillel
The Academy for Jewish Religion, California (AJR CA) has moved to its new home at the Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center For Jewish Life at UCLA. Just five years since its establishment, the non-denominational graduate school for rabbinic, cantorial and chaplaincy studies outgrew its first location at Temple Beth Torah in West Los Angeles. Although Hillel is a center for Jewish students on UCLA campus and the Academy is a graduate program, both institutions are devoted to pluralism and diversity in Jewish life.
The Academy also attracted a number of respected congregational clergy from synagogues throughout the L.A. area. These include Temple Adat Shalom, Temple Beth Am, Beth Jacob Congregation, B’nai Horin-Children of Freedom, Congregation Mogen David, Kahal Joseph, Kehillat Israel, N’vay Shalom, Ohr HaTorah Congregation, Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel, Shomrei Torah Synagogue, Sinai Temple, Stephen S. Wise Temple and Wilshire Boulevard Temple.
With a current student body of 65 students, AJR leaders hope the move will increase applicants, faculty and supporters for AJR CA.
“It’s a huge move for this young school,” said Stan Levy, founding chair of AJR CA’s board of governors.
“It gives us tremendous credibility and visibility in the community that these two institutions with philosophies of making Judaism inclusive to all branches and denominations of Judaism have come together,” he said.
A Tendler Resignation
After 22 years as head rabbi of Shaarey Zedek Congregation in Valley Village, Rabbi Aron Tendler resigned last weekend.
“It is with mixed emotions that I write you today to let you know of my decision that, after 22 wonderful years, I have decided to step down as rabbi of Shaarey Zedek,” Tendler wrote in a letter to the 400 member families of the Orthodox synagogue.
“This has been a decision I have contemplated for some time, and after great soul searching and deliberation and with the full support of Esther and the family, I decided that it was time to explore other opportunities and embark on a new aspect of my personal and professional life.”
Tendler wrote that he intends to stay in the community but wants to spend more time with his family and pursuing writing, teaching and other projects.
“On occasion, I would like to sleep for more than four hours. Selfishly put, I want more time, and if not now, when?” he wrote.
Tendler will stay on through the High Holidays and help the search committee in its quest to find a new rabbi.
“Rabbi Tendler turned innumerable lives around, and it will be a great loss for us,” Brad Turell, Shaarey Zedek’s communications director, told The Journal. “He’s very talented and we wish him the best.”
A Singing Sabbath
Temple Beth El of San Pedro will hold its first musician-in-residence weekend Feb. 10-12, featuring jazz artist Mark Bloom. Bloom, a pianist, stage and musical director, producer, composer and performing artist, combines jazz music and Jewish services and prayer. In addition to producing hundreds of scores for stage and screen, he has also composed, arranged and accompanied such Jewish performers as Rabbi Joe Black, Doug Cotler, Ron Eliran, Danny Maseng, Peri Smilow and Bat-ella.
During the Temple Beth El weekend of Shabbat Shira (the Sabbath of Song), Bloom will lead his Jazz Shabbat Service, which has been performed in more than 50 congregations nationwide. He will also teach a workshop on “Nefesh” Shabbat (The soul of Shabbat) and perform a jazz concert on Saturday night. He’ll present aspecial children’s concerts on Sunday morning, during Torah school.
This musician-in-residence weekend will culminate a year of celebration honoring Cantor Ilan Davidson’s 10th anniversary with Temple Beth El.
Cantor Davidson said that both jazz and prayer are fixed forms, “each take on their similarities, thereby making it an individual expression for each participant.”
“Prayer,” Rabbi Charles Briskin said, “is a combination of keva, the written word, and kavanah, the spiritual dimension of each individual. Mark’s Jazz Shaabbat Service combines aspects of the service with the music that melds with prayer.”
For more information about concert tickets (services are free), contact (310) 833-2467.