fbpx

GET HOME DELIVERY! CLICK HERE »

ADVERTISE
pick up locations
HOME DELIVERY
donate

Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

July 13, 2020

A Change in Leadership and Ambitious Expansion Plans Impacts the Los Angeles Jewish Home

Leave a Comment / Culture /

After 24 years as president and CEO of the Los Angeles Jewish Home, Molly Forrest is stepping down and making a lateral move, to become president of the Jewish Home Foundation. Dale Surowitz, CEO of Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center will replace Forrest beginning Oct. 1.

 “At age 72, it’s time, don’t you think?” said Forrest of her role in the organization that got its start in 1912 when some caring neighbors gave shelter to five homeless Jewish men during Passover. 

“I am very fortunate that when I met with the board over three years ago for my current contract, I said that I planned to retire at 72 but I wanted to [continue to] help the home,” she said. “And they said, ‘Well, what about if you take a different role?’ And without carrying the burden and responsibilities?’ Running an organization of any size is always a challenge in a not-for-profit and running a health care organization not-for-profit in the times of COVID has a special emphasis of its own.” (The Home has seen relatively few COVID-19 cases among its residents with about 2% of 1,200 testing positive.)

In her new, modified role, Forrest will focus primarily on fundraising. Optimistic by nature, she said, “Everyone is worried about the economy. Actually, some of the biggest gifts ever to not-for-profits and to support community and health care services have traditionally been given in the Depression and in economic challenges. People stepped up.” 

Forrest will also continue her advocacy work on behalf of seniors and those who serve them as the chair of LeadingAge California.

When she first took the position at the Jewish Home in 1996, the organization had an annual budget of $25 million and served 500 people. Today, the annual budget is close to $160 million and the home serves 4,000 individuals.

“Many people think the Home is like a small nursing home in the Valley and we have not been that for many, many years,” Forrest said. “We operate now 14 different programs in residence and in the community. We serve frankly more people in the community than [those] who live with us on an annual basis.” 

“The Jewish Home has been very near and dear to my heart for just about my entire life. I had relatives who were in the Jewish Home when I was a child. And subsequent to that, I’ve been involved with different support organizations at the Jewish Home over the years.” — Dale Surowitz

Among Forrest’s proudest accomplishments during her tenure was the establishment in 2007 of the home’s own nursing school thanks to a grant from the Annenberg Foundation and additional support from the late philanthropist Ruth Ziegler. “It makes a difference in how our residents are treated,” Forrest said. “We have to recognize health care is all about the way the last human touched my loved one or me.”

Very early in Forrest’s tenure, she met Surowitz. At the time, he was working at a different hospital that had close ties with the Home. It was a meeting of minds. And at the end of their initial conversation, they agreed to stay in close touch Forrest said. Since that first meeting, the two have gotten together every few months for breakfast or lunch and to discuss their work.

“Dale has been a colleague, a confidante, an adviser and a friend,” Forrest said. “I wanted the Home to hire him. But we’re too big to not do a national search. So, they did the national search and Dale applied and I was like leaping in the air when they chose him.”

Forrest continued, “He’s younger than me, which is a good thing. He wants to do this. He was born and raised in the Valley. We go to the same temple [Valley Beth Shalom in Encino]. So, I think this is going to be wonderful. Sometimes new people look at things [in a new way]. And that’s not bad for an organization. And I still get to work with the Home that I love and have worked so hard with. But I also get to work with someone that I trust will do a good job. He is going to be fabulous.”

Surowitz, 60, who lives in Tarzana said, “The Jewish Home has been very near and dear to my heart for just about my entire life. I had relatives who were in the Jewish Home when I was a child. And subsequent to that, I’ve been involved with different support organizations at the Jewish Home over the years. Ten years ago, I became involved on some of the boards of the Jewish Home and have really enjoyed that. So, I’m coming into it with both a passion for caring for seniors and their families as well as a deep appreciation for the mission and values of the Jewish Home.”

Surowitz will oversee an ambitious expansion. The Home hopes to serve a total of 10,000 seniors by 2025. Much of the growth is expected to focus on seniors aging in place. This includes the opening of a new Brandman Center in West Los Angeles. Brandman Centers for Senior Care, Forrest explained,  are akin to one-stop shops offering services ranging from meals to physical therapy to transportation. She added they are currently in negotiations on a property.

“Many seniors feel much more comfortable staying in their homes,” Surowitz said. “If we bring services to them to provide them the care that they need, even potentially the treatments they need, I think it’s addressing the needs of a changing population …. We need to make sure we offer a diverse cadre of services.”

He added, “I am excited to be able to continue the great work that Molly has done and the Jewish Home has done and the leadership has done in caring for our seniors. I look forward to being able to expound on that and further develop the great foundation that’s already been established.”

A Change in Leadership and Ambitious Expansion Plans Impacts the Los Angeles Jewish Home Read More »

Austria to Create Award Named for Simon Wiesenthal

Leave a Comment / News, Worldwide /

BERLIN (JTA) – An Austrian parliamentary committee has paved the way for the creation of an annual prize to encourage the fight against anti-Semitism.

An amendment passed last week would create an award named for Simon Wiesenthal, the late Austrian Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter. The winner would receive about $17,000 annually. Two additional awards of about $8,500 each would go to those who have made a “special civil society commitment against anti-Semitism and for education about the Holocaust,” according to a parliamentary statement.

The amendment is expected to be formally adopted this week.

The goal is “to encourage others to raise their voices,” said Wolfgang Sobotka, president of the National Council, Austria’s lower house of parliament.

Sobotka, a member of the conservative Austrian People’s Party, said he came up with the idea for the prize while on a trip to Israel two years ago.

“Simon Wiesenthal was a great Austrian who did not get the recognition he deserved during his lifetime,” Sobotka reportedly said.

Oskar Deutsch, head of Austria’s Vienna-based Jewish community, said the prize was a tribute to Wiesenthal, who died in 2005 at the age of 95. Deutsch said the prize would support projects that “strengthen Austria and the whole of Europe, in keeping with humanistic principles.”

Wiesenthal’s daughter, Paulinka Kreisberg-Wiesenthal, said in a written statement that the prize sends an important signal “at a time of rising racism, anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.”

Statistics released in May show a gradual rise in the number of anti-Semitic incidents and crimes in Austria in recent years.

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party was the only party that did not support the prize because it objected to the the name, suggesting instead  former Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, a left-wing politician of Jewish background with whom Wiesenthal had clashed.

Austria to Create Award Named for Simon Wiesenthal Read More »

The Bagel Report

What’d We Miss?

Leave a Comment / Podcasts, The Bagel Report /

In our 18th episode (Chai!), we’re in the Zoom where it happens with our first episode since May. We’re recommitting to thoughtful conversations on representation; looking forward to Amy Schumer’s docuseries on HBOMax and Seth Rogen’s “American Pickle”; dissecting Ryan Murphy’s “The Politician”; and celebrating the life of the late Carl Reiner.
The Bagels also attempt a lightning round that (spoiler!) doesn’t seem that lightning fast. From #Hamilfilm and how COVID-19 may force a Broadway pivot to segments like “What? No! Why??” and “What’d We Miss?” we’re happy to be back. Here’s to the next chai!
Follow Erin, Esther and The Bagel Report on Twitter! 

What’d We Miss? Read More »

IKAR Community Sends Support to Medical Staff at COVID-19 Treatment Center

Leave a Comment / California /

When Francine Nellis and Nikki Gordon heard their friend and fellow IKAR member Dr. Jennifer Sudarsky was working around the clock with underserved COVID-19 patients, they knew they had to help. 

“My heart was breaking because I was so worried about Jennie,” Nellis told the Journal. “She said her staff could use some love.”

 

Food donations for the Pomona Shelter workers.

Sudarsky had a private practice in Santa Monica but sold it in order to work with COVID-19 patients. She’s currently based at the Pomona Covid Shelter currently operating out of the Pomona Sheraton Hotel. The Pomona Covid Shelter is a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shelter run by the Los Angeles County Department of Health.

Sudarsky and her team of 75 spend their days and nights here treating a high-risk population — primarily homeless people. Everyone at the shelter has either already previously contracted COVID-19 and is staying at the shelter following hospitalization or is a Person Under Investigation (PUI), suspected of exposure to COVID-19.

Helping out Sudarsky and her team was a no-brainer for Nellis, who met Sudarsky through IKAR and a group of other moms through their children. “Together we have faced every life cycle together,” Nellis said. “Divorce, b’nai mitzvah, death of family members, holidays, community. And this effort is community. The fact that I could go online to my bigger community, IKAR, and tell them one of our own is working in the trenches with the most vulnerable of populations and they responded with assistance, is amazing.”

Fruit donated from Woodland Hills residents’ trees.

Nellis reached out on IKAR’s Facebook page asking for donations from the wider IKAR community and people stepped up. She also picked up 100 face shields in varying colors of the rainbow made by a neighbor. She gave the staff the shields with notes and artwork from children. “Jennie said, ‘Don’t forget the shields with the notes, because [the staff] loves the notes,’ ” Nellis explained. She also asked her neighbors in Woodland Hills if she could collect oranges and grapefruits from their fruit trees, and even those who didn’t know her readily agreed.

Face shields for the workers with notes written by children.

Gordon also became involved and went on snack runs, and was able to pick up foods including Uncrustables as well as zinc lozenges and vitamins for the staff thanks to donations from IKAR members. 

A COVID-shaped piñata filled with candy for Dr. Jennifer Sudarsky and her team working with COVID-19 patients in underserved communities. Photos courtesy Nikki Gordon

“The first time I brought a delivery, Jennie invited me to come in and take a tour of the site,” Gordon said. “She explained that the site had cold, warm and hot zones depending on the proximity to the quarantine, so we were in the cold zone. She wanted us to walk around and think of additional ways we could direct our efforts to raise their spirits.”

One of the ideas that sprang up as a result of that tour was to make a special treat. In this case, it was five dozen booze-infused cupcakes, which were a huge hit among the staff. 

 

“The cupcakes were something they looked forward to for days,” said Sudarsky, who also spends her time working at a homeless shelter in Compton and at an Urgent Care center in Santa Monica. “It really makes you feel so special.”

Now, Nellis, Gordon and Sudarsky are coordinating regular snack runs. 

“The corona is so scary and they are working right in it,” Nellis said. “Any chance to just sit down and eat a chocolate or have a coffee or protein up makes a difference in their day.” 

“The corona is so scary and they are working right in it. Any chance to just sit down and eat a chocolate or have a coffee or protein up makes a difference in their day.” — Francine Nellis

Nellis and Gordon are throwing more surprises into the mix, including a COVID-shaped piñata and seated chair massages. Gordon, who used to be a massage therapist, puts on gloves and treats the staff when she visits. She said that when COVID-19 hit, she “felt really helpless, like I think a lot of people do in the face of the pandemic. There’s a lot of fear and misinformation and I think Francine presented us with a very easy way to contribute and feel like we were doing something. It was an opportunity to help the helpers.”

More food donations.

Sudarsky said that throughout the pandemic, it’s been tough working back-to-back shifts and sometimes staying on until 3:30 a.m. without eating a proper meal. However, the donations have helped her and her colleagues have a more positive outlook. 

“Everyone was so happy because it gets so barren and bleak,” she said. “You have to dress up in all that PPE (personal protective equipment). You’re hot and sweaty. The county supplies us with fluids and sometimes we get leftover meals from patients. But [when we get donations], everybody feels love and compassion and gratitude.”

Gordon said she feels for the workers because they’re particularly isolated right now and need support. “One of the things one of them told me was, ‘Thank you for not being scared of us,’ ” she said. “This is a particularly isolating and lonely moment in their careers. We’re all afraid of getting sick right now but these folks working with sick people are marked as being at greater risk. People are keeping a greater distance. We’re able to close that physical distance.” 

Donating fruit from people’s own trees.

She added, thanks to IKAR members willing to open their wallets, “We’re making a small difference. Somebody cares. If we can do any little bit to lift their spirits, we will do it. Being able to deliver and get them what they ask for is wonderful. We’re letting them know that they’re not alone.”

IKAR Community Sends Support to Medical Staff at COVID-19 Treatment Center Read More »

Actor Nick Cannon Says Zionists, Rothschilds Have ‘Too Much Power,’ Praises Farrakhan

Leave a Comment / Culture, News, United States /

Actor Nick Cannon currently is under fire for espousing comments that have been criticized as anti-Semitic, including that Zionists and Rothschilds have “too much power.”

On July 12, Jewish Insider reported that Cannon said in a 2019 episode of “Cannon’s Class” − Cannon’s YouTube talk show − that recently went viral on Twitter that people are “giving too much power to the ‘they’ — and then the ‘they’ turns into the Illuminati, the Zionists, the Rothschilds.”

He also said of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, “Every time I’ve heard him speak, it’s positive, it’s powerful, it’s uplifting … for whatever reason, he’s been demonized.”

Additionally, Cannon claimed “the semitic people are the Black people” and that “you can’t be anti-Semitic when we are the semitic people. When we are the same people who they want to be. That’s our birthright.”

Jewish groups condemned Cannon’s remarks as anti-Semitic.

“Truly disturbing that @NickCannon would use his platform to perpetuate false anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and lift up the vehemently anti-Semitic Louis Farrakhan,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted. “He should apologize immediately and educate himself on why his comments are so harmful.”

The American Jewish Committee similarly tweeted, “.@NickCannon spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about ‘Rothschilds’ and ‘Zionists’ to millions of his followers is abhorrent and unacceptable. His message of hate has no place in our society and should be condemned by all people of good conscience.”

Associate director and dean of Global Social Action Agenda at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Rabbi Abraham Cooper told Jewish Insider, “Anyone seeking a Ph.D in Jew-hatred should watch this ‘interview’ in its entirety. Farrakhan’s hateful screeds on full display in the next generation inculcating [the] 21st Century through cultural figures and social media. Pure poison.”

StandWithUs Israel executive director Michael Dickson asked about cancel culture and anti-Semitism in a tweet about Cannon. “I’m no fan of cancel culture, but if you get cancelled for doing something racist without intent, what happens next for @NickCannon who willfully spread the most egregious antisemitic conspiracy theories & hate on his show?” he wrote.

Former New York Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind tweeted that his watchdog group, Americans Against Anti-Semitism, is calling on Fox “to take immediate action against @NickCannon for his nasty anti-Semitic diatribe.” Cannon hosts “The Masked Singer” on Fox.

“You cannot remove Farrakhan one week and allow his followers to spew the very same filth in the next without consequence!” Hikind added, referencing Fox Soul canceling its scheduled broadcast of Farrakhan’s July 4 address.

Cannon also hosts the MTV show “Wild N’Out.”

UPDATE: Cannon issued a series of tweets stating that he has “no hate in my heart nor malice intentions. I do not condone hate speech nor the spread of hateful rhetoric.”

He added: “The Black and Jewish communities have both faced enormous hatred, oppression persecution and prejudice for thousands of years and in many ways have and will continue to work together to overcome these obstacles.”

Actor Nick Cannon Says Zionists, Rothschilds Have ‘Too Much Power,’ Praises Farrakhan Read More »

Virtual Jewish Food Course Offers ‘A Seat at the Table’

Leave a Comment / Entertainment /

From the seder plate to bubbe’s brisket to bagels and lox at brunch, so much of Jewish ritual, history, culture and family life are tied to food. It’s also a comforting constant in these isolating, uncertain pandemic times. 

This summer, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Learning is making its vast digital collection of food-centric discussions, demonstrations, recipes, interviews and hundreds of archival objects available for free as part of its online course “A Seat at the Table: A Journey Into Jewish Food.” Featuring the expertise of noted chefs, cookbook authors, scholars and restaurateurs, it’s a comprehensive guide to the Ashkenazi culinary experience.

“Food helps to alleviate some of the anxiety that everyone is feeling in this particularly stressful time we’re in,” YIVO Executive Director and CEO Jonathan Brent said. “Food enables us to have that kind of deep experience of memory, sensory pleasure, imagination and knowledge. There’s a great deal of value in studying the history of food. And it’s especially relevant now, when people are locked indoors and searching for things to do.”

YIVO spent two years compiling assets for the course, including recipes old and new, videos and photographs. “Jewish people all over the world have a hunger to be connected to their own history. YIVO can provide that connection because we have 24 million artifacts and 400,000 books in 12 different languages in our library that people can connect with online,” Brent said. “There are recipes, discussion of the origins of different foods and the way they’re prepared in different countries and today in America. Chefs discuss the way foods are prepared in restaurants and how Jewish food has changed. There’s a linguistic component, a historical component, the recipes and the jokes that are connected to food, and all of it can be found in the class.”

Of Ukrainian Jewish descent, Brent, who also teaches Russian history at Bard College in upstate New York, has been with YIVO since 2009. “The meaning and the value of Eastern European Jewish civilization was not appreciated and largely not known. Most American Jews got everything from the kitchen table or ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ ” he said. “The reality is much deeper, richer, more complex and valuable. I saw the YIVO Institute as a means to make the real history of our people known to the outside world and to ourselves.”

He has fond memories of his bubbe’s matzo brei, which he tried to replicate without success “until I realized her cast iron skillet with half an inch of crud baked into it” was the secret, he said. These days, he stays out of the kitchen on his wife’s orders, but he finds that during the COVID-19 crisis, “food has become a very important part of this experience for us, as I think it has for many people.”

Cookbook author and YIVO contributor Leah Koenig “grew up eating a lot of delicious Jewish food on the holidays, but I didn’t get into cooking until college when I lived on my own for the first time,” the Chicago-born, New York-based Koenig said. “At first, I botched everything horribly. But cooking is a learning process. I like to say that writing a cookbook is the equivalent of a semester or two in culinary school.”

Her sixth and latest is “The Jewish Cookbook,” featuring 400 recipes that “go beyond the Ashkenazi/Sephardi spectrum” to include dishes from Morocco, Syria, India and Ethiopia. They range from simple (noodles and cottage cheese) to complex (babka) to personal (her mother’s latkes with homemade applesauce). Her recipe for Cinnamon-Nut Rugelach is reprinted below.

CINNAMON-NUT RUGELACH 

Prep time: 45 minutes, plus chilling. Cooking time: 35 minutes. 

Dough:

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour, plus more for rolling

Filling: 

1 cup walnut halves, finely chopped

1/2 cup pecan halves, finely chopped

3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup apricot jam 

For baking: 

2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water) 

Dough: In a stand mixer (or in large bowl using handheld electric mixer), beat together butter, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and salt on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Slowly add flour, beating on low until just incorporated and scraping down sides of bowl as necessary until a soft dough forms.

Knead dough a few times in bowl, then divide and form into 2 round discs.

Wrap both discs in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 1 day. 

Filling: In medium bowl, stir together walnuts, pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Remove one refrigerated dough disc, and on lightly floured surface, roll it into a large round 1/8 inch thick.

Using a ruler as a guide, trim dough into a 12-inch diameter disc.

Spread half the apricot jam evenly over the disc, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges. Sprinkle with half cinnamon-nut mixture and gently press filling into dough.

With pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut dough into 4 equal wedges, then cut each wedge into 4 wedges (ending up with 16 wedges).

Starting from wide side, roll each wedge in on itself up to the point. Place cookies on prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining dough disc and remaining jam and filling. 

In small bowl, stir together sugar and cinnamon. Brush tops of each cookie with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake, rotating the pans front to back halfway through, until deep golden brown and the tops are crisp like a croissant, 30–35 minutes.

Immediately transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

Makes 32.

Register for “A Seat at the Table” here.

Virtual Jewish Food Course Offers ‘A Seat at the Table’ Read More »

With High Holy Days Looming, COVID-19 and Social Change Present, Rabbis Face New Challenges

Leave a Comment / Opinion /

Our new world is, at times, terrifying, filled with rage and emotion from racial, cultural and political shattering, the inevitable process so long overdue. Systems reflecting suppressed exposure of inequities, alienation and unconscionable mistreatment of many now are revealed, no longer below the surface.

Our country is divided, and confidence in its government structures has frayed to such an extent that the election this fall feels like our only hope for survival. Add a worldwide enemy — an illness so abhorrent, now affecting approximately 12 million people throughout the world — and the level of anxiety and fear is palpable. Almost every day, new symptoms are added to the list of possibilities, many hidden and not felt by those who are asymptomatic walking around. Front-line medical workers are stretched to the limits of physical and emotional exhaustion while hospitals in many states are nearly filled to capacity —  subsequently demanding horrific decisions about who will be served and who will be abandoned to fate.

The financial realties for many are bleak, and the unknowns and the unpredictable fill our lives. Climate change impacts our future while deforestation destroys lands and potential food supplies. Along with the homeless situation, poverty, hunger, illness and lack of safety are becoming everyday realties for many. Hiding or protecting our faces behind masks — depending on how you view it — has become a necessity. Connecting to another now lacks the most expressive feature on our face: our mouth — that which offers a smile, a friendly and caring gesture that welcomes those we meet. The hand that reaches, holds and touches stays hidden for fear of contamination.

It is bleak and very real, yet so many of us, despite this onslaught, move forward, step by step, finding meaning and purpose in our lives.

Keeping our distance creates separation and isolation, reinforcing an “I-It” relationship and not the “I-Thou” philosopher Martin Buber taught would create true connection with another. Fear, paranoia and avoidance are bred between neighbors, states and countries, dissolving the permeable boundaries we once had, creating walls and dividers in their stead. And there are still those who struggle personally with mental or physical health, daily battles with their own enemies, profoundly challenged by pain, loss or disease — all within the larger, fragile world of these unprecedented times.

Yes, it is bleak and very real, yet so many of us, despite this onslaught, move forward, step by step, finding meaning and purpose in our lives. In the midst of both the knowledge and acceptance of these overwhelming realities, Jews continue their relationship with study, spiritual practice, and celebrating Shabbat and holidays.

For those of us who are clergy, we are acutely aware the Jewish year is winding down and preparations for the upcoming Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe) demand our attention. Faced with health and safety demands, we’re called to abandon services as usual. Being in the physical presence of community, one of the core values of our tradition — “God stands in the congregation of God” (Psalm 82:1)” — is a healing salve for many when faced with the yearly in-depth soul searching and desired repair. Walking into the womb of safety and familiarity, greeted by the warmth and acceptance of those I’ve shared years of spiritual growth and intellectual exploration is, for now, unavailable and on hold for a future time.

The pressure and responsibility not only of what messages are most important in these personal and national days of chaos but the form and structure these Holy Days will take challenges many of us in ways our education lacked training us for. Learning new platforms of presentation and its accompanying new language adds stressors to the already demanding work to support, teach and facilitate others in navigating these unchartered waters. We’re called to create and innovate as never before — both an exciting and frightening venture. For those who drive, there is the relief of not having the added stress of traffic, so sitting in the comfort of one’s home has its appeal; however, the limits of screen viewing impinge on the time we may expect our people to sit, watch and listen, no matter how inspirational we might be.

What do we keep and how do we decide what we cut? Are books sent or are prayers, readings and supplemental lyrics visually created for the screen? These are the new pedagogical questions. How and what we present now are necessary parts of preparation, expanding the already demanding workload.

Rosh Hashanah literally means “head of the year,” but the root in shanah also means “change,” shinui. “Shanah tovah,” the oft-used greeting, means have a “good change,” challenging individuals to examine routines, habits, struggles, behaviors, relationships and identity with confidence and hope to remake and re-create, renew, transform and uplift the past, facing “change” in the present for a revitalized future.

Whether professionally and/or personally, we are facing unparalleled demands, gifting opportunities for growth, expansion and change. May we all find the inner strength to face the impossible while rebirthing the new and the spectacular.

Eva Robbins is a rabbi and cantor, an artist and the author of “Spiritual Surgery, Journey of Healing Mind, Body and Spirit.”

With High Holy Days Looming, COVID-19 and Social Change Present, Rabbis Face New Challenges Read More »

NFL’s Redskins Announce Intention to Change Name After Years of Pressure, Including From ADL

Leave a Comment / News, United States /

(JTA) — Yielding to mounting pressure from sponsors and advocacy groups, the NFL’s Washington Redskins announced Monday that they are changing their name.

The team’s Jewish owner, Daniel Snyder, had adamantly refused to consider a name change for years, despite criticism that the name was offensive to Native Americans. The Anti-Defamation League and the Reform movement had both repeatedly called on the team to make a change.

Facing a possible revolt from corporate sponsors, the team said early this month that it was undertaking a review of the name.

“Today, we are announcing that we will be retiring the Redskins name and logo upon completion of this review,” the team said Monday in a statement. “Dan Snyder and Coach [Ron] Rivera are working closely to develop a new name and design approach that will enhance the standing of our proud, tradition rich franchise and inspire our sponsors, fans and community for the next 100 years.”

Snyder’s Jewishness has regularly come up in debates over the name. In 2013, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, in defending Snyder’s refusal to change the name, said it was “a real mistake to think that Dan, who is Jewish, has a lack of sensitivity regarding somebody’s feelings.” Days later, the satirical newspaper The Onion used an anti-Jewish slur in skewering Snyder.

The same year, the ADL’s former national director, Abraham Foxman, called for sports teams to move away from “the use of hurtful and offensive names, mascots and logos.” In 2015, the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, in a letter to Snyder, said the name “blatantly mocks a culture that struggles to survive.”

NFL’s Redskins Announce Intention to Change Name After Years of Pressure, Including From ADL Read More »

‘The Violin Players:’ A Jewish Girl’s High School Introduction to Anti-Semitism

Leave a Comment / Books /

The following article is a sponsored feature.

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege to travel the country to speak to audiences of all ages. Without fail, someone always asks what inspires my work. So, here’s the story behind the story of my romance novel, “The Violin Players.”

When I was growing up, there were country clubs and residential communities dubbed “exclusive:” code for no Jews or Blacks allowed. 

I was in college for less than two weeks when another dorm student crudely remarked, “ Look, there go the Jew and the Chocolate,” pointing to myself and my African American theater classmate. I heard giggles in the background. 

Ten years later, my husband and I moved to the Midwest for a career opportunity. I inquired about renting in a charming area, but our recruiter advised against it. “You wouldn’t be welcomed there,” is all she said. 

None of these incidents were brutal experiences, but they did ensure that I kept my guard up. I hoped that by the time my daughter was in high school her experiences would be different. Sadly, among high school kids, anti-Semitic slurs and racial jokes were still commonplace. 

That’s when I decided to write “The Violin Players,” about a savvy 15-year-old New Yorker named Melissa Jensen, who suddenly finds herself living in a small midwestern town. Melissa was supposed to be the lead in her school play, captain of the debate team and first violinist in her New York school orchestra. Instead, she has forfeit her Junior year glory and venture out to an obscure town “in the middle of nowhere.” 

However, her arrival in Henryville is filled with pleasant surprises. First, there’s the handsome captain of the football team. Then, there’s her new drama teacher, a former Broadway actor. And who would have guessed that her new school orchestra would be every bit as good or maybe even better than in New York. And then there’s Daniel Goodman, the remarkable boy (with those dreamy eyes) who shares Melissa’s passion for playing baseball and the violin. To top it all off, the coolest kids treat her like a celebrity simply for having grown up in the Big Apple. 

Everything seems too good to be true, until Melissa is confronted with something that to date, she has managed to avoid: anti-Semitism. No one in Henryville suspects that Melissa is Jewish. Daniel, the only known Jewish student in the school, is harassed by a racist bully, who is also one of the school’s most popular athletes. Melissa must make a choice. She knows what is right. Her decision should be clear-cut. But life is never that simple. 

“The Violin Players” is my third young adult novel, published by the Jewish Publication Society. The first two were historical fiction. This novel is a contemporary teen romance that examines bigotry and bullying in high school and was first published in 1998.  I received invitations to speak at schools, libraries and various organizations around the country. I even penned a stage adaption for a couple of teen theater groups, but honestly, I never considered recording an audiobook. 

With the rise of violent anti-Semitic acts worldwide and hate language proliferating the internet, my daughter (now a mother herself) suggested I “dust off” the pages of  “The Violin Players” and tell Melissa Jensen’s story to a new generation. I have no illusions. My audiobook will not eradicate bigotry but maybe it will serve as a reminder to speak out against it. 

Emmy award winner Eileen Bluestone Sherman is a writer and producer. Her Young Adult novel, “Monday in Odessa,” won the National Jewish Book Award; her novel “Independence Avenue” won the International Reading Association Teachers’ Choice Award. 

Bluestone Sherman also writes musical theater with her sister, Gail C. Bluestone. Songs from their show recordings, “Perfect Picture” and “The Odd Potato: The Broadway Album” have been concert highlights at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and played on radio worldwide. Together with her producing partner, Grant Maloy Smith, she co-founded The Indie Collaborative. Their concerts, starring multi award-winning independent artists foster musical collaborations that cross genres and continents. 

“The Violin Players” is her first audiobook and is now streaming on major platforms, including Audible, Apple Books, Libro.fm, Chirp, Google Play and Booktopia. The paperback version of  “The Violin Players,” published by the Jewish Publication Society (an imprint of University of Nebraska Press), will be released in December and is currently available for preorder at Barnes and Noble.

‘The Violin Players:’ A Jewish Girl’s High School Introduction to Anti-Semitism Read More »

Former Staff Accuse Acclaimed L.A. Sqirl Restaurant of Serving Moldy Jam to Customers

Leave a Comment / Food /

Silver Lake brunch spot Sqirl came under fire July 12 when former employees accused the restaurant of storing mold-covered jam in a hidden, illegal kitchen space, scraping off the mold, then serving it to customers.

Jewish owner Jessica Koslow and her restaurant are renowned for farm-fresh brioche ricotta toast and blood orange, mulberry and plum preserves. In 2016, The New York Times called the Virgil Avenue storefront “one of Los Angeles’s best-loved restaurants,” and stated Koslow built “an empire out of jam.” The Journal named her one of Los Angeles’ top Jewish chefs under 40, and her Sqirl-themed cookbook won Eater’s 2016 Cookbook of the Year. The spot regularly has customers lining up down the street.

Allegations arose after former Sqirl chef Ria Dolly Barbosa commented on a Sqirl Instagram post that Koslow “took credit for the first two years I was her chef there. I have been written out of the Sqirl history.”

“You are an incredible part of Sqirl’s history and you brought unique talent and thoughtful cooking here,” the Sqirl account replied. “You are part of the history and fabric of this place.”

Then, another of the restaurant’s former chefs, Javier Ramos, responded to Barbosa that he had a similar experience at Sqirl. “She also took credit for my 2 1/2 years as the chef at Sqirl,” Ramos replied, writing that he “didn’t get recognition or payment for the recipes that I contributed to the cookbook” and that Koslow “took a James Beard nomination in my name.”

The two chefs began discussing their shared experiences, and Ramos posted a photograph of a bucket of jam covered in mold on his Instagram stories.

Addressing all the chefs who support Koslow and Sqirl “by inviting her to ‘cook’ at your book launches, new restaurant opening, selling her jam book because you’re hoping to move units despite all of this,” he wrote over the image, “guess we should put our heads down and just scrape this all off too.”

Barbosa then shared the post, making the restaurant trend on Twitter.

Authors Roxane Gay and Bess Kalb and journalist Yashar Ali weighed in with their concerns.

Former employees claim that Sqirl’s house jam was prepared in an illegal kitchen unknown to health inspectors, where it would form a layer of mold.

“The majority of my time there was spent working in the illegal kitchen space, and the moldy jam was a daily concern,” Elise Fields, who was the pastry cook at Sqirl from January 2018 to June 2019, told the Journal. “We used jam in pastry a lot and it was a common struggle to find jam in the walk-in that wasn’t old [or] didn’t have mold on it.”

Fields added, “The morning line cooks often had to take the time to scrape the mold off before taking it to the line to use. [Koslow] definitely knew about it and directly told employees to scrape it off and use it. Employees definitely questioned and protested it, but to no avail. They were always given excuses or talked down to.”

“The moldy jam also got served to customers,” Sasha Piligian, Sqirl’s pastry chef from 2016 to the summer of 2019, told the Journal. “I mean, the mold layer was scraped off, but still served.”

She added that the illegal kitchen had a mold-covered fan that spread the fungus. “I worked in that illegal kitchen for most of my time there,” Piligian said. “We were locked in the kitchen while the health department was there.”

“I once had to hide in the illegal kitchen with the lights off while the health inspector was there for over an hour,” Fields added. “The kitchen space had no ventilation and was generally an unsafe space for anyone to be working in.”

 

NEW YORK, NY – JULY 27: Jessica Koslow attends the Daring 25 presented by Conde Nast & Cadillac at the Cadillac House on July 27, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images)

Piligian claimed that Koslow believed that if the kitchen was discovered by authorities, they would shut Sqirl down. “So many things were being done illegally. The hot sauce, fermentation, all done in the illegal space,” she said. “She would have to finally fix the space everyone worked out of.”

Piligian said that someone did, in fact, call the Health Department on Sqirl in early 2019. Koslow moved staff to a commissary space, but the illegal kitchen was still accessible.

In response to the circulating allegations, Koslow issued a statement via Sqirl’s Twitter and Instagram accounts confirming that “mold would sometimes develop on the surface” of their jams. They would still serve it to customers “under the guidance of preservation mentors and experts like Dr. Patrick Hickey, by discarding mold several inches below the mold, or by discarding containers altogether.

“We don’t use commercial pectin, sweeteners, or other stabilizers, and to highlight the fruit, we add little sugar. That yields a more natural, fruit-forward product,” Koslow wrote. “Put simply, a low sugar jam is more susceptible to the growth of mold. The same types of mold that develop on some cheese, charcuterie, dry aged beef, and lots of other preserved foods.”

“That’s just a lie,” Piligian said of Sqirl’s statement. “If you understand the process of properly making jam, it’s just not how it works. She’s trying to make it seem like to her wide audience, who might not know, that this is totally normal. I’ve never worked anywhere or learned how to make jam in a way that would produce mold.”

Sqirl also denied that there was an illegal kitchen operation. “All jam production — for jarred retail and the restaurant — is 100% done off-site at our catering kitchen, a California Department of Food and Ag Milk and Dairy Food Safety certified facility,” Koslow added. “In the past, jam was made on site at Sqirl — always legally and always labeled accordingly.”

After then going on to state in her post that “the buck always stops with me,” Koslow committed to storing the bulk jams in a better way in the future. “We are doing away with the current cold storage process altogether. Instead, moving forward, we will switch over to a combination of hot-packing bulk jam as well as sealing and storing the batch of leftovers for immediate use on the line in the Sqirl Kitchen,” Koslow wrote.

“Honestly, this isn’t about mold to me. It’s more about the working conditions, the way the employees were treated, the mismanagement,” Piligian said. “The best outcome would be that people focus on that, not the mold. Or I hope the mold at least opens up a bigger conversation.”

Sqirl and Koslow did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.

 

Former Staff Accuse Acclaimed L.A. Sqirl Restaurant of Serving Moldy Jam to Customers Read More »