L'Chaim Magazine March 2017 0317

MARCH 2017

PURIM

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L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • MARCH 2017

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contents

14

March 2017 • www.lchaimmagazine.com

in this issue...

1000 WORDS

Author Dawn Lerman reminisces her families ties to food in her memoir.............

COVER STORY: L'CHAIM, SAN DIEGO!

SD History Center exhibit examines the San Diego Jewish experience.................

10 14

SD JEWISH EXPERIENCE

18

PURIM Feminism and Purim: Reflections of female religious leaders across denominations.............................................................................................................................

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FOOD KOSHEROLOGY: Schwarmataschen: The marriage of two greats for Purim.............................................

FEATURES

24

22 26

PURIM POWER

On a Mission with FIDF...........................................................................................................................

JFS and Dreams for Change help homeless families........................................................

COLUMNS Random Rants: My Comic Relief.....................................................................................................

Torah: Of the Book...................................................................................................................................

06 08 27 29

JewishMom.com.........................................................................................................................................

Humor: Mazel & Mishagoss.................................................................................................................

PUBLISHERS Diane Benaroya & Laurie Miller EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alanna Maya

SAVORY SHWARMATASCHEN

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO, LLC (858) 776-0550 San Diego, CA 92127

ADVERTISING dianeb@lchaimmagazine.com

CONTRIBUTORS Daniel Bortz, Alex Idov, Stephanie Lewis, Salomon Maya, Mimi Pollack, Sharon Rapoport, Nikki Salvo, Eva Trieger, Deborah Vietor, Chana Jenny Weisberg

ADVERTISING & SALES Diane Benaroya (dianeb@lchaimmagazine.com), Sharon Buchsbaum (sharonbux@gmail.com)

ART DEPARTMENT lauriem@lchaimmagazine.com LISTINGS & CALENDAR: calendar@lchaimmagazine.com

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR Laurie Miller

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CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS info@lchaimmagazine.com

SUBSCRIBE ONLINE: www.lchaimmagazine.com/shop Copyright ©2016 L’Chaim San Diego LLC. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator” to: publisher@lchaimmagazine.com Published in San Diego, CA • www.lchaimmagazine.com lchaimmagazine

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RANDOM RANTS l BY SALOMON MAYA

my

comic relief Where there's smoke...

R

emember this quote, I will get back to it later: “In a short time, a large number of Jews are going to be slaughtered. Their heads are going to be blown off ...”

In the first two months of this year a total of 68 threatening incidents involving Jewish Centers had been catalogued by the JCCA (collection of JCC organizations). Incidents ranged from hateful calls to Chabad Centers to bomb threats and vandalism at Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia. On February 27, 2017, hate hit close to home as the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in La Jolla received its third bomb threat of this year, prompting its immediate evacuation. No actual bombs have been found … yet.

The above statements are all facts. Here’s how I see it.

It’s about the power of inclusion. Of knowing that hey I’m not the only one who hates Jews. Wow, there are others just like me. Nothing is more frightening than a person filled with hate, fueled by desperation to be accepted, seeing a concrete finish line at the end of the road, and that finish line are 6

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • MARCH 2017

decapitated and slaughtered Jews laying in a bloodbath.

Morbid? No. It’s reality. Here is the entire quote from before: “It’s a C-4 bomb with a lot of shrapnel, surrounded by a bag (inaudible). In a short time, a large number of Jews are going to be slaughtered. Their heads are going to [sic] blown off from the shrapnel. There’s a lot of shrapnel.

There’s going to be a bloodbath that’s going to take place in a short time. I think I told you enough. I must go.”

On January 18, 2017, a person using voice-disguising technology called the Jewish Community Center in Wilmington, Delaware. That is what he/she actually said and this was just one of the many calls Jewish Centers have received this year.

Is this just another call? Just another lunatic yearning for attention? Possibly. But he/she should have your attention. They definitely have mine. As of today, the FBI is investigating the threats to Jewish Centers nationwide as well as the desecration of Jewish tombstones in those two cemeteries.

As of today, there have been zero arrests. The President of the United States has publicly

denounced acts of anti-Semitism, but some within the Jewish community have called on him to do more.

Again, this isn’t political. This isn’t a left leaning member of the elitist media who will do and say anything to stagnate our Commander-in-Chief. This is a concerned dad and a worried member of your community. Frankly, this is a pissed off Jew. Let’s get involved. Let’s make our voices heard. Let’s remind everyone who we are as a community, as a people, as Jews. Call your congressman. Email your Senator.

Write something on your Facebook wall.

Tweet a celebrity or possibly even a President (as that is his favorite way to communicate, obviously). Don’t stay quiet. The only way to drown out the vitriol of hate, is to make a bunch of noise.

SALOMON MAYA IS A LOCAL ACTOR AND PLAYWRIGHT. FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @SALOMAYA OR EMAIL HIM AT SALOMONM@LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM.

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TORAH l BY RABBI DANIEL BORTZ

of

the book Happiness “ABOUT THE HEBREW MONTH WE FIND OURSELVES IN, THE SAGES SAID, 'WHEN THE MONTH OF ADAR ENTERS, ONE MUST INCREASE IN JOY.'”

A

ccording to a 2013 Harris poll, only 1 out of every 3 Americans described themselves as “very happy.”

Happiness is a state of being that many – if not all of us, pursue our whole lives. About the Hebrew month we find ourselves in, the Sages said: “When the month of Adar enters, one must increase in joy.” By using the term increase, the Talmud is insinuating that we must always be happy – now is just a time to add to that joy. But how does Judaism teach us to attain such an elusive state of being?

The first two words we say every morning upon awakening, is: “Modeh ani…” – I thank you for returning my soul this morning.

Sure, we can focus on everything we haven’t attained yet. But really, nothing is owed to us – everything is a gift, from our heartbeat and breath to our children and everything in between. This is the reason behind the Jewish blessing of thanks when we eat and drink, as well as after using the restroom. By cultivating a constant sense of gratitude, we can enjoy so many of the little things we have that are taken for granted.

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L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • MARCH 2017

What we can be most thankful for is our very ability to affect change in the world.

Recently I asked my high school students a strange question: Why do we celebrate birthdays? If Judaism teaches that our souls were basking in delight in heavenly realms before our birth into a world full of struggle and pain, what is there to celebrate? The reason is that before entering bodies, the soul had no independence or free will to affect cosmic change. The day of our birth has intense significance – now we have hands to give food to the poor, mouths to offer prayers and a kind word, a brain to meditate on beautiful ideas. And every act we do has infinite potential to make this world into a home for G-d. We are partners with Him in this world, entrusted with the most awesome mission imaginable.

But don’t we have legitimate things to worry about? Real challenges and worries in our work, family, health, and personal lives?

We can’t ignore these worries. One of the most popular Jewish words is: “Oy!” Imagine looking at those on a scary

amusement park ride at Six Flags. As the roller coaster reaches the highest peak, before its massive drop, many of the inhabitants have big smiles on their faces. How can that be?

It’s because, as scary as the ride is, they know that ultimately it’s safe and they’ll arrive at their destination, overseen by a director who is meticulous with every detail. Judaism teaches that every detail of our lives is also meticulously and lovingly watched over and planned by a Director above. Nothing is by chance. Everything has a good reason behind it, and our positive destination is ensured.

There is no need for fear or worry.

Wishing you a very happy month and holiday of Purim, whose entire story is based on this theme: Your life is a Megillah scroll – no matter how bad it gets, everything is being lined up to achieve a good, purposeful outcome.

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L’CHAIM l BY DAWN LERMAN | jns.org

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L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • MARCH 2017

L’CHAIM

A THOUSAND

WORDS GOD IS IN MY KITCHEN

I

n her recently published memoir, My Fat Dad: A Memoir of Food, Love, and Family, with Recipes (Berkley Books, September 2015), New York Times wellness blogger and nutritionist Dawn Lerman shares her food journey and that of her father, a copywriter from the Mad Men-era of advertising at the Leo Burnett and McCann Erickson firms. Dawn spent her early childhood in Chicago constantly hungry as her ad man father pursued endless fad diets from Atkins to Pritikin, and insisted that Dawn and her mother adopt his diets to help keep him on track. As a child, Dawn felt undernourished both physically and emotionally, except for one saving grace: the loving attention she received from her maternal grandmother, Beauty.

Below is an adapted excerpt from Chapter 1 of My Fat Dad, in addition to a recipe for a healthier version of Beauty’s hamantaschen for Purim.

My maternal grandmother always told me that if just one person loves you, it is enough to make you feel good inside and grow up strong. For me, that person was my grandmother, Beauty.

I spent most weekends with my grandmother because my parents liked to go out and stay out late, and my mother hated to pay good money for a babysitter only to find her asleep on the couch with Tinker Toys and Mr. Potato Heads sprawled all over the plush

white, blue, and green patterned shag carpet in the living room when she returned home.

My dad, an ambitious copywriter recently hired by the Leo Burnett Company in Chicago, was invited out pretty much every night, either to the Playboy Club for a members’ only dinner or to one of the new nightclubs on Rush Street for cocktails with his creative team.

“It’s a job requirement,” he would tell my mom, often returning home to our thirdfloor walk-up apartment as the sun was coming up.

I would spend most mornings, when I was not at my grandmother’s house, outside my parents’ door listening to them have the same argument over and over again.

“Taking Dawn to the sandbox once a day does not make you a good mother.”

“Putting a roof over our heads does not make you a good father or husband.”

Often, they would forget I was even in the house, raising their voices behind their closed bedroom door, and no matter how many times I knocked, they never seemed to hear. Even though I was only 3 and a half, I was often consumed with an overwhelming feeling of sadness and pain in my stomach that would linger from Sunday until Friday.

I knew the days of the week because my grandmother showed me how to check them off on a calendar.

“There are only four checks between visits,”

she would say.

Each and every Friday night, when I arrived at my grandparents’ house, my grandmother would run down her front porch stairs in her lacy matching nightgown-and-robe set and scream in excitement, “My little beauty, my little beauty!” I thought when I heard her say “beauty” over and over again, she was trying to tell me her name – so “Beauty” is what I called her. The name stuck, and soon everyone in her small neighborhood of West Rogers Park in Chicago knew my grandmother as Beauty – including my grandfather “Papa,” my mother, and all the neighbors.

The cooking aromas coming from her kitchen made my mouth water. Beauty always had a pot of something cooking on the stove, a freshly drawn bath, and a fluffy, lavender-smelling nightgown waiting for me.

She would bathe me before we ate, softening my skin with cream and rose talcum powder that she dusted on my back with a big powder puff.

For meals, she would lift me up and sit me in a special chair, which she piled high with several phone books – both the White and Yellow Pages – and an overstuffed round corduroy pillow. She wanted to make sure I could see above the table, which was set with silverware that she polished every week and an embroidered tablecloth that my Papa brought back from New Orleans, where he would go to visit his racehorses, Glen and WWW.LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM

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L’CHAIM

GRANDMA BEAUTY'S HAMANTASCHEN WITH A HEALTHY TWIST Makes 12 cookies, can be modified to be glutenfree or vegan

Phyllis, named after my mother and her brother Glen.

Beauty was the perfect name for my grandmother. She was like a shiny star that radiated light on the top of a Hanukkah bush. Everywhere she went, she made people smile. She would jokingly say she was Jackie Mason’s real wife – he just didn’t know it. But it was not that what my grandmother said was so funny. Rather, it was that she would just laugh so hard after she said something, that everyone else couldn’t help but join in.

“Laugh and people will laugh with you, cry and you will cry alone. The closest distance between two people is a good laugh.” That was a fortune cookie saying she saved and always kept in her pocketbook. Beauty emphasized how important it was to make others happy, even if it sometimes meant putting your own feelings aside.

“We do not know what goes on in anyone else’s house, but we can change their day by just saying hello and offering a kind gesture,” she said.

My grandmother wrote a poem about everyone she ever met. She would write them all out by hand and then her sister Jeannie would type them up so she could save them nicely in her album. “This is my favorite one,” she would say, then read the poem aloud.

As I lay on her lap, she would stroke my hair and I would ask her why she liked spending time with me, yet my mother did not. “Your mom loves you very much; she just has a funny way of showing it. You shouldn’t take it personally,” she said.

But no matter what my grandmother said, I often felt uneasy around my mother, knowing I could do something wrong at any minute – even if I was just sitting and reading. My mom was not very affectionate and she would constantly yell, “You’re invading my space!” when I got too close or tried to give her a hug. But Beauty was the opposite. She liked to spend time with me as much as I liked to spend time with her. We could sit around the table cooking and talking about our feelings for hours.

Beauty would say, “God is in my kitchen, not in temple” – which was really upsetting to her very good friend and neighbor, the rabbi next door.

My grandmother lived in a neighborhood with many religious families, although Beauty never believed in organized religion or going to temple herself. “I am a culinary Jew,” she’d proclaim. “I honor tradition and those who came before me, and I want to pass the history of the food on to you. I can find my heritage in a bowl of soup. I believe in the power of sweet-andsour meatballs. I believe that when I combine, eggs, raisins, cottage cheese, yogurt, and baby shells into a kugel, I honor my own grandmother. I believe that stuffed cabbage connects me to my father, whom I miss. My bible is recipes that fill your soul and will keep you healthy and nourished for years to come.”

From the time I could hold a spoon, my grandmother involved me in the cooking process, allowing me to mix the onions, green peppers, and bread crumbs for the salmon patties and decide what kind of soup we were going to prepare. And Beauty always made sure I was the one who tasted whatever we were making first. In her arms, I was never hungry for food, love, or affection. She was my mentor and my savior – saving my life, spoonful by spoonful.

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L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • MARCH 2017

INGREDIENTS 8 tbs coconut oil or softened butter (put a tbs aside for greasing the baking sheet if you are not using parchment paper) 1 egg, beaten 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 tbs non-dairy milk 1/3 cup maple syrup 1/2 cup almond flour or oat flour (add as needed, for thickening) 1¼ cups oat flour (you can make your own oat flour by blending oats in a blender) Pinch of sea salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 cup strawberry jam or preserves Powdered sugar for dusting (optional) DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the oil or butter, egg, vanilla, nondairy milk, and maple syrup, and mix well.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, salt, and baking powder. Then combine the ingredients from both bowls and mix together with your hands until they form sticky dough.

3. If the dough feels a touch dry, you can add a splash of water to thin it. And if it feels a bit wet, you can add a touch more almond or oat flour.

4. Chill the dough for 10 minutes, then roll out to 1/8-inch thick. Make sure it is firm but not dry.

Cut in 3-inch circles, or larger if you prefer. The larger, the easier to fold and fill.

5. Make sure your jam for the filling has been refrigerated so it is thick, not runny. Use about one teaspoon per cookie.

6. Place filling in center and pinch the edges firmly together to create a triangle, leaving the center open to expose the filling. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

7. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly brown on the bottom. Let cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar (if desired) before eating.

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FEATURE STORY l BY ALANNA MAYA

L'CHAIM

SAN DIEGO! A CONVERSATION WITH JOELLYN ZOLLMAN, CURATOR, CELEBRATE SAN DIEGO!

The History & Heritage of San Diego’s Jewish Community on Display March 11, 2017 – January, 2018 This month, the San Diego History center celebrates one of San Diego’s most vibrant communities with “Celebrate San Diego! The History and Heritage of San Diego’s Jewish Community.” The exhibit chronicles the entire history of our community through today, with historical artifacts, pictures and different media to tell the stories of the Jews who first came to San Diego in the early 19th Century, and those living here today. We spoke with Joellyn Zollman, the curator for this fantastic and fascinating exhibit about what it took to put it all together and why the San Diego Jewish experience is so different.

L’CHAIM MAGAZINE: WHAT A HUGE UNDERTAKING THIS IS! CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THE PROCESS OF PUTTING THIS EXHIBIT TOGETHER LOOKED LIKE? JOELLYN ZOLLMAN: Well, I’ve been working on this for about a year

and a half, and the San Diego History Center (SDHC) first came to me for the exhibit, because this is a community whose story really hasn’t been told.

They were very interested in exploring it and telling it.

For me, I am a Jewish historian. I grew up in a really small town in Pennsylvania, and then I came to San Diego. When I read the basic, major narratives of American Jewish History, it occurred to me that my lived Jewish experience wasn’t really part of those narratives, and it didn’t seem to be reflected in a lot of the American Jewish history that we all tell ourselves and read about, because that narrative is mostly about the New York Jewish

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L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • MARCH 2017

FEATURE STORY

"ONE OF THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE ABOUT SAN DIEGO JEWS IS THAT WE HAVE BEEN HERE SINCE THE BEGINNING OF STATEHOOD. PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE HOW DEEP THE ROOTS OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY HERE ARE."

experience. So, I became really interested in what it means to be Jewish in somewhere that is not New York.

The big question I had was, ‘How do you build a community somewhere that is remote from the centers of Jewish life?’ So, this is a question about region and identity that I have been really interested in for some time now, so when SDHC came to me and said they were interested in exploring their local Jewish community, it was a perfect match.

L’CHAIM: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE QUESTIONS EXPLORED IN THE EXHIBITION? WHAT SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS HELP TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS? JZ: I came to the project with some really big

questions about region and identity. What does it mean to be Jewish here in San Diego?

How is that different from being Jewish in New York or Chicago or even Los Angeles?

But also, how does that experience change over time?

To start to look for answers, I began with the collections at SDHC, and it was quite

funny because in the beginning the History Center staff were quite skeptical about what we might be able to find, but that place is a real treasure trove of information, particularly about what I would call the “pioneer Jewish community.” The History Center was originally the San Diego Historical Society, and they were very committed to collecting the documents and life stories of who they saw as san Diego’s founders. Many of those founders included Jews, so, they had so many images and documents and objects that started to unveil the story of San Diego’s Jewish past to us. It was a terrific and surprising discovery.

I also went to the collection of the Jewish Historical Society of San Diego, and that collection turned out to be really nicely paired with the SDHC collection because [they] had more of the 20th century items we were looking for.

L’CHAIM: HOW DID YOU TAKE ALL THIS INFORMATION AND ALL THESE DOCUMENTS AND NARROW THEM DOWN TO WHAT VISITORS WILL SEE

IN THIS EXHIBIT? KZ: Well, I took everything, and laid it out

in a timeline; sort of a timeline of the San Diego Jewish experience from the beginning of statehood, in 1850, to the present. On this timeline, I included Jewish organizations, Jewish individuals, the arrival of families, the demographics over time, and I looked for patterns or themes, and those became the themes of the exhibit. But the exhibit is not a sort of encyclopedic retelling of the San Diego Jewish experience, rather, it seeks to ask these big questions about community and identity and hopes to explore some possible beginning of answers.

L’CHAIM: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MAJOR THEMES THAT EMERGED AFTER THIS PROCESS? JZ: One of the things that people don’t realize

about San Diego Jews is that we have been here since the beginning of statehood. San Diego is a community that is always made up of more newcomers than natives because it is a constantly growing community. People WWW.LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM

15

FEATURE STORY

don’t realize how deep the roots of the Jewish community here are. So, one of my primary goals with the exhibition is to really show this.

One of the themes of the exhibit is “Jews are Insiders.” They are here from the beginning of statehood and they help to build and shape the city in really significant ways. Jews play a large role in civics here, from the beginning and that is a role that continues over time. This is something that is very important, because it shows that Jews were integrating pretty seamlessly into the community, which is not the same in New York or Baltimore, or other areas of the country where Jews are at this time.

The other theme that emerged is that sometimes in San Diego history, “Jews are Outsiders,” and sometimes they are not permitted to buy houses in certain neighborhoods, or restricted from clubs. So, how does it work to be both an insider and an outsider? That is a big question that the exhibit asks and tries to examine.

The third theme of the exhibit is “Innovators,” and it became clear to me that the kinds of people who came to San Diego, the Jews who were settling here, were outside of the box. Think about the personality of someone who came to the U.S. in the19th century, had already emigrated from somewhere, settled in New York, and moved again to come to San Diego. That takes chutzpah, so the people who come here tend to be adventurous, and at least in the pioneer days, they had to create a city here.

So, this part of the exhibit examines innovation and how it emerges over time.

L’CHAIM: HOW DOES THE EXHIBIT HANDLE DIFFERENT SUB-GROUPS OF THE SAN DIEGO JEWISH COMMUNITY WHO HAVE SETTLED HERE OVER TIME? JZ: One of the characteristics of San

Diego is that the number of Jews living 16

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • MARCH 2017

here that were born in another country is higher than the average American city.

So, in my research, I noticed there were large populations of Jews in San Diego that were originally from Mexico, South Africa, and the former Soviet Union, along with a smaller population of Israelis. That is an aspect, for me, that really gives our community a flavor, and it is one way how living here is different from living in other Jewish communities.

So, we look at these communities in a timeline of the larger San Diego Jewish experience, and also as part of their own unique experience as Jews.

L’CHAIM: WHAT ARE SOME WAYS THAT YOU HOPE THE COMMUNITY IS ABLE TO ENGAGE AND INTERACT WITH THE EXHIBIT? JZ: It was really important to me that

it be a very democratic exhibition, really deeply populist, in the sense that I want all Jews in San Diego to see themselves in the exhibit, and not that it feel like a hall of fame, for example. I want it to feel accessible and also like it is their story and that they are able to recognize their stories. So, I designed the exhibit in a way that would allow people to interact with it.

Part of that is through the educational programming we have built around the larger exhibition, and part of that is through part of the exhibition called the family room. This room is designed to look like a living room, that will be hung very densely with photographs of the San Diego Jewish community from the 1850s to the present, and in that way, people will see themselves, their family, friends and neighbors in the exhibit.

Celebrate San Diego! The History & Heritage of San Diego’s Jewish Community opens March 11 and will run through January 2018. To learn more, visit sandiegohistory.org.

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17

SPOTLIGHT on purim

FEMINISM

& PURIM

Reflections of female religious leaders across denominations

BY ALINA DAIN SHARON | jns.org

I

n the Book of Esther’s Chapter 4, verse 14, Mordechai encourages his niece, Queen Esther, to use her influence with King Ahasuerus.

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” he tells her.

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L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • MARCH 2017

Esther listens to Mordechai and manages to save the Jewish people from annihilation, while Ahasuerus’s previous wife Vashti is remembered for refusing to obey the king.

Ahead of the Purim holiday March 11-12, which falls this year shortly after International Women’s Day March 8, here are interviews with four female religious leaders from different Jewish denominations for their perspectives on the lessons

contemporary women can glean from the Purim story, and on their own paths toward religious leadership.

REFORM: RABBI LEORA KAYE “We all have opportunity to change the world, to make it more just or more compassionate.

It might have just been that for this moment today, that’s why we’ve been put on this Earth,” reflects Rabbi Leora Kaye, director of

SPOTLIGHT on purim

programs at the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), on Mordechai’s aforementioned words to Esther.

Kaye, who received her rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union CollegeJewish Institute of Religion in New York in 2002 and served in many leadership roles in the Reform Jewish community before joining URJ, believes there are women like Esther who don’t realize that they have power and need encouragement to be stronger than they believe they can be.

As the daughter of a director of camping and youth activities in the Reform community, Kaye grew up immersed in Jewish education.

While she was initially unsure if she wanted to become a pulpit rabbi, along the way she encountered “a lot of Mordechais” who encouraged her to study in rabbinical school.

She also pursued her love of filmmaking by working as a television writer and producer, notably on the Sundance Film Festival award-winning documentary Blue Vinyl.

Kaye notes that the idea of feminism is a lot older than what most might believe, citing not only the Purim story, but also other biblical storylines such as those involving the midwives Shifra and Puah, who defied Pharaoh’s order to kill all newborn Jewish boys, or the daughters of Zelophehad, who fought for their right to inherit property.

Though they do not represent the majority voice in the Bible, “there are strains in these stories that imply to me that even back then, there were people who thought about women’s rights,” she says.

In her own professional life, Kaye says she has faced little resistance, though “every so often someone will look at me and say, ‘Oh you don’t look like a rabbi,’ and laugh.”

“I know I stand on the shoulders of the women who came before me,” she says.

CONSERVATIVE: RABBI ILANA GARBER Rabbi Ilana Garber says she admires Esther for using “her voice and her power to her advantage, and in strategic ways.”

“What might be interpreted as her silence – when she does not tell the king her real name

and her ancestry – is actually discretion. A strong feminist knows how to use words and actions to make a difference,” Garber explains.

Garber, the associate rabbi at Beth El Temple in West Hartford, Connecticut, graduated from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2005. She is a member of several national committees of the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, and of Rabbis Without Borders, which seeks to redefine what it means to be a rabbi and share the word of the Torah in new, pluralistic ways. Garber has garnered attention for writing about raising a child with Fragile X syndrome.

When she was a child in the early 1980s, Garber did not know that women could be rabbis. In fact, her male rabbi told her that women should not have equal roles in Jewish ritual practice. She changed her perspective, at age 11, after meeting a female Reform rabbi who took her under her wing.

In the years that followed, Garber faced obstacles such as synagogues that only wanted to hire male rabbis or congregants who would ask while she marched holding the Torah if they should kiss the Torah or kiss her, as well as challenges in the dating world.

She says it is “not easy to tell a nice Jewish boy that you are a rabbi,” going as far as lying to her current husband when they first met that she was a “community educator.”

Garber is motivated by the Purim story’s Esther to consider the figurative masks that people wear to disguise themselves, their inner needs and their desires.

“How might we learn to be more honest?” she asks.

“Some days I feel the need to proudly march with my feminist flag,” says Garber.

“I seek to have a voice in a room full of male rabbis, or to create meaningful and engaging programs for women…But other days, I am ‘just’ a rabbi, and gender plays very little into who I am or what I do. Still, even on those days, being a feminist – someone who knows how to speak her mind and use her actions in order to achieve her goals – is my primary motivation.”

"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish.

And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?"

(Esther, 4:14) RECONSTRUCTIONIST: RABBI MARGOT STEIN Rabbi Margot Stein, a faculty member at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC), calls the Purim story as a whole “sexist” because “the two primary women are being manipulated” for their body and beauty, and Esther herself must use “manipulation” to access power.

“Just because the book is named the Book of Esther doesn’t make it feminist, or Esther a feminist character,” Stein says.

Having earned a Master of Hebrew Letters and rabbinical degree from RRC in 1997, Stein is also a musician who has recorded and co-produced seven albums of Jewish music. In 1988, she co-wrote a song that depicts her belief that Esther and even Vashti have “redeeming qualities.” The song, titled WWW.LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM

19

SPOTLIGHT on purim

The four Jewish female religious leaders who spoke about feminism and Purim. Top row: Rabbi Ilana Garber (left) and Maharat Dasi Fruchter. Bottom row: Rabbi Leora Kaye (left) and Rabbi Margot Stein.

“She said NO to the king,” describes Vashti as refusing “to be a woman oppressed” and Esther discovering that she needs to use “her mind” to get out of her “bind.”

The Purim story is about women “learning how to be active on the world stage,” says Stein, who was raised in a Conservative home and attending a synagogue with an Orthodox rabbi, and noticed how her brother received greater access to Jewish education than she did. As she came of age, she became “increasingly interested in the feminist version of Judaism.”

In the Purim story, Ahaseurus had a harem of women, which Stein views as a parallel to today’s sex trafficking. She notes 20

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • MARCH 2017

the importance of organizations that fight problems like trafficking, such as T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.

“I am inspired by the Purim story to continue fighting for women’s rights in all places where they’re not realized,” she says.

ORTHODOX: MAHARAT DASI FRUCHTER “What I think is most feminist about the Purim story is actually the fact that there’s collaborative leadership between a man and a woman (Mordechai and Esther),” says Maharat Hadas (Dasi) Fruchter—a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat and the assistant spiritual leader at Beth Sholom Congregation

and Talmud Torah of Potomac, Maryland.

“Esther is given a lot of airtime, which in itself is a feminist thing,” Fruchter explains, though she adds that she doesn’t believe Esther’s goal was to be a feminist. Instead, the story provides a “glimpse into the narrative of a complex woman.”

Growing up modern Orthodox, Fruchter later discovered Yeshivat Maharat, the first institution to ordain women as Orthodox clergy, through one of its founders. She calls her experience there “a beautiful match to my passions and strengths.”

While some of the school’s graduates take the title of “rabbi,” Fruchter uses “maharat”ca Hebrew acronym for manhiga hilkhatit rukhanit Toranit. This reflects the institution’s policy that Orthodox congregations, even those who accept women as clergy, have varying levels of comfort with the concept of women rabbis.

“There have definitely been times where I’ve had hateful things said to me…I see it as people who are afraid of change in various capacities,” says Fruchter.

“My job is to keep doing my work,” she says, noting that while the status of women in Orthodox Judaism varies, opportunities for Orthodox women to learn Torah are increasing.

Fruchter points out that when she refuses to appear before the king, Vashti uses similar wording to what Joseph uses when he refuses to sleep with his Egyptian master’s wife in Genesis. Fruchter often uses the VashtiJoseph comparison to teach young girls about sexual consent. She also uses Mordechai’s words in Esther 4:14 – that Esther may have been meant for the moment – as a mantra to re-evaluate her own decisions at every moment, and how she can be “harnessing it for good.

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21

PHOTOS COURTESY FIDF

L-R: Samuel Umansky, Nir Benzvi, Alan Katz, Marc Russo, Enrique Gorodezky, Brett Saloner, Simon Vainer, Stuart Simble, Ari Hirschhorn, Steven Mizel; participants on a recent FIDF mission trip.

ON A MISSION: Traveling with Friends of the Israel Defense Forces

BY DEBOR AH VIETOR

I

t was 8 in the morning and I was leaving Jerusalem on a bus, with a group from San Diego on a Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) mission. Suddenly, the bus started to slow due to a traffic jam.

We soon heard on the radio that Jerusalem was under blockade. Nobody was to enter 22

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • MARCH 2017

or leave the city. That morning, a massacre took place, in an old synagogue in Jerusalem where a rabbi and three of his congregants were stabbed to death. Yet, despite the uncertainty of the situation, all of us in the bus felt safe, because outside the window, we could see the young men and women of the

Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

When we finally arrived at our destination, the base of an Elite Warfare unit, we were not greeted by the usual friendly faces of the soldiers. Instead, we watched from afar as they were gathering their gear and boarding their vehicles. At that moment, I realized

FEATURE STORY

that these young men, about to embark on their mission to bring the perpetrators of the massacre to justice, were the exact same age as my own children, who attend college here in the U.S. “We all have kids, grandkids, nephews or nieces, brothers or sisters who are in high school or college,” says Alan Katz, who is the chairman of the board for Friends of the IDF (FIDF) in San Diego and Orange County.

Katz is most passionate about the FIDF missions because it gives him an opportunity to personally interact with the soldiers. He has not only participated in but has led a number of local missions to Israel with the FIDF including one coming up in May 2017.

All of us want our kids to be safe and successful and are willing to do anything to make that happen. These kids are the future of this country, the Jewish people and our San Diego community. When you go on an FIDF mission, you get to see firsthand those young men and women of the IDF in action.

Our San Diego community and FIDF have touched the lives of so many soldiers through social, educational and recreational programs.

Formed in 1981 by Holocaust survivors, FIDF is dedicated to the men and women who serve in the IDF, wounded veterans, and the families of fallen soldiers. Mike Dolinka, the Director of Development for the San Diego/Orange County chapter shared with us some exciting local and national missions that are being offered to the community.

These missions enable the community to travel to Israel and engage with soldiers on various military bases in a meaningful way.

The mission participants come away from these trips with an up-close view of Israel, the geopolitical situation there, and the soldiers who stand guard over the country. Dolinka shared that these are not “tourist” missions, rather, they are an exclusive behind the scenes dive into the machine that is the IDF. Each mission is unique in its participants and interactions with the soldiers. The San Diego community has led over 20 missions to Israel, including a couples mission and a

young professionals mission. Participants have the opportunity to engage with many different units of the IDF, ranging from intelligence to air force, navy, and even special operations forces. FIDF missions take you on the journey of the Israeli soldier and enable you to see the many different crucial programs that FIDF supports.

Through these programs, FIDF addresses needs that range from in-service and postservice education to food vouchers for soldiers experiencing difficult socio-economic situations and their families, to larger construction projects such as synagogues, auditoriums, sports courts, gymnasiums, and club lounges. These facilities help the soldiers raise their spirits, keep soldiers healthy, and greatly improve morale on IDF bases.

One of FIDF’s flagship programs is called IMPACT! The IMPACT! Program is the largest scholarship provider for combat or combat-support soldiers in Israel, funding individuals who would otherwise be unable to receive higher education due to economic hardship. The scholarships cover the cost of the soldier’s studies: $4,000 annually for four years. The FIDF believes that these men and women who served either two or three years to protect the state of Israel deserve an education. Scholarship recipients are taught to “pay it forward” during their studies by volunteering at least 130 hours per year to local charities in Israel, serving such populations as Holocaust survivors, wounded warriors, youth at risk, and many other organizations in Israel. The program has now come full circle as many of the first graduating class are now IMPACT! donors themselves.

Katz is a supporter of the IMPACT! Program and states that these programs, while giving the soldiers opportunities to attend college, assist their family’s needs as well.

“The state of Israel cannot provide scholarships to every soldier,” Katz says. “The San Diego community loves the IMPACT! Program and it creates a huge amount of positivity.”

Local FIDF chapter missions are made up of about 10-20 participants. Dolinka shared that these experiences are “educational, recreational, and spiritual.”

“They give the participant a glimpse into the needs of the soldiers before, during and after serving in the military,” He said, speaking from experience. Dolinka served as a lone soldier from San Diego in an IDF combat unit.

For these Lone Soldiers, the FIDF provides flights home to visit family and friends, rest and recuperation days, financial aid, housing throughout Israel, a 24/7 support-center, care packages and letters of well-wishing from people in the United States who want to support the soldiers in Israel. Over 6,400 Lone Soldiers from 80 countries around the world currently serve in the IDF, many of whom visit with FIDF mission participants.

Katz shared that while missions are both regional and national, the goal is to continue to raise awareness and funds for the needs of the IDF soldiers in Israel. “Israel is constantly monitoring safety, 24/7. he said. I wouldn’t be involved if it weren’t such a great program.

Alan mentioned that he is leading another mission in May with 10 couples attending. A message that is helpful to disseminate is that the IDF soldiers should not primarily be seen as a fighting force, but rather as defending and protecting the land of Israel and Jews around the world. “We are helping soldiers and Israel,” Katz says. “I have not met anyone with a negative experience. The FIDF really is a moral organization, creating ambassadors for the State of Israel. Soldiers can’t stop thanking us while we are visiting them. They are amazed at how many Jews support them.

It makes them feel good, there is positivity, you can feel it.”

For more information regarding missions to Israel, visit fidf.org or contact Mike Dolinka, director of development for San Diego, Orange County and Arizona at michael.dolinka@fidf.org.

WWW.LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM

23

FOOD

KOSHEROLOGY Shawarmataschen STORY & PHOTOS BY ALEX THE KOSHEROLOGIST KOSHEROLOGY.COM

Packing the rich, undeniable flavors of the MiddleEast, these Israeli inspired savory hand pies are filled with MidEast spiced roasted chicken and hummus and topped with fresh Israeli salad and a drizzle of tahina.

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L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • MARCH 2017

FOOD

These awesome Shawarma Hamantaschen, – Shawarmataschen, if you will – are a colorful and delectable addition to the Hamantaschen collection for Purim 2017.

Packing the rich, undeniable flavors of the Middle East, these Israeli-inspired savory hand pies are filled with Mid-East spiced roasted chicken and hummus and topped with fresh Israeli salad and a drizzle of tahina. Bonus points, because these are ridiculously easy to prepare.

SHAWARMATASCHEN (Makes 18 Hamantaschen) 3 pounds frozen yeast dinner roll dough (approx. 36 rolls) 1 (10 oz.) container prepared Hummus 1 egg, plus 1 tablespoon water for egg-wash For the chicken shawarma 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into approximately three 1/2”-4” strips 1/4 cup olive oil 2 tsp. ground cumin 2 tsp. ground paprika 1 tsp. ground allspice 1 tsp. ground turmeric 1/2 tsp. garlic powder 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/8 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper Plus (to finish) 1/2 tsp. cumin 1/2 tsp. paprika 1/4 tsp. allspice 1/4 tsp. turmeric 1/8 tsp. salt DIRECTIONS 1. Pour the olive oil into a one gallon ziplock bag. Add the spices. seal the bag and shake to combine. Add the chicken strips. Seal the bag and use your hands to work the spice marinade into the chicken. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. For best results, marinate chicken overnight.

2. (Preferably the next day.) Defrost the dinner roll dough according to manufacturer’s directions.

3. Preheat oven to 400° F. 4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.

5. Arrange the chicken strips evenly on the baking sheet in a single layer.

6. Cook for approximately 6 minutes on each side, for a total of 12 minutes. Any smaller pieces should only need about 7 minutes total cooking time, flipping each piece at 3 1/2 minutes. Test tenderness with a fork. Remove from oven and let cool.

7. Cut the strips into bite-size pieces, then add the finishing spices (cumin, paprika, allspice, turmeric, and salt.) Gently toss to coat. Set aside.

8. Preheat oven to 350° F. 9. Line three, half-sheet pans with parchment paper.

10. Combining two rolls, form 18 (2 1/3 oz.) dough balls.

11. Flatten/roll each ball into a 5 1/2”circle, approximately 1/8” thick.

12. Place circles onto the sheet pan.

13. Spoon about one tablespoon of hummus onto the center of each circle and spread out slightly.

14. Place about 1/3 cup of shawarma on top of the hummus.

15. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the outer edge of each circle with egg-wash and fold into a triangle around the filling, pinching the corners tightly to ensure the filling is well enclosed. Lightly brush the outside of the hamantaschen with egg-wash.

16. Bake for 7 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for another 7 minutes, for a total of 15 minutes.

17. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Before serving, spoon about 1-2 tablespoons of Israeli salad into the Hamantaschen and drizzle with tahina sauce.

ISRAELI SALAD 1 English cucumber, chopped 1 cup cherry tomatoes or 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped 1/2 small red onion, diced Juice of 1 medium lemon 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste Combine all ingredients and add salt and pepper to taste TAHINA SAUCE 1/2 cup pure sesame paste (tahini) 1 tablespoon. extra-virgin olive oil Juice of 1/2 lemon 1/4 cup water Combine all the ingredients and mix until smooth.

ABOUT ALEX (THE KOSHEROLOGIST) BORN AND BRED IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH, ALEX ‘THE KOSHEROLOGIST’ IDOV, WAS RAISED ON COLLARD GREENS STEWED WITH SMOKED TURKEY LEG (IN PLACE OF HAM HOCKS), BLACKEYED-PEAS, AND BRUNSWICK STEW. HE BOASTS BEING A 4TH GENERATION JEWISH SOUTHERNER, WITH ONE OF HIS GREAT-GRANDMOTHER’S BORN IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA IN 1888. HIS OTHER GREAT-GRANDPARENTS HAILED FROM RUSSIA, POLAND, AND FRANCEINSPIRING MUCH OF HIS COOKING WITH THE CUISINES OF HIS HERITAGE. ALEX’S CULINARY REPERTOIRE GOES BEYOND TRADITIONAL JEWISH AND SOUTHERN FARE, AS HE REVISITS AND REINVENTS THE CUISINES OF HIS ANCESTORS. ALEX HOLDS A BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN CULINARY SUSTAINABILITY AND HOSPITALITY FROM THE KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY MICHAEL A. LEVEN SCHOOL OF CULINARY SUSTAINABILITY AND HOSPITALITY AND WORKS AS A FREELANCE FOOD WRITER. FIND MORE RECIPES AT KOSHEROLOGY.COM WWW.LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM

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FEATURE STORY

MITZVAHS TOGETHER

TRIBE

OUR

MAKING

THE COMMUNITY PLACE

Dreams For Change and Jewish Family Service work together to provide shelter, food and safety to San Diego's homeless families.

BY MIMI POLL ACK

H

ere in America’s Finest City, the weather is nice year-round, but there are a number of homeless people on the streets and worse yet, homeless families.

However, two very mensch organizations have paired up to help: Dreams for Change and Jewish Family Service. Next year will be the 100th anniversary of JFS, so this nonprofit has been serving the community for a long time with its various programs that strive to help others by empowering individuals and families, sponsoring and supporting refugees, and fostering community connection and engagement. JFS’s mission is to build a stronger, healthier, and more resilient San Diego.

Dreams for Change began in May 2009 with the mission to support homeless and low-income people who were not being served by traditional homeless service providers and government programs. They advocate an action plan that places emphasis on finding permanent housing, employment, training, emergency support, and asset stabilization and building. They also started the Safe Parking Program for homeless people [which include the working homeless] who live out of their cars, so they would have a safe place to park at night.

In October 2016, Dreams for Change approached Jewish Family Service and asked if they could use their parking lot after hours, and an innovative and effective partnership was born.

This program operates from 6 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

It is contained in the fenced parking lot of JFS between the buildings and provides 40 parking spaces for between 20 and 30 cars and around 40 people, including individuals and families. DFC carefully screens the 26

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • MARCH 2017

individuals before sending them to JFS. The program is self-contained and operates almost completely outdoors, with the exception of case management sessions that DFC now conducts inside in rooms that JFS provides. Since October, this partnership has grown, including engaging staff and volunteers to host dinners on both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays along with a few other evening dinners.

In addition, JFS is now providing food from the JFS Corner Market to these individuals. This market receives its food from JFS, Feeding San Diego, and recently, Starbucks joined in after their employees complained about wasting food. JFS has also brought in port-o-potties, a sink, and given access to an indoor shower. The children in these families all go to school and it is nice for them to be able to clean up and eat breakfast before they leave.

Finally, this partnership, which also includes job coaching and employment services, has resulted in several individuals gaining employment, as well as financial assistance to help clients with clothing for job interviews, security deposits for homes along with other items related to self-sufficiency and becoming housed.

Both JFS and DFC will continue to work and grow together in their common goal of helping families and individuals as they move forward to greater self-sufficiency and finding stable housing, employment and a better life.

It is good karma all the way around and a blueprint for others to follow.

If you are interested in hosting a dinner for Dreams for Change clients, contact Dana Toppel at danat@jfssd.org.

House of Israel is one of the 32 exposition cottages that make up the House of Pacific Relations located on the beautiful grounds of Balboa Park, San Diego, California.

In view of current events, let's all pull together and keep the House of Israel alive and vibrant.

The House of Israel welcomes monetary donations, volunteers, and community support.

The House of Israel is a nonprofit 501(c3) organization. cottageofisrael.com Did you know? The House of Israel is the first U.S. public building to fly the flag of Israel.

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JEWISHMOM.COM

FAMILY

THE WOMAN I SCREAMED AT LAST WEEK

BY CHANA J E N N Y WE I S B E RG

I

’ve been a member of the same health fund for 22 years, and I’ve been very happy with it in almost every way. But this past Thursday, something happened that made me so furious that Josh and I seriously considered moving our business elsewhere.

For the last two months, I noticed that my family’s monthly charge from the health fund has more than doubled. So, I called up the health fund’s phone hotline to find out why. But when the woman on the hotline finally answered after half an hour on hold, she told me she could not give me this information, only my husband. What?!

I told her that I had received similar information regarding billing from the phone center on several occasions. What had changed all of a sudden?

“Your husband is the head of your family’s health-fund account; since the bank account we take the monthly charge from is under his name, so I can only give this information to him.”

“That’s not true. My husband and I have had a joint bank account for the last 20 years. And I have always handled all matters connected to the health fund.”

When the woman refused to budge, I asked to speak to her supervisor. But after 20 more minutes on hold for the supervisor, the woman told me that the supervisor was refusing to speak to me; she would only speak with my husband.

I am not the kind of person who usually screams at others, but, oh, did I scream at her!

When I got off the phone, I was shaking.

It was so frustrating, to know that I was right, and that I had a valid complaint, but nobody was willing to listen to me. For hours afterward, I was upset about it; feeling so stuck. I sent a fax to my health fund’s complaint department, but who knew when they would respond, if ever.

And then I remembered a story from Henny Machlis’s biography, in which she shares a story she heard from her rabbi, Rabbi Usher Freund. Henny taught: Rav Usher’s four-year-old daughter had been eating chocolate yogurt and she had it all over her face and all over her blouse. He took her to the mirror. He asked her, ‘What do you see on that girl?’ His daughter replied, ‘That girl has chocolate all over her face and all over her blouse.’ Rav Usher asked her, ‘And how are we going to clean up that girl?’

She said, ‘I am going to wash my face, and I am going to clean my blouse. Then I will be clean, and that girl will be clean.’ And, Henny explained, what do we learn from that? If you ever see a fault in someone else, the fault is [probably] in you. The best way to clean up the other person is to clean up yourself.

And I thought of this story, and I thought of the woman I had screamed at. And within a few seconds, I completely understood.

The woman at the phone center and her supervisor were unwilling to listen to my complaint, but I, too, am unwilling to listen to complaints – from my children. As soon as my kids start complaining about just about anything, I tune them out. I might nod and say “Ah-hah” as though I’m kind-of listening, but I’m totally not.

So, I decided to improve that aspect of my mothering, since I had learned on the phone that day what an utterly awful feeling it is to have a heartfelt complaint and to have it be ignored and belittled. And that is how I make my kids feel all too often.

Yesterday, I called my local health-fund branch and was able to fill out a form that would allow me to receive information on our account. It took me exactly 11 seconds, and the problem was thereby solved, lickety split.

CHANA JENNY WEISBERG, THE CREATOR OF JEWISHMOM.COM, IS A STAY-HOME MOTHER OF 8 CHILDREN LIVING IN JERUSALEM WITH HER HUSBAND, RABBI JOSHUA WEISBERG. ORIGINALLY FROM BALTIMORE, CHANA JENNY HAS DEVOTED HER NON-MOM TIME OVER THE PAST DECADE TO PROVIDING INSPIRATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT FOR OTHER JEWISH MOMS THROUGH HER POPULAR BOOKS EXPECTING MIRACLES AND ONE BABY STEP AT A TIME.

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27

LOTEM MAKES NATURE

ACCESSIBLE FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION KINDERGARTENERS Last month, as part of its newly initiated Women’s Speaker Series, Jewish National Fund welcomed Alisa Bodner to San Diego. Alisa is the JNF-LOTEM liaison and spoke about the tremendous work the organization is doing to make nature accessible and welcoming to Israel’s special needs community. LOTEM-Making Nature Accessible is an ecological farm located in Emek HaShalom, a hidden green valley just minutes away from the Northern Israeli town of Yokne’am. On a beautiful day in the center of the valley, in a small stone amphitheater surrounded by trees, a group of parents and children have gathered. The kids laugh and run in circles with their friends while parents drink coffee, chat, and soak up the late-winter sunshine. Here and there, a child shows their parent something interesting, like the mint bush used for making tea or the wine press specially outfitted for people in wheelchairs.

The air is clean and scented with blossoming orange trees.

LOTEM makes nature and ancient agricultural practices accessible to people with special needs. Although the farm is only a 15 minute drive from town, most of the special education kindergartens never visit.

Buses are costly, parental authorization is difficult to obtain, and change in routine can sometimes be disruptive for the children.

An expert in working with children with different ability levels throughout its nationwide programs, LOTEM designed an eight-session outdoor curriculum for Yokne’am’s special education kindergarteners, whose developmental issues may include 28

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • MARCH 2017

language difficulties, cognitive delays, and/or behavioral challenges. Since the beginning of the school year, 47 four to six-year-old special education kindergarteners have enjoyed the rare opportunity to encounter the natural world, ancient agriculture, and their Jewish tradition using all of their senses.

“This was not a one-off, transitory experience,” explained Hani Hameiri, program director at the farm. “Many of the groups that take part in LOTEM’s programs only make it for half- or one-day workshops in sites throughout the country.

But these kids had the rare opportunity to return to this special place every few weeks.

They developed a real relationship with both the place and the staff, and as the seasons changed, they would find something new to discover on each visit—falling leaves, ripening fruit, early winter flowers, wheat fields sprouting, you name it. It was a slow and evolving experience.”

This process-oriented approach is very important for children with developmental disabilities, who often have difficulty understanding concepts. At LOTEM, specially trained counselors employ a range of tools to make learning holistic and processoriented. For example, every activity begins with a review of previously learned concepts and a step-by-step plan for what they are about to do. Because many of the children’s developmental delays are language-related, the counselors use pictures and props to assist in communication. Every visit to the farm includes art, stories, songs, games, and fun food prep.

The activities at Emek HaShalom were designed specifically with the yearly kindergarten curriculum in mind. When Chanukah was the focus in the classroom, the children’s outdoor activities included pressing olives into oil. When learning about trees, they explored Emek HaShalom’s forest and orchards and made orange juice from the citrus trees. Other hands-on activities included drawing water from an old-fashioned well, identifying medicinal plants for brewing tea, and hiking along the Shofet stream, one of Israel’s few wheelchair accessible trails. In between each visit, teachers would review what was learned and introduce upcoming concepts.

After a full morning, the kindergarteners board the bus back to Yokne’am, each clutching a flowering plant to take home.

Yet, far more important, each child takes home a personal connection to this beautiful place and an appreciation for the cycles of nature—gifts that will stay with them for many seasons to come.

For more information about LOTEM and upcoming JNF Women for Israel events, please contact JNF’s San Diego Director James Kimmey at 858.824.9178 x988 or jkimmey@jnf.org.

For information on how you can leave a lasting legacy, please contact JNF’s Planned Giving Department at 800.562.7526 or visit jnflegacy.org.

BY STEPHANIE LEWIS l HUMOR

mazel

& mishagoss Purim terms you've yet to learn!

Brush up on the following new Purim vocabulary, as there could be a poppy quiz!

A Filler Thriller (noun) Someone who takes great pride experimenting with new flavors inside their hamantaschen. Nutella anyone?

“She makes a killing by chilling her thrilling filling!” A very “fulfilling” profession.

Fastivus For the Rest Of Us! (exclamation) Seinfeldian phrase used to justify why some Jews needn’t participate in the important Fast of Esther, citing prior starvation on Yom Kippur.

(verb) The act of placating anyone who changes his or her mind and states this hero was actually Esther’s Uncle when you’re quite certain he was her cousin. Or vice-versa.

Note: It’s never okay to Mordechai Mortify someone for his or her ignorance.

PPP (Acronym for Purim Punim Prerogative) The guaranteed right to decline to have your face painted at a Purim Carnival.

Shpiel Appeal (adjective) A flair for comedy or drama. “Hey, he has real shpiel appeal – let’s cast him in this year’s Purim Play!”

Esther Investor Impresser Dress Her (verb) One who shells out lots of dough (but not for hamantaschen) on an authentic regal costume so their daughter will win the Purim Carnival Contest. The antithesis of…

Grogger Hogger (proper noun) When you show up for the Megillah reading and all that’s left are some measly New Year’s Eve hornblowers, you can blame the Grogger Hogger!

Esther Protestor (verb) Vehemently opposing the notion that a female’s only option on Purim is to be the Queen. Warning: Can lead to the following…

MegillahDrilla (noun) “Alright now, you know the MegillahDrilla,” the Rabbi says as congregants file into shul to listen to the reading of the five scrolls.

CrownGownLetDown (noun) Serious syndrome with symptoms regularly striking young girls who look forward all year to wearing frills and jewels, only to realize they are the daughter of a Woman Libber.

Mollifying Mordechai-ing Modifying

BoooooBallyhoo! (noun) The cacophony of sound when children’s booing at the mention of Haman reaches Tylenol crescendo.

MMM (acronym for Mishmash Mishloach Manot) The current trend to put a hodge

podge of elaborate non-food items in these gift baskets we bestow on the Jewish community. Someone once found a pony in theirs!

EstherNOTEaster! (exclamation) When non-Jews see the above little baskets of treats, they make faulty assumptions about bunnies and cellophane grass. This phrase quickly sets them straight!

Masquerade Parade Charade (verb) Marching enthusiastically around in all sorts of Purim get-ups so you can prove to your child this is a perfect substitute for Halloween.

Pockets and Ears and Hats…Oh My! (childhood chant) A fun way to teach children the theories of why hamantaschen are a three-point triangle shape. Do you know which one is correct?

Charity Clarity Care-ity (adverb) One who has a clear vision that donating to the poor is extremely important on Purim.

STEPHANIE D. LEWIS IS A REGULAR COMEDY WRITER FOR THE HUFFINGTON POST AND HAS A HUMOR BLOG, ONCEUPONYOURPRIME. FOLLOW HER @ MISSMENOPAUSE. WWW.LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM

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We all have a coming-toSan Diego-story.

Exhibition Opens

MARCH 12, 2017 Explore this fascinating and vivid history from the pioneer era to the present day.

In the heart of Balboa Park

The History & Heritage OF SAN DIEGO’S JEWISH COMMUNITY Celebrate San Diego! is presented by | Leading Sponsors: Carleton Management Inc.

1649 El Prado #3, San Diego, CA 92101

www.sandiegohistory.org

• Foster Family Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation Principal Sponsors: Cushman Foundation • Jane & Thompson Fetter • Randi & Charles Wax Family / Sharon & David Wax Family

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L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • MARCH 2017

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