fbpx

GET HOME DELIVERY! CLICK HERE »

ADVERTISE
pick up locations
HOME DELIVERY
donate

Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

January 15, 2014

Up to their ankles in rubble

Leave a Comment / California, Cover Story /

Cathy Carpenter, 61, remembers waking up to massive shaking the morning of the Northridge earthquake. In her family’s home in Tarzana, almost all of the kitchen cabinets were flung off the walls, and the aftershock blew out the windows and broke the ceiling beams that supported the house’s second story.

“Our house was kind of like a movie set where the front of the house was pretty fine, but the entire back half had really been destroyed,” she said. “We were in rubble almost up to our ankles in most of the house. It was awful and very scary.”

The family stayed in their house for a few weeks, but finally moved out when they realized that the second story would shake when the front door was slammed.

However, the real nightmare had only begun as Carpenter’s family had to rent a home for almost a year after the earthquake. Because demand was so high, they struggled to find contractors and replace broken household items.

“When every house is damaged, it’s not so easy to get contractors or sinks or plumbing — everything was on back order,” she said. “So that was very hard on everybody, hard on our kids.”

They only received $5,000 for property damage from FEMA, but because they had earthquake insurance, their private insurance company ultimately paid them the house’s full value of $300,000.

Carpenter recalled that neighbors “really took care of each other” and that a newly married couple hosted a big block party in the days after the earthquake.

“Everyone brought out all the food they had in their refrigerators, because it would all go bad,” she said. “And we just sat out there and commiserated because of how awful it was.”

The family house, which they still live in, is now reconstructed, “like a fortress,” she said. Every wall is built with structural reinforcements, and the furniture is bolted to the walls.

However, the memory of the tremors is hard to forget.

“Everywhere I went, when I felt shaking I would be transported back to that morning,” she said. “The shaking was so violent and it lasted a very long time.”

Up to their ankles in rubble Read More »

CSUN Hillel became temporary classroom following Northridge earthquake

Leave a Comment / California, Cover Story /

In the months after the Northridge earthquake, the Hillel House at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) became a makeshift classroom facility for hundreds of students as many university buildings had been damaged.

“It was an unusual experience for us,” said Rabbi Jerrold Goldstein, the CSUN Hillel director at the time. “Jewish students knew where Hillel was, but to have hundreds of students coming every day for their classes — anthropology, English, history, lecture classes — it was quite an experience for us to be hosting that.”

Goldstein recalled how, in order to reach the Hillel building, which had minor damage, students would walk past a new $11 million parking complex a few yards away that had collapsed during the tremors.

“I think all of us had a sense of wonder,” Goldstein, now 77, said. “Had it been a few hours later, that parking structure would have been filling with cars and students. That would have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people.”

According to Goldstein, currently the secretary of the Sandra Caplan Community Beit Din of Southern California, the university’s Jewish student population had numbered about 4,000, with an average of 40 to 60 students at Shabbat dinner and services.

“It was really regarded with great pride by the students and by me to be of great service to the university community,” Goldstein said. “It symbolized the strength of Jewish survival that the Hillel house stood and could offer hospitality to anybody who needed help.”

CSUN Hillel became temporary classroom following Northridge earthquake Read More »

Lessons in earthquake preparedness

Leave a Comment / California, Cover Story /

If Los Angeles’ Jewish day schools are prepared for a major earthquake, they have the accreditation requirements of BJE-Builders of Jewish Education, an umbrella organization for local Jewish education, in large part to thank.

BJE helps schools develop earthquake safety measures and gives them accreditation when they demonstrate, among other things, a concern for student safety. 

Determining emergency procedures is part of the schools’ accreditation process, according to Miriam Prum Hess, director of BJE’s centers for excellence in day school education. 

For example, at Sinai Akiba Academy, the school for Sinai Temple in Westwood, which has both a preschool and kindergarten through eighth grade in the day school and is located at the busy intersection of Wilshire and Beverly Glen boulevards, approximately 1,000 students and staff are on campus on any given weekday. Emergency drills for both school and synagogue have to be run with absolute efficiency, synagogue executive director Howard Lesner said. 

“We all have radio contacts, overseeing it, making sure the entire building is completely empty, and people have to report on the radio when they’ve arrived and every student is accounted for,” he said. “I oversee what goes on with the triage, and basically my job is to oversee the entire evacuation process.”

“You’re talking about 480 kids out of the day school, 150 out of the preschool and 300 staff members,” he said.

Ilan Ramon Day School is at the opposite end of the spectrum in many ways. Serving approximately 150 students, the Agoura Hills school is located in a community of mountains, urban sprawl and stables. Despite the school’s smaller size and quieter suburban setting, its students participate in earthquake drills every few weeks. The school also takes part every year in the Great California ShakeOut, a statewide earthquake drill that draws the participation of millions of people from schools, workplaces and elsewhere, according to shakeout.org.

“The basic message if the ground is moving: You drop and cover and you hold on,” said Yuri Hronsky, Ilan Ramon’s head of school. “Cover as much of your body as possible, and hold whatever you can hold onto.”

Lesner referred to these exercises as “drop drills,” in which students protect their heads and necks while crouching underneath their desks. 

Earthquake safety experts agree these drills are best practice. The Earthquake Country Alliance, which works with the Southern California Earthquake Center at USC toward mitigating earthquake damage, refers to them as “Drop, Cover and Hold On.” 

Of course, there is more to earthquake preparation than drills. 

BJE, for instance, recommends that schools have advance communication technology, which can take many forms, such as auto-dial messaging, Hess said. This allows a school to simultaneously contact everybody on a list.

“We record one message, and with the push of one button, it either sends out a text or sends out a call to any number of stakeholders,” Hess said.

This technology is critical, although some places still rely on the old-fashioned buddy system. 

Temple Adat Elohim (TAE), which runs an early childhood center and a religious school in Thousand Oaks, recognizes that phone systems don’t always work the way we want them to: During the 1994 Northridge earthquake, long-distance calls were easier to make than local ones.

Therefore, TAE’s emergency system is to relay messages to a synagogue in Galveston, Texas,  Temple B’nai Israel, which has agreed to convey emergency messages if needed to community members who are not at the shul and are unable to make contact.  

“It was decided that we would establish an out-of-the-area contact point for our temple to call to let them know that everything is OK at TAE,” executive director Aliza Goland said in an e-mail.

Many schools have such relationships with other out-of-state communities, Hess said.

Staying on top of communication is important, but it is not the only concern. Well-stocked earthquake kits offer another preparation tool.

“Water, flashlights, normal things that you’d find in any earthquake kit that even homes and other businesses have,” said Sinai Temple’s Lesner, describing the contents of the kits there. 

“We change it over every few years when it expires. It’s not gourmet, but it certainly, in the event of an emergency, would sustain people,” he said.

Meanwhile, at Ilan Ramon, educators don’t need to worry about alarming their students. They understand that earthquakes are a fact of life in Los Angeles, Hronsky said.

“We live in California, and our kids are pretty in tune to this stuff.

Lessons in earthquake preparedness Read More »

Earthquake emergency supply must haves

Leave a Comment / Cover Story, Culture /

Everyone should be prepared to be self-sufficient (able to live without electricity/gas, running water, telephones) for at least three days following a major emergency.

Essential supplies:

• Water: one gallon per person per day (a week’s supply of water is preferable)

• Water-purification kit

• First-aid kit, freshly stocked

• First-aid book

• Non-perishable food

• Can opener (non-electric)

• Blankets or sleeping bags

• Portable radio, flashlight and spare batteries

• Essential medications

• Extra pair of eyeglasses

• Extra set of house and car keys

• Fire extinguisher: A-B-C type

• Food, water and restraint (leash or carrier) for pets

• Cash and change

• Baby supplies: formula, bottle, pacifier; soap and baby powder, clothing, blankets, baby wipes, disposable diapers, jars of baby foods and juices

Supplies should be kept in a backpack or bag that can be reached quickly in an emergency and that can be used at home or taken with you; there should be enough supplies for each member of the family.

Some sources recommend having one set of supplies in your home, another in your car and a third in your workplace.

Source: California governor’s Office of Emergency Services. For more, visit calema.ca.gov.

Earthquake emergency supply must haves Read More »

Hatzolah at the ready

Leave a Comment / California, Cover Story /

When the Northridge earthquake struck 20 years ago, emergency city services — ambulance, fire, police — were under heavy strain, with extremely high call volume. As in any disaster, many people in need of assistance simply could not be helped quickly.

And when the next big one hits, that’s where Hatzolah of Los Angeles hopes to play a role.

The volunteer ambulance corps, established here in 2001, is designed to supplement Los Angeles’ emergency resources in heavily Jewish neighborhoods. Its services could be especially helpful in the case of a natural disaster. 

“When we drill, we pretend that there are zero resources available from the city,” Hatzolah spokesman David Bacall said.

With three ambulances, five authorized emergency vehicles, disaster supply trucks, generators, fuel and nearly 100 emergency medical technicians, or EMTs, Bacall said Hatzolah is equipped to simultaneously run up to three casualty collection points (CCPs) — mobile, outdoor hospitals — each with 50 beds for people in need of treatment. 

Hatzolah’s triage system is color-coded: green (walking wounded), yellow (serious, but not critical), red (critical), black (untreatable or dead).

Although the nonprofit group’s areas of service — Valley Village, Hancock Park and Pico-Robertson — all include high concentrations of Orthodox Jews, Bacall said that the volunteer medical service treats anyone in need, regardless of religion or affiliation, as long as they are within one of those three neighborhoods.

Asked how Hatzolah could transport its resources and EMTs in the case of an infrastructure failure, such as collapsed highways or impassable city streets, Bacall acknowledged that driving conditions are “always a problem” during earthquakes.

But, he said, that’s why the group doesn’t keep all of its resources in one location.

“Even if Pico is split down the middle and you couldn’t get past Robertson, we have members with equipment on one side of it and we have members with equipment on the other side of it,” Bacall said.

In addition to Hatzolah, some Los Angeles neighborhoods have their own community emergency response teams (CERTs), and neighborhood emergency teams (NETs). 

Trained by Los Angeles Fire Department personnel, ordinary citizens receive nearly 20 hours of free CERT instruction in, among other things, basic first aid, evacuation tactics and search tactics.

Sari Katz, a Pico-Robertson CERT graduate, leads a NET in the area. Although her team is not as comprehensive as Hatzolah, it includes volunteers and block captains who can respond quickly during the next earthquake.

From checking on elderly neighbors to letting people know where Hatzolah has set up nearby outdoor trauma centers, volunteer networks like Katz’s add another layer of preparation

But, as Bacall emphasized, neither Hatzolah nor any other emergency service can supplement self-preparedness, which includes stocking up on water and food, and, most importantly, having a plan.

“If I’m not for myself, who will be for me?,” Bacall asked, citing Hillel. “It’s really incumbent upon everybody to make sure that their family is prepared.”

In case of an emergency, after calling 911, Hatzolah of Los Angeles can be reached at (800) 613-1911. More information on CERT can be found at Hatzolah at the ready Read More »

Northridge quake felt like a rollercoaster ride

Leave a Comment / California, Cover Story /

Just off a trip to the Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park in Valencia, 11-year-old Elliott Samson was sound asleep in his Pico-Robertson home at 4:30 a.m. on the morning of the Northridge earthquake.

In his dream, he was bouncing up and down and being tossed from left to right — it felt just like a rollercoaster, Samson recalled.

He was loving every minute of it. Then he was jolted awake by the screams of his parents, who came running into his room to grab him.

“They came in screaming. We got out of bed and ran,” Samson said. “Everything was really shaking. It lasted for a long time.”

Standing under a doorway with his parents, Samson heard a smashing sound downstairs. The family’s most expensive dishes, which they stored in the highest cabinets, were done for. Ditto for all the pricey alcohol in their bar.

For Elliott, the next day was just Los Angeles’ version of a snow day, albeit with broken highways.

“Aside from everything shutting down and everything being canceled, there was a rush on the supermarkets for water,” he said.

He remembers in the weeks following the earthquake, he would be playing outside when an aftershock hit. The advice he was given: “Wait in a doorway; call parents; go back and play.”

Northridge quake felt like a rollercoaster ride Read More »

The hard-hat earthquake prep

Leave a Comment / California, Cover Story /

It was an odd sight inside the Shoff family’s home in Santa Monica — a television.

Growing up in an Orthodox home, Elchanan Shoff’s parents didn’t own a television. But in the weeks following the Northridge earthquake, they set up a small black-and-white television to follow coverage of the aftermath.

Now the rabbi of LINK East, a synagogue in Faircrest Heights, Shoff remembers waking up as the earthquake shook his Ozone Avenue home. “We were in shock,” Shoff said.

Waiting under a doorway for the worst of it to pass, Shoff’s mother credited the mezuzah in the doorway with keeping them safe. Prepared for the worst, she also put hard hats on her son and husband.

Shoff’s father, preparing ahead, had already had the bookshelves in their house bolted to the wall.

Overall, the Shoff family home escaped serious damage — the same can’t be said for many homes and buildings in north Santa Monica.

“I do remember in the coming weeks driving around, and with my parents, wherever we were driving, I was looking at houses whose chimneys had fallen off,” Shoff said. “I remember feeling very lucky that nothing had happened on my street.”

As a precaution against aftershocks, Shoff also remembers his mother walking around in stores with a hard hat on.

“People would laugh and say, ‘Yeah, better safe than sorry.’ ”

The hard-hat earthquake prep Read More »

Guilt Free Pesto Pizza + Recipe

Leave a Comment / California, Mobile, Mobile-Homepage /

WHO DOESN'T LOVE PIZZA?
I know I do! I love it with thin, thick or medium crust. I love it when it's extra warm, and when the cheese is melting in my mouth… I love eating pizza, but don't like the sluggish or guilty feelings I get afterward. As you may know by now, my philosophy is, “I want to have the cake and eat it too.” In this case, I want to apply the same philosophy to pizza; I want to eat it all, enjoy every bite of it, and know that it contains ingredients that are loaded with the vitamins, calcium, and friendly fats that are good for me. That's why I came up with this delicious idea: pizza that is actually good for you! And the best part is that it takes only 10 minutes from beginning to end.

WHAT’S IN A PIZZA?
A typical slice from a 14-inch cheese pizza with regular crust contains between 250-350 calories and 10-17g of fat. Now add pepperoni, sausage and a cheese-stuffed crust, and you increase these numbers to nearly 500 calories and 26g of fat per slice. “Gourmet” pizza restaurants that offer individual pizzas do not fare much better with pizzas that contain between 1,400 and 1,700 calories and 30 g of fat each!

YOUR CURRENT OPTIONS.
Pizza is an easy go-to food loved by people of all ages. With frozen, delivery, take-out, gourmet and bake-at-home options aplenty, pizza is a quick fit for just about any occasion. An occasional indulgence in commercial pizza is okay, but if it is a regular feature in your diet, you may want to consider alternatives.

Pizza can be a healthy option if you avoid the grease and refined-flour. Try giving it a makeover, just as I have done in the recipe below:

GUILT-FREE PESTO PIZZA(Serves 2)

prep: 5 mins
cook time: 10 mins

Ingredients

2 Eziekel tortillas; OR
2 Brown rice tortillas; OR
1 pc. 100% whole-wheat pita
4 T Pesto sauce
4 oz. Goat cheese, shredded
1 Tomato, slices
6 Olives (optional)
½ Avocado, cut into 2 equal pieces

Preparations

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Spread each tortilla with pesto sauce, top with shredded goat cheese, sliced tomatoes, and olives.
3. Bake pizza for 8-10 mins or until cheese is melted.
4. Remove from oven and let cool for few minutes.
5. Add avocado on top and enjoy!

HOME-MADE PESTO SAUCE 

Ingredients

2 C fresh basil leaves (fresh parsley can be used as well)
¼ C extra virgin olive oil
1-2 garlic clove(s)
¼ C low-fat Parmesan cheese
¼ C raw walnuts, toasted (optional)
1T fresh lemon juice
grated zest of 1 lemon
fresh black pepper

Preparations

1. Combine all ingredients (except cheese) in a food processor or high-speed blender.
2. Puree until smooth. It should become a thick paste.
3. Stir in the cheese and season with black pepper.

* FYI: This sauce can be used on pizza, on pasta, as dressing for salads and sandwiches, or marinade for chicken and fish. I even like it as a dip with my homemade lavash-chips. The possibilities are limitless!

Will keep fresh in the fridge for 5-7 days.

Other optional toppings:

Sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, turkey bacon, pineapple, red bell pepper, arugula, dried oregano, minced garlic, fresh basil.

Do you have any other favorite toppings? What's your favorite pizza?

Let me know in the comments below.

Guilt Free Pesto Pizza + Recipe Read More »

Break the Fast + Quick Breakfast Recipes

Leave a Comment / California, Mobile, Mobile-Homepage /

Break the Fast

Most people skip breakfast and think they're cutting calories. They even believe they're losing weight this way. Instead they end up nibbling, grazing, and bingeing later on in the day, during lunch and dinner and even late into the night. (And they aren't bingeing on broccoli!)

The side effects of skipping breakfast are clear: weight gain, obesity, bingeing and over eating, out of whack blood sugar, and decreased physical activity.

Let's say the last time you ate was at 7PM last night. If you didn't eat lunch until noon today, that's 17 hours of no refueling! Your body is screaming, “I'm starving, feed me!” The fuel that keeps our motors running is Glucose. Your brain and your nervous system need glucose to work. That means walking, talking, driving, writing, thinking…any activity requires this fuel. If you don't eat something in the morning, you are forcing your body to run on empty, and you are doing more harm than good.

When you skip breakfast, you are more likely to reach for a quick and unhealthy fix, such as chips, candy, pastries, or anything else available in the nearest vending machine. In addition, the prolonged fasting that occurs when you skip breakfast can increase your body's insulin response and lower your metabolism, which in turn increases fat storage and weight gain. When it comes to maintaining or losing weight, keep in mind that what you eat is just as important as when you eat. If you're short on time, try one of these fast and simple breakfast solutions to make sure you give yourself the energy you need for whatever your day may hold.


Breakfast On-the-Go

No time, no excuse! Eat your breakfast on-the-go, but don’t skip it.

1⁄2 C Quaker Oatmeal, sweetened with Cinnamon and Stevia, or mixed Berries.

1 C of Kashi Go Lean or 2 Weetabix cereal biscuits, 1 C nonfat or low fat Milk, and 1 hard-boiled egg.

1 slice Whole Wheat Toast or Ezekiel Bread, 1 Tbsp. Unsalted Almond Butter or Unsalted Peanut Butter, 1⁄2 banana.

1⁄2 Papaya, 1⁄2 C Quinoa Flakes with dash of Cinnamon or Agave Nectar. You can get quinoa flakes at some grocery stores or you can find it online.

3⁄4 C low fat or non fat Cottage Cheese, 1 low fat muffin, 1 C fresh seasonal fruit.

1 C nonfat or low fat Greek Yogurt, 1⁄2 C mixed Berries, 1 tsp. best quality Honey, 1⁄4 C low sugar Granola.

1 small corn or wheat tortilla, 2 Tbsp. no fat refried beans, 1 Tbsp. low fat shredded cheese, tomato salsa. Wrap it up and eat it on-the-go!

2 hard boiled egg whites plus one yolk and 2 Wasa crackers with 1 Tbsp. low-fat cream

1 thin bagel, halved, spread with 1 Tbsp. low-fat cream cheese, 1-2 slice of low sodium


…..Still hungry? Here are more delicious ideas for nutritious and quick breakfast ideas!

Skinny Protein French Toast

Serves 2

Prep time: 5-7 mins., Cook time: 10 mins.

Most diets won't even let you near French toast, but I say, go ahead eat it…and feel good about it, too! By adding a scoop of protein powder and just a dash of cinnamon, you can have yourself a delicious treat that is actually good for you.

A good quality protein powder can play a big role in your weight loss journey. Look for egg white or whey protein. The best way to ensure that you are buying a good quality whey protein is to look for products that were manufactured in Certified Production Facilities.
Facilities that are certified by a third party will have likely had their product tested for nutritional accuracy and will be held to the highest of production standards. Stay away from protein powders with High Fat and Carbohydrate Content. Egg white protein powders are
usually more affordable than good quality whey protein powders. Either way, we highly recommend having it around.

Ingredients
4 egg whites and 1 egg yolk
4 slices whole wheat bread
2 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. agave
Cinnamon
1 grapefruit

Directions
1. Start by whisking the eggs. Then whisk in vanilla extract, cinnamon and protein powder.
2. Dip the bread in the egg mixture, coating both sides.
3. Lightly coat a skillet with cooking spray and brown each slice of bread over medium heat for 1-2 minutes each side.
4. Slice the grapefruit in half and put each half on a plate.
5. When toasts are done, arrange on plates next to the grapefruit. Pour agave over toast and serve.


Sunflower Parfait
Serves 2
Prep time: 5 mins., Cook time: 0 mins.

Ingredients
1/4 C sunflower seeds
1/2 C strawberries
1/2 C raspberries
2 C low-fat cottage cheese
1 C low sugar granola

Directions
1. Start by pouring some of the berries into two short glasses. Top with 1⁄2 C of cottage cheese, followed by a little bit of granola and sunflower seeds.
2. Continue layering until the glasses are full or all ingredients are used. Serve.

Creamy Nutty Quinoa
Serves 2
Prep time: 2 mins., Cook time: 1 min.

Ingredients
1 C cooked quinoa (follow package directions on how to cook quinoa)
2-3 Tbsp. unsalted peanut or almond butter
1 banana
1/2-1 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Directions
1. Add cooked quinoa, peanut or almond butter, banana, and almond milk into a bowl.
2. For a warm, creamy texture, mash all ingredients together and microwave for 30 seconds.
3. Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired, and serve.

Do you have any quick Breakfast ideas of your own?
Share in the comments below.

Break the Fast + Quick Breakfast Recipes Read More »

Northridge quake baby

Leave a Comment / Cover Story, Culture /

As soon as the tremors that rocked her hospital bed stopped, 12 doctors rushed into Michelle Gurman’s delivery room at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Lying on a rolling cot and hooked to machines, Gurman at first thought the shaking was a side effect of her medication.

“I was in labor and I was all hooked up, so I started to think the stuff they put me on would make me think the place was shaking,” said Gurman, now 50 and a real estate agent and investor from the Beverly Grove area. “Then my husband said this was for real, it’s not any medication.”

Gurman had already been in labor at the hospital for 17 hours, but the earthquake began just as she was taken to the delivery room.

“The place had many fires and water gushing in different places,” she recalled. “They were losing test results, people were not communicating well — they did not have enough staff.

But at the time, Gurman did not focus on the chaos.

“I wasn’t scared because I knew that I had to have this baby and protect him once he’s out and nothing could frighten me,” she said. “There was too much I had to deal with to be afraid. I just had to have the faith that we would be all right.”

Indeed, half of those doctors were still in the room with her when she gave birth.

“They were extremely supportive … they were all worried about me — I had one of the celebrity suites, and they thought I was a celebrity,” Gurman said, chuckling.

She was given Pitocin to speed up the labor since the doctors were afraid of the aftershocks of the earthquake.

“She [the nurse] said, ‘We’re having the baby and we’re having it now, because we don’t know what’s happening next,’ ” Gurman recalled.

Mark Joseph Gurman, weighing 6 pounds,1 ounce, and 20 inches long, was born a few minutes later, at 8:44 a.m.

 “He came out amazing with reddish-brown hair, all groomed, and blue eyes,” she said. “He was only missing a tuxedo. He was this perfect baby.”

Mark, who turns 20 this week, is a sophomore at the University of Michigan and a senior editor of 9to5Mac. He also was named one of TIME magazine’s top 25 bloggers of 2013 for his work covering Apple. 

Northridge quake baby Read More »