San Diego Jewish Journal January 2015 by San Diego Jewish Journal

JANUARY 2015 l TEVET•SHEVAT 5775

Celebrating San Diego’s Jewish Women

PLUS: a look at the changing face of Jewish education

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“Exquisite! As chilling and haunted as a ghost story.” Time Out New York In a Soviet prison in 1952, Stalin’s secret police have rounded up 26 writers, the giants of Yiddish literature in Russia. As judgment looms, a 27th suddenly appears: a teenager, unpublished and unknown. Baffled by his arrest, he and his cellmates wonder at what has brought them together and wrestle with what it means to write in troubled times. Artistic Director Barry Edelstein returns to the play he premiered in New York by award-winning novelist Nathan Englander and reimagines it for the Globe’s intimate in-the-round space, bringing us larger-than-life personalities and an unforgettable reminder of the transcendent power of storytelling. By

Nathan Englander Barry Edelstein

Directed by

February 14 - March 15

Barry Edelstein IN CONVERSATION WITH Nathan Englander The discussion will explore the evolution of the play, its fascinating historical setting, Englander’s work in fiction versus theatre, and literature’s place in modern American culture. Co-sponsored by the Judaic Studies Program of UCSD and Congregation Beth El.

Wednesday, February 18 at 6:00 p.m. Donors/Subscribers/Students: $7 General Public: $10 Tickets are available exclusively to Old Globe donors and subscribers through January 18. Tickets on sale to Students and the General Public January 20.

(619) 23-GLOBE (234-5623) www.TheOldGlobe.org

CONTENTS

January 2015 Tevet/Shevat 5775

COVER STORY: Reacquaint yourself with some of San Diego’s most outstanding Jewish women in nonprofits, corporate business, healthcare, public service and more.

EDUCATION: The San Diego Jewish Academy has a growing engineering program, thanks to help from a national nonprofit.

FEATURE: Meet Seacrest Village’s new VP of Operations and read about the retirement community’s new vision for a future of person-centered care.

FOOD: This vegetarian saffron and chickpea risotto will warm your bones this winter season.

4 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

Income Generation in Retirement Our conversation on retirement income can help you move from “Can I retire?” to “How can I make the most of my retirement?” While most people understand the importance of saving for retirement, the concept of retirement income planning may be less familiar. Retirement income planning is a holistic process to help address key retirement decisions, effectively manage risks, and efficiently provide ongoing income to meet both the clients’ current and long-term retirement needs. We can support you by providing the guidance needed to make better, more informed choices to help provide a retirement as flexible as you are. As experienced advisors, we take the time to understand your unique goals to help create a plan tailored for you – one that will modify and change over time.

56 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: 32 EDUCATION:

Teachers unions at Jewish day schools are getting harder to find

Around Town 10 Mailbag 12 Our Town 14 Event Recap 66 What’s Goin’ On 72 Calendar

In Every Issue 8 The Starting Line 18 Parenting 20 Israeli Lifestyle 22 Dating 24 Aging 26 Spirituality 28 Israel 68 News 71 Diversions 77 Desert Life

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Donald Lincoln, CFP®, CIMA®

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www.sdjewishjournal.com January 2015 • Tevet/Shevat 5775 PUBLISHER • Dr. Mark S. Moss CO-PUBLISHER • Mark Edelstein EDITOR-IN-CHIEF • Natalie Jacobs CREATIVE DIRECTOR • Peter Talhamé

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ASSISTANT EDITOR • Tina B. Eshel ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR • Eileen Sondak ADVERTISING DIRECTOR • Mark Edelstein CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Tori Avey, Betsy Baranov, Linda Bennett, Abby Walker, Leah Singer, David Ebenbach, Judith Fein (Senior Travel Correspondent), Michael Fox, Jennifer Garstang, Amanda Kelly, Brie Stimson, Miki Lamm, Pat Launer, Curt Leviant, David Ogul, Pamela Price, Sharon Rosen Leib, Nikki Salvo, Andrea Simantov, Jon Schwartz CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS/ARTISTS Vincent Andrunas, Ediz Benaroya, Leigh Castelli, Leetal Elmaleh, Pepe Fainberg, Steve Greenberg, Pat Krause, Paul Ross (Senior Travel Photographer), Angela Sissa, Daisy Varley, Nicholas Patton, Sheri Liebovich ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Ronnie Weisberg (Account Executive), Nancy Segal (Account Executive), Jack Nathan (Account Executive) Alan Moss (Palm Springs) SAN DIEGO JEWISH JOURNAL (858) 638-9818 • fax: (858) 638-9801 5665 Oberlin Drive, Suite 204 • San Diego, CA 92121 EDITORIAL: editor@sdjewishjournal.com ADVERTISING: sales@sdjewishjournal.com CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS: publisher@sdjewishjournal.com ART DEPARTMENT: art@sdjewishjournal.com LISTINGS & CALENDAR: calendar@sdjewishjournal.com

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SDJJ is published monthly by San Diego Jewish Journal, LLC. Subscription rate is $24 for one year (12 issues). Send subscription requests to SDJJ, 5665 Oberlin Drive, Suite 204, San Diego, CA 92121. The San Diego Jewish Journal is a free and open forum for the expression of opinions. The opinions expressed herein are solely the opinion of the author and in no way reflect the opinions of the publishers, staff or advertisers. The San Diego Jewish Journal is not responsible for the accuracy of any and all information within advertisements. The San Diego Jewish Journal reserves the right to edit all submitted materials, including press releases, letters to the editor, articles and calendar listings for brevity and clarity. The Journal is not legally responsible for the accuracy of calendar or directory listings, nor is it responsible for possible postponements, cancellations or changes in venue. Manuscripts, letters, documents and photographs sent to the Journal become the physical property of the publication, which is not responsible for the return or loss of such material. All contents ©2015 by San Diego Jewish Journal. The San Diego Jewish Journal is a member of the American Jewish Press Association and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Tevet â&#x20AC;˘ Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 7

THE STARTING LINE by Natalie Jacobs Editor of the San Diego Jewish Journal editor@sdjewishjournal.com

What Women Want

n 2012, The Atlantic published an explosive cover story entitled “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All.” The piece was written by AnneMarie Slaughter, the first female director of policy planning at the State Department. She addressed the longstanding, if somewhat ambiguous question of whether women can “have it all” – meaning the high-powered job, the husband, the kid(s), the big house and the wrinkle-free face (I’m extrapolating on that last one) – without, presumably, winding up in a mental institution. Slaughter’s determination: a loud and resounding no, it’s still not possible. While the word “feminism” may have roots in the early 1800s, we’ve not yet reached the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote in this fine democracy. Even still, it seems like an obvious point today, especially to the young women entering the workforce from my millennial generation (if I may speak for them), that women can and should work alongside men in any and all roles they desire, genitals be damned. Many of the women who paved the road for me and my female peers are still alive and working to this day, so we’ve really only been at this “having it all” thing for a relatively short time. As Slaughter and others have noted, there are plenty of kinks to work out. If numbers can be of any consolation, we’re getting somewhere. Last year saw record highs in the number of female CEOs at Fortune 1000 companies – a staggering (haha) 5.4 percent. This incoming Congress has also reached historic levels of female representatives thanks to November’s midterm election. Starting this month, female representatives in both the House and the Senate will total 105, up from 99 in the last Congress. Women are still fighting for fair pay, pregnancy non-discrimination, the right to govern their own bodies. It may still be years before we figure out exactly what “equal” means but many dedicated

8 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

Many of the women who paved the road for me and my female peers are still alive and working to this day, so we’ve really only been at this “having it all” thing for a relatively short time.

women are quietly chipping away at pieces of this rock. Jewish women have historically been on the forefront of this generations-long social revolution, from the 1963 publication of Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” to Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s perseverance on the Supreme Court (she was back on the bench within a week of a heart stent implantation in late November). Here at the Jewish Journal, we’re inaugurating this annual “San Diego’s Jewish Women” issue with the intention of highlighting the local women who inspire the next generation to keep working on having all of whatever it is they decide they want. What we found from working on this issue is that San Diego is teeming with incredible Jewish women involved in so many aspects of life here. For the first issue, we have profiles on our district attorney, our chief of police, the 53rd district’s Congressional representative, Holocaust survivors, a CEO, an entrepreneur, nonprofit executives, rabbis and so many more. We hope that you learn something from the paths these women have followed, and we look forward to getting to know more of San Diego’s amazing Jewish women throughout the years. A

Mark your calendar:

The National Council of Jewish Women LA will hold their annual Jewish Women’s Conference on March 1 at UCLA. Find more information and register at jwcsc.org.

GATE TO THE NEGEV Presents

Border Living with Director Ronit Ifergan

Thursday, February 12, 2015 | 8pm Clairemont Reading Theatres 4665 Clairemont Drive

To see the full program and purchase tickets

go to sdjff.org

to the

San Diego Jewish Film Festival

on 25 years

of showcasing the best of Jewish culture in San Diego

We’re Listening!

>> mailbag

Let us know what you’re thinking.

IN RESPONSE TO “OUT OF PLACE” AND SUBSEQUENT COMMENTS

CORRECTIONS In “San Diego Symphony: New CEO, new plans, new ideas,” [Dec. 2014] it was incorrectly noted that Adele Anthony is a pianist. Anthony is a violinist like her husband Gil Shaham. The SDJJ regrets this error.

Dear Editor: Mr. Rob Cohen is showing signs of being contrary to almost anything that is beneficial or strengthproducing about Israel and its supporters. He seems to think that there are people, Israel supporters, its politicians, policies, people, and its American supporters (religious or otherwise) who believe that Israel is 100 percent right, totally good, completely beyond criticism or perhaps even perfect. Nothing could be further from the truth. The only people who “honestly” believe that are the usual suspects, or residing in a curative institution. Israel is not perfect, but is it our homeland. Like it or not, it exists because almost nothing else did, or does, and we have a place to go if we wish or must. However, the contrary is also far from viable or truthful. Israel is not evil, albeit its probably done some questionable things from time to time. It isn’t required to have perfect foresight or to do anything other than make a very best effort to be just, reliable, honest, faithful, creative, caring, growing, and protective of itself, its institutions, its Jewish and other citizens – and so much more, just because it is the Jewish Homeland and lives each day under the cloak of Torah, and G-d’s Will. No matter what Mr. Cohen believes, wishes to believe, or says he believes, Israel shall not back down, give in, decide not to fight for its very survival, nor allow the non-Jews or people who find other streams of “Jewish” thought, a way to dissipate who we are as the Jewish People and the Jewish Homeland. It is meant to be ever greater, ever more hopeful, ever more diligent, in each and every one of its diverse Jewish peoples, and our precious Torah-based Jewish Culture.

10 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

Thank you Mr. Cohen for being an excellent example of a bad example. Respectfully, Dr. Leonard I. Antick Chula Vista

IN RESPONSE AZERBAIJAN

Dear Editor: Perhaps Rabbi Barouk [Op-Ed, Dec. 2014] would identify where “The Red City” in Azerbaijan is and the name of the city in the Azerbaijan language. Unfortunately, it is not shown on the map. Sincerely, Mrs. H. Hawley San Diego

IN RESPONSE “CHIP”

Dear Editor: I was sickened and disappointed by the article on page 32 of your December Arts Issue titled: “Lose the Chip on your Shoulder During Christmas.” First of all, the title is absolutely insulting. As Jews, why does the author negatively assume we have “chips” on our shoulders? Did Judah Maccabee have a “chip on his shoulder” when he stood up for his Jewish diversity? As a teacher and legal professional for many years, I suggest the following more positive and enlightened approach to this season: 1. Stress to your children, friends and collages that Jesus celebrated the 17 Jewish Holidays each year. He never celebrated either Christmas or Easter as he was dead and history attests to this; 2. Be proud, teach your children that so many Jewish holidays involve giving, but to others from Shalach Manot at Purim, to setting a seat for anyone who is hungry at Pesach; 3. That Judah Maccabee and his crew fought valiantly for our right to be unique;

4. That the word “Hanukkah” means rededication, and now is the time to rededicate ourselves to our extremely rich Jewish heritage (not suck it up, as the author suggests). 5. To kvell (take joy and pride) in the fact that we have so many festivals, holidays and simchas that we do not need to stretch them out over many months or commercialize them and debase them with undo hoopla. These religious freedoms are the rights the Pilgrims fought for. It is no accident that the First Amendment to our U.S. Constitution celebrates the separation between church and state, a right that gives each culture and religion a voice (not one to the exclusion of others). At this time of year we have the chance to be “Modern Day Maccabees!” The Maccabees did not fight bravely for three years for us to “go along to get along.” They fought for our right to enrich the world through our diversity. Let’s be unapologetically loud and proud modern day Maccabees! Thank you, Shoshana Strom Dennis San Diego

Send us your comments: editor@sdjewishjournal.com 5665 Oberlin Dr., Ste 204 San Diego, CA 92121

Tevet â&#x20AC;˘ Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 11

our

TOWN

BY LINDA BENNETT & BETSY BARANOV l BETSY1945@COX.NET PHOTOS BY NICHOLAS PATTON

StandWithUs

StandWithUs San Diego held its annual celebration on Dec. 7 at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines. The sold-out event was a grand success! Chairs Nina Brodsky and Daniella Lewis and their committee did a fabulous job. Dinner sponsors were Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman and Jon Davidi was master of ceremonies. A welcome and 2014 update by amazing co-founder and CEO of StandWithUs, Roz Rothstein, was presented. Keynote speaker M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D., is an internationally recognized expert in the contest of ideas against political Islam and American Islamist organizations. Among those inspired during the evening were Phyllis Cohn, Rabbi David and Debbie Kornberg, Leslie Caspi, Joan Schultz, Wendy and Chaim Avraham, Barbara Rakov, Jackie Gmach, John and Janet Pearlman, Jacob and Devorah Shore, Claire and David Ellman, Steven and Ava Weitzen, Sarah and Earl Feldman, Elaine Chortek, Sheryl Baron, Gerald Handler, Sylvia and Julian Bendelstein, Casey Rachovsky, Lauren and Sol Lizerbram, Renee Feinswog, Gabriel Avraham, April and Paul Segal, Mark and Bethany Stuckelman, Shirley and Harold Pidgeon, and Nancy Calderon. The organization was founded in May of 2001. Our local associate director is Sara Schoonmaker.

Birthdays...

Happy 86th birthday to our friend Rocky Reichbart! Happy 85th birthday to Naomi Ruth Eisman! Happy birthday Dylan Ziv Parselany who was born on Oct. 2 to Stacy and Guy Parselany. His happy grandparents are Helene and Allan Ziman of San Diego and Ruth and Arik Parselany of Israel. Happy birthday to Nathaniel Meyer Jacobs, born to Josh and native San Diegan Jenna Jacobs on Sept. 10. Happy first-time grandparents are Esther and Alan Siman.

Mazel Tov...

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort and Mrs. Mechama Eilfort happily announce the marriage of their son, Yosef Eilfort, to Hadassah Ita.

Anniversaries...

Rabbi Scott Meltzer and his wife Jennifer recently celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary! Top: Maya Kanarek and Ariel Kanarek. Clockwise from middle right: Ingue Furmansky and Gabriel Magun • Brad Bernstein, Nicole Bernstein, Leeat Zaken and Saar Zaken • Jonathan Valverde, J.J. Surbeck, Mark Arabo, Amad Attisha and Thomas McKenna • Abraham Gertz and Gilad Barach.

12 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

HOPE IS HAVING A PLAN OF ACTION Dave couldn’t believe it had been seven months since he lost his job. He and his wife had stretched their limited income and were still falling short. Every past-due bill, every job lead that went nowhere, and every time his son asked for something he couldn’t afford, Dave felt more desperate. Then he discovered that JFS, which was helping his parents with transportation, could also help him. In Job Club, he was encouraged by other professionals facing the same challenges. And with the support of a therapist and a Job Coach, Dave made a step-by-step plan that gave him the confidence to move forward. With his new job, Dave can plan for his family’s future again.

THIS IS WHAT HOPE looks like

Unemployed and underemployed San Diegans turn to JFS for one-onone job search guidance, skill-building workshops, and networking opportunities. With access to our integrated services, jobseekers can stabilize their lives, realize their potential, and be there for the loved ones who depend on them. To learn more about our Employment & Career Services, call (877) 537-1818 or visit www.jfssd.org.

WE’RE WITH YOU

JOIN US. CREATE HOPE. AND SAY WE’RE WITH YOU.

(858) 637-3000 • Donate online or volunteer: www.jfssd.org Self-Sufficiency Seven Years in a Row — Only 2% of charities nationwide can make this claim

Aging with Dignity Community Connection & Engagement

Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 13

be SEEN MIKI LAMM l MIKISDJJ@GMAIL.COM l PHOTOS BY SHERI LIEBOVICH

The White Party

Only in America’s Finest City can one imagine a winter party hosted on an exposed rooftop with not a jacket in sight. Yalla Balagan, San Diego’s party group, turned up the heat on the San Diego social scene with their White Party, hosted on Nov. 22, 2014. Despite a two-year hiatus, Balagan threw the party of the year while welcoming in the winter season with a white hot sizzle. Hosted at the W Hotel Rooftop Bar, the event featured extraordinary cocktails and glittering views of the San Diego skyline. More than 175 individuals attended in their winter whites, representing many diverse cross-sections of the San Diego Jewish community. Guests mingled, friendships developed, and others were rekindled near the W’s signature sculpted bonfire. Lindsay Spector, who has attended the past three Balagan White Parties said “It was so nice to see Yalla Balagan have another party. They always put on the best parties. I had a great time getting to see old friends and getting acquainted with new ones. Can’t wait for the next one!”

Top: Elizabeth Moody and Jenna Zetisky. Clockwise from middle: Danielle Marco and Jeff Abramovitz • David Rajlevsky and Jaime Nacach • Gabby Halpern and Adina Izbotsky • Elyshea Schwimmer, Lindsay Spector, Jessica Grimes and Neta Kaminiski.

14 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

mark your calendar for

S AT U R D AY

November 14, 2015 for the

sandiego.edu/foundersgala All proceeds support University of San Diego Student Scholars

Heritage Sponsors

Event Sponsors

Tradition Sponsor

Entravision

the SCENE BY NATALIE JACOBS PHOTOS BY AARON TRUAX, COURTESY JFS

Emerging Moment

Leaders

Take

Every year, the Emerging Leaders of Jewish Family Service get together for a fun and community-focused fundraiser. This year, the group gathered for “Brushes and Forks” at the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park to take a moment out of their busy young professional lives to network with each other for a good cause. At the heart of the event was a silent auction and giving wall, created by San Diego-based artist Joshua Krause to encourage attendees to fund-a-need for a program of JFS. The evening was mostly about mingling, but the short-and-sweet program featured CEO Michael Hopkins who explained a bit about how JFS is working to “repair the world.” Then members of the Brushes and Forks Planning Committee, Ashley Harrington and Keri Ross, explained the philanthropic opportunities for the evening and mentioned a bit about the JFS Embrace-a-Family program which worked to connect Emerging Leaders with families in need during the holiday season. In total, the evening raised $16,000 to support JFS programs and services. For more information on the JFS Emerging Leaders group, visit jfssd.org.

Top: Brad and Lisa Slavin. Clockwise from middle: Keri Ross, Julia Dorfman, Kira Finkenberg, Rachel Wellan ,Ashley Harrington, and Carla Sanderson • Samantha and Jeff Gleiberman • Elise Link, Kimberly Simms, and Bobby Israel • Lauren Mangel and Mike Dolinka.

16 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

parenting

MUSINGS FROM MAMA by Sharon Rosen Leib srleib@roadrunner.com

Our Matriarchs

e’ve grown up incanting the names of our biblical matriarchs. We know these strong-willed, loving mothers of our tribe in all their humanity – Sarah’s sense of ironic humor (pregnant at age 90 – really?), Rebecca’s kindness and generosity, and Rachel and Leah’s intense sibling rivalry. For this Women’s Issue, I’m honoring my personal matriarchs. I learned the three Rs of Reinvention, Resilience and Resourcefulness, with an H for Humor thrown in, from my predecessors: Brana, Marian, Beatrice, Lillian, Debbie and Joan. They gave me the tools to be an independent woman, supportive wife and good-enough mother. They also imbued me with the courage to write. Two of my great-grandmothers, Brana and Marian, were alive when I was born. Both came from the Old Country, Brana as a 30-year-old mother of three when she arrived here, and Marian as a fiery, fetching 16-year-old. Their Yiddish accents, loving caresses and perfumed talcum powder remain deeply embedded in my sensual memory. These two were mothers of reinvention. Brana went from raising kids in a tiny Romanian shtetl to helping them build careers and families of their own in Los Angeles’s burgeoning welter. Marian fled her wicked stepmother in a small Polish farm town to move to New York where she worked in a sweatshop sewing gloves. She married an ardent suitor who wound up being a Hollywood big shot. In her leisure time, she studied languages and art, becoming an esteemed multi-lingual hostess and artist. Both my great-grandmothers frequently got lost in sprawling Los Angeles, but so did I before Mapquest. Ultimately, we all found our ways. I grew into adulthood with both grandmothers around as guides. My paternal grandmother Beatrice – alive and acute at 102 ½ – remains a powerful influence. She left her Romanian shtetl for America as a young girl not knowing any English. A fast 18 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

learner, she excelled at school and married a sweet man from Odessa. They moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles where she ran a tight ship raising three kids, all of whom became professionals. Her beloved husband died when she was 59. I remember how intensely she grieved and then rallied to manage her family’s finances and modest real estate holdings. She never felt the need to remarry. A loyal and loving matriarch, she exemplifies hard work, resilience and pride. My maternal grandmother, Lillian, grew up a privileged princess of Hollywood. She worked at her father’s movie studio and then married a mercurial, self-made Beverly Hills physician. When her husband’s tyrannical nature and mental instability became unbearable, she grew depressed and suicidal. After receiving treatment, she too rallied. In 1958, at the age of 47, she filed for divorce – a radical proposition at the time – and chose never to remarry. She got a job in insurance, traveled and then researched and edited a book, published after her death. Although a tough critic, she was sensitive and knowing. She taught me the value of intellectual pursuits and frequently reminded me “to thine own self be true.” My mother Debbie and mother-in-law Joan, both teachers, demonstrated how to parent with honesty and humor. They shed the 1950s homemaker image, embraced feminism and charted their own courses. Debbie, a self-proclaimed hedonist, figured out how to pursue her love of travel and earn money at it by leading educational tours. Joan, twice divorced, taught at a multi-ethnic Los Angeles high school until she retired and moved to Hawaii. Flawed (aren’t we all?) but ultimately strong and resourceful, they lived on their own terms and were outstanding, devoted grandmothers. So here’s to our personal matriarchs. Let us share their stories and incant their names. A

Did you know?

The Women’s Museum of California, located in Liberty Station, is one of only five museums dedicated to women’s history in the United States. More info at womensmuseumca.org.

GETTING FROM SAN DIEGO TO ISRAEL JUST GOT EASIER.

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israeli lifestyle

LIVING ON THE FRONT PAGE by Andrea Simantov

andreasimantov@gmail.com

Livin’ in the ‘Hood

ntil I moved here, East Jerusalem had only meant border patrols, checkpoints, suspicion, hostility and danger. My new street boasted two synagogues, a ritual bath, three hairdressers and a branch of a large supermarket chain. My living room overlooks the Old City walls and the bus to the center of town takes a whopping 15 minutes. The only clear and present danger seemed, at first, to be the 40-year old pipes in the bathroom and the fact that they backed up on me without warning. 20 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

This isn’t to say that I was completely unaware that we lived in a “mixed” area; in fact, the first Friday morning I shopped for Shabbat, I was surprised to find that I was among only a handful of Jews in the local market. The place was packed with Arab Muslims, Christian Missionaries and UN personnel, but among the Jews, I was the only “anglo.” The others were Russians, French Moroccans and Ethiopians. Still, from the moment we moved to Armon HaNatziv, we felt we’d made a good choice. It was affordable,

walking distance to both the center of town and the Western Wall, gaining popularity with young couples, and a place where, after 20 years in Israel, I’d be forced to speak in Hebrew. Win-win. But suddenly things aren’t feeling so Woodstock around here. The formerly bucolic Arab villages that encircle my road have turned ominous and a cloud of distrust hangs heavily over the streets, parks, and promenades that pepper the local landscape. As always, Adnan at the meat counter greets me with a smile and asks after my family and health. I answer and ask about him and his. But something has changed, it’s barely perceptible though we both feel it in the way we hold our shoulders or try to control the tightness in our jaws. The murderers who butchered four rabbis at prayer the week before came from his village, Jabel Mukaber. I want to ask if he knew them. Did he approve? Does he feel the same loathing for me and the family he asks about even though he smiles and greets me so warmly? The army has destroyed the homes of the terrorists, deported the wife of one of the murderers, and restricts movement of the villagers over the Jewish Sabbath so they cannot walk freely among us on our day of rest. At the bottom of the hill, police sit in cruisers both day and night at the entrance to Zur Bahar, hotbed of the latest riots. I do not ask Adnan what he is thinking nor does he ask me. I imagine that he wants to know if I approve of home demolition or collective punishment. Knowing that my answers would not please him, I wonder if he could kill me without remorse. After all, the Har Nof killers knew their victims and had worked among them for years. There is a pall in the ’hood; streets empty now of Arab and Jewish women enjoying power walks or lazily pushing strollers on a beautiful, sunny morning. Life continues. In the distance, I hear a siren blare. A

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dating

PLAYING WITH MATCHES by Jennifer Garstang jenscy@gmail.com

What Does it Mean to be a Liberated Woman?

rom getting the vote to shattering the glass ceiling, there is no question that us ladies have come a long way over the last hundred or so years. At the same time, we’ve also made great strides in the world of dating and relationships. In the dating arena, it’s now perfectly acceptable to ask guys out, and to share the financial burden of dating. When it comes to relationships, our cultural idea of the modern woman has shifted from “homemaker extraordinaire” to “liberated, career-pursuing, super-mom who contributes 50/50 in all aspects of her relationship.” But is this concept of the “liberated modern woman” truly liberating? Do we have to have a high-powered career and a mezuzah on the door of our own beach-side condo before we can be in a healthy and empowering relationship? Google defines the word liberated as: “Showing freedom from social conventions or traditional ideas, especially with regard to sexual roles.” Many people feel that, in order to be liberated, a woman has to have a job and financial selfsufficiency. But here’s the problem with that assumption: the very fact that so many people feel this way means that the image of a woman as a career-minded financial contributor has become its own social convention. Therefore, if a woman feels she has to have those things because “society says so,” “her friends say so,” or “that’s what guys are looking for,” then she is inherently not free of social conventions! Being liberated is not so much about taking specific actions as it is about the mindset we have when taking those actions. It doesn’t matter if your calling is to pursue a career, or if you find yourself drawn to home-arts. As long as you freely choose the path you’re on, then you’re liberated. This realization hit me when I compared 22 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

my two most recent relationships. My previous boyfriend believed very strongly, as I did, in equal contribution on all fronts. Sounds great...except that I was a Creative Writing major living with my parents in the heart of a massive recession while pursuing my dream of starting my own business. Not a recipe for monetary stability. To ease the growing tension over my inability to contribute financially, I stopped pursuing my entrepreneurial goals, and instead threw myself once more into the full-time job-market. I found work pretty quickly, and things were looking up...except that I felt perpetually exhausted and trapped, pulling all-nighters to live up to the expectations the company placed on me, while growing ever more distant from my boyfriend. (On the positive side, the ensuing breakup and job-loss provided great content for my first dating column back in 2012.) My current boyfriend, on the other hand, is okay being the main financial provider while I get my business going, and in return, he handles only around 10-20 percent of chores. Since I mostly work from our apartment, I take the role of primary homemaker, though I also work parttime as a barista to contribute a bit financially. Though our situation bears a close resemblance to the “traditional” relationship model, it makes me feel more liberated than any of the more “modern” relationships I’ve had. In short, we become empowered and liberated women when we feel free to pursue personal fulfillment – both by taking actions that bring fulfillment, and by finding joy and fulfillment in what we already have. Likewise, we create empowering and liberating relationships by seeking out partners who share and support those values. A

And you?

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aging

OLDER, WISER, BETTER by Jon Schwartz

jonaschwartz@hotmail.com

The Luck of the Aged

t was a hot summer day, nearing 100 degrees, when Dora Tuchin and I went to lunch at D.Z. Akin’s. We were there at the peak of the lunch rush and there was no parking to be found. Cars were lined up in all directions. I came to the conclusion that it would be best for me to drop Dora off at the front entrance and then I would find a spot on the street down the road. When I told Dora, who is 103 years old, my idea, she was not ready to give up on finding a spot together. She said, “Honey, keep driving around, we’ll find one, I’m good luck.” I appeased her but in my head thought the effort would be fruitless. As I made the loop, I was amazed to see an open spot! I couldn’t believe it. Was I overheated and in a daze or did a parking spot really appear within 30 seconds of our last go-around? The parking spot seemed large and so perfect; I could have fit two of my cars in it. We pulled in and I looked over at Dora and she gave me a big smile. When setting up the time with Dora, I was expecting to talk mostly about her communitybuilding efforts in our San Diego Jewish world. However, halfway through our lunch, I realized that our conversation went deeper than her years of hard work. I was blown away and inspired by her attitude. At 103, she has faced hardships, loss, aches, pains and other maladies that are especially common with age. However, she maintains the most incredible sense of hopefulness and confidence about the future. She is an eternal optimist with flowing phrases like: “I have had the most wonderful life,” “We all have bad days, tomorrow is a new opportunity,” 24 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

and my favorite, “Honey, tell me about you?” She is genuinely interested in learning about the people with whom she engages in conversation. Clearly, she is a local celebrity at D.Z. Akin’s, as many people were coming up to our table to say hello. Even as her fans said hi, she made me feel as though I was the only person in the room. I share this story because it’s nice to highlight one of the most remarkable people I’ve met in my life, but also to explore the importance of optimism and resiliency, especially as we age. Research shows that optimistic people, compared with more pessimistic people, report less pain, have better physical functioning, experience fewer symptoms of disease/ illness and even are less likely to be rehospitalized following coronary artery bypass surgery. These findings have been retested in multiple reliable studies and published in credible journals in medicine, gerontology, psychology, and more. What if some industrious pharmaceutical company could develop a pill that mimicked optimism? Supposing there are no harmful side effects, I’d venture to guess that the company would rake in billions from such an endeavor. Or maybe if we all learned to see the glass as half full, we could harness the power of optimism all on our own. I don’t exactly think that Dora’s optimism is what made a parking spot open up in the D.Z. Akin’s lot that day, but I don’t think it hurt our chances either. I challenge you, as I challenge myself, to find that optimism as often as possible. In so doing, we will create greater resiliency for the next challenge that comes our way. Dora and her 103 years can be an example to us all. A

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spirituality

THE ARTIST’S TORAH by David Ebenbach ebenbach@netzero.com

The Unblessed

e end the book of Genesis on a forward-looking note: the family of Jacob is abundant, prosperous, and hopeful. It seems that great things are in store. Of course, we know things are going to get bad in the book of Exodus, where the people, still numerous, will become slaves – but we also know that the book of Exodus will see those slaves freed and led toward a home of their own. The future is long. This is the future Jacob sees when he offers deathbed blessings to each of his sons, and even to two of his grandsons, predicting what will happen to them and their descendants in the long haul. Not all of the predictions are positive, actually – but in all cases he sees a future for his children in the promised land. Well, almost all cases. One of Jacob’s children is conspicuously absent from the deathbed blessing scene: his daughter Dinah. Actually, her absence is more conspicuous now than it would have been back then, when the attention was always on sons instead of daughters. And, given that, predicting Dinah’s future was probably easy enough: marriage and pressure to make more sons for the people. And maybe that’s what did happen. But we can’t be sure, because Dinah never reappears anywhere in the rest of the Hebrew Bible. Later commentators speculated about her – one theory suggests that she went on to marry Job, which would have been a lot of fun, I’m sure – but there’s no actual mention of her in the book of Job, or anywhere else in the Bible beyond this point. The speculation continues today. The most 26 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

famous example is probably the novel “The Red Tent,” by Anita Diamant, which brought the world’s attention back to Dinah in this bold reimagining of her character and the story of Jacob’s family. And why not speculate and reimagine? As Diamant herself said, “Dinah’s silence in the Bible is a big opening.” Because a path is not laid out for her, we’re given license to entertain lots of possible stories. I like to think that Dinah had that license, too. Her brothers did have their futures laid out for them, and they had no choice but to do what was expected of them. This is not an uncommon fate even today; as they grow up, many kids are pushed toward pre-determined careers and lives or in any case a narrow range of possibilities, because of parental goals, societal expectations, or a lack of exposure or opportunity. Even the kids who grow up to choose for themselves still often step onto on a well-worn track that requires little imagination to follow. Dinah, though – and this goes for everyone who’s left to invent their own lives, everyone who steps off the beaten path to imagine a more unconventional future – Dinah gets to imagine something new. She gets to consult her own soul to see how it wants to proceed through the world. This isn’t an easy thing to do, and one can picture Dinah, the unblessed, stumbling many times across an untracked landscape. But the beautiful thing is that she’s free. She’s free, in full possession of her life – and she gets to make her own blessing. A

 This

month’s Torah portions Jan. 3: Vayechi (Genesis 47:28-50:26) Jan. 10: Shemot (Exodus 1:1-6:1) Jan 17: Va’era (Exodus 6:2-9:35) Jan. 24: Bo (Exodus 10:1-13:16) Jan. 31: Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16)

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ISRAEL

ANCIENT CITY, CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS Jaffa may be gentrifying, but there are still a lot of people in need BY NATALIE JACOBS

PHOTO COURTESY JAFFA INSTITUTE

Young students study after school at one of the Jaffa Institute locations in Israel.

affa, an ancient port city, is a suburb of Tel Aviv with an interesting set of contemporary problems. Its location between the Mediterranean Sea and the urban technology center makes it a logical spot for gentrification, but there remains a history of drug problems and criminal violence on the streets. According to the Jaffa Institute, a private nonprofit with a patchwork of programs aimed at protecting and supporting the disadvantaged youth of Jaffa, there are some 18,000-20,000 kids living below the poverty line there. “This is a side of Israel that very few people know about,” says Syd Selati, San Diego resident and former Chairman of the Israel Tennis Centers. “Nobody likes to talk about the weakness of the country,” says Reuven Meir, executive director of North America for the Jaffa Institute. “People want to talk about the success, the army. But if you don’t take care of the weakness of the country, that will be the next enemy.” 28 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

Meir notes that about 15-20 percent of the Jaffa population is living in poverty. The Jaffa Institute was created in 1982 by a partnership between the late Col. Ze’ev Shaham and Dr. David Portowics, an American born rabbi with a Ph.D. in social work. Today, the Institute operates more than 30 different initiatives that serve more than 4,000 of Jaffa’s children and their families. One such program is the partnership with the Israel Tennis Centers, conceptualized and spearheaded here in San Diego by Mr. Selati. After Meir persuaded Selati to go to Israel to check out the Institute’s work first hand, Selati got together with his team at the Israel Tennis Centers to open up their Jaffa location to the Institute’s kids. At first, only six kids volunteered to join the tennis program. Now, two years after the program was initiated, there are 60 kids from the Jaffa Institute attending the Tennis Center’s after school program, with 30 more on the waiting list. It costs ITC about $150,000180,000 per year to maintain the program. So

far, all of those funds are raised in San Diego. “We come like in a restaurant,” Meir says of his fundraising pitches to donors like Selati. “We say here is the menu. What do you like? How do you want to support? All the money is going directly to the program.” The Jaffa Institute also recently created a scholarship program modeled after a program run by the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, where Meir worked before joining the Jaffa Institute five years ago. Meir started the scholarship program three years ago and it now includes 300 students, a cost of about $4,000 per year per student. There is also an after school program, a food distribution center, a home for at-risk girls, parent-child initiatives and much more on the Jaffa Institute “menu.” The goal of the organization is not unlike any that we’d see here in the United States. They want to end the cycle of poverty for Jaffa by keeping kids healthy and away from criminal activities. Learn more at jaffainstitute.org. A

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EDUCATION

ENGINEERING THE FUTURE Nation-wide nonprofit supports new program at SDJA

PHOTOS BY HARRY CATCHER, SDJA

BY NATALIE JACOBS

Adrian Krag (LEFT), of the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education, works with students twice a week in SDJA's engineering class.

“I

t’s hard to get good engineering teachers,” says Jane Willoughby, STEM Director at the San Diego Jewish Academy. Willoughby, who has a background in biotech project design and development, has been with the Carmel Valley institution for eight years. “We’re really strong in science and math,” she explains one morning in her classroom lab, “but we’ve been looking for ways to increase our technology and engineering offerings.” That’s why, last year, the Jewish Academy brought in the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education (CIJE). This nonprofit organization supports Jewish schools across the country by offering specialized programs in subjects with which these schools need most help. Because of their new focus on entrepreneurship and STEM for the high school grades, the Jewish Academy was particularly interested in the engineering program, spearheaded on the West Coast by CIJE’s Adrian Krag. For two days out of the week, Krag, who has a professional background in biomedical engineering, team-teaches the engineering science elective class for grades 9-12 with Willoughby. After the class period ends, Krag provides technical support to Willoughby, teaching her the engineering programs that the class is using throughout the year. “Being a teacher requires very special skills,” Krag says. The towering, silver pony-tailed man

is full of energy in the classroom. He worked with Hewlett Packard for a number of years, and also spent time teaching at the University of Colorado. He explains that high schools have difficulty finding qualified engineering teachers for a number of reasons. First, of course, is the financial consideration. Many people with engineering degrees would be turning down upwards of $350,000 salaries in exchange for a high school teaching position. But it’s about more than the money, Krag says. People with a strong technical understanding often don’t have a strong interest in people, let alone kids. And a passion for supporting the learning process is key here. CIJE makes it easier for Jewish schools to provide engineering classes without the added struggle of finding the teachers. Krag splits his time between 10 Southern California schools, working with students and teachers in a variety of capacities. “Some schools have students who have never had science before,” he explains. “SDJA is very advanced in this way.” He told the students as much, after they completed their “Shark Tank” style project pitches. The class of 20 – of which only two are female – was deciding between eight projects on which to spend the rest of the year working. The students will vote for the one they like best,

between things like hydraulic joints for people with arthritis, a water use monitor, sensors for the blind and a stair-climbing wheelchair. In May, their completed projects will be taken to L.A. for CIJE’s engineering conference. The class is designed to get kids learning with their hands, rather than memorizing information from text books. “We want to allow students the space to go figure it out,” Willoughby says. This engineering class is part of CIJE’s threeyear program. Although SDJA has had it for two years now, next academic year will be the first that they offer the second-year class. The year after that, they’ll offer the third-year program, which will focus on designing something that can be pitched for funding and taken to market. That one may be an after school program, like SDJA’s current robotics program, depending on the level of student interest. “Once they are into it,” Willoughby says of engineering as whole, “they want to stick with it.” Learn more about the budding engineering program at sdja.com. A

Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 31

EDUCATION

UNIONS AT DAY SCHOOLS: They're getting harder and harder to find BY JULIE WIENER, JTA

A Bible class at the Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr, Pa., one of the few Jewish day schools with a strong teachers union.

ust before classes started in September, the teachers union at Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr, Pa., successfully negotiated a new contract with the administration. Five years earlier, the pluralistic middle and high school’s teachers had gone on strike, forming a picket line outside the school after contract negotiations broke down. But since then, the school board and faculty have been meeting monthly to smooth relations, and union leaders report that the administration negotiated the current contract in good faith. But with its strong union, Barrack is an outlier among American Jewish day schools. Unions exist in only a handful of schools, all of them Conservative movement-affiliated or pluralistic, and the number is dropping. Over the past year, three Conservative Jewish day schools have effectively eliminated their 32 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

teachers unions. Perelman Jewish Day School, an elementary school just a few miles away from Barrack, and the Solomon Schechter School of Greater Boston have both declined to negotiate with their teachers unions. According to one source, a third East Coast Conservative day school has done the same, but the source asked JTA not to name the school for fear of disrupting efforts to reverse the policy. In 2005, the Hillel Day School of Greater Detroit successfully shut down its union. And several people involved in the matter said that eliminating the union was one factor in the 2012 closing of the Reuben Gittelman Hebrew Day School in New York’s Rockland County. A new and non-unionized school, Rockland Jewish Academy, opened just months later with many of the same board members and faculty. The moves come as public school teachers

unions are increasingly finding themselves on the defensive, often portrayed by reformers as obstacles to innovation and as putting the needs of teachers before students. Jewish schools have many of the same concerns in dealing with their unions, but their hand has been strengthened by the reluctance of the National Labor Relations Board, which enforces national labor laws, to intervene. In August, in a move that could have implications for all parochial school teachers unions, the Philadelphia office of the NLRB dismissed a complaint from Perelman’s teachers, saying it lacked jurisdiction because the school is a religious institution. The union has appealed the decision to the board’s Washington headquarters. Dennis Walsh, the board’s Philadelphia regional director, told JTA that while not all religious institutions are automatically exempt

An assembly on the first day of the 2014-15 school year at the Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr, Pa.

from the National Labor Relations Act, many are, adding that there is a complicated set of criteria that the national agency is “in the process of reconsidering.” Leaders of recently de-unionized schools declined JTA’s requests for interviews about the labor issue. Pro-union teachers say the moves have hurt morale and created a climate of fear. “People are kind of worried,” said a longtime Boston Schechter teacher who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. “The new handbook says people can be let go at any time with no notice. It’s very stark language. They’ve done a good job of making people look over their shoulders.” Anti-union efforts in the public school world are often portrayed as initiatives to improve educational outcomes, allowing school districts to eliminate ineffective teachers who, under many union contracts, are difficult to fire. Flexibility in hiring and firing is also an issue at Jewish day schools, but according to Harry Bloom, the strategy manager for financial sustainability at the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education, the current pressure on unions is driven by economics. Since 1998, the

number of Schechter schools in the United States has dropped from 63 to 39 and the number of students has shrunk 45 percent, to 9,700 from 17,700, according to data from the Avi Chai Foundation. “Those schools are now half their previous size and people are struggling to pay tuition after the recession,” Bloom said. “What happened is that work rules and staffing and benefits that used to be affordable when you had a school of 1,000 students is now hard to support when you have a school half that size or less.” That all the schools enmeshed in recent labor conflicts are affiliated with the Conservative movement (Detroit’s Hillel was a Schechter school in 2005, but later became a community school) has not escaped the notice of Jill Jacobs, a Conservative rabbi who authored the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly’s 2008 legal ruling supporting the right of workers to unionize. The R.A.’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards approved the ruling by a vote of 13 to 1, with three abstentions. “I think halachah is extremely clear on this point that you’re not allowed to bust a union,” said Jacobs, the executive director of T’ruah,

formerly Rabbis for Human Rights of North America, adding that when it comes to labor laws, Jewish institutions should “be doing more than the law requires.” Leaders of the Schechter Network, which represents Conservative day schools, and RAVSAK, which represents community schools, declined to comment on recent labor conflicts. Jon Mitzmacher, executive director of the Schechter Day School Network, referred JTA to an Aug. 29 blog post that takes no position on unions while noting that “genuine debate has broken out within the Jewish community (as in the larger American community) about the balance between protecting the rights of teachers and serving the needs of students.” Marc Kramer, RAVSAK’s executive director, said in an email that the network has no position on teachers unions. “We obviously want schools to be in the best position possible to stay student focused and to retain the best educators possible,” Kramer said. “Likewise, we believe that day school educators are professionals who should be treated as such ... and we do not think that these two commitments need to be in opposition to one another.” A Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 33

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FEATURE

MEET KIMBERLY FUSON

Seacrest Village’s new VP of Operations will usher era of person-center care BY NATALIE JACOBS

PHOTOS BY BOB ROSS

Kimberly Fuson joined Seacrest Village last year and has been working closely with residents and families ever since.

lmost one year ago, Kimberly Fuson began her work at Seacrest Village Retirement Communities. The veteran senior care administrator and tireless “change agent” was brought on in order to spearhead a new generation of care at the ever-expanding organization. Fuson’s job as vice president of operations is to empower the staff at Seacrest Village – from housekeepers to restorative nursing assistants – so that they may empower the residents, giving them the support necessary

to keep control of their lives as they age. “My primary role,” Fuson explains, “is to keep the residents and staff engaged together in such a way that we are continuing to focus on the important work of life and vitality, regardless of one’s physical abilities or cognitive challenges. To bring life, that’s really my job.” Prior to coming to Seacrest Village, Fuson was with Portland, Oregon’s only Jewish retirement community, Cedar Sinai Park, for more than 12 years. There she also led the charge in bringing

that community into the future of caregiving. That’s what she was brought to Seacrest Village to do as well. It’s not that Seacrest Village hasn’t been doing a great job already. They are a mainstay in the Jewish community, with a waiting list and all the smiling residents to prove it. They have experienced tremendous growth throughout the years, evidenced by the assistance in the creation of Seacrest at Home, a new home care agency which brings care services directly to a client’s residence. But the needs of America’s seniors are changing, and we are all starting to look at aging much differently than we used to. “We want to be the innovator of what it means to age today, tomorrow, in five years, even 20 years from now,” Fuson says. So they’re embarking on a shift to personcentered care. “We’re becoming a teaching- and learningand person-centered organization that is very different from your run-of-the-mill senior care facility,” she continues. “Person-centered practices put the resident at the heart of every decision that is made. It takes the typical hierarchical organizational chart and flips it so that at the heart of every decision is a direct caregiver and the resident.” The executives see this as a culmination of the work that Seacrest Village has been doing for decades. Without the strong foundation of a tight-knit support community (including the resident’s family members) and an incredibly committed nursing staff, these ambitious changes would not be possible. As a first step toward this change, Seacrest Village has enhanced the staffing ratio in the nursing home so that each staff member across all three shifts has fewer residents for whom to provide care. This allows each staff person the ability to spend quality time with the residents so that they can plan activities together or do something as simple and refreshing as taking a walk together on a nice day. Also central to this new structure is an understanding of how each resident wishes to live his or her day. For example, when new residents are welcomed, they are asked about the types of medications they take and what times they usually take them. If they will be inconvenienced by the medication schedule that the physician has ordered for their stay in the nursing home, the nursing staff, or sometimes Fuson herself, will Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 35

FEATURE

(L-R): Samuel Ma, LVN; Kimberly Fuson, VP of Operations; Sharon Letter Kaplan, Gala Steering Committee Member; Rusti Bartell Weiss, 2015 Gala Chair; Mary Epsten, President of Women’s Auxiliary; Pam Ferris, President/CEO; and Leonida Hernandez, RN/MDS Coordinator with the sample bed for the 2015 Fund-a-Need project to raise $150,000 for 60 medical-surgical beds and mattresses for the Joseph & Dorothy Goldberg Healthcare Center.

consult the resident’s doctor to figure out a more agreeable schedule. Staff wants to know when residents like to wake up, and at what times they prefer to have their breakfast. It’s about keeping the resident in control of his or her life, and always remembering that Seacrest Village is their home, and as such, should flex to their needs. “It’s about the person serving honoring the person served so that there is a symbiotic relationship and lots of trust involved,” Fuson says. As they make this transition to person-centered care, there are a few technical things that need to be put in place. To begin, this year’s “Fund a Need” program that takes place at the Annual Women’s Auxiliary Gala will raise funds for new, 36 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

state-of-the-art medical beds and mattresses for the nursing home. They hope to raise $150,000 or more to buy the beds. “We always have to remember that this is the resident’s home,” Genesis Franco, staffing and central supply coordinator, says, “and providing these beds for them, it’s about comfort. If the residents are comfortable, they’re going to be more peaceful.” “These beds will help us prevent injuries,” says Dora Rivera, staff development coordinator. “We can raise the beds for staff to do transfers, or lower them for ease in rolling out. The mattresses also provide pressure relief so if someone is very compromised, we have the ability to attach a specialized motor and create what is called an

alternating air flow mattress. This alleviates the need to painfully move them from one mattress onto another.” This year’s Women’s Auxiliary Gala, entitled “Emerald City,” is dedicated to honoring the heart, courage and wisdom behind all of Seacrest Village Retirement Communities, from the residents to the Board of Trustees to the entire staff and tremendous supporters who make it all come together. “Always at the end of the day,” Fuson says, “the resident is the heart of everything.” The “Emerald City” Gala will be held on Feb. 21 at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla. Purchase tickets at seacrestvillage.org. A

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Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 37

Celebrating San Diego's Jewish Women

WOMEN

HANDING OFF A LEGACY OF GIVING Marjory Kaplan leaves JCF in Charlene Seidle’s capable hands BY NATALIE JACOBS

PHOTOS COURTESY JCF

Marjory Kaplan

he San Diego philanthropic community is unique in a lot of ways. The wealth in this city is relatively new and generated mostly from one of two avenues – entrepreneurship and real estate. San Diego success stories like Price Club/Costco and Qualcomm quickly come to mind, along with the stories of WWII veterans amassing millions off of land they purchased with their share of the

40 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

GI Bill. The nonprofit organizations that support the wealthy San Diego families who have a desire to give back to the community also stand out, specifically the Jewish ones. The Jewish Community Foundation is among the pioneers of fund management and innovative community granting. A lot of this is thanks to the leadership of Marjory Kaplan, president and CEO of JCF since 1994. When

she started with the Foundation, they had $1314 million in assets and granted only $1 million per year. Now, 20 years since Kaplan took the helm, JCF has marked their largest granting year ever, with more than $100 million given back to the community, putting them at more than $1 billion granted in the organization’s lifetime. With that huge accomplishment under her belt, Kaplan has announced that she is retiring. Charlene Seidle, most recently Executive Vice President of the Leichtag Foundation, will take over where Kaplan is leaving off, continuing a successful tradition of female leadership at San Diego’s largest granting organization. It turns out, this tradition of female leadership is another one of the ways that our nonprofit community is unique in the nation. “Nationally, I’ve been in meetings where I was the only woman or one of a few women and I’m very cognizant of that,” Seidle says. “Or on national panels I notice that,” Kaplan adds, “we’re the only woman on a panel.” For private foundations nationally, there are a few women in leadership roles, Kaplan says. As for Federations, Seidle says there are none. But for both Kaplan and Seidle, being the only woman in the room really only happens when they’re outside of San Diego. “I’ve always felt very lucky to be in San Diego,” Seidle, who attended La Jolla High School and UC San Diego, says, “because we’re away from New York and the more established Jewish community where I know there has been more of an old boys club. I think if you’re in San Diego you’re sort of a renegade by nature. A lot of people are transplants and they don’t have to really comply with those more established rules.” Kaplan herself is one of those transplants. She came to San Diego from Denver where she was a vice president in the investments division of the largest bank there. She started her career in banking at Bank of America in San Francisco in 1972 at a time when women were just beginning to take on management and leadership roles within public companies. “I think I was really riding the wave,” Kaplan says. “When I joined Bank of America in ’72, women were already being recognized and promoted but for the first time, really. I was in that group that was being moved up pretty quickly.”

While she never felt any discrimination within Bank of America because of her gender, she was with the company during a class action lawsuit that effected many female employees. The company had a college degree requirement until employees filed a suit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “[At the time, Bank of America] had something like 1,000 branches statewide and the men were on the lending side, the women were on the operations side. [The women] didn’t have degrees and so all of a sudden when the bank dropped the degree requirement they wound up with this talent pool of women who were the star teller and then became the star systems operations officer and then they became the branch manager. So it was really an interesting time to see. But I was very lucky, I had wonderful bosses and great mentoring. “It was a very special bank,” Kaplan continues, “because Bank of America was really fair and really believed in promotion from within. They wouldn’t often hire from the outside. I remember getting promoted to be Head of International Compensation and my two main colleagues nationally were at Citi Bank and Chase, both men, and they called me like ‘You got promoted from within!?!’ It was like Citi Bank would never do that.” Seidle’s appointment as CEO of JCF marks her return to the organization where she got her start in the nonprofit industry. She came on to work for Kaplan and the Community Foundation as an intern in 1997 just as the organization was beginning to expand and become the granting behemouth that it is today. So Seidle had a strong female mentor from the very beginning. And she’s quick to credit the San Diego philanthropic community for making her career so enjoyable. “I feel so fortunate to be in this community,” she says. “I don’t know the experience of other communities but I think we have the best, most generous, sincerely philanthropic community. Maybe because we are less established so people who are giving are doing so because they really want to make a difference, not because they have to be on some society list or donor list, they really want to make an impact in the community.” Written in the book of Kaplan’s legacy at JCF will be the youth philanthropy program

Charlene Seidle

she created in 1997 to help familiarize young people with the philanthropic process, and the endowment leadership institute to support local synagogues and agencies with endowment building. The Jewish Community Foundation currently manages more than 800 donor advised funds and more than $300 million in assets. It is trusted by some of San Diego’s most prestigious donors.

“Our main product is trust,” Seidle says. “That’s the culture we have here,” Kaplan says, “being extremely efficient and professional but very friendly and oriented to what the donor needs and what’s best for the donor. People feel that.” To learn more about the Jewish Community Foundation, visit jcfsandiego.org. A

Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 41

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42 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

WOMEN

FIGHTING FOR JEWISH WOMEN JFS, JWF and Jennifer Levitt

PHOTO COURTESY JFS

BY NATALIE JACOBS

ennifer Levitt, President of the Board of Jewish Family Service, is walking a path paved by some of San Diego’s most influential advocates for Jewish women. Levitt is completing her second year as JFS Board President but she has served there for more than six. Four years ago, she held the position of Chair of the Jewish Women’s Foundation, an organization that the late Jan “June” Tuttleman started in 2001 to provide grants to organizations serving San Diego’s Jewish women and girls. Levitt is also involved with Women Give San Diego, an organization that Tuttleman also founded, with friends Linda Katz and Gayle Tauber. “One of the things that has been really important for me are women role models in the Jewish community,” Levitt says. She drew much

inspiration from Tuttleman when she met her eight years ago. “[Tuttleman] felt very strongly that Jewish women who had the resources to do so should be at the forefront of bringing women’s issues into the broader discussion.” As a convert to Judaism, Levitt felt most connected to the religion’s principals of tikkun olam and the “deeply held obligation of the Jewish community not just to look at the needs within our own community but in the community more broadly.” Levitt has centered her tikkun olam efforts around the issues of women. “I think keeping the experiences of women at the forefront is extremely important for a human services agency,” she says, “because we

have learned through lots and lots of data that programs that support women and girls tend to support communities more broadly.” Given the financial challenges that come with Jewish community involvement – from synagogue membership and High Holiday services to day schools and summer camp – the programs that Levitt and her board support are vital to maintaining an inclusive community here in San Diego. Learn more about those programs at jfssd.org.A

Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 43

WOMEN

ROLLING OUT WELCOME MAT

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Federation changes course, thanks to leadership from board chair Theresa Dupuis BY TINA B. ESHEL

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he 2013 Pew Research survey revealed, among other things, that intermarriage rates for Jews are rising. Nowadays, 72 percent of non-orthodox Jews will marry a non-Jewish partner. Theresa Dupuis sees opportunities in the stats and as the board chair for San Diego’s Jewish Federation, she’s in the right place to make a difference. To start with, that means taking a hard look at the old way of doing things, and finding new purpose and meaning in Federation’s mission. “It became evident that fundraising wasn’t a compelling message anymore,” says Dupuis, who, in addition to redirecting focus on pressing issues such as young adult and teen engagement, wants to make San Diego the “most welcoming Jewish community in all of North America.” She’s no stranger to overcoming this hurdle. Raised Catholic, Dupuis converted to Judaism when she got married and thoughtfully describes the transition to becoming one of the tribe. It wasn’t always easy. She says hearing others “use Hebrew and Yiddish phraseology can make it hard for the non-Jew or Jew-by-choice to feel like they fit in.” Because of that experience, Dupuis wants to make it easier for intermarried couples and families to feel like they belong by “creating activities and events that are ‘easy entry.’” Her views are long-range. “The Federation is like the Supreme Court,” she says from the recently remodeled Federation offices on Murphy Canyon Road. “We look at things whose impact will be decades long.” Community building is essential; it’s the legacy for tomorrow and the link between generations. With all those big ideas, what’s her secret to getting things done? “Don’t be afraid to speak up. Women have different manners than men and often apologize,” when it’s not necessary, she says. Instead, her advice is to “make sure your voice is heard … and when you are in a conversation working hard to persuade someone, really listen and be present.” Your curiosity may be the difference between building or burning a bridge between you and someone who can help advance your cause. Learn more about Federation’s new direction at jewishinsandiego.org. A

44 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

WOMEN

NOT THE NOTE-TAKER Lawyer Myra Fleischer has reached a pinnacle in her career, but it didn’t come easy BY TINA B. ESHEL

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lawyer by day, Myra Fleischer is highly regarded in the local Jewish community for her work with the Jewish National Fund. Finishing up her third year as the local chapter president, Fleischer is also a national JNF board member and one of only 35 Makor members (Hebrew for “source”), a specially trained cadre of JNF volunteers in the United States. Fleischer is refreshingly open about some of the gender hurdles she’s faced in her male-dominated field. “I can remember being a new lawyer going into meetings with men and being ‘old-boyed’ by the guys,” she says, thinking back on her early days in the legal profession 18 years ago. The glass ceiling hasn’t been entirely shattered, she says. “No matter how many women are in business, there’s still a smaller percentage of women in high roles.” Fleischer also notes that there are only small numbers of Jewish women serving in high-level positions on executive boards. She laughs when she recalls being asked to be the secretary at a meeting when she’s the only woman in attendance…even when she was the highest ranking professional in the room. This doesn’t stop Fleischer from doing what needs to be done and she attributes her strong work ethic to her Jewish upbringing – both parents where pharmacists – and her mother’s particular struggles in college in the 1940s, when female university students were incredibly rare. While she’s sitting comfortably on the other side of the most uncomfortable gender discriminations of her career, she’s come away with a few lessons. “It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female … what matters is to remember that no one will work as hard for you as you.” A Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 45

WOMEN

SAN DIEGO’S FEMALE RABBIS: Paving new paths to Judaism

hroughout this issue, we’ve been showcasing how women have been breaking the glass ceiling in a variety of traditionally male-dominated professions. Synagogue leadership is no exception. Two local female rabbis are not only making strides for women in synagogue leadership, they’re helping to entirely redefine what it means to be a synagogue today. Gabi Arad Gabi Arad grew up in a reform synagogue. Her mother was a Jewish educator. “I loved the sense of belonging and community that people had. I was involved in everything from choir to youth group to temple shows,” she says. When Arad was 15 she began teaching her own class for special needs boys. She knew then that she wanted to be a rabbi, declaring at her Bat Mitzvah she would be both a cantor and a rabbi. Although she says she has not faced extreme challenges as a woman, in one of her positions she was the first female rabbi in more than 15 years. “When I arrived, I was bombarded with women and girls wanting to start all sorts of programs geared for women.” They started a Rosh Chodesh group, organized an annual women’s Seder, and met to discuss women’s issues. “It felt good to be a person that could meet their needs.” She is a wife and mother of two daughters and she and her husband just started a new congregation called the Jewish collaborative of San Diego. “I think that synagogue leaders are trying to 46 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

BY BRIE STIMSON

change,” Arad explains. “What they may not realize is that the structure of the synagogue is what has to change.” She says synagogues are based on a consumer model of congregants paying and the leaders performing. “Engagement and relationship is what people want.” Beverly Zarnow Beverly Zarnow, of Kahal Am, a humanistic

congregation, trained for her congregational work for five years at the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Jews in Michigan. She was encouraged to pursue her career by her mentor, the emeritus leader of her community at the time. “In a sense, I was destined to follow some kind of leadership role because I have always been dedicated to including Judaism in my life and sharing it with others,” Zarnow says. “I was active in my Reform temple through Confirmation and lead my B’nai Brith Girls youth group in high school.” She continued to focus on Judaism in college, choosing to live in a Jewish cooperative house with seven other people for two years. They ate kosher meals, made Shabbat dinners, folk danced, and discussed Jewish philosophy and culture. “I have rarely felt concern about my gender,” Zarnow explains. “The members show me respect for my work, which I see when they feel comfortable making constructive suggestions to me.” Zarnow has developed a Bar/Bat Mitzvah program that allows Mitzvah candidates to study and present on a Jewish topic of their choosing. “They are not tied to studying a particular Torah portion, although I make sure every student has the experience of reading and analyzing their parsha. The feedback I receive about this program is that the Mitzvah experience has a positive impact on the young person’s future development and appreciation of Judaism.” She says today more women are ordained as rabbis and madrikhot; synagogue leadership often lacks hierarchy and some are run as cooperatives. In the future she hopes to build a stronger secular Jewish community in San Diego by participating in Jewish community events and expanding outreach. A

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Dear Community Members, While some of you may know me as an account executive at SDJJ, I am also a Kavod mother. I’m sharing this information about Kavod Elementary Charter School because I am delighted with my decision to send my son to the school and I believe if more parents had a comprehensive

understanding of the curriculum and culture of the school they would make this same decision.

Well into the second academic year, the school is absolutely blossoming. Kavod, a non-religious, free public school, is a Hebrew language school that teaches about Israeli culture and history. With an impressive satisfaction rate among parents, and the unanimous San Diego Unified School Board approval and renewal of the charter, Kavod is quickly becoming the successful, diverse and academically stimulating school the founding members envisioned.

I chose to send my son to Kavod for the major components that embody Kavod’s mission. The first is the excellent academic program. Kavod has small class sizes and implements the workshop model, offering each student individual attention. Next is

the dual language through Hebrew immersion. Learning a second language augments

the brain’s ability to engage in both academic and creative thought, and Hebrew is

valuable language in the global market. Third, social responsibility is emphasized through community service projects, social-emotional learning, and a values curriculum dedicated to building good character traits. Lastly, global awareness is integrated through a curriculum entitled The Culture and History of Israel and its Immigrant Communities, which encourages the children to develop a global appreciation and deep respect for diverse cultures. There are several key elements that have contributed to the high satisfaction rate and

engaging environment that fosters learning. The subjects are presented on a rotating schedule, providing students with an opportunity to learn each subject at a time when he/she is most receptive. Instead of traditional homework, the school implemented home review, wherein the children are encouraged to

share what they have learned each day at home, in a stress-free manner. Additionally, the Kavod staff focuses on positive reinforcement. As Kavod means respect, the overarching theme of the school is respect. After only the first year of operation, 100% of the families agreed that the faculty at Kavod treat their children with respect and fairness and that Kavod celebrates the successes of its students.

The culture of the school is that of a small, close-knit community with diverse backgrounds and a shared sense of belonging to the Kavod family. The administration anticipates the need for a kindergarten lottery to be held for the upcoming school year. The deadline for enrollment is January 30th, so I encourage parents considering enrolling their

children to contact the school immediately.

On April 18th, Kavod will hold the school’s major fundraiser, Mesiba, a night out at the Rough Draft Brewery. The event will be open to members of the greater community who wish to support the mission of the school or learn more about it from current parents. You can learn more about Kavod and Mesiba at KavodElementary.org. Thank you for taking the time to learn about Kavod. I wish you all a happy and healthy 2015! Kind regards,

Ronnie Elizabeth Weisberg

WOMEN

THE WISDOM OF THE BENCH

Bonnie Dumanis marks her career with a handful of “firsts” for San Diego and the nation

PHOTOS COURTESY BONNIE DUMANIS

BY TINA B. ESHEL

onnie Dumanis is more than the nation’s first openly gay District Attorney. She’s San Diego County’s first female and first Jewish person to sit at the head of the local judicial system. On top of all those firsts, Dumanis is a highflying political personality sitting in the driver’s seat of a nonpartisan position who, even as a registered Republican, finds allies, appreciators, and detractors among a broad spectrum of people from Democrats to community leaders to law enforcement. Trailblazer that she is, Dumanis has, by necessity, become comfortable with criticism since getting the DA job in 2003. Critics contend that Dumanis wields her office’s power in inappropriate ways, ways that don’t always sit well with those on the receiving end of her decisions.

In our interview, we bypassed the gossip to get to the core of the woman behind the legal and political machinations. After all, ask anyone in a position of leadership and she’ll tell you that condemnation comes with the terrain. I found her to be refreshingly candid, comfortable and at times even vulnerable. We start at the beginning. Dumanis comes from a working class family. Her father put his dreams on hold to take care of his brood. A truck driver by day and musician when time permitted, he was “surrounded” by women in their home and set an example that “everybody was equal to him,” Dumanis says. “My father was the biggest feminist around.” From him, Dumanis learned that she could do whatever she wanted and she held that belief even when she graduated from the University

of Massachusetts Amherst and couldn’t find a teaching job, her first career choice. “I had no plans to be a lawyer. None. Zippo.” With no work in education, Dumanis headed to San Diego where she found employment as a law clerk while she went to law school at night. She graduated from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 1976 and spent the next 12 years as a Deputy District Attorney before being appointed to the Municipal Court as a judge. Nearly 40 years later, she still sounds a bit surprised that a Jewish woman from a working class neighborhood on the other side of the country (Brockton, Mass.) commands a job in the corner office on the top floor of a downtown skyscraper with a view of one of the finest coastlines in the world. Passionate about public service, Dumanis offers that it’s still the best job in town, even with the critics and public outcry. As she put it, “How the public has treated us of late hasn’t been kind.” There’s no animosity in her voice. Her eyes twinkle and she’s ready for the next question – the glass ceiling. “There are gender obstacles in every path,” she says, adding, “the real world is different than how my dad painted it.” Dumanis is aware that there is a tradition of women who came before her and broke down barriers that she has continued to blast through. She says that younger women today appear to take for granted the rights that were earned through the sweat and tears of others. Her take is that when it comes to women’s issues, “it’s a constant battle with extremism taking over,” which means that today’s generation must continue the legacy of empowering women to achieve their full potential. “My advice is to not let anyone hold you back,” she says. “Follow your passion and don’t give up.” As the interview winds down, I ask what’s next for Dumanis when she eventually leaves the DA’s office. She looks out the window that mirrors the expansive view she says she’s always taken in her professional endeavors. “In 10 years, maybe I’ll make my mother proud and go back to school online to become a rabbi,” she muses. “In many ways, being a judge was like being a rabbi,” I don’t question her on this. I’m too busy imagining Rabbi Dumanis at the pulpit. A

Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 49

WOMEN

POLITICS, ACCIDENTALLY

Susan Davis started out as a social worker, ended up a Congressional representative BY NATALIE JACOBS

PHOTO COURTESY SUSAN DAVIS FACEBOOK PAGE

Congresswoman Susan Davis takes a stop at the Naval Academy in Annapolis on May 19, 2014, to thank the service members from San Diego.

“I

think we’re all aware that there are plenty of old boys networks in Congress,” Susan Davis, Congressional Representative for San Diego’s 53rd Disctrict, says from her Adams Avenue office. “But the women as a group tend to interact and learn a lot from one another.” In this incoming 114th Congress, there are 84 women who will continue or begin work in the House of Representatives. Out of 435 seats in the House, the group of women that Davis is referring to is a small one, but given the reputation of Congress lately, the bipartisan nature of their support may be key to actually getting things done. “I think as women, we often feel that we could

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solve problems quicker, that there is a little less ego involvement. The problem is, we’re not often given that opportunity because women do not chair as many committees. They just don’t have the same opportunities as our male counterparts.” That disadvantage makes sense, given the numbers of female representatives, but Davis explains that it’s because of senority as well. As women are still working their ways up the ranks of the House, their numbers as senior members of committees, something of a currency in Congress, are very small. Nancy Pelosi stands out as perhaps the most visible woman, from her position as Speaker of the House to now Minority Leader. The Rules Committee does have a female

chair too, an 84-year-old veteran from New York. Another woman made an attempt on the minority chair seat of the Energy and Commerce Committee (an “exclusive committee” according to Davis), but the member who had more senority, a man, was chosen instead. For her part, Davis is a member of the Education Committee and serves as Chair of the Personnel Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee. She’s fourth in the chain of command there, after a host of ranking members of the Armed Services Committee were unseated in 2010. Her road to Chair of the Personnel Subcommittee, which she took over in 2007, was similarly fast-tracked when she was “able to skip

PHOTO BY NICHOLAS PATTON

L-R: Steve Davis, Beth Flohr, Barbara Rakov, Susan Davis, M. Zuhdi Jasser, Susan Kleinman Monk, Nicole Bernstein, Bethany Sotak Stuckelman at the StandWithUs celebration in early December, 2014.

over a few people partly because they had other interests on the committee” and partly because she was in the right place at the right time. “Frankly,” she continues, “a lot of people try and stay away from the Personnel Subcommittee because the decisions are really difficult there. So sometimes I think a lot of the men are not as interested in the committee. It tends to be populated a little more by women partly because we’re looking out for education and health issues in military families but also having to deal with a host of other issues, sexual assault, things like that come to the Personnel Committee. Even though we have male colleagues who maybe are interested, they haven’t been nearly as involved.” California as a whole is a leader in sending women to the House of Representatives, with 17 out of our total 53 delegates. But for San Diego, Susan Davis is only the second female to represent the region (Lynn Schenk was the first, in 1994. She served for one term). There are many theories about why women aren’t more represented in Congress. A big one is fundraising. “Women haven’t traditionally been as good at fundraising,” which is a necessary part of running for public office, Davis says. “You have to do that, you have to be willing to get out there. I think it’s taken a while for women to do that because I think as a group they do not tend to participate as much either. … Women have a tendency to want to be in the background. They’re just more comfortable doing that so you

have to really encourage women to come out. It’s not an easy thing to do. It certainly wasn’t easy for me and it’s not easy for others.” One thing that is helpful in encouraging women to become more involved in politics is membership in a politically active women’s organization. For Davis, it was the League of Women Voters. She was involved in her son’s preschool and met a fellow mom who was also a member of the League. The group, an organization of women who help educate people about elections, was formed after the Suffrage Movement. During Davis’ time there, the members met in homes throughout the city and discussed issues that impacted San Diego, like land use or education. Davis, given her interest in education through a history of social work, became active in the education group and worked with an Indian reservation. She became president of the Leauge in 1977. “That introduced me to government generally and the election process and the pros and cons of initiatives,” she explains. From there, Davis became active in different elections on behalf of individual candidates. With that, she became familiar with the fine art of getting elected to public office. When a seat became available on the Board of the San Diego Unified School District, she decided to run. “It was an opportunity for me because I cared a great deal about education. Bussing just started, we had a new superintendent, I had two young children in the public school system.”

Another less-well-known reason for her running for the School Board seat was that her opponent was running on a platform of bringing prayer into schools. That didn’t feel appropriate to Davis and it motivated her to go for the seat even harder. “But the chief motivation was to make sure that my kids got a good education and that I could help make a difference,” she adds. She never intended to continue with a career in politics. Even when Willie Brown, then Speaker of the California State Assembly, called to ask her to run for state government, she politely declined. “I was at work one day and he called me and told me that he wanted me to consider it. I basically said to him, ‘Mr. Speaker, I appreciate your asking but honestly I’ve got this great job. I have an office in La Jolla. I don’t really need that job.’” But Mr. Speaker didn’t take no for an answer. He enlisted several women, including Dede Alpert, a member of the State Senate and an education leader from San Diego, to encourage Davis to run for the California Legislature. Eventually she was convinced and in 1994 she became a delegate. She was elected to her current seat as Representative for the 53rd Congressional District in 2003 and she says she doesn’t have her sights on any other political positions after this. “I’ll let other people think about that,” she says with a smile. A

Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 51

WOMEN

FIRST FEMALE CHIEF OF POLICE A gender and religio-cultural trailblazer

PHOTOS COURTESY SHELLEY ZIMMERMAN

BY TINA B. ESHEL

f you heard someone say that law enforcement was a man’s job, you’d probably wince at the political incorrectness of the claim but then start racking your brain to find an example of the last female cop you encountered. It would be equally uncomfortable to hear someone question a Jew’s place in the law enforcement totem pole. We’re not really lacking in examples there either, but it’s not something we spend too much time talking about. The reality is that Jews have long taken on law enforcement roles in federal, state and local precincts. From laying the foundation for the development of police psychology to helping establish standard law enforcement protocols, Jewish contributions to Team Blue go back centuries. As for the question of women on the “Force,” let Shelley Zimmerman be the first that comes to your mind from now on. On March 4, 2014, San Diego mayor Kevin

52 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

Faulconer appointed the Cleveland, Ohionative to the position of Chief of Police. She was second-in-command and had 31 years with the San Diego Police Department when Chief William Lansdowne retired. “I’ve always been an outdoors person and suffered the winters in Cleveland,” Zimmerman says from her corner office on the seventh floor of San Diego Police Headquarters. Looking at the view outside her window, it’s easy to see what lured Zimmerman here from America’s heartland. It was 1980 and she still remembers the trip. “We rented a car and came down to San Diego, went to the beaches and I fell in love with the city. I made the decision then that I was done with Ohio.” Two years later, with her degree in criminal justice from The Ohio State University,

Rob Weinberg of Temple Adat Shalom serves arrived with her suitcase, guitar upZimmerman some blintzes at their Jewish Food Festival and no place to stay. Her plan waslast to follow spring.in her trial attorney father’s footsteps and go to law school, but she needed money and the police department was hiring. “Today, I’m the Chief of Police,” she says with a smile. As much as she touts the benefits of her job, it’s no cakewalk if you’re paying attention to local news. With reports of the Department’s comparatively low pay standards, retention problems (the day I was there, the Austin Police Department was in town recruiting officers), and a not-so-welcome reputation of sexual misconduct, Zimmerman has had a lot on her plate since her first day on the job. Good thing she’s an optimist. “If you listen to everything I say, the glass is half full,” she says in a follow-up phone call the day after our in-person interview. Back in her office, Zimmerman says she’s proud that San Diego is one of the safest cities in the U.S. with compartively few officers. That optimism comes through even when asked the more pressing questions about whether she faced any particular hurdles as a policewoman. She insists she never worried how people viewed her and she would never call herself a feminist – role model is a term with which she has grown to be more comfortable. “I’m honored to be that role model for young girls, to show them you can do anything you want in the world, you just have to work hard.” Growing up Jewish in a Conservative home, that work ethic came directly from her family’s Jewish values. “We lived by the Zimmerman code,” she says. “What that meant was: support each other and always look out for those who can’t help themselves. We had lots of conversations over the Shabbat meal about life, work, family. We learned to only expect the best of ourselves. Don’t cut corners, work hard and do the right thing. “My goal was never to be the chief of police,” she continues. “All I ever cared about was to do the best job I could. By doing that and doing well, it created and opened up opportunities.” That’s why she encourages women and girls to follow their dreams but be open to surprising themselves. “Sometimes the opportunities are even greater than your dream,” she says. A

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WOMEN

NEW PATHS

Eileen Kurlander and alternative health options

PHOTOS COURTESY EILEEN KURLANDER

BY AMANDA KELLY

FIVE QUESTIONS W/ JACQUI SILVER

ftentimes, people seek alternative health practices only after they have exhausted all options in traditional medicine. Eileen Kurlander, an alternative health practitioner and president of the North County Holistic Chamber of Commerce in San Diego, discovered alternative healing in much the same manner. Kurlander, a native of Indianapolis, Ind., moved to San Diego more than 20 years ago to work in the field of interior furnishing. Not too long after she arrived, however, her health began to deteriorate. When traditional medicine did nothing to alleviate her symptoms, Kurlander tried various natural and alternative therapies. Then she met with an allergist who diagnosed her with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Her blood tested off the charts for industrial toxicity. The allergist recommended a systematic cleanse to rid her body of toxins, something she was already trying with the alternative methods she had discovered. Those ultimately healed her. “Through healing myself and rebuilding my system,” Kurlander explains, “I learned how we are made and I use my experience to help people.” Kurlander’s resume now features a laundry list of alternative wellness qualifications from Reiki Master Healer to Certified Pain Management Technician. She applies each of these specializations in her practice, which she runs out of her Carmel Valley home. In many cases, she works not only with individuals, but also with entire families. In fact, she considers her practice to be family oriented and spiritually based. As a single mother, she sees the value of fostering healthy interpersonal relationships. “Motherhood has made me a better counselor, coach and mentor,” she says. “I help people live a greater life. Take them from where they are to where they want to go using mind, body, spirit practices.” While many of her clients have reached their wits-end with traditional medicine by the time they make their way to Kurlander, she says she works with many different people with a variety of health concerns. “It’s satisfying to see people living happily. It feels really good.”A

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hat is your background in music? I started playing the piano when I was 3 years old. My dad was a ragtime player in St. Louis. It was there that I learned to play Ragtime and then I was taught classical. I got a scholarship to Juilliard and I went there when I was 15. And then I stayed in New York all my life until I came to San Diego. Do you have a favorite song to play on piano? Well, Chopin is my favorite classical piano composer but I give lectures and I play on every composer imaginable. I can’t say that there’s one that stands out, but I’m kind of an expert on American music and Ragtime, in Scott Joplin. I’m writing a show on him. Who are some of your female musical idols? I’ve studied with some marvelous female teachers and they have been very strongly instrumental in my life in guiding me not only on how to play the piano but on how to be a woman in the difficult field of music. What was it like to be a woman in the music industry? When I was growing up, it was a man’s field. I had many an occasion where I broke through that barrier because of my talent. Where let’s say a male singer, because I also did a lot of collaboration with singers like Luciano Pavarotti, Marilyn Horne, many luminaries. They didn’t go on stage with a female pianist at that time, and I broke through that barrier on most occasions. There were just a couple of occasions where the European singers came and they said “she’s terrific, but she’s a woman, we can’t have her on the stage.” Do you have any advice for young female musicians? Just keep knocking on the doors and just keep getting out there. If you’re good, you’ve gotta be good, it will break through. But I would say that courage is the most important ingredient. And the belief in yourself that you really can do this. I don’t believe in arrogance, but I think if you’re good and you really can get out there, something’s going to happen. Jacqui Silvers performs, writes and teaches piano to children and adults in University City. Contact her at (858) 412-5858 or jsilver@san.rr.comd.”A

WOMEN

DOCTOR TO PATIENT OB/GYN Dina Fainman finds balance as she expects first child

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PHOTO COURTESY DINA FAINMAN

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inding a balance between work and home life is a challenge for many. To have both a career and a family requires certain sacrifices that are not taken for granted by those who make them. Dina Fainman, a local OB/GYN, recognizes that keeping a balance between her personal life and her profession is vital to the success of both. “Part of it is surrounding myself with people that understand what I do and appreciate what I do so that I don’t have that feeling of guilt,” she says. “But also knowing when enough is enough. At times I can relinquish responsibility to colleagues when I’m not on call.” Fainman, who is currently expecting her first child, believes it is all doable when you surround yourself with the right people. “It’s really important to have people in your life that understand your profession and recognize how important it is. I love what I do.” Her passion for obstetrics and gynecology has never wavered even throughout medical school. “For me it was a total affirmation of everything I always thought I wanted to do. I loved the hands-on experience and the interaction with physicians and patients.” She has noticed a shift overall in the ratio of women to men going into her field than was the case in previous decades. This, she mentions, is promising for the future. “I know in my field women want women physicians because it’s such a personal specific experience that they’re going through that men just can’t relate to.” At the end of the day, her patient relationships keep her coming back to the job despite the apparent personal sacrifices. “Knowing that I can help somebody with something that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to figure out on their own is always really satisfying,” she says. Learn more about Dina Fainman at encinitasobgyn.com. A Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 55

WOMEN

DRAWING A LUCKY HAND

San Diego Jewish Film Festival Chair Saundra Saperstein knows when to hold ‘em

PHOTO BY CAROL SONSTEIN

BY PAT LAUNER

espite her dimples and girlish charm, Saundra Saperstein can keep a poker face. It’s in her blood. Many years ago, her maternal grandparents emigrated from Romania to Canada to Montana, and then to Ogden, Utah. There, her grandpa “got in a poker thing,” as Saperstein so delicately puts it, and he was obligated to remain in town. He got married, opened a store on “the immigrant street” – 25th Street, above an opium den. As he became more successful, they moved up to the main street of town and opened a furniture store, where the man who later became Saperstein’s father ran the music department, after he gave up on being a musician.

56 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

One evening, on the way to meet his wife at the train station, Saperstein’s grandpa stopped for a quick game of poker. “He drew a dead man’s hand,” says his granddaughter, “aces and eights. Right then and there, he grabbed his chest and died.” (The hand’s deadly moniker comes from folk hero Wild Bill Hickok, who was said to be holding those exact cards when he was murdered). Ironically, though she didn’t learn this story about her grandpa’s gambling and demise until high school, Saperstein credits him with having taken her to see her first film: “Dillinger” (a gangster movie). “When I was growing up,” Saperstein recalls,

“there were only 20 Jewish families in Ogden. There was a synagogue, but it only had a traveling rabbi, for the High Holidays, when the men closed their businesses in order to get a minyan together.” It was a heavily Mormon environment. Like all her classmates, Saperstein participated in Mormon girls’ groups, “kind of like BBG, B’nai Brith Girls,” she says. She never had any close Jewish friends until college. But she certainly made up for lost time. At Berkeley, where she majored in Communications/Public Policy, “it was a whole new world,” she says. Her roommate was Jewish, she “met all kinds of people, and loved the many Jewish contacts.” Right after graduation, she married one of the only other Jews in Ogden, whom she met in front of the synagogue. Hersh, her husband of 54 years, became a lawyer and “dragged me, kicking and screaming, back to Utah.” Saperstein began teaching part-time at a private girls’ school in Salt Lake City, where she was nonplussed when asked to direct the Christmas chorale. But she must’ve done all right, because she stayed on for seven years, teaching drama and political science. At the same time, while raising three children, she studied theater at the University of Utah, all the way up to the doctoral level (except for the dissertation). Meanwhile, a friend who was with a traveling group theater company asked if she’d be interested in working there. “I jumped at the opportunity to travel,” Saperstein says. “I took theater trips to New York, and after a while, I led trips. At some point, I quit teaching. Then someone told me about the Utah Film Commission.” She became the marketing director at the Film Commission which, in 1978, sponsored the first U.S./Utah Festival, the forerunner of the Sundance Film Festival. The original location was Salt Lake City; then the Festival moved to Park City, where it remains, though part of the renowned annual event is still in Ogden. Representing the Utah Film Festival, Saperstein did a great deal of traveling and met a lot of people, both famous and not. “Being Jewish certainly helped,” she says. “There were so many Jewish directors and

PHOTO COURTESY SAUNDRA SAPTERSTEIN

producers in New York and L.A. They’d always say, “What’s a Nice Jewish Girl like you doing in Utah?” Using her charisma and her marketing skills (“I didn’t know what the hell I was doing at first,” she humbly confesses), Saperstein ultimately spent 17 years at Sundance, while still maintaining her role with the Utah Film Commission. “At first,” she recalls, “I worked with film directors, who, in the early years, didn’t know anything about marketing. But as the Sundance Festival grew, I started dealing more with PR agencies and studios, that is, further and further away from the filmmakers, which is what I loved. The main focus became The Event.” A female producer pal was a partner of Mick Jagger and, wanting to bring a film to Sundance,

asked if Saperstein would handle the marketing. One thing led to another, and she began to do more and more for “Jagged Films” (which recently released “Get On Up,” the James Brown story). “Mick was my dinner partner in Cannes,” she says with a wink. “He’s really a very very nice man. Very down-to-earth. Smart, easy to talk to, with a good sense of humor.” After decades of running around, Saundra and Hersh decided to settle down. Eight years ago, they got comfortable in downtown San Diego. Almost immediately, Saundra was introduced to Joyce Axelrod, co-founder of the San Diego Jewish Film Festival. Saperstein started out as “a resource” for the SDJFF, but in very short order, she became the

Festival Chair. This is her third year on the job. She’s still on the selection committee, and also serves on the board of the Italian Film Festival (all that traveling has come in handy). “I feel so much more connected to my Jewishness and the community,” she says of her work with the SDJFF. “I’ve learned so much from the films – about Jewish history and the many faces of Jewish identity.” She’s especially excited about this year’s lineup: “more than 50 films over 10 days, new special programs, more screenings than ever, and five locations around the county. “We’re trying to broaden our perspective,” Saperstein explains. “We’re looking not just at the past, but at contemporary issues ... A lot seem to deal with identity.” One she’s particularly looking forward to is “Advanced Style,” a documentary produced by San Diego-native Ari Seth Cohen, which showcases “New York women of a certain age who dress in ways that are interesting, exciting and exotic,” Saperstein says. “It’ll be paired with a fashion show of Israeli clothes from Pomegranate La Jolla. That’s the lighter side of identity. “The closing night film, ‘Little White Lie,’ is fabulous,” she enthuses. The film is by and about Lacey Schwartz, a 37-year-old Jewish Harvard Law School graduate who grew up believing she was white. She was in college when her mother finally told Lacey that her biological father was African American. Now she identifies as Jewish and black. “It’s a very complex story of identity,” says Saperstein, “beautifully told. Both mother and daughter will be here for the Festival. “I really love the Jewish Film Festival,” concludes Saperstein. “I love that it helps create and enhance a sense of community. Hopefully, it will also help increase our tolerance for other people, other countries and other cultures.” The San Diego Jewish Film Festival, chaired by Saundra Saperstein, runs Feb. 5-15. Information is available at sdcjc.org/sdjff and in the Jewish Journal’s forthcoming February “Film Festival” issue. A

Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 57

WOMEN

JEWISH WOMEN OF THE SILVER SCREEN

In what could easily be described as a male-dominated field, Jewish women had a banner year in movies, television and film BY MICHAEL FOX

urpassing $3 million in box office receipts, writer-director Gillian Robespierre’s feature debut “Obvious Child” was one of the surprise indie hits of last year. Not bad for a low-budget movie about a struggling New York Jewish comic (played by Jenny Slate) who mines her awkward personal life – including the decision to have an abortion – for material. Funny and poignant, “Obvious Child” marked a rare breakthrough for a female Jewish director. Remarkably, it wasn’t the only one in 2014. Israeli writer-director Talya Lavie’s marvelous debut, “Zero Motivation,” won six Israeli Film Academy Awards, toured the U.S. film festival circuit and began its theatrical run in December. A satiric and biting saga of female friendship, support and sabotage among admins on an army base in the middle of nowhere, “Zero Motivation” opens in San Diego on Jan. 16 at the Ken Cinema. It scarcely needs to be noted that narrative feature filmmaking remains an overwhelmingly male domain. Even young female directors with certified success and talent, like Robespierre and Lavie, have a tougher time developing (that is, funding) their next features than promising male directors. It’s not fair, nor is it new. But it does 58 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

explain why women filmmakers gravitate to documentaries and cable television. Lena Dunham continues to acquire acolytes and detractors with “Girls,” which begins its fourth season this month on HBO. Creative freedom was likewise an incentive for Jill Soloway (the 2013 feature “Afternoon Delight”) to write and produce her well-reviewed new series, “Transparent,” for Amazon Prime. You’ll note that the common thread running through these projects, in addition to female creators, is irreverent comedy. Humor does not receive the respect (and budgets) that serious drama enjoys, but Robespierre et al. are no doubt sustained by the fact that it is often more subversive, effective and influential. If we include Jewish women in front of the camera, television also gave us “The Red Tent,” a Lifetime miniseries that placed the peripheral Biblical figure Dinah at the center of a certain eventful period in Jewish history. On the big screen, Polish-born director Pawel Pawlikowski’s wrenching black-and-white “Ida” (a near-certainty for an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language film, and now streaming on Netflix) follows a cynical Polish judge and her convent-raised niece, who’s just been told she’s Jewish, on a road trip in the 1960s. The talented Argentine novelist and

filmmaker Lucia Puenzo enjoyed almost as much international acclaim with “The German Doctor,” a restrained thriller that imagines Josef Mengele on the loose in the early ‘60s. The riveting Israeli courtroom drama “Gett: The Trial of Vivian Absalem” premiered at Cannes last year but will hit most Americans’ radar when it rolls into theaters this February and March. Siblings Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz (she also stars) portray the often-torturous process through which an Israeli woman obtains a divorce in this masterful, minimalist work. As we close the book on 2014, let’s long remember Lauren Bacall, Joan Rivers and Polly Bergen. Raise a glass, as well, to the late pianist and Holocaust survivor Alice Herz-Sommer, the subject of the Academy Award winner for Documentary Short Subject, “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life.” Turning our gaze to 2015, Israeli actress Natalie Portman makes her feature directorial debut with “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” adapted from her countryman Amos Oz’s memoir. Writerdirector Rebecca Miller directs Greta Gerwig, Julianne Moore and Clive Owen in the youngwoman-in-the-city drama “Maggie’s Plan.” (The accomplished Miller is still described occasionally as the daughter of the late playwright Arthur Miller and the wife of Daniel Day-Lewis.) Keep an eye out for Sarah Silverman’s dramatic turn as a spiraling, out-of-control suburban mother in “I Smile Back,” premiering this month at Sundance. Writer-director Amy Heckerling, a Hollywood Jewish icon although her work doesn’t explore Jewish characters or themes, returns next fall with “The Intern,” a comedy with Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo and Robert DeNiro about a fashion website that hires an elderly intern. Finally, in the “I’ll Believe It When I See It” category, Barbra Streisand is supposedly planning to direct a drama about the relationship between Margaret Bourke-White and Erskine Caldwell. The list of documentaries by or about Jewish women from 2014 is lengthy and impressive, though I’ll single out two currently available on Netflix: Israeli director Hilla Medalia’s crosscultural and cross-generational “Dancing in Jaffa” and Cecilia Peck’s memorable character study “Brave Miss World.” The latter film, about an Israeli beauty queen turned anti-rape activist, will screen at the Air Force Academy in the spring. A

WOMEN

LAW OF AVERAGES Gayle Mestel reflects on a 33-year career BY NATALIE JACOBS

We are

ATHLETES Learning Self-effacement in Service to a Team In organized games on the playground or in team play, students learn the fundamentals of the game and experience the importance of teamwork.

OPEN HOUSE Wednesday, January 14, 2015 | 9:00 am – 10:30 am. Registration is required. Space is limited.

The pluralistic community day school

RSVP to admissions@sdja.com or 866-765-7516 Learning for life. | sdja.com

s we know, there aren’t very many female CEOs of large companies. It’s harder to find information on the numbers of female chief executives in charge of small businesses, but it’s safe to assume it’s also not very many. Gayle Mestel is aware of this fact, but it hasn’t affected her career much. She became the President and CEO of CCS Public Relations, a firm of 15 based in Carlsbad, four years ago, after the company’s founder retired. Mestel started with the company in 1981 as a part-time typist. Her job was to enter changes from handwritten copy into a word processing system. When she interviewed for the minimum wage, part-time position, Mestel was told there was no opportunity for advancement, that this position was not a door leading into any kind of future with the company. Mestel had just graduated from San Diego State with a journalism degree that she couldn’t put to work. The position at CCS intrigued her despite the warning, so she took it. Almost 34 years later, she runs the company. “The lucky break happened when the woman who was doing media relations had a baby,” Mestel remembers. “She planned to come back full time but then only came back part time so they needed somebody to do media relations and I was open to learning it.” While she never felt discriminated against because of her gender, Mestel did think it was impossible for her to “have it all” as a career-driven woman. She was gaining steam in the company, had given up on finding a “nice Jewish man” and eventually came to think she was too old to have a baby. “I think it’s definitely attainable [to ‘have it all’], but I didn’t think it was possible for me. I feel really bad because I was almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy.” Almost. “I was 46 and gave birth to a healthy boy. I was so grateful because I was so into my career that I kind of had given up on being a mom and being a wife. I didn’t marry until I was 46 and I had my son when I was 46 and then I was a widow six years later.” Four years ago, her husband lost an eight year battle with cancer, around the same time Mestel became CEO of CCS. “I had it all for a really short time,” Mestel continues. “I had the career, I had the marriage, I had the child, we had a big house, all of that. So I’m grateful that I had it all because I don’t know that a lot of people have the ideal combination of everything ever.” Despite the tragedy, Mestel believes that things have a way of working themselves out. “I think that people need to really work hard, persevere, believe and be really opportunistic. That’s my motto. I hope not [opportunistic] in the negative connotation, but in recognizing an opportunity and really seizing it because you never know when you’re going to have another and I don’t like to have regrets. “I certainly have pursued a lot more in life than I’ve achieved … [but] I like to try 100 percent of the time and hopefully end up with a good batting average.”A Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 59

WOMEN

LIFE’S LITTLE PROBLEMS Entrepreneur mom Karen Kart doesn’t take "no" for an answer BY TINA B. ESHEL

Respect Makes a World of Difference

A FREE PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL THAT OFFERS: • Low Student to Teacher Ratio • Student-Centered Classrooms • Hebrew Language Immersion • Emphasis on Respect, Social Responsibility, and Global Citizenship Located in Serra Mesa

858.386.0887

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Kavod Elementary Charter School

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sk her what she likes about her latest venture, and lawyer-turnedmom-turned-entrepreneur Karen Kart loudly enthuses, “I love every single minute of it! I’m obsessed…but in a good way!” Kart is the designer of “Adi,” a whimsical stay-put plate with a patented design made around suction cups to help keep babies, tables and floors clean during mealtimes. With the success of this first, award-winning invention, Kart hopes to add many more products to her Prodigi Kids label. Kart is a quick study and she’s not afraid to take an idea and run with it all the way to the bank. From learning about design, materials (must be green and eco-friendly) and production (must be made locally) to managing a successful Kickstarter campaign (she spent 12 months planning and strategizing), Kart is an inspiration and blueprint for modern day moxie and success. Her product won for Best New Invention at the Moms in Business Convention in 2009. “I get up as early as 3 or 4 a.m.,” in order to do whatever needs to be done that day, she says. But as with anything a mother adds to her plate, there are hurdles. “Men have access to money that women just don’t,” she says with unabashed directness. “They have access to huge capital and it lands in their lap like that.” She’d like to even the playing field so that the money made available to non-technology and/or women-run companies is more flowing and forthcoming. Above all, Kart says it’s important for women “momtrepreneurs” to go for it, and be objective. “You have to let go of emotional attachments to your ideas,” if you want to invent something marketable. Be patient, believe in yourself and “focus on one dream at a time.” A

We are

ARTISTS We know that arts education, including a hands-on music program, is critical to ensuring a well-rounded student. SDJA students not only enjoy themselves, they attain academic achievement as well as social and emotional development.

OPEN HOUSE Wednesday, January 14, 2015 | 9:00 am – 10:30 am. Registration is required. Space is limited.

The pluralistic community day school

60 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

RSVP to admissions@sdja.com or 866-765-7516 Learning for life. | sdja.com

WOMEN

FEMINISTS IN EDUCATION BY TINA B. ESHEL

FINDING THE SECRET TO SUCCESS

ackie Tolley has worked in the Jewish community since 1978 when, as a transplant to our beach community, she joined the Hillel staff at San Diego State University. At that time, the Hillel model was to bring a male rabbi to campus and serve primarily as a one-person leader of an on-campus synagogue. Times sure have changed. Women leaders now span all levels of Hillel, the world’s largest Jewish campus organization. Tolley credits Rabbi Laura Geller, the first female Director for Hillel (at the University of Southern California) and third woman ordained in the reform movement, as one of her “sheroes.” Now the Hillel SDSU Director, Tolley speaks with conviction about her 36-year career. She’s part of the cadre of women who broke that glass ceiling and brought more Jewish women to Hillel and she’s not afraid to use the “F” word. “I’m absolutely a feminist,” she says. “That word shouldn’t be a dirty word. If we agree to our terms, that feminism means men and women are given equal opportunities to explore their dreams, I’m not sure why people are afraid of this word. “The late ’70s were a rich time for Jewish feminist thought,” she continues. “I was lucky to pursue my career and find something to be passionate about. My professional interests and Jewish personal journey meshed together at a time when I could explore them both.” Trained as a teacher, education jobs were scarce when she was entering the work force. So she opened her eyes to a variety of opportunities. By being flexible, she managed to find a path she never saw on a map. “Take advantage of whatever experiences are out there,” she says. “If someone says, ‘you should check this out,’ see where it takes you. “Put one foot in front of the other. Take a chance. Learn everything you can and work hard. And stop being so hard on yourself.” A

Jackie Tolley

JUGGLING ACTS WITH FAMILY AND ISRAEL

amar Caspi doesn’t let things stand in her way. Part of that may be because this mother of two comes from a family with deep ties to San Diego. Caspi’s grandfather, M. Larry Lawrence, owned the Hotel Del Coronado from 1963 until his death in 1996 and today the Caspi family is noted for their philanthropy and land development. Still, Tamar Caspi’s accomplishments are all her own. Caspi recently published her first book, “How to Woo a Jew” (Seal Press, 2014) and she helped establish Kavod Elementary, the first Hebrew-language charter school in San Diego County. What’s her secret to getting things done when there are so many demands and too little time? Her advice is to surround yourself with positive, supportive people who encourage you to thrive. That way, with a lot of elbow grease, the improbable has a chance to become a reality. “I wrote a book on dating while I was in the middle of a divorce and raising a son,” she says. “I started a charter school with no teaching background and while taking care of an infant full-time.” Caspi doesn’t mince words when it comes to gender issues. “I graduated UCLA with a degree in Women’s Studies, so I think that probably automatically labels me as a feminist … I believe that women should have the same rights, earn the same for equitable work, and deserve the same respect.” In her mind, however, being female is easier today than being Jewish. “Domestically, there are issues that bring sexism Tamar Caspi to the forefront such as reproductive rights and fair wages, not to mention being the only first world country that’s never had a female leader. But the threat of another Holocaust, the media bias against Israel, and the general ignorance of both, is scarier than anything else.” Caspi’s getting back to her relationship roots with her next venture, a dating consultation business, especially relevant for singles who need some modern advice on mating and dating, Jewishly. Learn more at howtowooajew.com. A

Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 61

WOMEN

THREE HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS, THREE DIFFERENT STORIES BY ABBY WALKER

hile Edith Eger, Ruth Harber and Ruth Hohberg share the same distinction of being survivors of the Holocaust, each woman has her own story. One thing they do have in common, each agreed to share her story as part of UC San Diego’s Living History Workshop, and with the Journal. Edith Survives Auschwitz Edith Eger’s teenage years were interrupted by the Holocaust. In May 1944, at the age of 16, she was taken from her home in Hungary and sent to Auschwitz. She lost the majority of her family to the Holocaust except for one sister who was imprisoned with her and another sister who was hidden by her professor in Budapest. When the war ended the following year, Eger visited Prague and discovered that her sister had survived when she saw a sign advertising that her sister, a talented violist, would be performing a concert. Eger soon got married, had a daughter and moved to America in 1949. “I didn’t speak a word of English and I worked in a factory,” she recalls. Although the first few years in America were challenging, Eger eventually went to school and became a clinical psychologist. She uses her personal experiences to help military vets with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Ruth’s Hiding Spot At the age of 14, Ruth Harber joined her father in hiding in a private home just outside of Brussels, Belgium. She would spend the next two years living in constant fear that they, or her mother and brother who were hiding in another home, would be discovered. The homeowner’s grandmother suffered from dementia and would often roam the halls at night calling for her dead husband, Gustav. Harber and her father thought the calls sounded eerily like Gestapo and when they begin to ring out, both Harber and her father would frantically scramble 62 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

into their hiding place in the cellar. Complicating matters, one morning Harber woke up with appendicitis. She was sent to the hospital under an assumed name and operated on by her mother’s doctor. “Had he not done so, I would certainly have died,” Harber notes. While in hiding, Harber spent much of her time reading and took the opportunity to educate herself. She was 16 when the war ended and attempted to go back to school but ultimately began working as a French/English/German secretary. After learning of a high demand for her line of work, she moved to the United States in 1952 and to Valley Center in 1985. Ruth’s Long Journey Ruth Hohberg was four years old when World War II began. She left her home in Bielitz, in Western Europe and ended up in Lwow, Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine). The Russians took the city and declared the family political prisoners. The family traveled in a locked boxcar for 28 days into the Siberian wilderness. With the exception of a few log cabins, the area was uninhabited. “The men and women were assigned to work places. We were required to be in the cabins at a certain time each evening. We were not permitted to leave the settlement. Food was scarce. Winter was brutal,” Hohberg remembers. Eventually, they were liberated and allowed to leave Siberia under the condition that they didn’t settle in any of Russia’s large cities. They traveled south and ended up in Uzbekistan for the remaining four years of the war. Although Ruth’s family attempted to return home after the war, they quickly discovered that home was not as they had remembered it and left Poland as soon as they were able. They arrived in the United States in 1947. Follow the Holocaust Living History Workshop for stories like these and many more at libraries.ucsd.edu/hlhw. A

WOMEN

Women's Organizations in San Diego County Athena San Diego Promoting professional growth for women executives and rising managers in the science and technology fields. Current Char: Nicola Zahl (858) 481-0707 athenasd.org

Girls on the Run San Diego This nonprofit program is for girls aged 3rd to 8th grade with a mission to inspire joyful, healthy and confident lifestyles. Executive Director: Amy Jerome (619) 962-4602 gotrsd.org amy@gotrsd.org

Jewish Women’s Foundation A part of the Jewish Community Foundation working to improve the lives of Jewish women and girls. Current Chair: Barbara Bry (858) 279-2740

jcfsandiego.org/funds-foundations/ jewish-womens-foundation sharyn@jcfsandiego.org

League of Women Voters of San Diego Local chapter of the grassroots political organization, open to men and women of all ages. Current President: Kay Ragan (858) 483-8696 sdcilo.ca.lwvnet.org league@lwvsandiego.org

San Diego Woman’s Club This group focuses on volutneer fundraising for philanthropic purposes, part of the General Foundation of Woman’s Clubs. Current President: Karen Reed (619) 234-0510 sandiegowomansclub.org info@sandiegowomansclub.org

women to get involved in collective giving, part of the San Diego Foundation. Current President: Leigh Hartman (619) 235-2300 sdwomensfoundation.org sdwf@sdfoundation.org

Women Give San Diego A granting organization focused on nonprofits that provide services to underserved women and girls to enhance participation in the local economy. Current President: Merle Brodie and Bunmi Esho To contact WGSD, visit womengivesd.org/contact-us A

San Diego Women’s Foundation Philanthropy group encouraging

Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 63

in the kitchen WITH

TORI AVEY

SAFFRON CHICKPEA RISOTTO

Tori Avey is an awardwinning food writer, recipe developer, and the creator of the popular cooking website toriavey.com. She writes about food history for PBS Food and Parade. com. Follow Tori on Facebook by searching for “Tori Avey” and on Twitter: @toriavey.

isotto is Northern Italy’s answer to pasta. The dish is made with short-grain, glutinous rice that grows in the Po Valley. This type of rice is unique in that it is able to absorb a great amount of flavor from everything it is cooked with, while also remaining firm in texture. It is traditionally served as a first course; it may also accompany heavier meat courses like ossobuco (if you’re not keeping kosher) or stand alone as an entree. The dish may have originated in Venice, a city that has historically been a crossroads for explorers and merchants for centuries. The type of rice used to make risotto was likely brought to Italy from the Far East during the 11th century. A letter from the 1400s, in which the Duke of Ferrara was promised 12 sacks of rice for planting, proves that rice was growing in the Po Valley by that time. According to legend, risotto was created in 1574. During the 200-year construction of Milan’s Duomo cathedral, workers from all over Europe lived together in temporary housing. Among the workers was Valerius of Flanders, who was in charge of creating the stained glass. A student of his became known for adding saffron to his pigments to increase the vibrancy of their color. As the story goes, Valerius continuously taunted him by saying “If you go on like that, you’ll end up throwing saffron into your food.” The student responded by playing a trick on Valerius during his daughter’s wedding. After bribing the head cook, he snuck into the kitchen and added a hefty pinch of saffron to the rice. He then presented the golden rice to the wedding guests. The dish was a hit and has since been known as risotto alla milanese (Milan-style risotto) or risotto giallo (yellow risotto). Food history legends are often wives’ tales, as this one probably is, but it’s

64 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

a colorful and charming story that perfectly suits this dish. While risotto alla milanese normally contains bone marrow and beef stock, I have created a vegetarian version here using vegetable stock and vegetarian Parmesan cheese (look for cheese made from a vegetarian rennet). I added chickpeas to create a complete protein, making this a delectable stand-alone, meatless entree. It is entirely addictive. This dish makes a lovely vegetarian entrée, or a hearty side for the cold winter months. Mangia!

INGREDIENTS 1 loose tsp good quality saffron threads 6 cups low sodium vegetable stock ¼ cup olive oil 1 ¾ cup Carnaroli, Vialone or Arborio rice ½ cup minced shallots 1 cup dry white wine 2 tbsp unsalted butter ¾ cup shredded Parmesan cheese (use vegetarian parmesan to keep the dish vegetarian) 1 ¾ cups chickpeas (garbanzo beans), cooked or canned and drained ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley for garnish You will also need: Large nonstick oven safe skillet, or any nonstick skillet and a baking sheet Total Time: 45-60 minutes Servings: 2 entrée, 4-6 side dish Kosher Key: Dairy Note: It is incredibly important to use a wooden spoon when making risotto. If you use a metal spoon, the combination of heat and friction from the spoon and

PHOTOS BY TORI AVEY

the pan will give your rice a metallic taste. Also, make sure you buy the high quality saffron (around $10-$20 for a small bottle), not the cheap imitation stuff which won’t give you the right flavor. Place saffron threads in a small dish and cover with 2 tbsp hot water. Let the saffron soak for a few minutes. Directions: In a medium saucepan, add your 6 cups vegetable stock and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat and keep the stock on a low simmer as you proceed with the recipe. In a separate large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the rice and gently toast it in the oil. You’re not really looking for color on the rice, you’re just trying to get each grain nicely coated in oil. Add your shallots and cook until translucent. Deglaze the pan with white wine while stirring. Cook until the liquid has cooked down quite a bit, until the rice is almost dry and you can no longer smell the alcohol from the wine. If you look carefully, you should be able to see streaks at the bottom of the pan as you stir. This is from the starch being released from the rice, and it’s a good sign you’re on the right track. Add enough of the hot stock from the saucepan to cover the rice completely and give it a stir. Turn up the heat on the rice until the rice is simmering throughout. Reduce the liquid until the rice is almost dry again, stirring frequently as it cooks down. Add more stock to barely cover the rice again, give a stir and let the liquid reduce about halfway, stirring frequently. Taste the rice for doneness. It should be about 75 percent of the way done at this point, but there is no hard and fast rule. Risotto is one of those dishes that relies on feeling and intuition more than a kitchen timer. Add your bloomed saffron/water, the

butter and enough stock to barely cover the rice again. At this point, you need to begin stirring constantly. You’re trying to emulsify the fat, stock and starch while incorporating air. So, stir quickly and constantly until the rice has a nice, creamy, saucy look to it. You should be able to see those steaks at the bottom of the pan again. Taste the rice for doneness. If it’s still not tender, add more stock and reduce it down to this saucy/starchy/creamy level again while constantly stirring. Once the rice is tender, add your Parmesan cheese while constantly stirring. Once it is thoroughly incorporated into the rice, stir in the chickpeas and remove from heat. Adding the chickpeas at this point will heat them thoroughly while bringing down the temperature of the rice enough that it won’t overcook. Taste for seasoning. The cheese should bring enough salt to the dish, but if not add salt to taste. Serve immediately garnished with chopped parsley. A

IKWTA Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 65

WHAT’S

GOIN’

ON?

New year, new entertainment

t’s a brand new year and there’s a fresh crop of entertainment ready to entice you. The Old Globe launches its season with “Murder for Two,” Cygnet starts the ball rolling with “Sons of the Prophet,” San Diego Repertory Theatre takes on the world premiere of “Steal Heaven,” North Coast Rep unveils the San Diego premiere of a musical spoof of the 1940s, and San Diego Opera kicks off its season with “La Bohème.” Music lovers can anticipate an eclectic mix from the San Diego Symphony and the La Jolla Music Society, and to add to the show, 66 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

"Dirty Dancing" comes to Broadway-San Diego early this month, running Jan. 6-11 at the Civic Theatre. Broadway-San Diego is presenting two dancedriven shows, while the Lamb’s adds a pair of welcome additions to its roster. The San Diego Opera has a new administration, but it will perform the 2015 season as was planned before any talk of disbanding the company. It all begins Jan. 24 with Puccini’s masterpiece “La Bohème.” The enduring classic will be staged at the Civic Theatre through Feb. 1, with soprano Alyson Cambridge as Mimi and tenor Harold Meers as Rodolfo. This is a production that has never before been seen in San Diego and it’s a

fitting tribute to the 50th anniversary of the San Diego Opera. Also on Jan. 24, The Old Globe will unwrap “Murder for Two.” This murder mystery – with music and comic mayhem at its core – is directed by Scott Schwartz. Described as a “wacky tourde-force musical,” the show features only two actors performing a litany of characters. The murder takes place at a birthday party, and the killer could be any one of the guests. “Murder for Two” is set to remain on the Main Stage through March 1.

PHOTO BY DAVID SHEINMANN

by eileen sondak • nsondak@gmail.com

Marc Chagall, "Pleasant Life," 1925, oil on canvas, on display at the San Diego Museum of Art.

PHOTO COURTESY ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY, NEW YORK/ADAGP, PARIS

concert for VIPs). La Jolla Music Society will present violinist Gidon Kremer and pianist Danil Trifonov Jan. 15 at Sherwood Auditorium, followed on Jan. 17 by the Takacs Quartet. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain will perform on Jan. 23, and pianist Jiayan Sun will perform at TSRI on Jan. 25. Dance aficionados can catch Wendy Whelan of New York City Ballet perform “Restless Creature” with four collaborators at the Balboa Theatre on Jan. 30. Nikolay Khozyainov rounds out the month on Jan. 31 at Sherwood, as part of the Frieman Family Piano Series. The La Jolla Playhouse is poised to stage “The Darrell Hammond Project” on Jan. 31. The play takes audiences on a hilarious and heartbreaking journey into the mind of a comic genius. The “Project” will continue through March 8. The Lamb’s has two interesting offerings this month. Tom Key will perform his fascinating one-man-show, “C.S. Lewis on Stage” Jan. 9-18 at the Lamb’s Coronado home. “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” heads to the Horton Grand Theatre Jan. 23, where it will be

happily ensconced through March 29. Moxie will present “Trouble in Mind” Jan. 22-Feb. 22. The groundbreaking classic about a racially integrated cast rehearsing a Broadway show, deals with prejudices and stereotypes. J*Company will put its stamp on a Gilbert and Sullivan classic Jan. 16-25. “The Pirates of Penzance,” one of the funniest and most farcical works in the repertory, will definitely test the mettle of these young thesbians/singers. The irreverent and vastly entertaining operetta will make its home at the La Jolla JCC, so take the kids and enjoy this new staging (which they’re describing as “one part Disney’s ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and two parts ‘Gilbert and Sullivan’”). The San Diego Museum of Art is highlighting a major exhibition through Jan. 27. Titled “Gauguin to Warhol: 20th Century Icons,” this comprehensive show is showcasing a who’s who of powerhouses from the art world, including Picasso, Van Gogh, and Roy Lichtenstein. It features more than 70 works, from PostImpressionism through Pop. A

Broadway-San Diego will start the year off at the Civic Theatre with “West Side Story,” the modern day Romeo and Juliet tale, Jan. 2-4. The show is 50 years old and still a blockbuster. “Dirty Dancing,” a classic story adapted for the stage, will take over the Civic Jan. 6-11 and it promises to knock your socks off with heartpounding music and high-voltage dance moves. North Coast Rep is ready to showcase “Gunmetal Blues: The Musical,” a send-up of film noir. The show was crafted in the best Raymond Chandler tradition, with seedy characters and a trench coat-wearing private eye. The complicated plot translates to a witty and dark musical comedy. You can see this clever piece Jan. 14-Feb. 8. The San Diego Rep is unveiling a world premiere by Herbert Siguenza. “Steal Heaven,” directed by the Rep’s own Todd Salovey, is about bad-boy Abbie Hoffman and his boot camp for activists who have the chutzpah to return to Earth to effect change. If this little fantasy suits your fancy, you can catch it at the Lyceum Space Jan. 3-25. Cygnet will turn the spotlight on “Sons of the Prophet,” a Pulitzer Prize-finalist that has been described as “devastating and thrilling.” The play takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions as it deals with family, culture, and wounds that won’t heal. This black comedy will reside in Cygnet’s Old Town home Jan. 15-Feb. 15. The show is recommended for mature audiences. The San Diego Symphony will ring in the New Year on Jan. 1 with a New Year’s Concert that salutes Vienna through a cast of more than 75 musicians and European singers and dancers. “A Charlie Chaplin Celebration” will usher in the 2015 Film Series on Jan. 3. The Symphony will feature Sir Neville Marriner conducting a program that includes works by Elgar, Korngold, and Gunka, Jan. 9-11. Violinist Alina Pogostkina will perform the Violin Concerto. “Tango Buenos Aires,” will dance into Symphony Hall Jan. 16, to interpret Argentina’s famous art form. Take the kids to the Family Festival on Jan. 25 for “Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant.” The event also features activities, such as the musical petting zoo. If you’re in Palm Springs on Jan. 14, the Symphony will debut at the McCallum Theatre. Virtuoso cellist Johannes Moser will be the star of the Chamber Music Series on Jan. 28. His program (slated for the Auditorium at TSRI) consists of works by Williams, J.S. Bach, and Brahms. The orchestra will turn the spotlight on “A John Williams Celebration” Jan. 30 - 31. This special concert includes Moser performing a suite from “Memoirs of a Geisha” in a program that also features selections from “E.T.” and “Star Wars,” among others. (The Jan. 31 performance includes a gala dinner and an intermission

Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 67

N news

CJC Class Focuses on Life Among Christians

Hunger Advocacy Network Receives Award

Those with a quest for knowledge are invited to attend an 8-week course entitled “The Origin and Development of Ashkenazic Jewry: A Social History of Jews Living Among Christians.” Facilitated by Noah Hadas and hosted by the Center for Jewish Culture, the class runs Jan. 13-March 10 with both a morning and evening time available. Price is $150 for nonmembers and $120 for members of the Jewish Community Center in La Jolla. More information on all CJC programming can be found at sdcjc.org.

Dean of Brandeis Business School to Speak in San Diego

The San Diego Human Relations Commission has chosen to honor the Hunger Advocacy Network as one of the recipients of its 2014 Commission Partner Awards. The Hunger Advocacy Network is a collaborative of 21 San Diego organizations, including human service agencies, food banks and advocacy organizations. These organizations work together to achieve a long-term, systemic reduction of food insecurity in San Diego by shaping state policy. Jewish Family Service and the Leichtag Foundation are two of these organizations supporting HAN.

Dr. Bruce Magid, Dean of the Brandeis International Business School, will speak to San Diego’s local Brandeis National Committee members on “Geopolitics, Energy, and Social Justice: a World Ablaze,” on Jan. 7 at 11:30 a.m. at the Bernardo Heights Country Club. His presentation will focus on the tough choices to be made concerning conflicts of global concern, and those that impact regional politics. Dr. Magid has been Dean of the Brandeis International Business School since 2007. Previously, he was Dean of the College of Business Graduate School at San Jose State University, and before that, the founding Executive Director of Michigan State University’s online degree and certificate programs. He began his career as an advisor to the Minister of Planning in Venezuela. He then joined Bank of America where he held positions in Venezuela, Brazil and the U.S. for more than 20 years. Proceeds will benefit Brandeis’ Sustaining the Mind campaign, which raises funds for scholarships and research in neurodegenerative diseases. For more information or to make reservations, call (858) 309-8348.

Reconstructionist Movement Selects First Female Rabbi as President

Rabbi Deborah Waxman is the newly inaugurated president of the Reconstructionist movement. Her selection is a watershed moment in Jewish rabbinical service. Ordained in 1999, Waxman is the first woman president of both a seminary, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC), and a major Jewish movement, Jewish Reconstructionist Communities. David Roberts of St. Louis, Mo., chair of the RRC Board of Governors, called Waxman a visionary leader who is uniquely suited to her new role. “Deborah’s passion and keen intellect combine into a leadership style that empowers, educates and energizes those around her,” Roberts said in a news release. “I can’t imagine a better standard bearer than Deborah to serve as the first female rosh yeshiva (head of a seminary) and head of a movement.”

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WRJ Launches Pay Equity Initiative

Chief Rabbi of Israel Coming to San Diego

The Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) has launched a new advocacy initiative focusing on pay equity for women. According to their website, the WRJ wants to “begin a conversation about women’s equality in the workplace, in society, and in our personal lives to ensure that the next generation of women will not face the same injustices women face today.” Women are encouraged to participate and find support materials at wrj.org/socialjustice/wrj-views-on/pay-equity.

On Jan. 20, Chabad of University City will welcome Israel’s Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau to the La Jolla Marriot for a conversation with the community. Rabbi Moishe Leider will lead the discussion, which is open to the entire community and will begin at 7:30 p.m. Immediately following the public discussion, Rabbi Lau will join a group of San Diego’s Orthodox rabbis for a private working session. For information on the public event, call Chabad of UC at (858) 455-1670.

New Loan Model Developed to Support Women Entrepreneurs

A study by the Urban Institute found that women and minorities are three to five times more likely to be approved for a Small Business Associationbacked loan than a traditional bank loan. In other words, if the SBA doesn’t get capital to these entrepreneurs, often no one will. In an effort to change this trend, the Small Business Association is encouraging more banks to join their lending network. “We’ve recently streamlined the lending process by rolling out a credit scoring model for SBA small dollar loans of $350,000 or less, combining personal and business credit scores,” writes the SBA in a news release. “This new credit scoring method helps lenders to generate more loans which will ignite more economic activity. And, by establishing a quicker, cheaper and more consistent loan process, lenders can do more small-dollar lending. “Smaller firms are driving our recovery, creating nearly two out of every three private-sector jobs,” they continue. “Women-owned businesses comprise 1,245,000 or roughly 30 percent of all small firms.” For further information, visit sba.gov/for-lenders.

AJSS “Summer of Service” Applications Open

The American Jewish Society for Service (AJSS), an organization with a 64-year history of providing service-learning opportunities for Jewish high school students, is now accepting applications for their 2015 “Summer of Service.” AJSS enables teenagers from all Jewish backgrounds to engage in service in ways that embrace their Jewish values while encouraging and helping them to gain confidence and independence. “Social justice service work is not an activity, it’s an experience to be lived,” remarked Rena Convissor, AJSS Executive Director, in a press release. This opportunity is open to current high school students who have completed grade 9 and are at least 15 years of age. Applications for the 2015 “Summer of Service” are available at ajss.org/ programs/application. Deadline to submit is Feb. 15.

Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 69

N news

Save the Date for the JFS Gala

Make your plans to be part of an elegant evening for a great cause this spring. The Jewish Family Service "Heart and Soul" Gala will take place on March 28 at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla. The nonprofit Jewish agency invites you to be part of this moving celebration to salute the community’s successes and the extraordinary accomplishments of JFS’s 2015 Mitzvah Award Honorees: Evelyn and Ernest Rady, Ron S. Zollman, and its special partnership with Susan G. Komen, San Diego. To purchase tickets and discover sponsorship opportunities, visit www.jfssd.org/gala or call (858) 637-3013.

Ernest and Evelyn Rady

JDC Seeking Applicants

Local Teens Win "Power of Jewish Children" Award

The Global Jewish Service Corps, a year-long, paid opportunity for Jewish young professionals, is seeking applicants for its 20152016 cohort now. The program, run by JDC Entwine, a division of the Jewish humanitarian organization, sends fellows to facilitate and create programs in places like Argentina, China, Estonia, Ethiopia, Germany, and more. The deadline has been extended for San Diego, and applications are now due Jan. 21. It is recommended that interested parties begin the process as soon as possible. Visit jdcentwine.org/jsc for details.

The Friendship Circle is pleased to announce that two local teens have won the “Power of Jewish Children” contest. Chloe Dahan and Jamie Zimmerman, both age 13, were selected from among 950 applicants for creating a program called Shooting Stars. Their performing arts club for girls with special needs raises funds and provides opportunities for the participants to get involved in performing arts productions. Dahan and Zimmerman were inspired to create their program after witnessing how much fun their friends with special needs had at a JCC performance. Together the two developed the plan, and solicited funds and volunteers to make Shooting Stars succeed. Proud parent Melissa Dahan praised both girls for setting an example of chesed, the Hebrew word for loving kindness. “They thoughtfully build out a schedule that allows participants with physical and/or intellectual challenges to express themselves through song, dance, acting and art activities. It’s a joy to experience. At the end of the program the participants are energized, the parents are proud and the volunteers feel a sense of fulfillment.”

Jahja Ling to Leave Symphony

Jahja Ling, Music Director of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra since 2004, announced that the 2016-2017 season would be his final one. After his tenure, he will be conferred the title of Conductor Laureate, which means he will continue as a guest conductor with the orchestra. Speaking to the board of directors, musicians and administrative staff, Ling said, “These past 11 years have been a most rewarding and exhilarating life journey for me. We have accomplished so much, but I am most proud of the fact that I have been able to inspire and instill the spirit of integrity in everything that we do at the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.” Ling plans to pursue more international guest conducting, teaching and volunteer work.

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DIVERSIONS By Natalie Jacobs “Advanced Style” Ari Seth Cohen is a San Diegan with a deep affinity for his bubbe. When he moved to New York, that appreciation for the older geneartion stuck with him and he was struck by the plethora of senior citizens, particularly women, who dressed to the nines even if just to walk down the street. He started a street style blog and spent hours roaming the crowded blocks of Manhattan, stopping sytlish seniors and asking to photograph them. The blog, Advanced Style, became immensely popular. It first lent itself to a coffee table book and recently morphed into a documentary film. You can watch as Cohen is invited to the homes of the fabulous strangers. They discuss style inspirations, fashions through the generations and get tours of some pretty incredible closets. Find streaming info at advancestylethemovie.com, or catch it at the upcoming Jewish Film Festival in February.

“Spiritual Kneading through the Jewish Months: Building the Sacred through Challah” A history of Rosh Chodesh.

“Lincoln and the Jews” Primary sources from Mr. Lincoln himself.

“Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce” House’s Lisa Edelstein returns to television in the Bravo network’s first scripted show (you might know that network best for its reality shows like “The Real Housewives”). Edelstein plays Abby McCarthy, a 40-something who’s trying to navigate her life as a newly single woman with two kids. Check local listings for showtimes in your area.

“Benched” How come courtroom tv dramas never get old but when we get a jury summons we quickly pray to the Sixth Amendment G-ds, begging everything to go by in a flash? It is perhaps one of life’s great questions and while we ponder it, there are ever-more tv shows waiting to be savored. “Benched” is the new kid on this block, created and executive-produced by tv and movie vet Michaela Watkins. Catch the show on USA Network.

“Kosher Porn” A hilarious book of Jewish-themed photo memes.

Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 71

TAKE NOTE JAN. 1-31

by tina b. eshel

BEST BETS

Mark your calendar.

n case you thought things would slow down post-winter holidays, take a deep breath. We’ve combed the scene and brought you our list of favorite happenings during the first six weeks of 2015 so you’re sure to keep your calendar filled with sights, sounds, laughter and more. Automotive enthusiasts, get your gears revved at the San Diego International Auto Show Jan. 1-4. Located at the San Diego Convention Center, this event features more than 400 new model vehicles from 40 global manufacturers. The Exotics Vault is 5,000 square feet devoted to the world’s most elegant rides including Bentley, Bugatti, Maserati, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, Rolls Royce and more. Sunday, Jan. 4 is Ford Family Day – kids 12 and younger are free with a paying adult. Tickets are reasonably priced and can be purchased at sdautoshow.com. Get your belly laughs at the second annual San Diego Comedy Festival, Jan. 15-25. This uproarious good time features headliners such as Jeff Dye as well as more than 90 up-and-coming comics. All performances will be held at The Comedy Palace in Kearny Mesa. Get your tickets at sandiegocomedyfest.com. Want more laughter? Imagine this: One Arab. One Jew. One Stage: Laughter in Peace. This Center for Jewish Culture event,starring Rabbi Bob Alper and Ahmed Ahmed, is heading to the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach on Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale at sdcjc.org. Tarbuton brings a variety of Israeli cultural experiences to San Diegans. From Hebrew story time for the littlest among us to Israeli films and literature for the sophisticated, they reach more than 1,600 households every month. Check out their engaging offerings at tarbuton.wordpress.com, and plan to join them on the Tu B’Shvat Hike on Feb. 1. The San Diego Jewish Film Festival celebrates it’s 25th silver anniversary this February at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center. Sponsored by the Leichtag Foundation, film festival organizers are offering a special preview of 45 short films on Feb. 9. This all-day, juried program will culminate in an awards celebration on Feb. 10 at the David and Dorothea Garfield Theatre. Grab your tickets and view the lineup at lfjcc.org/sdjff and in our upcoming February issue. If you’re a busy Jewish woman in need of a respite, you still have time to sign up for the Shabbat at Rancho La Puerta on Feb. 28. Hosted by Waters of Eden and the Jewish Federation Women’s Philanthropy, this one day, mind, body and spirit retreat can also be upgraded to an extended 3-night, 4-day stay. Visit the Waters of Eden website to learn more watersofedensd.org. A

72 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW Jan. 1-4, times vary. San Diego Convention Center sdautoshow.com

CJC PRESENTS, “ONE ARAB. ONE JEW. ONE STAGE: LAUGHTER IN PEACE” Jan. 27, 7:30 p.m. North Coast Repertory Theatre sdcjc.org SAN DIEGO JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL PREVIEW OF 45 SHORT FILMS Feb. 9, showings throughout the day Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center lfjcc.org/sdjff

SHABBAT AT RANCHO LA PUERTA Feb. 28, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with option to stay 3 days, 4 nights Rancho La Puerta Hotel and Spa, Tecate, Baja California watersofedensd.org

SAN DIEGO JEWISH

SENIOR EVENTS JAN. 1-31

Lawrence Family JCC 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla Contact Melanie Rubin to R.S.V.P. (858) 362-1141 Yiddish Circle Monday, Jan. 5, 1:30 p.m. Discussions in Yiddish, holiday celebrations, songs, readings, guest speakers, and more. Price: $3, JCC member $2. Teen Tech Tutors for Seniors Thursdays, Jan. 8 and 22, 4 p.m. These free sessions are a collaboration of the JCC Senior & Teen Depts. Bring your charged device. If you don’t have one the teens can demonstrate from theirs. Create a Jewish Legacy Monday, Jan. 26, noon with free lunch Elise S. Wald, JD, LLM, a charitable planning officer of the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego, will make a short presentation about the Jewish Legacy program. Cyber-Seniors: Connecting Generations Thursday, Jan. 29, 4 p.m. Join us for a screening of a documentary about the growing generation gap. Bring your grandchildren and families to this free intergenerational event. Oceanside Senior Center 455 Country Club Lane, Oceanside Call Josephine at (760) 295-2564 North County Jewish Seniors Club Third Thursday of each month, 12:30 p.m. Join us to hear speakers and/or entertainment at our monthly meetings. Light refreshments served. Visitors welcome. Joslyn Senior Center 210 Park Ave./Broadway, Escondido Call (760) 436-4005 Jewish War Veterans meetings Second Sunday of each month, 11 a.m. Preceded by a bagel/lox breakfast at 10:45 a.m. San Diego North County Post 385. Seacrest Village 211 Saxony Road, Encinitas Call Jon Schwartz at (760) 516-2001 Monthly Senior Dance First Friday of every month, 1 p.m. Refreshments and appetizers from our kosher kitchen will be provided. Free and open to the public. JFS University City Older Adult Center 9001 Towne Centre Drive, La Jolla Call Aviva Saad for details or to R.S.V.P. (858) 550-5998 Celebrate Tu B’Shvat and entertainment by Jim Gibson Thursday Jan. 15 at 10 a.m. Lunch available at noon with reservations. Martin Luther King Program Tuesday Jan. 20 at 10 a.m. Chair exercise and dancing with Aviva and entertainment at 1 p.m. by Cam and Dolly Vidal. Lunch available at noon with reservations.

MONDAY MATINEE FILMS

Happens every Monday; JFS No. County Inland Center 15905 Pomerado Road, Poway This month's selections are: "The Hundred Foot Journey," Jan. 5; "Nebraska," Jan. 12; "Fruitvale Station," Jan. 19; "When the Game Stands Tall," Jan. 26. On the Go excursions A program of Jewish Family Service, On the Go provides transportation to events throughout the county for homebound seniors. For information on any of these excursions, please call (858) 637-7320. Stone Brewing Company, Escondido Friday, Jan. 9 Depart 11:15 a.m. Pay by January 5, $35. "The Pirates of Penzance" at the JCC Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015. Noon departure. Pay by Jan. 16, $33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at the OnStage Playhouse, Chula Vista Sunday, Feb. 1, 2014. Depart at 1 p.m. Pay by Jan. 26, 2015, $49. JFS No. County Inland Center 15905 Pomerado Road, Poway Call (858) 674-1123 for details. Monday Matinee film Selections This month’s selections are: Jan. 5, "Hundred Foot Journey;" Jan. 12, "Nebraska;" Jan. 19, "Fruitvale Station;" Jan. 26, "When the Game Stands Tall." Ask the Rabbi: A tour with Temple Adat Shalom Monday, Jan. 26, 11 a.m. Learn about the place North County Inland Center calls “home” from its spiritual leader. All welcome. JFS Coastal Club at Temple Solel 3575 Manchester Ave., Cardiff by the Sea Call Melinda Wynar at (858) 674-1123 for details. R.S.V.P. for lunch by Monday at 12:30 p.m. Sneak Peak – San Diego Jewish Film Festival Tuesday, Jan. 20, 11 a.m. Lunch at noon and mahjong at 12:30 p.m. Brain Gym with Stephanie Trogden Tuesday, Jan. 27, 11 a.m. Lunch at noon and mahjong at 12:30 p.m. JFS College Avenue Center 4855 College Ave., San Diego Call (858) 637-3270 for details or to R.S.V.P. Film: Spies of Mississippi Friday, Jan. 20, 12:45 p.m. A film about the government spy ring that existed in the early 1960’s in the State of Mississippi that tried to undermine the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. David Borgo Explores African Music Tuesday, Jan. 27, 12:45 p.m. Listen to and learn about music from across the African continent, including tribal, traditional and modern music. A Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 73

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Donald Rosenblatt - Coronado 06/04/1922 - 10/09/2014 Survivors: wife, Jacqueline rosenblatt; and daughter, Wendy Morris.

Stuart Goldstone - Rancho Santa Fe 11/26/1942 - 10/13/2014 Survivors: Wife, Jo Ann Goldstone; daughter, Molly Snyder; Son, Andrew Goldstone and 3 Grandchildren.

Ralph Gertler -San Diego 09/15/1912 - 10/11/2014 Survivors: daughter, elaine Horowitz.

Jane Meis - El Cajon 05/25/1920 - 10/13/2014 Survivors: Sons, Matt and Joseph Meis; and 4 Grandchildren.

I. Michael Sexter - La Jolla 08/07/1919 - 10/13/2014 Surviors: wife, Barbara Sexter; daughter, donna Karmer; son, ross levitan; and 8 grandchildren and 2 greatgrandchildren.

Janice Wolf - San Diego 03/13/1934 - 10/15/2014 Survivors: daughters,Anita Griffith and Miriam Wolf; and 4 Grandchildren.

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Dr. Murray Rice - San Diego 06/27/1922 - 10/12/2014 Survivors: daughters, Hollie and Michelle rice; and Son,robert rice.

Paul Rosenthal - San Diego 09/06/1967 - 10/12/2014 Survivors: Wife, Patty cortellucci; Mother, Sarah rosenthal; daughters, Sophia and raquel rosenthal; and Son, Matthew rosenthal. Franziska Spronz - Encinitas

76 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

05/06/1914- 10/14/2014 Survivors: Son, Gershon Shafir. Herbert Dale - Oceanside 09/01/1930 - 10/15/2014 Survivors: wife, Bonnie dale; son, Bruce dale; and 3 grandchildren. Irving Sweet- Encinitas 04/11/1922- 10/20/2014 Survivors: wife, reva Sweet; daughters, Joyce and Sally Sweet; sons, Fred, daniel and Martin Sweet. Mikhail Matusov - San Diego 08/14/1922 - 10/19/2014 Survivors: daughters, dr. Marina Kravets and Zoya Kinstler; and 4 grandchildren. Howard Silverberg - Coronado 02/01/1946 - 10/23/2014 Survivors: wife, Barbara Silverberg; daughter, Meryle Sussman; and son, Sam Silverberg.

Elinor Weissman - San Diego 02/12/1933 - 10/18/2014 Survivors: husband, Stanley Weissman. Sarah Kantor - San Diego 11/15/1929 - 10/23/2014 Survivors: daughter, Olga Fabrick; and 2 grandchildren and 4 greatgrandchildren. Dr. Sidney Spector - San Diego 04/01/1948 - 10/25/2014 Survivors: wife, Penelope Spector. Michael Galperin - Vista 08/07/1956 - 10/25/2014 Survivors: wife, Beverly Johnston. Rae Marie Ibarra - San Diego 10/12/1937 - 10/28/2014 Survivors: husband, renato ibarra; daughters, vena Taylor, Tara Aquilina and Gita ibar-ra; sons, clay and Kern Taylor; and 21 grandchildren and 5 greatgrandchildren.

desert life

PALM SPRINGS by Pamela Price

pamprice57@gmail.com

Desert Women with Visions that Go Beyond

PHOTO BCOURTESY ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN CENTER, MICHAEL HINCKLE

Shining a spotlight on just a few

Julius Shulman's black and white photograph of Palm Springs City Hall (1958), on display at the Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center, brings back memories for his niece, Timmy Shulman Woods, during its exhibition.

hether a full time or seasonal resident, women are making a difference in the desert community. To point out just some of their efforts, I’ll introduce you to two lovely ladies making two very different kinds of impacts. First up, Ellen Goodman, Foundation Director for the Palm Springs Unified School District. In her closing remarks at last year’s “Champions of Excellence” event, Goodman said “One goal is to elevate the academic curriculum through career pathways and academies, and prepare high school students for more than minimum wage jobs.” She has championed that caused since she arrived in the Palm Springs area many years ago. Through Goodman’s work on the PSUSD Foundation, along with the 19 other community leaders and staff involved with the District, four high schools (in Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, Rancho Mirage and Cathedral City) benefit from the programs she referenced in her remarks at the Foundation event. Opening doors in the field of arts and

design is Timmy Shulman, an internationally known handbad designer who has had family connections to Palm Springs her whole life. “Our trips to Palm Springs focused on photographing this bold architectural style where my uncle was fascinated endlessly with the desert light and how the architecture of E. Stewart Williams, Albert Frey, Donald Wexler, among others, merged interiors with the dramatic scenery, the mountains, open spaces. It created drama which has been captured and now archived and preserved in Palm Springs, where it all started!” Shulman says. The Palm Springs Art Museum’s Architecture and Design Center recently opened an exhibit featuring Shulman’s uncle’s iconic black and white photographs showcasing Palm Spring’s place in the mid century modernism era. While studying a photograph taken in 1961 of Palm Spring’s City Hall, Shulman recalled, “Uncle Julius was inspired by the open floor plans, butterfly roofs, angular structures and streamlined façades.”

Several years ago, Julius, at the age of 96, photographed Timmy’s handbag collection in Los Angeles. He arranged the architecturally inspired handbags in juxtaposition with the natural landscape. Those photos also made their way to the Palm Springs Art Museum’s gift shop, along with Shulman’s collection of handbags. And on a final note, there’s more news for women from The Tolerance Education Center in Rancho Mirage. Melisse Banwer, Managing Director, says a new book, “Encountering Women,” will be on show in March as part of an exhibit featuring the photographs of women from around the world taken by Evelene Wechsler. Melisse said women from the Coachella Valley and beyond were invited to submit essays or poems for consideration. The theme, “the struggles and triumphs of women in society” is intended to teaching the danger of hatred and bigotry. On all fronts, Coachella Valley women are on the move. A

Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 77

JOSEPH

The eﬀervescent musical about the boy with the amazing coat-of-many-colors who changed the course of history.

The Pulitzer Prize-

Winning Comedy by Kaufman and Hart

ONE HILARIOUS FAMILY EXPLOSION

“Hilarious! Rolicking! Delightful!” U-T SanDiego “More jjoy, more fun, more clever inventiveness than the bloated Broadway version.” BackStageWest “Absolutely Not To Be Missed!” OnStage One of Lamb’s Biggest Hits Comes to the Horton Grand Theatre 444 Fourth Ave, in the Gaslamp Quarter

Lamb’s Players Theatre starts off Season 2015 on the Resident Stage in Coronado with George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s comic masterpiece. Set during America’s Great Depression it’s as fresh, funny and relevant as ever. Packed with memorable characters this classic is a triumph of freedom, love and fireworks!

JAN 23  MARCH 29

LAMBSPLAYERS.ORG • 619.437.6000 78 SDJewishJournal.com l January 2015

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BUY TICKETS AT www.powayarts.org or 858.748.0505 Tevet • Shevat 5775 l SDJewishJournal.com 79 JJ_Jan15.indd 1

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