October 27, 2017

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signs anti-BDS executive order

Leave a Comment / United States / Aaron Bandler

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) signed an executive order on Friday that forbids the state government from conducting business with companies that boycott Israel. Wisconsin is the 24th state to do so.

The executive order, Executive Order #261, denounced the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as serving “to inflame conflict” and noted that Wisconsin and Israel have “a robust trading relationship.”

Walker said in a statement, “We stand firmly against discrimination in any form and we wholly support our friends in Israel. I look forward to leading a trade delegation to Israel to foster new trade partnerships between Wisconsin and Israeli businesses.”

The former presidential candidate will be going to Israel on Friday.

Walker also expressed a support for a bill in the state legislature that “would prohibit any entity in state government or local government from adopting a rule, ordinance, policy, or procedure that involves the entity in a boycott of Israel, or a boycott of a person doing business in Israel or in a territory under Israeli jurisdiction,” according to WisPolitics.com.

Various Jewish organizations praised Walker for his executive order in a press release issued by Wisconsin Jewish Federations.

“Governor Walker and the State of Wisconsin have firmly taken a stand against the BDS movement and its discriminatory policies against Israeli businesses and individuals, which undermines Middle East peace,” said William Daroff, senior vice president of the Jewish Federations of North America.

“We thank Governor Walker and all the state legislators who have shown leadership on this issue,” said Michael Blumenfeld, director of the Wisconsin Jewish Conference. “The state Jewish community has had significant concerns about the impact of BDS. This order addresses and satisfies the issue.”

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ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Tzachi Yaffe

Leave a Comment / Artist of the Week / Jewish Journal

“Titi,” Tzachi Yaffe

Yityish “Titi” Aynaw is an Ethiopian-born Israeli model who won the title of Miss Israel in 2013. She is the first Ethiopian-born Jew to win the contest.

“The photograph is from a trip we made together as students to northern Israel, a place called Kanaf Stream — Wing Stream,” Yaffe says.

“Titi” is part of the international exhibition “Passage to Israel” (passagetoIsrael.org).

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What’s Happening in Jewish L.A. Oct. 27-Nov. 2

Leave a Comment / In Any Event, What's Happening / Ryan Torok

FRI OCT 27
“AIDA’S SECRETS”

This documentary tells the story of two brothers, now in their 70s, who remained unknown to each other for decades. They were separated as toddlers at the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp after World War II. The nephews of one brother reunite the two and film their story as the long-lost siblings also reconnect with their mother, who continues to harbor secrets about their origins. Laemmle Royal, 11523 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 478-3836; Laemmle Playhouse, 673 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, (626) 844-6500; Laemmle Town Center, 17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino, (818) 981-9811. laemmle.com.

LOS ANGELES COMIC CON

Break out your capes and lightsabers! Join superheroes, aliens, zombies and others as science fiction and fantasy fans converge for the sixth annual Stan Lee’s Los Angeles Comic Con. Fans will have the chance to meet Lee, Marvel Comics’ former editor-in-chief, who co-created Spider-Man, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Thor, the X-Men and more. Also scheduled to appear are Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman) of “Gotham”; Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson of “San Andreas” and “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”; Chloe Bennett of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”; Scott Bakula of “Quantum Leap” and “Star Trek: Enterprise”; Katee Sackhoff of “Battlestar Galactica”; and Melissa Joan Hart of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” among others. Through Oct. 29. Tickets start at $30. 1 p.m. Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles. (213) 741-1151. stanleeslacomiccon.com.

GAD ELMALEH

Moroccan-Jewish stand-up comedian Gad Elmaleh performs at the Hollywood Improv. Elmaleh started his career performing in small shows for the Montreal Sephardic community. He rose to prominence in France after relocating to Paris in the 1990s, thanks to an observational comedic sensibility similar to that of Jerry Seinfeld. Another show is scheduled for Oct. 28. Both are sold out. 8 p.m. Wait-list only (must put name down in person when doors open for the first show). Open only to those 18 and older. Hollywood Improv, 8162 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. (323) 651-2583. hollywood.improv.com.

JEWISH TALES OF THE SUPERNATURAL SHABBAT SERVICE

Temple Kol Tikvah Rabbi Jon Hanish and Cantor Noa Shaashua lead a service that explores how, throughout history, Jewish texts spoke of the supernatural with stories that reflected the fears of Jews living in the Diaspora. From dybbuks to golems to ghosts, Judaism has had a tale or two to tell that would make your spine tingle. Socializing, coffee and sweet treats follow the service. 6:30 p.m. Free. Temple Kol Tikvah, 20400 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills. (818) 348-0670. koltikvah.org.

SUN OCT 29
“ENEMIES, A LOVE STORY: A NEW WAY FORWARD FOR JEWISH MUSLIM-RELATIONS

Yossi Klein Halevy and Imam Abdullah Antepli, co-directors of the Shalom Hartman Institute Muslim Leadership Initiative, discuss Muslim-Jewish relations. Moderated by David Suissa, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Jewish Journal. Free. 7 p.m. Beth Jacob Congregation, 9030 W. Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills. hartman.org.il.

TOUR DE SUMMER CAMPS

Bike or hike to raise money to send children in Los Angeles to Jewish summer camps. The event will have courses of different lengths for a variety of fitness levels: 100-, 62-, 36- or 18-mile routes for cyclists (helmets required); 9-, 6-, 3- and 1-mile routes for hikers. Staggered starting times begin at 7 a.m. (subject to weather conditions). Sponsored by the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation. All participants 30 years and older must raise $500; participants 16-29 years old, $250; and hikers 7-15 years old, $180. Routes start and end at Camp Alonim on the Brandeis-Bardin Campus of American Jewish University, 1101 Pepper Tree Lane, Simi Valley. (323) 761 8013. tourdesummercamps.org.

MIDDLE EAST SECURITY FORUM

Leading foreign affairs experts and former government officials discuss an array of issues including Iran’s nuclear program; ISIS and the Syrian civil war; the prospects for a sustainable two-state solution; Israel’s relations with the Arab world, and more. Featuring Nimrod Novik, fellow at the Israel Policy Forum and former adviser to the late Shimon Peres; Shira Efron, associate policy researcher at the Rand Corp.; Howard Berman, former chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs; and others. 10 a.m. $40; $18 for students with valid ID. Sinai Temple, 10400 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (212) 315-1741. ipforum.org.

“DEFENDING ARTISTIC EXPRESSION”

High-profile artists from music, television and film come together to discuss issues surrounding the cultural boycott campaign against Israel. Participants include Alan Parsons, a musician, producer and former Pink Floyd engineer; actor Mark Pellegrino; entertainment attorney Ken Hertz; writer-director-producer David Zucker; and Israel musician Guy Erez. Moderated by Lana Melman, the CEO of Liberate Art, who is an expert and commentator on the cultural boycott effort against Israel. 4-7 p.m. Free. Wilshire Boulevard Temple Irmas Campus, 11661 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 388-2401. wbtla.org/defending-artistic-expression.

GAIL SIMMONS

Author and “Top Chef” judge Gail Simmons talks about her new book, “Bringing It Home: Favorite Recipes From a Life of Adventurous Eating.” Joining her is Curtis Stone, chef-owner of Maude & Gwen, and Los Angeles Times writer Patt Morrison. 6:30 p.m. Tickets start at $15. Aratani Theatre, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, 244 S. San Pedro St., Los Angeles. (213) 628-2725. latimes.com/ideasexchange.

“TOGETHER AS ONE”

This interfaith concert to raise funds to aid people experiencing homelessness features the renowned ethnic music and dance group Yuval Ron Ensemble. Attendees of this program of unity and peace are asked to bring adult socks or underwear (new); canned or dried goods; or a grocery, Subway restaurant or El Pollo Loco restaurant gift card. All gifts will be donated to St. Joseph Center and Safe Place for Youth, which serves the homeless youth of Venice Beach. Co-sponsored by University Synagogue, the Aga Khan Council for the Western United States, Ward AME Church, Safe Place for Youth and St. Joseph Center. 4-6 p.m. Free (gift for the homeless required). University Synagogue, 11960 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 472-1255. unisyn.org.

SOPRANO WILLA WEBBER

Berlin-based and internationally acclaimed soprano Willa Webber debuts songs from her new “Willa World Wide” EP and performs music from the upcoming “Irena” opera. Composed by Megan Cavallari, “Irena” tells the story of the Polish nurse Irena Sandler, who risked her life in saving more than 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto during the Holocaust. Cantor Chayim Frenkel of Reconstructionist synagogue Kehillat Israel also is scheduled to appear. Two-time Emmy Award-winning composer Martin Davich accompanies Webber on piano. Co-presented by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Los Angeles and Kehillat Israel. 5 p.m. Free. Kehillat Israel Synagogue, 16019 W. Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades. (310) 459-2328. ourki.org.

MON OCT 30
ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Maestro Zubin Mehta conducts the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in this stop on its seven-city North American tour. The concert includes the tour debut of Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 3” in C minor, Op. 37, featuring pianist Yefim Bronfman. Amit Poznansky’s “Footnote” suite from the score of the film “Footnote” and Franz Schubert’s “Symphony No. 9 in C major” (“The Great”) round out the evening, which likely will be the last time local audiences see Mehta before he retires as the orchestra’s music director in 2019. 8 p.m. $54-$162. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. (310) 850-2000. laphil.com.

HOODIE ALLEN

Catch rapper Hoodie Allen (born Steven Adam Markowitz) as his tour swings through Southern California. The artist, from Long Island, N.Y., released his
new album, “The Hype,” in September. 7:30 p.m. doors open; 8:30 p.m. concert. $33. The Fonda Theatre, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 464-6269. fondatheatre.com.

TUE OCT 31
GUY GERBER

Bring your glow sticks, comfortable shoes and Israel pride for a Halloween party featuring Israeli electronic music artist and underground DJ Guy Gerber, who creates downbeat, chill and ambient sounds that have wowed crowds from Ibiza to New
York. Gerber is known for his endurance, such as his 12-hour gig at the 2014 Burning Man festival. 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. $30-$50. Sound Nightclub, 1642 Las Palmas Ave., Los Angeles. (323) 962-9000. soundnightclub.com.

THUR NOV 2
JESSIE WARE

British singer-songwriter Jessie Ware plays songs from her third album, “Glasshouse.” Ware has come a long way since working as a journalist at the Jewish Chronicle, where she harbored dreams of being a musician. Her 2012 breakout album, “Devotion,” a blend of sultry pop, soul and R&B, won over critics. Her new album was released on Oct. 20. 8 p.m., all-ages show. $25. The Troubadour, 9801 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 858-8443. troubadour.com.

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Pasadena Concerts Make for a Full ‘Jewish Weekend’

Leave a Comment / Entertainment / Rick Schultz

Although it begins with a classic major score by a non-Jew, three upcoming concerts at Boston Court Performing Arts Center in Pasadena definitely make for “a Jewish weekend,” according to Mark Saltzman, artistic director for the music series at Boston Court.

The shows begin Oct. 27, when pianist Susan Svrcek leads a performance of French composer Olivier Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” for piano, clarinet, violin and cello. The 1941 score, composed in a Nazi prisoner of war camp after France fell, received its premiere outside, in the rain, with Messiaen’s fellow prisoners playing whatever instruments they could find.

“It’s an example of the universal human spirit,” said Saltzman, 60, who served as cantor for 18 years at Congregation Kol Ami in West Hollywood before becoming artistic director. “Messiaen, experiencing loss, showed a spirit that can triumph over adversity.”

“It’s an example of the universal human spirit.” – Mark Saltzman

Triumphing over adversity, then and now, is one of the themes of pianist and Jewish music scholar Neal Brostoff’s concert on Oct. 28. It features forgotten or underperformed works by Jewish-Polish composers like Alexandre Tansman, Mieczyslaw Weinberg, Szymon Laks and Jerzy Fitelberg.

“The Nazis tried to annihilate not just Jews but also our culture,” Brostoff said. “But the unexpected post-Communist renaissance of Jewish culture in Poland continues to find its most eloquent voice in music.”

Like Saltzman, Brostoff also includes works by non-Jews — Krzysztof Penderecki’s Sextet for Piano, Woodwinds and Strings, and Frederic Rzewski’s set of variations on a theme from the Yiddish folk song “Mayn Yingele.”

“Like the other composers on the program,” Brostoff said, “Rzewski’s piece connects us to a culture that refuses to be extinguished.”

Brostoff’s concert also features the visiting Cracow Duo — Jan Kalinowski on cello and Marek Szlezer on piano — along with the New Zimro Ensemble, a collective of UCLA music students and recent graduates dedicated to nurturing the resurgence of music composed during and after the Holocaust.

Noreen Green, artistic director and conductor of the L.A. Jewish Symphony, will feature a group of the ensemble’s chamber players in a program called “Klassics to Klezmer” on Oct. 29.

Green said the L.A. Jewish Symphony Chamber Players, who include members of the L.A. Philharmonic and L.A. Opera orchestras, also will feature a soprano and “some surprises.” Usually reserved for private fundraisers, the Jewish Symphony’s chamber configuration is being seen in a public concert for the first time.

“I’ve been blown away by Boston Court’s acoustics and the intimacy of the space,” Green said, referring to the art center’s 80-seat concert hall and 99-seat main stage. Saltzman chooses halls depending on the concert and availability.

Saltzman has been singing in synagogues since he was 10 years old. “I started in a very small synagogue in Barstow, in the middle of the Mojave Desert,” he said.

A trained classical singer and cellist, Saltzman studied at UC Irvine and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He said he’s especially proud of the hall’s acoustics and “the tremendous amount of new work we do.” Boston Court is presenting about 35 concerts this season.

“Acoustically, our hall has the same sound quality as La Scala in Milan,” he said, referring to the famous Italian opera house. “It’s a very clear, precise and vibrant sound.”

Saltzman has worked to transform the compact venue into an adventurous hall for showcasing new and underperformed music. Baritone David Childs, 23, who is a cantor’s son, kicked off Boston Court’s new “Emerging Artists” program earlier this month. Other rising stars, like 22-year-old violinist Blake Pouliot, also have appeared there.

Since Boston Court is a nonprofit, Saltzman joked that top-tier and rising young artists don’t perform there for the fees.

“They come because they are treated so well,” he said. “They also come because they can communicate best the most intimate parts of themselves — things they can’t do in a big space. At Boston Court, they’re comfortable enough to take risks.”

For more information on the concerts, visit bostoncourt.com.

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Museum of Cold War Artifacts Gets New, Bigger Home in Culver City

Leave a Comment / Entertainment / Avishay Artsy

The Wende Museum of the Cold War in Culver City is tucked away in an anonymous office park. But crammed inside the nondescript warehouse is the largest collection of Cold War-era artifacts and artwork outside of Europe, from hand-painted kitchenware and children’s toys to surveillance equipment and busts of Stalin and Lenin.

The name Wende (pronounced “venda”) means “turning point” or “change” in German and refers broadly to the fall of communism in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The museum is undergoing its own transition, as it moves to a larger permanent location nearby, the former National Guard Armory building. A ticketed gala and a free community open house is scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 18-19.

Justin Jampol, the Wende Museum’s executive director, founded the museum in 2002 when he was 24. A native of Los Angeles, Jampol graduated from UCLA and has a doctorate in modern European history from Oxford University. In the mid-1990s, he recognized the need to preserve Soviet-era materials for research and educational purposes. After the Cold War ended in 1991, people were eager to get rid of their belongings. Historical markers and statues were toppled and vandalized, archives were destroyed, and photos and film were allowed to decay. Jampol began traveling to the Eastern Bloc to collect artworks, clothing, restaurant menus, home movies and chunks of the Berlin Wall.

The grass-roots effort soon expanded into a museum and research institution consisting of more than 100,000 artifacts that tell the story of life behind the Iron Curtain. The museum’s location in Los Angeles proved to be an asset, said its chief curator, Joes Segal. Being far removed from anti-Soviet sentiments helped them secure the personal papers of East German state leader Erich Honecker and a huge archive of documents from the border guards of Checkpoint Charlie in East Berlin.

“All these people realized that in Germany itself these materials would be interpreted in a very political way,” Segal said. “So the geographical distance was to our advantage.”

With the museum’s move to a larger location, the public will be able to see more of its collection, which the museum’s leadership hopes will help raise the museum’s profile in L.A.’s cultural landscape.

“It hasn’t been a public-facing institution, which is why, while we are renowned within the field, the public knowledge of the museum is significantly less now than it will be when we’re in the new space,” Jampol said.

The Wende Museum’s new home will include two exhibition spaces, to be changed three times a year, as well as a permanent exhibition space. It will also have a gift shop and coffee stand, and an outdoor sculpture garden with a fountain and movie screen.

The building also has a Cold War legacy, in what Segal calls “a paradox of history.” As the Cold War was escalating in 1949, the armory was built to withstand Soviet bombs in the event of World War III and has two above-ground nuclear fallout shelters.

The new location’s inaugural exhibition, “Cold War Spaces,” explores private, work, border, secret, outer, utopian and changing spaces of socialist cultures. Objects include a 1970 poster of a Soviet moon rover, a top-secret map of divided Berlin, surveillance equipment and a model of the Sputnik satellite.

The museum’s recently launched discussion series, “Art-Past-Present,” will continue in the new space, as well as experimental collaborations with artists and research institutions.

“What we try to do is use the Cold War past as a kind of treasure trove to think about the present,” Segal said.

Other upcoming exhibitions involve collaborations: with the Getty Research Institute, for a show on Hungarian visual culture; with the Wellcome Library of medical history in London, for a show called “The War of Nerves” about the psychological history of the Cold War; and with the University of Bristol in England, for an exhibition on Soviet hippie culture.

Besides acquiring rare and threatened objects, the museum also collects the stories behind the objects. The museum’s Historical Witness Project began as a series of recorded conversations with collectors who have donated items to the Wende and has expanded to include oral and written testimonies of scholars, artists, filmmakers and everyday citizens of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

The Wende Museum also produced a documentary directed by Mark Hayes called “From Red State to Golden State: Soviet Jewish Immigration to the City of Angels.” It follows several Jewish families that left the Soviet Union to build new lives in Southern California during the 1970s and 1980s. Much of the community is centered in West Hollywood, which has the second-largest concentration of Soviet Jewish immigrants outside of New York City. The film premiered in 2013 to a sold-out audience at the Autry Museum of the American West.

Several objects in the Wende Museum’s collection have a link to Soviet Jews. One such object is a small Soviet-Russian photo album from the city of Birobidzhan, the capital of Jewish Autonomous Oblast in the former U.S.S.R. The album, issued in the 1950s by the communist youth organization, showcases photos of buildings in the community.

Other objects include two Bukharan Jewish family portraits from 1957 and from 1966, and a silver Russian Kiddush cup with an embossed pattern depicting a village, homes and gardens.

Segal said collecting Jewish artifacts has been challenging “because those materials tend either to stay in families or are sold or donated to Jewish institutions.”

In 2014, Taschen Books published Jampol’s 904-page encyclopedia of The Wende Museum’s East German collection called “Beyond the Wall: Art and Artifacts From the GDR.” The massive tome includes a 56-page facsimile of a German Democratic Republic family scrapbook documenting their real and imagined travels in East Germany and elsewhere.

The Wende’s highest-profile installation was staged in 2009, when, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Jampol brought 10 segments of the original wall from Germany and placed them along Wilshire Boulevard, directly across from LACMA. Notable graffiti artists took turns decorating them in front of an audience of thousands.

“The museum,” Jampol said, “has become a kind of matchmaker for people of all walks of life and diverse interests to try to find the connective tissue between the historical collections and their own personal interests.”

The Wende Museum of the Cold War reopens Nov. 18-19 at the former National Guard Armory building at 10808 Culver Blvd., Culver City. For more information about the ticketed gala and free community open house, go to wendemuseum.org.

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This Man Is Selling T-Shirts of Trump Quotes

Leave a Comment / United States / Aaron Bandler

President Trump has many well-known quotes, and now you can wear t-shirts featuring those quotes thanks to the establishment of a recent website.

The site, 45SaidIt!, was created by Israel Schachter, the CEO and co-founder of Charity Bids. Schachter told the Journal in an email that he got the idea after he received a text message in regards to a child in Toronto who recently received a cancer diagnosis.

“After recommending who at Chai Lifeline they should reach out to, and what kind of support they could expect, I wrote one last text: ‘sad,’” wrote Schachter. “Then, a second later, to try and lighten the mood a bit, I wrote back again: ‘Sad!’ – President Donald J. Trump …and the idea was born!”

The shirts sold on the site are all featured in either red or blue with the Trump quote blaring along the chest with Trump’s hair above the quote.

Some of the quotes featured on the shirts include:

“I’d give myself a ten.
“The beauty of me is that I’m very rich.
“If Ivanka weren’t my daughter perhaps I’d be dating her.”
“It’s fake news.”

And of course, Trump’s signature “You’re fired!”

“You’ll notice that many of the quotes we chose, are quotes that make great t-shirts no matter who said them,” wrote Schachter.

Schachter has two favorite Trump quotes.

“The Jew in me loves: ‘I have a Jewish daughter. It wasn’t in the plan, but I’m very glad it happened,’” wrote Schachter. “But otherwise, my favorite shirt on the site at this time is: ‘I’ve never seen a thin person drinking Diet Coke.’ I mean, that, hands down, has got to be one of the most t-shirt-worthy things ever said by a world leader!”

Some of the proceeds will be going to charity. Although the specific charities haven’t yet been chosen, Schachter is aiming to send some of the money toward charities that benefit Mexico and Puerto Rico after the recent earthquake and hurricane that affected each nation, respectively.

“I prefer to wait and see how many shirts we can sell, and come to a charity, or a number of charities, with a substantial donation amount,” wrote Schachter. “It allows us to better direct funds and ensure that our donation(s) go towards a specific project, directly assisting those in need. We’re quite familiar with the charity space, so that is not something that will be difficult for us to figure out when the time comes.”

The site first went live on Wednesday evening, so Schachter hasn’t done any marketing for it yet. But the site has already received just under 30 orders.

“Ask me in a week, and I hope to give you a very different answer — something like ‘HUGE’ or “BIGLY,’” wrote Schachter.

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WSJ: Mueller Should Step Down from Russia Investigation

Leave a Comment / United States / Aaron Bandler

The Wall Street Journal editorial page has called on former FBI director Robert Mueller to step down from his role as special counsel in the Russia investigation.

The editorial recapped the news that broke earlier in the week that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) paid Fusion GPS, an opposition research firm, to unearth information against then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. The firm produced a dossier comprising allegations against the president, including the claim that the Russians were blackmailing Trump with videos of him with Russian prostitutes. The editorial noted that the dossier was “based on largely anonymous, Kremlin-based sources.”

The editorial then pivoted to the FBI, pointing out that they were paying Christopher Steele, the former British spy who authored the dossier, “to continue his work in the run-up to the election.”

“Did the dossier trigger the FBI probe of the Trump campaign, and did Mr. Comey or his agents use it as evidence to seek wiretapping approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Trump campaign aides?” the editors asked.

The FBI’s role in regards to Fusion GPS and the Russian investigation needs to be investigated, which is why the Journal’s editors believe Mueller should step aside.

“Mr. Mueller is a former FBI director, and for years he worked closely with Mr. Comey,” the editors wrote. “It is no slur against Mr. Mueller’s integrity to say that he lacks the critical distance to conduct a credible probe of the bureau he ran for a dozen years. He could best serve the country by resigning to prevent further political turmoil over that conflict of interest.”

Mueller was appointed as an independent special counsel to oversee the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Others who have called on Mueller to step aside include New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ).

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Introducing the 2018 Colors of the Year

Obituaries: Week of Oct. 27, 2017

Leave a Comment / Obituaries / Jewish Journal

Melvin Ader died Oct. 4 at 86. Survived by daughter Pamela Sue; brother Howard. Mount Sinai

Bernard Adlin died Sept. 29 at 94. Survived by wife Arlene; daughter Toni (Neil) Rein; son Andrew (Patty); 6 grandchildren. Hillside

Lionel Ames died Oct. 1 at 94. Survived by wife Barbara; stepsons Paul, Brad Garrett; 4 grandchildren. Hillside

Minerva Barsky died Sept. 25 at 92. Survived by daughters Cathy (Stewart) Kriegstein, Karen (Dirk) Minderhout; son Steven (Kristine); 4 grandchildren. Hillside

Eleanor Baruch died Oct. 5 at 79. Survived by brother Eddie (Gaile) Katz. Mount Sinai

Barbara Brody died Sept. 28 at 79. Survived by brother Norman. Hillside

Anna Collons died Sept. 29 at 101. Survived by sons Mark (Cary), Aron; 2 grandchildren. Hillside

Philip Drier died Oct. 6 at 89. Survived by wife Sue; daughters Jan (Kenneth) Ayeroff, Judi (John) Skillman; 4 grandchildren; sister Rona (Donald) Koles. Hillside

Robert David Eatman died Sept. 24 at 65. Survived by wife Robin; sons Jonah, Justin, Noah; sisters Paula (Bruce Fischer), Lisa (David Tenenbaum); brother Ross (Paula Sharp); father-in-law Robert Mirvis; sister-in-law Pamela Mirvis; brothers-in-law Reid (Dina) Mirvis, Jeff Mirvis.

Baruch Eichenbaum died Oct. 6 at 72. Survived by brothers Betzalel (Rose), Solomon. Mount Sinai

Eric Fielding died Oct. 8 at 98. Survived by daughters Jane (Steve) Krell, Susan (David) Seligman; 4 grandchildren; 2 great-grandchildren. Hillside

Dorothy Fishbein died Oct. 7 at 90. Survived by daughter Ellen Knable; sons David (Gloria), Rick (Rachel); sister Joan (Erwin) Kramer; 2 grandchildren. Hillside

Lawrence E. Gershon died Oct. 8 at 78. Survived by wife Bobby; daughters Lauren (Jeffrey) Rips, Risa Grand; son David (Samantha Jones); 8 grandchildren. Mount Sinai

Monty Hall died Sept. 30 at 96. Survived by daughters Sharon (Todd Kessler), Joanna (Chris Sarandon) Gleason; son Richard (Consolee); brother Bob; 5 grandchildren. Hillside

Gloria Harris died Sept. 26 at 85. Hillside

Ida Ruth Portugese Haydn-Goldman died Sept. 14 at 99. Survived by stepson Leslie Goldman; stepdaughter Vivian Becker; 4 grandchildren. Chevra Kadisha

Teresa Hyman died Oct. 6 at 90. Survived by sons William (Nancy), Robert (Rozalynn); 7 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren. Hillside

Arthur Janov died Oct. 1 at 93. Survived by wife France; sons Richard, Xavier (Monique); 2 grandchildren. Hillside

Shirley Kligman died Oct. 7 at 89. Survived by daughter Debra Frank-Roysner; son Evan (Louise); 5 grandchildren; 7 great-grandchildren. Mount Sinai

Anna Macofsky died Oct. 6 at 59. Survived by husband Stuart; sons Jacob, Benjamin, Matthew; sister Goldie (John) Claus; brother Joe Jacobs; mother-in-law Annette (Laurie) Lishner; sister-in-law Deborah (Bernard) Warshauer. Mount Sinai

Ilene Meyers died Oct. 4 at 77. Survived by husband Robert; daughters Jennifer Levini, Jacalyn (Steve) Datnow; stepdaughter Tamara (Frank) Simone; stepson Robert Meyers Jr.; 5 grandchildren; brother David (Judy) Braun. Mount Sinai

Rikki Lorraine Moress died Oct. 7 at 67. Survived by son Ian Jackson; sister Jamie Saltoon; brother Tony Kleiner. Wallin Funeral Homes, Whidbey Island, Wash.

Norman Port died Oct. 5 at 101. Survived by daughters Pamela Streitfeld, Barbara Schwartz; son James (Stella); brothers Marvin, Jack (Elaine); 6 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren. Hillside

Norman Punim died Oct. 5 at 92. Survived by daughter Patrice (Daniel) Levin; son Jeffrey (Donna); 4 grandchildren; 1 great-grandchild; sister Charlotte Goldstein. Hillside

Glenn Rosen died Oct. 4 at 54. Survived by daughters Hadley, Paris, Lucy; son Alexander; mother Lynn; father Alvin; brothers Bruce, Jimmy, Kyle (Layne). Hillside

Pearl Shapiro died Oct. 5 at 85. Survived by daughter Kamish (Steven) Blume; son Brian Shapiro. Mount Sinai

Harriet Sill died Oct. 6 at 95. Survived by sons Charles (Rebecca) Kaye, Joel Sill, Lonnie (Nicole) Sill, Gregory Allen; 5 grandchildren; 1 great-grandchild. Mount Sinai

Fred Silton died Oct. 3 at 94. Survived by daughters Karen (Barry Balin) Silton-Balin, Debra (Roger) Cowan, Susan; son Jim; 6 grandchildren. Hillside

Helaine Stein died Oct. 5 at 66. Survived by husband Bruce; daughter Shelby (Jason) Sumner; 1 grandchild; mother Ilene (Lee) Clow; sister Lizbeth Schwartz. Mount Sinai

Susan Zeidler-Evans died Sept. 27 at 58. Survived by husband David; daughter Rachel; brothers Larry Zeidler, Steven Zeidler. Hillside

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In Nazi Germany, A Story of Love and Horror

Leave a Comment / Entertainment / Iris Mann

When playwright Tania Wisbar was growing up, her mother shared little about her past in wartime Germany. When she did, “It was all about the art and the music and her writing … and coming from a very well-placed and highly respected film family,” said Wisbar, who was born in Germany in the 1930s and came to the United States as a girl.

Then, in 1999, a German professor visiting the U.S. brought Wisbar a 60-year-old document he had discovered in a Harvard University archive. In the 88-page manuscript, Wisbar’s mother, Eva Kroy Wisbar, who was Jewish, detailed her forbidden marriage to a German film director as the Nazis were coming to power. The manuscript held answers to many of the questions the playwright’s mother never answered before her 1984 death.

Now that document has become the inspiration for a play, “The Red Dress,” currently in its world premiere at the Odyssey Theatre in West Los Angeles.

Wisbar said the decision to write the play didn’t come easily. In fact, her initial reaction to the manuscript was fear. “It just shook me. Fortunately, it was in German, and my German reading is not that fluent, so it gave me a little buffer of time to do what I think many, many children of war, or observers of war or violence [would do]. You just go into a place of hiding.”

But Jonathan Sanger, a producer who has partnered with Wisbar on previous projects, encouraged her to write a play based on the story.

“I said ‘No, I can’t touch this. I don’t know these people.’ ” she recalled. “He said, ‘Think it over.’ So I did, for 15 years.”

The play she wrote spans the years 1924 to 1936 and begins in a badly defeated post-World War I Germany, falling apart under the burdens imposed by the Treaty of Versailles.

The story centers on Alexandra Schiele (Laura Ligouri), a wealthy movie star who meets Franz Weitrek (J.B. Waterman), a virtually homeless former serviceman and itinerant sketch artist. They fall in love and marry.

Using family connections, she helps him enter the film business and he becomes a successful director. Eventually, Franz makes films for the Nazis and becomes a favorite of propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels. While Franz expresses sympathy for some of the Nazi ideology and policies, Alexandra detests them.

Events come to a head at an awards ceremony honoring Franz, when Alexandra shows up in a red dress (hence the title), defying the Nazi dress code requiring black-and-white attire. She is soon arrested, and a Gestapo officer produces proof that she is 1/8 Jewish — information unbeknownst to her. He forces the couple to divorce, in accordance with the Nuremberg Laws forbidding intermarriage between Germans and Jews.

Wisbar said that information she gathered from various sources provided sometimes conflicting information about her parents’ history, but she said her mother’s manuscript was the most reliable source. Most aspects of “The Red Dress” parallel real life. Unlike the character of Alexandra, however, her mother always knew she was fully Jewish, she said.

“I said ‘No, I can’t touch this. I don’t know these people.” – Playwright Tania Wisbar

An incident in the manuscript reveals her mother’s defiance. Wisbar said that her mother described attending a party where “two Nazis in uniforms sat at the table as if they owned it, and she just got into a rant and rave and finally said, ‘I won’t sit with Nazis,’ and walked out, followed by the Gestapo.”

In fact, Wisbar said, her mother was constantly followed by Gestapo officers and had to report to the Gestapo every month to be interrogated. And while her parents were ordered to divorce, they stayed married. After she, her sister and her mother left Germany for the U.S. in 1938, the Nazis issued a divorce decree dissolving her parents’ marriage.

Her father, Frank, remained in Germany, immigrating to America months after Eva and his daughters left. He subsequently married three more times.

Wisbar believes the main issue her play examines is the slow loss of civil liberties that may go unnoticed at first.

“Be very vigilant of your human rights,” she said, “and include everybody in that vigilance.”

“The Red Dress” runs Oct. 28–Nov. 19 at Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. For more information, visit odysseytheatre.com.

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Obituaries: Week of Oct. 27, 2017

In Nazi Germany, A Story of Love and Horror

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