The Circuit

A Musical Stand

Larry Miller made them laugh, Jodie Langel made them cry and
Craig Taubman made them want to sing. The “them” were the 450 StandWithUs
staff, board members, volunteers and supporters who celebrated the pro-Israel
grass-roots organization’s first “Festival of Lights” concert Dec. 14.

In addition to raising money to provide students and
community members with fact-based information on Israel, the evening honored
Ellie and Bruce Lederman and Naty and Debbie Saidoff. Both couples founded
United4Freedom, a multiethnic panel that brings fresh perspectives on the
Arab-Israeli conflict to campuses.

The David Kates Orchestra opened the event with an
instrumental tribute to Israel, ending with an impromptu sing-a-long of
“Yerushalim Shel Zahav” (“Jerusalem of Gold”).

Emcee Bob Saget took the podium at the University of Judaism’s
(UJ) Gindi Auditorium and took some humorous jabs at the recently captured
Saddam Hussein.

Evan and Jaron Lowenstein provided their own music while
performing one of their new songs as a tribute to the Jewish State, as well as
their Top 20 hit, “Crazy for This Girl.”

Cantor Chayim Frenkel of Kehillat Israel Reconstructionist
Congregation, co-producer of the concert, took the audience back to Broadway
with a beautiful rendition of “Bring Him Home” from “Les Misérables” —
performed in both Hebrew and English.

Richard Crystal, who looks eerily like bro, Billy, livened
things up with a jazzy version of “Make Someone Happy.”

In the audience was former Republican Jewish Coalition
Executive Director Michael Wissot, who was there to see his wife, concert
co-producer and Temple Judea cantor, Alison Wissot, perform “Grateful.”

Uber-entertainer Peter Himmelman dedicated “Mission of My
Soul” to the StandWithUs staff and called out the Jewish performers who sing
about “giving flowers to the terrorists.”

Before the finale, StandWithUs Executive Director Roz
Rothstein and President Esther Renzer received accolades for founding the
organization.

“The time has come for each one of us to become an
ambassador for truth,” Rothstein wrote in the program.

Because of the positive feedback, information booklets —
already available in English and Spanish — will soon be translated into French,
Hebrew and Arabic.

StandWithUs said the concert was a financial success, and
Rothstein said those who missed it this year will have a chance in 2004 when
the organization hosts a similar program.

For more information on StandWithUs, visit
www.standwithus.com. — Shoshana Lewin, Contributing Writer

Helping Homeless

There was humor and pathos at the Los Angeles Family
Housing’s fourth annual awards dinner at the Beverly Hilton Dec. 10.
Actor-director Robert Townsend hosted the event.

Townsend had the room in stitches when he imitated
characters from his childhood and made up songs about each table as he went
around the room.

There were also testimonials from people, previously
homeless, that Los Angeles Family Housing has helped over the years.

Deborah and Matthew Irmas of Santa Monica chaired the
dinner, which raised more than $500,000 for the organization. Los Angeles
Family Housing provides emergency, transitional and permanent housing services
for more than 15,000 people each year.

Not only does Family Housing give people a roof over their
heads, but it also teaches them life skills so that they will be able to
succeed.

At the dinner, David Lash, O’Melveny & Myers LLP
attorney and former Bet Tzedek executive director, received the Sydney M. Irmas
Outstanding Humanitarian Award from Audrey Irmas, his widow.

Wayne Bradshaw, Washington Mutual regional vice president
for community and external affairs, received the Family Housing Legacy Award
for Washington Mutual’s leadership in affordable housing and strengthening
neighborhoods.

Finally, Kelly Stone and her absentee sister Sharon Stone
received the Inspiration Award for founding Planet Hope in 1991, which offers
health, educational and recreational services to homeless children and their
families.

hart’s Vision

If you are looking for a producer of mindless television
shows, then Paramount Television Productions President Garry Hart is not your
man.

On Dec. 11 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, actors Ted Danson and
Kelsey Grammar presented Hart with the Jewish Television Network’s 2003 Vision
Award for using television to enrich Jewish life and promote positive values
and intergroup harmony.

“It’s All Relative” star Lenny Clarke was master of
ceremonies at the event, and blues artist Keb’Mo performed.

New Old Torah

Mishkon Tephilo in Venice is a shul steeped in history. It
is one of the oldest congregations in Los Angeles, and its sanctuary is housed
in a landmark building. Recently, another important piece of history found its
way to Mishkon: a Sefer Torah that survived World War II.

The Torah comes from the Hungarian town of Mezokovachaza,
where Mishkon member Louis Sneh grew up. In 1944, the town was destroyed by the
Nazis and its inhabitants sent to Auschwitz. Sneh was one of only nine
survivors.

A few years ago, Sneh became aware that this Torah — which
he read from at his bar mitzvah — had somehow survived destruction and was
being kept in a farmhouse in Hungary. Sneh traveled to Hungary with his wife,
children and grandchildren and was able to bring the Torah back to the United
States.

On Nov. 29 in an emotional ceremony, the Torah was
rededicated at Mishkon. Its restored mantle reads, “In memory of the
Congregation of Mezokovachaza, Hungary. Destroyed in the Holocaust. This Torah
scroll was rescued in the year 2003.”