fbpx

GET HOME DELIVERY! CLICK HERE »

ADVERTISE
pick up locations
HOME DELIVERY
donate

Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

March 16, 2007

Many guests at AIPAC event, but one is unwanted — Iraq

Leave a Comment / Politics, United States, Worldwide /

AIPAC’s annual policy conference in Washington, D.C., is truly a come-one, come-all event, with a “roll call” at the gala dinner announcing the hundreds of VIPs in attendance. But this year, one uninvited guest kept turning up — the Iraq war.

No matter how hard the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) tried to keep the 6,000 activists at its conference focused on the consensus issue of Iran’s nuclear threat, Republicans and Israeli officials kept bringing up what is likely the most divisive issue of the day.

The equation promoted by those who support continuing the war is simple: Israel’s security requires a continued U.S. presence in Iraq, and questioning President Bush’s policy is tantamount to undermining Israel and the United States.

“When America succeeds in Iraq, Israel is safer,” Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said late Monday in a live satellite address from his Jerusalem home that capped the gala dinner. “The friends of Israel know it, the friends who care about Israel know it. They will keep the Americans strong, powerful and convincing.”

Vice President Dick Cheney was even more blunt.

“Friends owe it to friends to be as candid as possible,” he said. “My friends, it is simply not consistent for anyone to demand aggressive action against the menace that is posed by the Iranian regime while at the same time acquiescing in a retreat from Iraq that would leave Israel’s best friend, the United States, dangerously weakened.”

The equation infuriated Democrats.

The sniping on Iraq — at one point it devolved into scattered boos for Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives — ran counter to AIPAC billing that the event would be an unmatched show of bipartisan support for Israel.

But a spokesman for the pro-Israel lobby powerhouse said the Iraq issue did not detract from the conference’s focus.

“Our focus is on the things we’re lobbying on,” Josh Block said.

The March 12 gala dinner drew half the U.S. Senate and more than half the House. It featured addresses by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate majority leader, and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), its minority leader.

The next morning, Pelosi and Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), the House minority leader, headlined the traditional Tuesday-morning sendoff to the Capitol for a day of lobbying.

McConnell and Boehner also attempted to build support for the administration’s recent deployment of more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) made it the centerpiece of his speech.

“There is something profoundly wrong when, in the face of attacks by radical Islam, we think we can find safety and stability by pulling back, by talking to and accommodating our enemies, and abandoning our friends and allies,” Lieberman said to a group that he likes to call “family.”

“Some of this wrong-headed thinking about the world is happening because we’re in a political climate where, for many people, when George Bush says yes, their reflex reaction is to say no,” he said. “That is unacceptable.”

Democrats, speaking on background, said they were unsettled by how Iraq kept intruding into an event dedicated to securing Israel.

Some top AIPAC officials also appeared appalled by the advocacy for Bush’s plan to increase troop levels in Iraq.

Amy Friedkin, a past AIPAC president who is close to Pelosi, stared stonily at Cheney’s back as he delivered his warning.

The reception to Cheney’s speech was lukewarm at best; he earned no more than three standing ovations, and applause was mostly polite.

The attempt to force the Iraq issue into the AIPAC conference appeared coordinated in part by the White House. AIPAC closed Lieberman’s session Monday to the press, though it had been touted as being open. That kept his message of support for the troop surge out of the headlines — for 24 hours.

Lieberman’s office distributed the remarks Tuesday, and within minutes they were forwarded to Jewish leaders by the White House liaison to the Jewish community with a note labeling them as “important.”

It did not help AIPAC’s case for bipartisanship that the lobby this week successfully pressed for the removal of a provision in an Iraq war funding bill that would have required the president to get congressional approval for war against Iran.

Many Democrats favored the provision because it reasserted Congress’ constitutional role in declaring war, which some charge Bush has eroded in Iraq. AIPAC and some other Democrats close to Israel feared the clause would restrain Bush as he pushes Iran to come clean about its nuclear program.

“I don’t know that you need to put in a supplemental budget bill that you believe in the U.S. Constitution,” said Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), a Jewish congressman who supported leaving out the Iran provision. “That should be obvious.

“If you’re trying to get a terrorist rogue regime to give up its weapons,” he said, “you should get them to think maybe we’re as crazy as they think we are.”
California Democratic Reps. Howard Berman, Henry Waxman, Brad Sherman and Jane Harman echoed similar sentiments during a session with state AIPAC delegates.

In total, 1,200 Californians attended the AIPAC conference. The Los Angeles delegation drew 750 attendees, up 50 percent from 2006, said AIPAC Western States Director Elliot Brandt, who added that it was the largest single-city delegation in the country.

On Monday night, Olmert appeared to be making a pitch for removing the Iran provision.

“President George W. Bush is the only leader and the United States is the only country that can be of enormous influence on what the Iranians will do,” he said. “They are the only ones that can confront effectively the aggressiveness of the Iranians in their plans to build up nuclear capacity.

“I know that all of you, friends of the State of Israel, well-wishers of the State of Israel, all of you who are concerned about the security and the future of the State of Israel, understand the importance of strong American leadership addressing the Iranian threat, and I am sure you will not hamper or restrain that strong leadership unnecessarily.”

Many guests at AIPAC event, but one is unwanted — Iraq Read More »

Sid Grauman honored, Anne Frank retold, French Pesach catered, Mamet debut

Leave a Comment / Anne Frank, Entertainment, Picks and Clicks /

Saturday the 17th

” border = 0 alt=”Biava Quartet”>

The UJ hosts a special benefit concert this evening, featuring the celebrated Biava Quartet, along with international concert pianist and Yale University Dean of Music Robert Blocker. Proceeds from the night’s performance will help the Los Angeles Zimriyah Chorale, who will also perform. The funding will help the Chorale share Jewish music locally and abroad, such as in their upcoming summer tour to Eastern Europe.

7:30 p.m. $36. Gindi Auditorium of the University of Judaism, 15600 Mulholland Drive, Bel Air. (949) 412-2318.

Tuesday the 20th

Continuing at the Israel Film Festival this week, and next week at Laemmle’s Town Center 5, is Joel Blasberg and Arnie Pelt’s moving documentary, “Withdrawal From Gaza.” The filmmakers focus on the stories of a handful of settlers in depicting the story of Israel’s turbulent disengagement from Gush Katif.

‘ target=’_blank’>www.laemmle.com.

Wednesday the 21st

Reserve by Saturday, March 17 to enjoy a pre-holiday four-course French Passover meal. The Skirball’s executive chef, Sean Sheriday, prepares fennel-cured salmon; duck consommé aux fines herbes; gala apple charoset with lavender honey and port; braised veal shank with wild mushrooms and red wine reduction; and a flourless chocolate soufflé cake with molten hazelnut center, served with pistachio macaroons. All food and wines are kosher, and guests will receive a recipe packet to take home.

$65-$75 (general), $80-$90 (with wine). 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. R.S.V.P., (866) 468-3399. ‘ target=’_blank’>www.cjff.org.

Friday the 23rd

An old writer, a young writer and a lovingly acerbic cleaning woman create the drama in David Mamet’s “Squirrels,” opening tonight at Miles Memorial Playhouse. The elder writer, played by James Harper (of various Broadway credits), suffers from writer’s block, and enlists the help of the younger writer, played by “Gamers'” Ben Messmer, for inspiration. “NewsRadio’s” Vicki Lewis offers her brutal wisdom as the cleaning woman.

$25-$37.50. Through April 29. 1130 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica. (866) 811-4111. Brooke Asher died in Santa Monica on June 2, 2006, at the age of 47.She grew up in New York and Holland and was educated at Hunter College, where she earned a degree in economics. She first found success as an innovative restaurateur, opening the critically acclaimed and highly successful Continental Divide at 24. This fun and lively dinosaur-themed hot spot drew both New York crowds and critics and spawned other themed restaurants.

In the early 1990s, Brooke headed to Los Angeles, was married, and became actively involved in a number of AIDS and sex education charities. As a speaker for Peer Education Program of Los Angeles, her straight talk and compelling words made her a popular speaker at high schools and colleges. Her work with Children of the Night helped educate and inspire homeless youth to be sage, stay clean and make positive changes in their lives.

In 2003, she launched a revolutionary concept in the detox and sobriety world with her company, Sober Coaching, which “brought the center to the client.”She is the beloved daughter of Kenneth and Rachel Blumenstein; sister of Rodney Blumenstein; and wife of Glen Kessler. She leaves family and many friends who loved and respected this passionate woman.

— Kenneth Blumenstein

Harvey Cohen, “Hanukkah Swings!” co-producer, 55Harvey CohenEmmy Award-winner Harvey Cohen died of a heart attack at the age of 55 on Jan. 14. He had worked on numerous television, film and animation projects. He was also the arranger, conductor and co-producer of “Hanukkah Swings!”

It all started 15 years ago in the shower, when I was singing “I Have a Little Dreidel,” and in my head I heard the Count Basie Orchestra. All I needed to find was an arranger. After many years of searching, I was singing in Beverly Hills at a concert, and the piano player knew of a guy who might be perfect for the project. The only problem was that “he lived in the middle of nowhere.”

I asked where that was, and he said Agoura. I told him that I lived in Agoura, and I met Harvey Cohen the next morning at the Agoura Deli for breakfast. It was an instant friendship. I felt like I knew him all my life. Harvey then wrote the entire idea out on a napkin, and we were in the studio recording a demo a few months later. It then took three years to get a label to sign me, and had it not been for Harvey’s incredible arrangements, I don’t think anyone would have listened to my big band Chanukah idea. None of this would have been possible without the genius of Harvey Cohen’s arrangements.

I miss Harvey, who became a “soul mate” and great friend. He was in the Temple Beth Haverim High Holiday Choir for two years and played his klezmer-style clarinet at our first Friday Night Love service. He had me premiere “Swingin’ Dreidel” and “Hanukkah Candles” at the 2005 Agoura High School Winter Concert and then put together and led an incredible 18-piece big band at the “Hanukkah Swings! Live” concert at the Canyon Club.

The last time I saw him was at the two concerts we did at the Jazz Bakery in December. He will be missed by all who knew and loved him.

— Cantor Kenny Ellis, Temple Beth Haverim

Marshall Blair, civic and Jewish community leader, 85

Born in Chicago in 1921 to Harry and Kate Blair, Marshall Blair was a self-made businessman who moved his family to Northridge in 1957. He started Acme Bearing in Burbank and retired to Oceanside in 1995. Marshall attributed his success to his positive outlook on life — his motto being, “Go, go, go” — and to the support and encouragement of his wife, Shirley. Marshall was an ethical businessman who helped employees and strangers alike through the trials and tribulations of life.

He was president of Temple Judea in Tarzana; president of the San Fernando Valley Mental Health Center; president of Build Rehabilitation Industries (provides training and work skills to disabled people); president of the North American Federation of Temple Brotherhoods; vice president of the Jewish Chautauqua Society; president of the Jewish Men’s Club of North County; president of the Burbank Rotary Club; president of the PTA; board member of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion; board member of Tri-City Hospital; and board member of the Burbank YMCA.

His greatest achievement, however, and that for which he was proudest, was raising four wonderful and successful children — two medical doctors, one doctor of psychology and one doctor of jurisprudence — all of whom were very active growing up in the temple youth group.

He is survived by Shirley, his loving wife of 58 years; children, Steve, Joyce, Nancy and Gary; grandchildren, Molly, Sarah, Kaitlin and Emma; and brother, Sidney. He will be dearly missed by all who knew him.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Marshall Blair Leadership Fund at Temple Judea.

— Gary Blair

Max Lent, fighter and folkdancer, 88

Max Lent, who died Jan. 24 at 88, was a character, a hard-working man whose interests were many.

He was a Jewish carpenter (“like you-know-who” as Max would say), incomparable improvisor and self-taught worker-intellectual who sustained his family and many friends with his irreverent wit and generosity.

He had a lifelong passion for sailing. He fought fascism as a World War II Marine, built countless houses, fixed just about anything and, with his wife, Millie, folkdanced locally and around the world.

He stayed strong until the end, annually riding his bike from Venice to Hess Kramer, 35 miles, most recently at age 88. He began riding as a Western Union bike messenger in Manhattan during the Depression and never quit.

Max was a proud communist, a secularist with strong Jewish roots reaching back to his shtetl birthplace. Opinionated and involved, he worked for a better world but lived fully in the present. The Valley Cities Jewish Community Center crowd will miss his humor and his “goldineh hent.”

Obituaries Read More »

Craig Prizant, philanthropreneurship and evangelicals

Leave a Comment / Letters to the Editor /

Craig Prizant

As a former fundraising professional at the Jewish Federation, I read with interest your story about the firing of Craig Prizant (a gentleman I do not know) (“Federation May Face Lawsuit Over Fundraiser Prizant’s Firing,” Feb. 27).

There has been a revolving door of development professionals, those at the top of the department and lower level staff, which, to my mind, shows either an appalling lack of management or a lack of appreciation on the part of the exec.

When you have staff coming and going on a frequent basis, you lose institutional knowledge of the various fundraising divisions, and, what I think is most important, you lose the relationships to people and community that your professionals make while at the Fed. Since the early 1990s, people have come and gone (sometimes with alacrity and with no respect to the individuals) in a manner that I don’t think you find in other American Jewish communities.

It was heartening to read in your article that finally the lay people are taking a stand. Perhaps the Prizant issue is just the tip of the iceberg? Perhaps the community would be better served by better oversight by the lay board and volunteers? And why is 6505 going through staff so quickly while the Valley Federation is not? These are issues that should be addressed.

Roxann Smith
Beverly Hills

Philanthropreneurship

Toronto’s accomplishments are even greater than Gary Wexler may realize (“Think ‘Philanthropreneurship,’ Like Canada,” March 2).

A couple of years before Gary was hired by the Toronto federation, and before the present executive was there, I was in Toronto for a week, training boards and staff people. I had been there a few times over the years and found it a progressive, vibrant Jewish city as Gary describes. Alan Reitzes was still the federation CEO.

Alan informed me that before my presentation at the federation board meeting, one matter of business was on the agenda. That item was the plan that Gary described in his article. At the time it was a two-track proposal.

The second part of the proposal was to establish a $100 million community fund. The proceeds were to be made available to any Jewish endeavor in the city deemed worthy of support by virtue of its contribution to the upbuilding of Jewish life in Toronto. This plan to raise $250 million over a period of time was passed unanimously and was “kicked off” by a single $35 million contribution.

Subsequently, the community leadership did commit to the new floor for the annual drive but the $150 million goal was raised to $300 million, as Wexler reported. I sat there silent, overwhelmed by the plan’s visionary challenge and scope, and immediately thought of Los Angeles and its potential to become a truly great Jewish city.

Upon my return home, I approached a dedicated and devoted lay leader and told him the Toronto story. He, too, was impressed and took up my challenge for him to initiate some beginnings to initiate a comparable plan in Los Angeles. He felt he could call 10 people together and begin the process with $10 million in new money. I thanked him but urged him to think in larger numbers and he agreed, ultimately feeling he could raise $25 million. I was elated but then made a great mistake. I should have urged him to go ahead, raise the money and then present the check as a challenge gift to The Federation, coupled with a visionary plan of how to jump start the development of a comprehensive scenario for consideration by all segments in the community.

Alas, I did not. My visionary friend brought the idea to a few community leaders who provided all manner of discouraging reasons as to why the idea would never get support in Los Angeles. The rest is history.

Los Angeles remains a fragmented community, raising money for great purposes under many auspices but never coming together to act except, in emergencies, to move to some exciting, energized and stimulating approach for tomorrow’s Los Angeles.

Wexler was undoubtedly trying to challenge those great visionaries among us to turn their thoughts, imaginations and energies to the end that this magnificent place in flux called Los Angeles set some overarching priorities for the community’s benefit and flowering.

Gerald Bubis
Founding Director
School of Jewish Communal Service
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Former Board Member
The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles

Evangelicals

Regarding Tom Tugend’s interview with Zev Chafets (Evangelical Support for Israel — Good for the Jews?,” March 2), who is promoting his book “A Match Made in Heaven: American Jews, Christian Zionists and One Man’s Exploration of the Weird and Wonderful Judeo-Evangelical Alliance,” there is much that Jews need to learn about Christian Zionists.

The first is to appreciate that in many quarters they are considered neither Christian nor Zionist. They are the hard-core religious right and no amount of their support for Israel justifies what they would like to do to America.

Tugend asked all the right questions, but Chafets kept saying he wants American Jews to shut up about the theocratic domestic agenda of Christian Zionists (prayer and creationism in the schools, for example).

Chafets’ expressed contempt: “All I’m advocating is that you cut out the sneering, patronizing behavior toward evangelicals, and you don’t need to patrol every town square in Alabama for religious symbols…important to Christians.”

It’s some consolation that this interview appeared for the comedic Purim edition. We recommend that Chafets take his own medicine and begin campaigning for an Israeli government run by Satmar.

We bet he likes it!

Jane Hunter
Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak
www.JewsOnFirst.org

Correction:An article about Gila Almagor (Israel’s ‘Grande Dame’ Grows Up on the Big Screen”) had an incorrect byline. The author of the story was Jessica Steinberg. The Journal regrets the error.

To read more letters this week, visit jewishjournal.com.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

Craig Prizant, philanthropreneurship and evangelicals Read More »

Moscow poisonings bring only shrugs and rumors here

Leave a Comment / Community, Worldwide /

The phone rings and it’s the media. I get the usual questions: “How does the Russian-speaking community feel about the poisoning in Moscow of Marina Kovalevsky, 49, and her 26-year-old daughter, Yana?”

The two women, who are Jewish and have contributed to Israeli charities, fell ill in late February, a week after they arrived in Moscow on a pleasure trip to visit with friends and to attend a wedding. They were rushed to a hospital and found to have been poisoned with thallium, and after being treated with the help of Leon Peck — Marina Kovalevsky’s brother, who is a Beverly Hills oral surgeon — the women returned to Los Angeles, where last week Yana Kovalevsky told federal and county investigators that she believes the poisoning was an accident.

“Would you say that the people are upset?” I was asked. As a journalist in Russian-language media and longtime advocate for Soviet Jewry, I am often called upon to explain how the Russians think:”Are they nervous? Is it anti-Semitism? Did she know the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko — the guy who was poisoned by polonium in London?”

Most of the questions are impossible to answer, either because I don’t know the answers or because the question is not specific enough.

How does one judge a community’s feelings? What part of the community? The older immigrants who spent their bleak lives in the Soviet Union and came to a country that is so different that it might as well be Mars? The younger ones who came here as children, who speak English better than they do Russian, but still date one another and aren’t all that comfortable with the “real” Americans their age?

The most recent entrepreneurs who came here with money, eager to make more, who travel back and forth, convinced that the good times will go on forever?

I am part of that community because I spoke Russian as a kid, speak Russian with my wife and most of our friends and was involved in the Soviet Jewry movement. But I am also an American who speaks English better than Russian.

I have lived here most of my life, have had a wife and children who didn’t speak a word of Russian, and I find that much of what is normal for the Russians is actually very strange and, very often, funny. In Russian, I am “ni ryba ni miaso” — neither fish nor meat — and in English I am neither fish nor fowl. I don’t really know how the Russian community feels about the Kovalevskys’ misfortune of being poisoned by thallium in Moscow. It all depends.

So what should I say to the media? Should I say that the most frequent response is a shrug and a “What did you expect? What’s the big deal? That’s the way things are over there.” And if there are others listening, someone will usually chime in, “And they always will be like that.”

There are very few who were surprised by what happened. If they talk about it at all, the question, “Why?” Is usually seen as pointless speculation. “What’s the use? We’ll never know what really happened.”

Rumors abound. Conspiracy theories flourish. The Russian community knows — absolutely knows — that nothing is ever what it seems.

Take your pick: It was a robbery. She tried to invest in a Russian business and offended the wrong people. She was contacted by political opponents of Putin and refused (or agreed) to collaborate with them. The whole thing is an effort to embarrass Russia/America/ Israel. There never was a poisoning (who can believe that there was no antidote, an artist’s paint, Prussian Blue, available in all of Moscow, and that it had to be brought in a by a private individual from America — and what else did he bring in, hmm?)

And if I look doubtful when I hear some of this nonsense, I get the pitying look that Americans get from Russians — “God, how naïve these Americans are?”

In a way they are right. Americans know next to nothing about law enforcement over there.

When I was in Moscow about 15 years ago, I was invited by a friend to dinner in his apartment. One of the guests was a Moscow police colonel, resplendent in his uniform and medals. As we sipped our post- (and pre- and during) dinner ice-cold vodka, he told me how he envied American cops. I looked surprised, and he gave me that — “how naïve you are” — look.

“Don’t you see? An American policeman can stop anyone, and if the guy gives him a hard time, he can just pull out his gun and shoot him, right? Well, we can’t do that here, you know….”

A few weeks ago, a group of Russian law enforcement officers came to California to meet with local law enforcement in order to learn how we deal with hate crimes and how our officers develop relationships with communities they serve. I am a member of the L.A. Sheriff’s Department Russian Community Advisory Board, and we were all invited to meet with the Russian officers for an informal exchange of views and ideas.

I came prepared. I pulled off the Internet, in just that one day, seven reports of racially motivated attacks throughout Russia: beatings, kidnappings, threats, arson against Asians, Caucasian minorities and black foreign students.

I told the Russians that I am often called to testify as an expert witness at immigration courts, where a refugee is asked to prove that it would be dangerous to be sent back to Russia, where he or she would be persecuted for racial, religious or political reasons.

The cases are diverse but, overwhelmingly, have one thing in common: the distrust of law enforcement. Most applicants smile bitterly if asked whether they reported the incidents to the police and generally reply, “No, not this time. I had done so in the past but nothing happened, so I stopped bothering.” Or even worse: “No, it is too dangerous. If I complained, I probably would be dead — and probably the cops would be the ones who would catch me in a dark alley.”

I was shocked to see that some of the cops nodded when I told them — politely — that they had a terrible image; that people didn’t trust them, believed they were no better than the mafia they were supposed to control. Our visitors knew and probably were surprised — maybe pleased — that here was a Russian-speaking American who knew what was what.

Moscow poisonings bring only shrugs and rumors here Read More »

Happy Birthday, Unsung Heroes, Heroes of Sherwood, Rock for Research

Leave a Comment / Circuit /

Happy Birthday

Topping-smothered mashed potatoes in martini glasses don’t make appearances at typical synagogue shindigs, but Betty’s Birthday Bash was no standard function.

Thrown by the atypical Westwood Village Synagogue, the evening Bash took place Dec. 24 at the Luxe Hotel on Sunset Boulevard. The purpose of the evening was twofold: to celebrate the 100th birthday and lifelong philanthropy of synagogue member Rebecca “Betty” Matoff; and to raise funds for the Modern Orthodox synagogue’s building fund, which Matoff established.

The event included a celebratory dinner, dancing and a video presentation chronicling Matoff’s dedication to charitable causes.

“I’ve been so blessed to have the chance to help others,” Matoff said. “It’s a great honor to serve, in essence as ‘Hashem’s Treasurer,’ being able to give to those individuals in need and the organizations doing God’s work.”

— Ali Austerlitz, Contributing Writer

Unsung Heroes

The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles joined the Council of Israeli Community (cicisrael.org) at a reception Feb. 2, highlighting a wartime joint effort in the local Jewish community.

Following the outbreak of the second Lebanon war, local Israeli organization leaders formed the Giyus Hul-Oversees Draft committee, which raises funds for Ziv Hospital in Tsfat and Kiryat Shmona Fire and Rescue Services Station.More than $178,200 was raised through community events, with The Federation matching the funds to total $356,542.

The funds will be used to equip the first of five new operating rooms in Ziv Hospital and to upgrade the command and control communication center at the Kiryat Shmona fire station.

The effort brought together various organizations that would ordinarily compete for the same dollars. Giyus Hul also worked with the Lions Club, an international nonprofit organization with chapters in Israel, to ensure that 100 percent of the funds raised were used for the intended purposes, with no overhead expenses.

Following the first katyusha rocket on Zefat in July 2006, the emergency room and trauma center at Ziv Hospital treated 687 civilian victims and 820 Israel Defense Forces soldiers. The 1,507 casualties were more than those treated at any two hospitals in the north of Israel combined.

Kiryat Shmona Fire Station is headquarters for the Upper Galilee; during the war 1,780 katyusha rockets hit Upper Galilee and 1,072 katyusha rockets hit Kiryat Shmona and surrounding area. As a result, 2,500 acres of forest and 5,000 acres of fields and parkland were burned.

In a letter read at the event, Israel’s Fire and Rescue Commissioner Shimon Romach expressed his appreciation for the generous donation, which will “significantly improve Israel’s ability to respond promptly to any emergency situation.”

Actor-comedian and Israel advocate Larry Miller emceed the event.

Hereos of Sherwood

California Attorney General Jerry Brown was the guest speaker when the Anti-Defamation League Pacific Southwest Region awarded the Helene and Joseph Sherwood Prize for Combating Hate at an awards ceremony Feb. 15 at the Skirball Cultural Center.

The Sherwood Prize recognizes committed law enforcement personnel who make a significant difference in their communities and serve as role models for their departments. Individual honorees were: Lt. Fred Booker, Los Angeles Police Department; Commander Lynda Castro, L.A. County Sheriff’s Department; Deputy Sheriff Rafer Owens, L.A. County Sheriff’s Department; and Corporal Alexandro Peinado, Pasadena Police Department.

Also honored with the unit award were the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Attorney’s Office and United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division for the investigation and prosecution of the Avenues Street gang — the first conviction of a street gang for violating federal hate crime laws.Sherwood award founder Joseph Sherwood told the group, “With this award, we are able to achieve the well-deserved recognition for individuals who have dedicated their lives to making our community safer by fighting bigotry and combating hate, wherever it rears its ugly head.”

Rocking for Research

It was a night for music lovers to celebrate love and rock and roll while supporting Cedars Sinai Women’s Cancer Research Insitute (WCRI) at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute. Almost $300,000 was raised as music legends Willie Nelson, Jackson Browne and John Trudell presented the Give Love, Give Life benefit concert.

One-hundred percent of the net proceeds from the show benefit the Cedars-Sinai WCRI, a multidisciplinary program working to eradicate women’s cancers through research, education, early detection and prevention and advocacy.

WCRI’s Dr. Beth Karlan and a coalition of women’s health groups recently secured passage of federal legislation called Johanna’s Law, which will fund education and outreach about the symptoms of gynecologic cancer.

Under the leadership of Dr. Karlan, WCRI works side-by-side with Cedars-Sinai’s patient care programs to integrate innovative research into programs devoted to preventing, diagnosing and treating women’s cancers.

The choice of all male artists for the Give Love, Give Life concert was intentional. Each of the artists has long advocated peace, environmental and social justice issues, but this is the first time they have collaborated on behalf of women’s health and women’s cancers.

Happy Birthday, Unsung Heroes, Heroes of Sherwood, Rock for Research Read More »

Briefs: City politicos celebrate launch of NewGround; Iranian Jews

Leave a Comment / California, Community, Judaism, United States /

City politicos celebrate launch of NewGround

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa celebrated the launch of NewGround, a joint undertaking of the Progressive Jewish Alliance (PJA) and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), at City Hall on March 8. The group will bring together Jews and Muslims in a community-building dialogue on issues ranging from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to immigration to homelessness.

“This is the city where we come together from every corner of the earth,” Villaraigosa said. “If there is one place in the world where Muslims and Jews should be able to forge common ground, it is here.”

City Council President Eric Garcetti hailed the group as leaders of the future.

“The stakes are high because the face of Los Angeles is the face of the world. The world is watching us,” said Garcetti, who hosted the gathering in the Tom Bradley Tower Room.

“We’re going from old ground in the Middle East, where we’re shackled by fear and bloodshed, to new ground in Los Angeles, where we can develop mutual respect and mutual trust and hopefully this project will blossom forth with the rays of hope from the people in this room,” said Salam Al-Mayarati, MPAC’s executive director.

Preparation for NewGround included a six-month study conducted by two scholars — one Muslim, one Jewish — who examined the failures and successes of interfaith dialogues throughout the country. Interfaith program co-ordinators Malka Fenyvesi and Aziza Hasan, who work for PJA and MPAC respectively, will serve as NewGround staffers.

Hasan said that the group has already selected 18 participants — nine Jews and nine Muslims, ranging in age from 27 to 37 — with such diverse backgrounds as attorneys, doctors, teachers, filmmakers, artists and doctoral students.

“It’s not enough to sit and have coffee together. It’s not enough to visit each other’s mosques and synagogues. We actually need to confront the prejudices and stereotypes that we hold about each other, agree to disagree, and then fulfill our traditions’ obligations to build a better community,” PJA Executive Director Daniel Sokatch said.

Imam Jihad Turk of the Islamic Center of Southern California and Rabbi Reuven Firestone of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion led the event’s opening and closing prayers.

— Naomi Glauberman, Contributing Writer

Briefs: City politicos celebrate launch of NewGround; Iranian Jews Read More »

‘NCIS’ Mossad agent’s cover gets blown — she’s Chilean

Leave a Comment / Entertainment, Television /

Two days before her first appearance in the cast of the top-ranked TV show, “NCIS,” actress Cote de Pablo was given the script of a lengthy phone conversation — in Hebrew.

“I got a Hebrew teacher and didn’t rest or sleep for 48 hours,” recalled the tall, slim, dark-haired actress. “I wanted to do the language justice. I want to apologize to all Israelis if I didn’t succeed, but boy, did I try.”

De Pablo, born in Chile’s capital of Santiago, plays Mossad agent Ziva David, lending an exotic touch to the all-American ensemble of the CBS “JAG” spin-off series, now in its fourth season.

The job of the show’s six-person elite team from the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service is to crack all crimes involving, in any way, a member of the Navy or Marine Corps.

Consistently rated among the top 15 prime-time shows on American television — and in half a dozen other countries — in a recent week NCIS reached the No. 1 spot. It stands out in the well-worn genre for compelling story lines, intense pace and frequent leavenings of humor.

At the beginning of a nearly two-hour interview at a Hollywood restaurant, the 29-year-old actress greeted a reporter in South American style, with kisses on both cheeks (it’s a rough job, but someone has to do it).

How had she managed the transition from a nice Chilean girl, educated in a private Catholic school, to the role of an Israeli agent, customarily wearing a pistol on her hip and a golden Star of David around her neck?

“Ziva David was a new character, introduced at the beginning of the third season last year, and our executive producer, Don Bellisario, conducted a worldwide search for the part,” De Pablo said.

“I was one of the last to audition, and I don’t think they had a clear idea of what they wanted. So I interpreted Ziva as a cool, competent woman, not the usual Hollywood sex symbol with big boobs, but [someone] who was comfortable in her own sexuality and used to working with men on an equal footing,” she explained. “It helped that by my looks, I could be taken for almost any nationality.”

In her very first episode, De Pablo established Ziva David’s background and crammed in enough action to fill a full season. The character’s father, the deputy director of Mossad, had sent her to the United States to rescue her half-brother, Ari Haswari, who had killed a veteran NCIS female agent.

Ari and Ziva have the same father, but his mother is Arab (all right, some creative plotting here), and she discovers that he has gone psycho and turned into a Hamas terrorist.

Ziva ends up killing Ari, thus saving the life of NCIS team leader Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), who quickly figures that he can use someone of Ziva’s talents.

Starting on this dramatic note, David/De Pablo has since proven her value as a straight-shooting agent and as an actress, though she considers that her character “is still under construction.”

David’s Jewish identity rarely comes up in the series, although in one episode, a redneck character, noting her Star of David pendant, observes, “We don’t deal with your kind here.”

A running ploy plays off David’s foreign origin, and De Pablo — who speaks like a native-born American — has to feign a slight accent for her role. She is also the occasional butt of good-natured kidding when she draws a blank at an American slang expression.

De Pablo does get quite a few letters from Jewish men, who wonder whether she is an actual Member of the Tribe. Other Jewish admirers pay her the ultimate accolade, “You rock.”

The actress spent the first 10 years of her life in Santiago, the eldest daughter of an upper-class, right-wing family and, given the social stratification of Chilean society, never met a Jewish child or, for that matter, any poor people.

That sheltered environment changed when her mother, a television personality in Chile, was offered a job at a Spanish-language network in Miami. In an unusual gesture for a macho Latino, her father agreed to give up his business and the entire family moved to Florida.

At age 13, De Pablo started taking acting, singing and dancing lessons in Miami, and in her late teens, struck out on her own to study music and theater at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

While there, she took a psychology class and took her teacher’s advice as her personal motto: “Never say yes, if you want to say no.”

“Those words gave me the strength to be honest and to speak my mind, which, I think, is a very Israeli trait,” De Pablo mused.

She graduated in 2000, and the same year moved to New York, where she discovered a Jewish environment and the harsh realities of show business for an aspiring actress. The once-cocooned upper-class girl moved into a tiny apartment, made the endless auditioning rounds and worked as a waitress in an Indian restaurant in Manhattan and an Italian eatery in Brooklyn.

Gradually, she started getting small parts with the New York City Public Theater; in the TV soap opera, “All My Children”; and in a brief but memorable Volkswagen commercial as a hip-swinging charmer.

By 2005, she was ready for her Broadway debut as one of the female leads in “The Mambo Kings.”

Along the way, De Pablo had an extended relationship with a Jewish boyfriend, whose family had emigrated from Europe.

“I was really impressed by the women in the family,” she recalled. “They were such incredibly passionate, opinionated and independent women.”

She also immersed herself in the history of World War II, the Holocaust, the capture of Adolf Eichmann and “became fascinated by the Jews’ struggle for survival,” she said. “I identified with them.”

Now, De Pablo works frequent 14-hour days, five days a week, on the set of “NCIS” and has adopted the cast as her “family.” She has little time for hiking, her favorite recreation, or visiting unspoiled, nontouristy places, and is surprisingly frank about her lack of social life.

‘NCIS’ Mossad agent’s cover gets blown — she’s Chilean Read More »