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W e h a v e l o c a t i o n s a l l o v e r S a n D i e g o !
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W I T H A C H A B A D C E N T E R N E A R Y O U !
PUBLISHERS
Mark Edelstein and Dr. Mark Moss
EDITOR
Susan Edelstein
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Makayla Hoppe
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Donna D’Angelo
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Eileen Sondak
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Emily Bartell, Linda Bennett, Andrea Simantov, Trevor James McNeil, Marnie Macauley, Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort, Galia Miller Sprung, Micah Siva Lisa McGuigan
San Diego Jewish Journal (858) 442-9922 SanDiegoJewishJournal sdjewishjournal.com
We celebrate our Book of Life signers and the entire community at this season of renewal, reflection, and commitment to giving for the future.
We included 36 new personal statements into the Book of Life –a treasured archive of individuals and families who have made commitments to support Jewish nonprofits from generation to generation. We deeply appreciate their commitment to the Jewish future.
Let us know if you’ve made this kind of commitment, or want to create your personal statement and join the 1,400 Create a Jewish Legacy Society Members, in ensuring a lasting legacy for generations to come - jcfsandiego.org/cajl.
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Joan Jacobs Signature Brunch
Carrying forward Joan’s legacy, this first-of-its-kind gathering celebrates resilience, empowerment, and community—inviting us to engage in conversation about the strength we find in ourselves and each other.
Resilience & Renewal
Finding Strength in Every Chapter
A conversation with Julianna Margulies
Brunch Chairs
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Sunday, October 26, 2025
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11:00am-1:00pm: Brunch & Conversation
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An Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG Award-winning actor, bestselling author, and passionate advocate for social change, Julianna is best known for her roles inER and The Good Wife. She uses her platform to champion causes close to her heart, including Holocaust education and women’s empowerment.
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SUSAN EDELSTEIN
A New Year — A Time To See, Feel and Taste the Sweet
It’s that time of year again: a time for reflection, contemplation, renewal and hope. The High Holidays are a time to appreciate and revel in a pretty incredible history, to take part in time-honored traditions, to join together in bringing light and sweetness to those we can, and to move forward into the year 5786 with purpose.
Our High Holidays issue is replete with the ideas and thoughts of our regular writers, which all revolve in their own ways around our shared roots and the joy found in connection. Rabbi Eilfort says that the love that fills our hearts on Rosh Hashana will grow and “spill over to inform our thoughts, speech and actions” in the new year. Andrea Simantov tells us that the Torah is “not a history book but rather a blueprint” for embracing humility, gratitude and honoring others.
Galia Sprung reminds us that the solid connection to our roots is what allows us to feel the joy of the new year. Trevor McNeil’s piece about Gertrude Stein is about the courage to stay true to our selves. Micah Siva’s honey cake recipe shows us just how to bring out the sweet for the holidays. And Marnie Macauley has created 20 questions designed to make us laugh and relieve the exhaustion of the introspection required by the High Holidays.
In this issue, we also celebrate the 90th Anniversary of The Old Globe, San Diego’s iconic, pivotal and beloved theater. Congratulations, and here’s to the next 90 years, Old Globe!
We are also happy to introduce you to Matzah Ball Books, created by Anne-Marie Baila Asner and approved by bubbes everywhere.
Read on, enjoy, and our best wishes to you and yours for a sweet and joyous New Year.
Shana Tova. A
Our Town
by Linda Bennett, Emily Bartell and Eileen Sondak
The San Diego Friends of the Jerusalem Foundation’s Tisch Family Zoological Gardens held its annual luncheon to meet, greet and celebrate the youth exchange students from San Diego and Israel. San Diego youngsters learned about animal care during their time at the Jerusalem Zoo, while kids from Israel were honing their skills at the San Diego Zoo
Supporters and participants enjoyed a delightful buffet luncheon at the San Diego Zoo’s Treetop Room and watched a video from the Jerusalem Zoo. Despite the stress of war — which has taken a heavy toll on the animals and their caregivers — the Jerusalem Zoo attracted an annual 700,000 visitors last year.
The audience discovered that the valuable lessons learned by those dedicated participants extended far beyond animal welfare. As Sigilit Herve, director of the Tisch Family Zoo, reminded, “They learned about the different cultures and languages, and developed a closeness to each other. We hope that it will develop into peace in the region.”
Mazel Tov to Shirley and Harold Pidgeon on the engagement of their granddaughter, Tiana Pidgeon, to Alex Fuller. Upcoming nuptials will take place on Nov. 9 in San Diego.
Mazel Tov to Elana Levens-Craig and Scott Craig on the marriage of their son, Daniel Levens-Lowery, to Dharti Tarapara
Mazel Tov to Deena and Michael Swidler and Andrea and Ira Feinswog on the engagement of their children, Baylee Swidler and Max Feinswog. They will be tying the knot in Sept. 2026. Grandparents Sharon and Nat Koren are overjoyed.
Mazel Tov to Amanda Bloom Larson and Chris Larson on the birth of their daughter, Ryan Romi Larson, born on June 12. Happy grandparents are Yvonne and Jeff Bloom and Cindy and Rick Larson. Older sibling Beau Maxwell Larson (2 yrs.) is overjoyed.
CELEBRATING
Wedding Anniversaries
with infinite love & happiness, Mazel Tov to…
Eileen and Edward Coblens, 66 years.
Harriet and Alan Shumacher, 66 years.
Marilynn and Richard Rowen, 65 years.
Serene and Peter Simon, 61 years.
Phyllis and Daniel Epstein, 61 years.
Suzanne and Paul Schulman, 60 years.
Madeline and Stephen Flaster, 59 years.
Lynne and Norman Lurie, 58 years.
Maryann and George Scher, 58 years.
Jackie and David Gmach, 57 years.
Pam and Sandy Monroe, 55 years.
Candy and Stephen Karas, 54 years.
Linda Mandel-Kent and Richard Kent, 51 years.
Laura and Mark Rothstein, 51 years.
Jackie and Sue Geller, 51 years.
Lynn and Michael Maskin, 51 years.
Yom Huledets Sameach to...
Rose Okmin celebrating her 100th birthday.
Ed Berner celebrating his 94th birthday.
Norman Rozansky celebrating his 90th birthday.
Sue Braun celebrating her 90th birthday.
Bob Berton celebrating his 88th birthday.
Bob Glassman celebrating his 89th birthday.
Joyce Camiel celebrating her 84th birthday.
Mickey Zeichick celebrating her 80th birthday.
News & Notes
COMPILED BY SUSAN EDELSTEIN
Oct. 7 Documentary is Reinstated at Toronto Film Festival After Cancelation Brouhaha
by Philissa Cramer, JTA News
“The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue” will premier at the Toronto International Film Festival after all, following a backlash over the festival’s apparent decision to cancel the Israeli Oct. 7 documentary.
TIFF drew criticism over its decision to rescind the invitation over concerns about security and about the film’s legal rights to use some of its footage — allegedly the live footage recorded by Hamas terrorists as they attacked Israel.
“We have worked together to find a resolution to satisfy important safety, legal and programming concerns,” Cameron Bailey (TIFF director) and Barry Avrich (film creator) said. “We are pleased to share that ‘The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue’ will be an official TIFF selection at the festival this year, where we believe it will contribute to the vital conversations that film is meant to inspire.”
Roman Polanski’s
Dreyfus Affair Movie ‘An Officer and a Spy’ Opens in the U.S.
by Rebecca Kobrin and Maurice Samuels, JTA News
Over 130 years after he stood trial for espionage, Jewish Captain Alfred Dreyfus made headlines last month when French President Emmanuel Macron declared July 12 the date the country would remember him and the antisemitism that led to his imprisonment. This long overdue act should spur Americans to reflect on what happens when Jews become the battlefield in a political war that threatens to tear their nation apart.
Fortunately, they will have the opportunity to do so when Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy,” winner of the 2019 Venice Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, finally gets its U.S. premiere at New York’s Film Forum.
The film revisits the Dreyfus Affair, which plunged France into crisis in the 1890s because it raised fundamental questions about the rights of individuals — and the place of minorities — within the modern liberal state.
Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy.” Photo: IMDB.
Cameron Bailey speaks on behalf of Toronto International Film Festival during the 2025 Canada’s Walk Of Fame induction, June 14, 2025. Photo: Jeremy Chan/Getty Images.
New U.S. Postal Stamp Honors Holocaust Survivor and Humanitarian Elie Wiesel
by Grace Gilson, JTA News
The United States Postal Service announced a new series of stamps honoring Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.
Wiesel, who died in 2016 at the age of 87, is the 18th person to be honored in the USPS’ Distinguished Americans stamp series.
The Wiesel stamp, which is set to be released on Sept. 17, features a 1999 black-and-white photo of Wiesel by Sergey Bermeniev along with his name and the word “Humanitarian.”
As a teenager, Wiesel was sent with his father, Shlomo, to the Buna Werke labor camp in the Auschwitz complex. He went on to become an international human rights advocate, publishing several books, essays and educational projects, including “Night,” a 1960 memoir about his experience during the Holocaust.
Wiesel was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, the National Humanities Medal and the Medal of Liberty in the United States.
Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner’s Romance is Rekindled in a New Off-Broadway Play
by Lisa Keys, JTA News
For those who miss the very funny, very Jewish presence of the late comedy icons Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner, a new off-Broadway play that tells the story of their relationship practically brings the legends back to life.
“Gene & Gilda,” written by Cary Gitter and directed by Joe Brancato, is touted as “heartfelt and hilarious,” and takes the audience through the
entirety of Radner’s and Wilder’s romance, which began in 1981 and ended when Radner tragically died of cervical cancer in 1989 at 42.
For Radner, it was love at first sight. “My heart fluttered — I was hooked,” she wrote in “It’s Always Something,” her 1989 memoir. “It felt like my life went from black and white to Technicolor.”
Jordan Kai Burnett and Jonathan Randell Silver star in “Gene & Gilda” at 59E59 Theaters. Photo: Carol Rosegg.
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LIVING ON THE FRONT PAGE
by Andrea Simantov | andreasimantov@gmail.com
Keys to the Kingdom
In the Middle East, summer seems endless, stretching far beyond my childhood memories of beach season. Yet these long months—between Shavuot and Rosh HaShanah—offer more than sunbathing, dining al fresco, or daydreaming. This bein hazmanim (“in-between time”) invites reflection: Where have we been? Where are we going?
Recently, we read of Moshe’s painful forfeiture of entering the Land of Israel. His failing? Commanded to speak to a rock and draw forth water, he became frustrated and struck it. The miracle occurred regardless; water gushed forth, quenching the thirst of hundreds of thousands. Still, Moshe was punished.
But why??? Talk to a rock/hit a rock; it was a rock that gave water? Wasn’t that miracle enough? Herein lies the rub: The Torah is not a history book but, rather, a blueprint, and the lesson that the Torah portion wanted to impart was about growth. And change. And how we, as individuals and as a nation, are required to reach higher each and every day.
Moshe’s challenge had always been speech. From childhood, he leaned on Aharon to serve as his voice. Now, leading a nation that clung to his every G-d-inspired word, he reverted to silence and frustration. His failure was not about the rock; it was about communication, responsibility and unquestioning faith.
As we approach the New Year, we too are called to communicate—to express our hopes, prayers and requests with
open hearts. We long for kindness, forgiveness and compassion from Heaven, but what do we have to offer? What spiritual growth or efforts can we present as collateral for blessing?
How have we grown from the last Rosh HaShanah to this one?
We live in a time of extraordinary material comfort, especially in the Diaspora. But history warns us that prosperity often breeds arrogance and complacency. Comfort can erode connection with G-d, unless we temper it with humility. The solution is not to empty our coffers in dramatic fashion, making massive donations to our local pet shelter. Rather, we are commanded to cultivate inner humility and make ourselves vessels for divine abundance, creating prosperity that transcends bank accounts and assets.
Every person faces hardship, disappointment, or loss. Judaism offers a powerful tool to transform these moments: Nullification of ego. In our daily prayers we say, “Let my soul be like dust to everyone. Open my heart to your Torah.” True blessing comes only when we sense something missing, when we recognize the need for growth.
What do we expect from Heaven that we do not demand of ourselves? If we ask for mercy, we must extend mercy. If we want G-d to overlook our failings, we must forgive the failings of others. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (z”l) taught, “G-d does not forgive human beings until human beings learn to forgive one another.”
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continues on page 21 >>
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LITERATURE WRITTEN IN FIRE
by Trevor James McNeil tremcneil1980@gmail.com
A Woman Apart
Gertrude Stein was always a little bit different. Born in 1874 into a respectable middle-class Jewish family in a Pennsylvania town that no longer exists, she was far from the ‘starving artist’ stereotype teachers and parents often use to spook the aspirant young. The daughter of a successful businessman with significant real estate investments, her social and economic position was closer to that of Lord Byron than Henry Miller.
Stein gained international experience very early on. Her family moved to Vienna when she was only three years old, with a governess and tutors in tow, and later moved to Paris with the stated purpose of giving their kids more European sensibilities, which were seen as more sophisticated and classy than those of early America—an attitude reinforced by the family speaking French and German alongside English in the family home. The Steins returned to America in 1878 and settled in California.
The sort of rare genius who could succeed at anything he tried, her father soon became director of the Market Street Railway, which was responsible for San Francisco’s iconic streetcars. Staying true to their Jewish roots, Stein attended school at the Sabbath School in Oakland, where she read canon authors such as Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Scott and Fielding before she hit puberty.
Set up for success by her nouveau riche upbringing, Stein went on to attend Radcliffe College, a “sister school” of Harvard, in 1893. There, she caught
It would be 1933 before Stein got any significant recognition in her homeland with ‘The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.’
the attention of the early psychology pioneer, William James, who became known as “The Father of American Psychology.” Under the guidance of James, she conducted early experiments in normal motor automotism essentially to see if people can generally perform two executive functions at once, such as writing and speaking, and published two articles on automatic writing in The
Harvard Psychological Review, which were her first pieces of published writing. Switching sciences in her last year, Stein spent the summer of 1897 at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Wood Hole, Massachusetts studying embryology. After an aborted attempt at medical school encouraged by James who called her his “most brilliant woman student,” she eventually graduated magna cum laude in 1898.
A year later, she gave a provocative speech not only defending but promoting college education for women as a potential path for independence from male support, echoing many sentiments made by Mary Wollstonecraft in “Thoughts on the Education of Daughters” a century earlier in 1787, which advocated teaching girls basic skills like reading and math.
During her time at Radcliffe, Stein underwent an awakening after her sheltered middle-class upbringing, realizing that she was far more interested in women than men. She soon left America again, moving to France with her older brother Leo in 1902. This change of scenery was part of the catalyst for her to start writing the fiction that would eventually make her famous, starting with “Q.E.D.” published in the fall of 1903. Predating the taboosmashing work of Patrica Highsmith in the post-war period, and reflecting her own experiences, the book was one of the first “coming out” stories, following a woman who immerses into a group
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As eager and prolific as any fledgling writer, Stein’s next book was published the very next year. “Fernhurst,” published in 1904, was similarly decidedly provocative, involving a three-way romance between faculty members and a student at some of America’s more prestigious universities. Not some of her best work, it is still notable for its fearless examination of things not spoken, and indicative of her later career as a contrarian and troublemaker.
Taking her time with her next effort, “Three Lives,” published in 1909, marked a major change in Stein’s style and approach. Broken into three parts, the book has three distinct but interrelated stories that can be read either as a novel or a collection of stand-alone novellas. Her next official work was not published until 1914, her first poetry collection, “Tender Buttons.” Using a similar approach to “Three Lives,” the book is essentially a tryptic, separated into three sections each with its own theme.
Stein’s second-longest project between writing and publication, “The Making of Americans,” is a sprawling work of nearly 1,000 pages, and traces the history and development of different members of two fictional families. While the official account has Stein writing the novel between 1906 and 1909, there is compelling evidence that she actually started in 1902, taking nearly a decade to finish, and then another near decade before it was published in 1924.
Far from an overnight sensation back home in the States, it would be 1933 before Stein got any significant recognition in her homeland with “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.” Slightly oddly titled, the book is indeed nonfiction, chronicling Stein’s experiences with her life partner, Alice B. Toklas, in Paris.
Growing up in the far north, Trevor James McNeil had little to do other than read when the temperature went below 40 Celsius, and he developed an affinity for stories of all sorts. Graduating from the University of Victoria in 2009, he has been reading and writing in a professional capacity since. He lives in a cabin in the woods with his dog, and firmly believes The Smiths would have been better as a trio. of lesbian friends at college. This was at a time when being homosexual was grounds for arrest, as had happened to Oscar Wilde only seven years before.
Returning to America in 1937, the remainder of Stein’s writing career was spent continuing her series of “descriptive essays” under the collective name “Word Pictures.” Starting in 1910, they were published periodically throughout the rest of her life.
Stein’s last work, “Four In America,” published in the autumn of 1947, draws on her word portraits, presenting ‘alternative’ biographies of American history figures, including the infamously agnostic Ulysses S. Grant as a religious leader. It was released roughly a year after Stein died of stomach cancer in the summer of 1946 at the age of 72. A
faint-hearted. Worrying about our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora who are enduring the fear and unprecedented expressions of Jew-hatred allows us to share in their suffering. We recognize that they, too, share our destiny as we defend the G-d-given Jewish homeland with our bodies, spirits and weaponry. Whether or not we live in Israel, the source of Jewish strength is, today and always, in unity.
Prophecy is unfolding in our days, but our role remains the same: Embrace humility, honor the divine spark in others and place gratitude front and center. By fostering this outlook, we can better prepare ourselves not just to enter a new year, but to be worthy of its blessings.
Shanah tovah tikatevu. May you be inscribed for a good year! A
New York-born Andrea Simantov moved to Israel 29 years ago. She is a small-business owner and both a print and media journalist. Her popular podcast, “Pull Up a Chair,” is produced by Israel News Talk Radio. She can be reached at andrea@israelnewstalkradio.com.
We can’t ensure this Rosh HaShanah will usher in a peaceful year. But with your support, Magen David Adom can continue to be a source of light, hope, and lifesaving care to all Israelis — no matter what 5786 brings.
Support Israel’s lifesavers at afmda.org/give or 866.632.2763.
Here’s
to 90 Years More
by Makayla Hoppe
In 1935, the California Pacific International Exposition looked to add some art and drama to its lineup. Based on Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, The Old Globe became so popular that it stuck around long after the exposition. At 90 years old, The Old Globe remains one of the pillars of Balboa Park and the city, producing world-class theatre for San Diego, Broadway and more.
“It’s impossible to imagine San Diego without The Globe,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “It is one of the defining institutions of our city. We’re the largest theater company of our kind outside of New York City. We originate work that goes on to a long life in New York and around the country, and even abroad. We have a community-based platform that is the envy of the national field, and we are cherished by people who live here. To be locally beloved and nationally respected is an extraordinary achievement, and after 90 years, that’s where the institution finds itself.”
The 90th Anniversary Celebration will be held on Sept. 20, and the event is sure to entertain and dazzle theatrelovers all over town. Taking place in both the Copley Plaza and Donald & Darlene Shiley Stage, the black-tie event will feature food, drink and entertainment.
“We always throw great parties at The Old Globe,” Barry said. “And first and foremost, that’s what it is. It’s going to be a really spectacular birthday party. You know, we clean up nicely. The plaza is decorated beautifully... It’s a wonderful, fun party on a gorgeous September evening.”
The event begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. featuring drinks by the Snake Oil Cocktail Company and hors d’oeuvres by Urban Kitchen Catering. Following the reception, guests will move into
the theater where Barry will remark on The Old Globe’s legacy and history with a tribute.
Guests will then enjoy an evening of entertainment from veteran performer Christopher Jackson, renowned for playing George Washington in the original Broadway cast of “Hamilton.”
The theater portion of the event will then wrap up with a fundraising component, helping The Old Globe fund future productions and community engagement. The theater keeps community involvement at the heart of all they do.
“The community-based work that we’re doing is now inseparable from the artistic work that we’re doing,” Barry said. “(The Old Globe) was a community theater in the sense that community members made the work
“The plaza is decorated beautifully... It’s a wonderful, fun party on a gorgeous September evening.”
back in 1935...with only a small number of full-time professional actors. It was very heavily volunteer and communitybased. It’s changed fundamentally and dramatically — it’s a $40 million annual operation now.
Today, it’s a community theater in the sense that we serve communities from Tijuana all the way to North County and East County. We’re in prisons, homeless shelters, the library system, the school system, refugee centers and veterans’
organizations. So, our understanding of the idea of community has really changed over 90 years, but still, we really see ourselves as a place that’s in service to the citizens of San Diego.”
Once the entertainment and fundraising portions wrap up, guests will enjoy an alfresco three-course dinner catered by Urban Kitchen beginning at 8:00 p.m. The remainder of the evening will feature live music by Liquid Blue, with dancing and “surprises under the stars.”
When it comes to live theater, San Diego has made its mark and left a lasting impression, thanks, in part, to The Old Globe.
“I should shout out to the wonderful volunteers who are chairing it, Cheryl White and Jennifer Greenfield,” Barry said. “I should shout out to Darlene Marcos Shiley, our honorary chair. You know, these are the pillars of arts philanthropy in San Diego.”
Here’s to 90 more years of worldclass theater from The Old Globe. From Shakespeare to musicals and more, the artistic contributions to San Diego truly have given the theater world work that lives beyond the stage. A
For ticket and event information, please visit theoldglobe.org/support-us/special-events/ globe-gala/
Facing page: Globe gala plaza.
Photo: Doug Gates.
At left: The Globe’s 89th Gala.
Do You Feel the Love?
by Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort
By the time this article is read, we will be in the midst of the Hebrew month of Elul. Elul is the final month before the advent of Tishrei, the time of the High Holidays. In Hebrew, Elul is spelled Alef-Lamed-Vav-Lamed. Our Sages state that those four letters are an acronym for the famous sentence, Ani LiDodi, vi’Dodi Li, which translates as, “I am to my beloved, and my beloved is to me.” It is this phrase that describes a bride and groom who join in love. It is likewise this phrase that describes our relationship with the Almighty.
We know that the holiday of Shavuot, the holiday on which we commemorate the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai to the Jewish nation, is compared to our wedding day with G-d. He was like the chatan, the groom. The Jewish people were like the kallah, the bride. And Mount Sinai was like the chuppah, the wedding canopy. That same loving relationship is called to mind during the month of Elul. The name itself serves as a reminder.
Why is it important to be mindful of this particular relationship at this particular time? In short, because our loving relationship with the Creator is precisely what will help us achieve a successful High Holiday season.
Come Rosh Hashanah, Jews the world over will come to shul and settle in for a rather intense service. During the service, the Shofar will be sounded. The call of the Shofar sounds like crying. This reminds us of our relationship with our great King. At the same time, it reminds us of the distance that our bad decisions have created between ourselves and our Father in Heaven. When we truly focus on this, it leads us to a heartfelt and sincere yearning to return to where we belong, enveloped in the divine presence. It is a wonderful thing really, a unique dynamic in our most important endeavor. During Elul, we are the ones who initiate the loving embrace. We focus our minds on G-d’s presence in our lives and how we can strengthen it. Our focused thoughts will necessarily lead to the natural love in
our hearts growing in intensity. The love will spill over to the point where it will inform our thoughts, speech and actions. In this state of abject love and spiritual sensitivity, we enter the High Holidays, known as the Time of Judgment.
And that is when G-d reciprocates the love. He feels our hearts and sees our minds and knows that we adore Him. In Chasidic philosophy, we learn that this process arouses and reveals His love for us. The revelation of this inner connection causes anything and everything that separates us from our Father in Heaven to be swept away, leaving only the connection.
Imagine that. We begin the process. “I am to my beloved.” And then it is revealed, “And my beloved is to me.” It is the time of year when we make our relationship with G-d into our conscious priority. When our relationship with the Almighty is in order, everything else will fall into place.
May you and your family be written in the Book of Life! A
Her Jewish Grandfather’s Shame Inspired a Prize-Winning Novel
by Andrew Silow-Carroll
Sasha Vasilyuk was surprised to be named a finalist for the 2025 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, wondering if the judges were going to honor an author whose “last name isn’t Jewish, and whose main character avoided being Jewish.”
Nevertheless her debut novel, “Your Presence Is Mandatory,” won the $100,000 prize for a story inspired by her father’s father, a Jewish soldier in the Red Army who was captured by the Nazis during World War II. Under the Soviets, being taken prisoner was treated not as a tragedy but as a betrayal. Because POWs bore the stigma of treason, her grandfather never spoke to the family about spending much of the war as a forced laborer.
He also hid his Jewishness from his often antisemitic comrades and, for obvious reasons, from his German captors.
Although she didn’t intend “Your Presence Is Mandatory” as a “Jewish” book, it has found an audience among
Jewish readers — many of whom have approached Vasilyuk to share their own families’ buried histories.
Vasilyuk was looking forward to accepting the award in July at a ceremony in Jerusalem at the National Library of Israel, a co-sponsor of the prize; the ceremony was postponed after Israel struck Iranian nuclear facilities and threw the region into further turmoil.
Instead she will receive the prize at a private ceremony in New York on Sept. 3; on Sept. 8, she’ll take part in an in-person and online discussion of the book with two former Rohr prize winners, Atlantic staff writer Gal Beckerman and the journalist and literary detective Benjamin Balint.
“As Jewish communities worldwide face renewed threats and dangerous distortions, it is especially meaningful to recognize writers who confront these challenges with honesty, depth and imagination,” said George Rohr, in announcing the prize named after his
father, a developer, philanthropist and book lover whose family fled Germany when Sami was a boy.
When Vasilyuk set out to write the novel, she wasn’t only piecing together the fragments of a family story. She was giving voice to a little-known chapter of Jewish and Soviet history — one that still reverberates 80 years later.
Through the grandfather figure, called Yefim in the novel, Vasilyuk explores secrecy, survival and the costs of silence. Growing up she was told that her father, a retired geologist, had fought for the war’s duration and “made it all the way to Berlin” in 1945. She drew on a letter, discovered by his widow after he died, in which he confessed that he spent much of the war as a forced laborer; she filled in the rest with research and survivor testimonies.
“These were real people,” she said. “Even if I fictionalized Yefim, I wanted the book to honor their reality.”
Those real people include as many as a half million Jews who served in
continues on next page
Jewish Grandfather continued
the Red Army; between 80,000 and 85,000 Jewish Red Army soldiers ended up in German POW camps, and fewer than 5 percent returned home. “It was incredibly difficult to find records about Jewish POWs,” Vasilyuk, who has an M.A. in journalism from New York University and whose nonfiction work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and other outlets. “It was a group neither the Germans nor the Soviets wanted to acknowledge.”
The Soviet narrative cast prisoners of war as weak links, shirkers who sat out the fighting. Western audiences, by contrast, often see POWs through the lens of honor and sacrifice — like John McCain, who was lionized for his resilience during his years in captivity. Vasilyuk wanted her novel to speak to both worlds. For Soviet-born readers, the shame is instantly recognizable. For Western readers, the story is a revelation.
“Jews had this deeper dilemma, because they were stuck between two totalitarian regimes, neither of which had a fondness for them,” she said. While many Jews found refuge in the Soviet Union during the war (“A lot of my friends are alive today because of that,” she said), the postwar years were marked by an intense period of antisemitism under Stalin.
“There’s a huge tragedy in that,” said Vasilyuk. “I grew up in a place that tells you from the moment you’re born, through children’s songs and poems, that you live in this place of brotherhood, where all of these nations are united in their common belief and cause.”
Born in Ukraine and raised between there and Moscow until she was 13, Vasilyuk absorbed her family’s Jewishness in fragments. Her father was given a Ukrainian surname for his safety; the family’s Jewish name disappeared. Although her father’s non-Jewish mother worked at a Jewish relief organization after the war, her grandfather — whom she would visit on family trips to Ukraine — never celebrated holidays nor spoke openly about his ethnic identity.
I couldn’t help but wonder how my own identity would have been different if I had carried my grandfather’s Jewish last name.
It was Vasilyuk’s own mother, born Jewish, who brought Jewishness into her childhood: taking her to a Purim party when they lived in Moscow and sending her to Jewish summer camps before and after the family emigrated to Northern California. In San Francisco, Vasilyuk started a magazine for Russian-speaking immigrant teens, sponsored by the local Jewish family and children’s service, and first visited Israel when she was 16.
Still, an absence lingered. “I couldn’t help but wonder how my own identity would have been different if I had carried my grandfather’s Jewish last name,” she said.
For Vasilyuk, the complicated legacy of what the Soviets called the “Great Patriotic War” informs the current war in Ukraine, launched by an authoritarian Russian president intent on restoring lost Soviet glory. She finished her manuscript in February 2022, just before the Russian invasion. “By erasing memory, by silencing people for generations, you end up with a historical hole that can
easily be filled by politicians such as Putin and weaponized for a new conflict,” she said.
In writing the book, she worried most about how Soviet-born readers might receive it. “I thought they might tell me I got everything wrong. Instead, they’ve told me it made them ask questions they never dared to before,” she said.
At 42, with two children and a life straddling Ukraine, Russia and the United States, Vasilyuk is already at work on her next project — a novel about the post-Soviet immigrant experience, possibly drawing on the story of her great-grandfather, who spent a decade in the Gulag, the vast Soviet system of forced labor camps.
For Vasilyuk, writing is both reclamation and contribution. “Maybe telling my grandfather’s story,” she mused, “is my way of giving something back to the Jewish community, and of reclaiming my own heritage.” A
Andrew Silow-Carroll writes for JTA News.
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Preserving Yiddish
One Book at a Time
by Susan Edelstein
Yiddish is an 1,100-year-old language that was once spoken by 11 million people throughout central and eastern Europe. Yiddish is primarily Germanic with words from Hebrew, Aramaic, Czech, Polish and Ukrainian languages. It began in Germany with Jews who migrated from Italy and France to the Rhine River Valley during the 900s and eventually spread all over Europe. They were the first Ashkenazim and first Yiddish speakers. The number of Yiddish speakers was at its peak before World War II, then plunged due to their genocide. Assimilation caused a further decline in the number of Yiddishspeaking people.
Today, Yiddish is spoken mainly in Israel, the US and Russia, and remains a living language among Hasidic Jews. On the decline for years, Yiddish is now on the rise. There is growing interest in preserving and promoting the language. Dozens of universities in North America, Europe and Israel offer courses in Yiddish language and culture. Even if you
never had a bubbe, even if you think you are completely unfamiliar with Yiddish, you know some and use it all the time — chutzpah, mensch, kvetch, schlep, nosh, schmooze and more.
One of the preservers and teachers of Yiddish is Anne-Marie Baila Asner, the creator, author and illustrator of a series of children’s books called Matzah Ball Books, whose mission is to bring “the joy and funny” of Yiddishkayt to the next generation. These colorful books are designed to engage little ones, and each title has a character named with a Yiddish word that describes the character’s personality, for instance, “Klutzy Boy,” and each portrays a lesson in how to be a mensch in the world.
Anne-Marie fell in love with the language of Yiddish as a result of her Yiddish-fluent bubbe and realized that “It would be such a shame to lose what was left of the Yiddish that peppered my childhood.” So in 2004, she decided to devote her talents to spreading the language and the culture to children
in books with simplistic, child-like art and realistic situations that draw in and delight. Her bubbe also had a hand in the creation of the books. “Once I started writing the books, my bubbe became my own personal dictionary for the nuance and true meanings of many Yiddish words and sayings.”
Although Anne-Marie’s Yiddish vocabulary is limited to about 50 words, she wanted to put those words out there to kids who will then incorporate them into their common vocabulary. Children, like many older people, find Yiddish words fun to use and very descriptive. Anne-Marie delights in hearing and speaking Yiddish. “I always seem to smile when I use Yiddish words...I feel a connection to the old world.”
Anne-Marie sees Matzah Ball Books as part of the upsurge in the endeavors to promote Yiddish culture. She is doing a mitzvah, connecting the old world and the new. A
Learn more at matzahballbooks.com.
Sensing the Past
by Galia Miller Sprung
And then Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre — now Hebron — in the land of Canaan.” (Genesis 23:19)
No, we are not in Parashat Chayei Sarah this week. But I was right there in the cave, in Hebron, in the land of Canaan, a few weeks ago.
Hebron and the cave were highlights of a tour my husband and I took, organized by the NGO Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF). As always, their guides brought deep knowledge of Israel’s history and the security situation, enriched by hands-on experience. But in the cave, our best guide was the Tanach itself.
The visit to Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs was more than I expected. I’m not Shomer Shabbat—an Orthodox Jew—but I am a Jew who believes this is the land where our history began, from where our story evolved. The enormity of the experience challenges the balance between heart and logic. I struggled with the internal clash between accepting that these treasured and revered ancient sites are what tradition accepts, or not. Can we ever know for sure if Abraham and Sarah are buried here? Probably not. But here I choose to accept as written. That’s my “Leap of Faith.” Over the years, I’ve hiked through our heartland—the Shomron, Binyamin, and the Jordan Rift
Valley—and each encounter deepens my connection in heart and mind to our history. Sadly, not everyone feels safe enough to visit these ancient areas. When I invited some friends to join us on this tour, they hesitated. The Shomron sounds uncertain for people who are not used to traveling there. I understood. But it wasn’t always like that. I couldn’t help but go back in time to my first visit to Hebron and the Cave of Machpelah. No one gave a second thought about going there then. It was not long after I arrived in Israel in 1970. I was headed for Kibbutz Mishmar Hasharon for my ulpan program to study Hebrew and to work wherever they put
Cave of the Patriarchs, West Bank, Israel.
This is the land where our history began, from where our story evolved. The enormity of the experience challenges the balance between heart and logic.
me. Along with our studies and work rotations, the kibbutz took the ulpan participants on trips around the country. It was just three years after the Six Day War. So, being able to get on a bus (who had cars?) to visit these former inaccessible sites like Shilo, the site of the Tabernacle (Mishkan), Jericho, and even Gamla—a Jewish city that fell to the Romans in the year 67 and was liberated in 1967—was still a novelty. As with the Kotel, these sites attracted Israelis, both observant and secular, even the kibbutzniks. History is one thing, G-d another—for some, a combination of both.
On our first trip, the ulpan guide proudly led us around the narrow, quaint streets of the Old City to the Kotel. There was still rubble, construction and a sense of rebirth. I don’t remember if it was the same day or another trip, but Hebron and the Cave of Machpelah were also important destinations. Was I aware of that then? I’m not sure any of us on the ulpan were. And for those of us—kibbutzniks and tourists alike—who weren’t that well versed in the significance of where we were, someone read out the passage describing the cave and its location in Hebron:
I remember seeing soldiers with Uzi submachine guns. Some were guarding. Some were just there to witness our history. I remember a hill and stairs leading to the structure, but not much else.
“So Ephron’s land in Machpelah, near Mamre—the field with its cave and all the trees anywhere within the confines of that field—passed to Abraham as his possession, in the presence of the Hittites, of the assembly in his town’s gate.” (Genesis 23:17–18)
I don’t think I returned until this trip. Caterers were setting up on the grounds for a wedding. Families, individuals, tour groups like ours—mixed observant and less observant—made their way to the cave. We gathered near our guide Boaz Haetzni, a resident of Kiryat Arba for over 50 years:
“Sarah died in Kiriath-arba— now Hebron—in the land of Canaan.” (Genesis 23:2)
Even some ultra-Orthodox men stood close to listen. Boaz put on a kippah. Others were bareheaded. No one bothered anyone about attire or intentions—kavana. Inside, there were study halls, yeshivot, and the burial halls for the patriarchs and matriarchs which contain cenotaphs—symbolic tombs. But are Sarah’s remains buried far below me, underneath the tomb structure King Herod built over the original cave? I allow myself to be transported to a time almost 4,000 years ago. I allow myself to connect. To Sarah? To Abraham? Yes. I think so. And to our story. The story of our peoplehood, our nation. To the scores of people inside the structure with me.
To those reciting psalms. To those just watching the people davening, to those overcome with intensity in their prayers.
To the men and women standing together praying in these little burial halls for Sarah and Abraham or for Isaac and Rebecca. I stood with them and said a Mi Sheberach, a prayer for healing, for two friends. I’m not really the mystical type, but I do sense a belonging. A power. A shared narrative that has kept us together. Abraham started it, and we are continuing.
When I told one of my soldier granddaughters about the tour, she looked disappointed. “Oh, I wish I could have gone with you!” she said. “Really? continues on next page >>
Stairs to Cave of Machpela and Patriarchs in Hebron.
Sensing the Past
Why?” I asked her. “I’ve never been there,” was her direct, yet simple answer. “It’s part of our history. I want to see it.” And then she brought in more modern history. “Hebron is like what happened on Oct. 7th. The Jews were slaughtered— raped and mutilated—even before we had a country (1929). Jews weren’t able to return to Hebron until after the Six Day War.”
She stood there, in shorts, a tank top, an M-16 slung over her shoulder. N had come to visit us as she had a few
days off from her army service. She felt it too—that connection to our past. I understood. How else could she—could any of us—have survived these past two years without that solid identification with our roots?
N wanted to touch, to sense the old—the link to the past. She will finish her two-year army service at the end of next month. She lost over 20 people she knew or served with, either at the Nova or in the fighting. N will be on her base over Simchat Torah, the second yahrzeit
of the war. I can’t say “anniversary,” but she’ll be home on Oct. 7th, the date she prefers to observe as the worst day of our lives. She wants Simchat Torah to be a joyous day—as the holiday is meant to be. No wonder the reference to the Hamas attack and atrocities is always to Oct. 7th and not Simchat Torah. There was no simcha on that horrendous day. N wants the simcha—joy—to return. That is why our soldiers are still fighting. That’s why they’ve been killed. That’s why they’ve been wounded.
She will be released. Others will follow. Proudly. To defend the Jewish people. One day, I will take her, and her sister and cousins, to the Cave of Machpelah. They will stand and marvel at the idea that this is where our Patriarch Abraham stood with Ephron the Hittite when he purchased the cave. Or they will say a prayer. Or both. It’s the connection they feel that counts. A
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Food
BY MICAH SIVA
Date Honey Cake
Every Rosh Hashanah, I look forward to my annual honey cake. Traditionally, I make it with buckwheat honey and flour for a dark, rich cake that stops everyone in their tracks. This year, I wanted to think beyond the bee and explore honey-alternative cakes for a planet-friendly dessert. My solution? Date honey, silan, or date syrup.
Date syrup is made by soaking dates, blending and extracting a dark syrup with caramel notes. Many U.S.-made date syrups use dates from the Coachella Valley, repurposing less-than-perfect dates that aren’t picture-worthy enough for the grocery store. This honey cake is fully vegan, using flax seeds and apple sauce to help bind it all together. I like my honey cakes spicy, so I add a good amount of cinnamon, ginger, and a touch of cloves, rounded out with fragrant olive oil. Happy New Year to you and your families; may it be as sweet as this cake!
SERVES 8-10
INGREDIENTS
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup almond flour
• 1 tbsp. ground flaxseeds
• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• ¼ tsp. cloves
• ¼ tsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup pitted medjool dates, chopped
• ¾ cup applesauce
• ⅔ cup date syrup or silan
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. orange zest
PREPARATION
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line and grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the all purpose flour, almond flour, ground flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt.
3. Add the chopped dates and toss to coat.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk the apple sauce, date syrup, sugar, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, and orange zest.
5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix until just combined.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let cool in the pan before slicing.
Local Arts
BY EILEEN SONDAK
LAMB’S PLAYERS THEATRE
lambsplayers.org
Lamb’s Players is taking a sentimental journey back to the 1970s with “The ‘70s! The Golden Age of the Album.” If you’re a fan of the era — or just looking for a good time with vintage music — head to the Lamb’s Coronado home before it ends on Sept. 14 The troupe has been successful with musical revues for a while, but this song-filled extravaganza may be the best of the bunch.
LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE
lajollaplayhouse.org
La Jolla Playhouse has a new musical at the Potiker Theatre. “The Heart” takes audiences on an emotional journey through 24 suspenseful hours in the life of a terminally ill woman. As she awaits the arrival of her lifesaving heart, we meet the people who are impacted along the way. The show promises to keep you on the edge of your seat, with an electronic score to add to the excitement. On stage through Sept. 28
OCEANSIDE MUSEUM OF ART
oma-online.org
The Oceanside Museum of Art is displaying “Step Inside the Space Between: Texture Studies by Dinja Harris.” The exhibition blends yarn, sculpture and illumination. Get a feel for these artworks through Oct. 12.
SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART
sdmart.org
The San Diego Museum of Art is featuring “Eduardo Chilida: Convergence,” a stunning exhibition of sculptures by a visionary artist who transformed the way we think of space, form and material. This exciting show will remain at the museum through Feb. 8, 2026
THE OLD GLOBE THEATRE
theoldglobe.org
The Old Globe is conjuring up the world of lords and ladies, wizards and dragons in its upcoming world premiere, “Huzzah,” headed to the Shiley Stage Sept. 13. This brand new musical is about two warring sisters who must come together to save their father’s Renaissance Faire from financial ruin. The wickedly funny work brings that bygone era to life in all its pageantry through Oct. 19
The Globe’s White Stage is featuring a West Coast premiere, written and performed by Robert Montano. Titled “Small,” this autobiographical tour de force will give you a glimpse of life from the vantage point of a short kid from Long Island. The one-man show is about his remarkable career — from jockey to the Broadway stage. “Short” will stick around from Sept. 27 through Oct. 19
LAMB’S PLAYERS: “The 70s! The Golden Age of the Album.”
LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE: “The Heart” rehearsal.
CYGNET THEATRE
cygnettheatre.org
After 17 years at its Old Town Theatre location, Cygnet Theatre will inaugurate its new home in Liberty Station with Stephen Sondheim’s classic “Follies,” a dazzling and bittersweet examination of love and loss over the passage of time when former showgirls reunite and relive their salad days. Iconic Sondheim songs propel the plot in this Tony Award-winning musical, playing at The Joan Sept. 10 through Oct. 12. What a way to christen a new theater!
NORTH COAST REPERTORY
THEATRE
northcoastrep.org
North Coast Repertory Theatre will launch its 44th season in style with the world premiere of “Beside Myself,” directed by David Ellenstein. The story revolves around modern angst and focuses on a woman’s identity crisis, triggered by a medical procedure. Hilarity rules in this zany and surreal comedy, as the woman wrestles with her dual personality and discovers her true self. You can join in on the fun Sept. 10 through Oct. 12.
BROADWAY SAN DIEGO
broadwaysd.com
Broadway San Diego kicks off its 48th season with “Les Misérables.” The word “masterpiece” is bandied about too often these days, but when it comes to this show, nothing less will do. “Les Mis” is a brilliant depiction of the novel, with magnificent music and an emotion-packed storyline that tugs at your heartstrings and never fails to entertain. You can see this gem at the Civic Theatre Sept. 16-21.
LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY
theconrad.org
The La Jolla Music Society is ready to launch its 57th season on Sept. 24 with pianist Daniil Trifonov performing at the Concert Hall. Among the composers Trifonov will feature during his two-day stay are Tchaikovsky, Schuman and Prokofiev. Endea Owens & The Cookout will dish out their brand of jazz in two concerts on Sept. 27 at The Jai.
NORTH COAST REP: Jacquelyn Ritz, Alanna J. Smith and Erin Noel Grennan in “Beside Myself.” Photo: Aaron Rumley.
LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY: Daniil Trifonov.
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20 Questions: Jewish Post High Holiday Questions to Teach You Even More About — You.
My dear San Diegans:
As we approach the Days of Awe once again, as we do yearly, we question. While it’s true we question—then we question our questions on all other days—holidays provide us with a Jewish abacus. The questioning nature of Jews, I believe, became a tradition with Hillel the Elder, who in Pirkei Avot 1:14 asked the almost immortal: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” “If I am only for myself, what am I?” and “If not now, when?” These three are some kashes, which I believe kicked off “The Question” as the Jew’s profound grammaticalphilosophical obligation.
Of course, on our High Holidays, our questions involve life, death, purpose, and relationships with G-d and with others. Introspection, self-assessment, personal failings, intentions for the future, and the nature of forgiveness are asked, challenged, probed, investigated, presented, considered, explored, posed and reflected on. It’s cleansing, and, yes, it’s exhausting.
So, no disrespect meant to the Holiest of Times; I have created 20 questions we can ask ourselves after the holidays to unwind a bit, or stretch our selfknowledge and knowledge of others. Sometimes even the strangest questions can reveal...who knows?
Questions to ask yourself after the holidays
Question 1: How do I make fair amends with the HOA that allowed your neighbor to put up “Joy to the World” wind chimes but made you take down Adam Sandler’s “Hanukkah Song”? (Passive aggressive communication allowed.)
Question 2: You’re cast in a “Real Jewish Housewives of San Diego.” What’s your opening video tagline?
Question 3: What is the easiest way you would, step by step, get your bubbe into your new two-seater Tesla sports car?
Question 4: You open a secular Jewish spa called OyVey & O’Clay. What’s in your secret signature ingredient mud wrap treatment?
Question 5: You inherit a Palm Springs timeshare that comes with a séance featuring Golda Meir and Barbra Streisand. What’s the first question you ask each of them?
Question 6: You’re invited to a Shabbat dinner hosted by your new vegan daughter-in-law. What’s your blessing over the tofu chicken after Baruch Atoi?
Question 7: You’re cast in a reality show called “Keeping Up with the Kardashsteins.” You never heard of them. Who do you think they are and what kind of relationship do you want with them?
Question 8: If the Arabs won the great hummus contest one year, what conspiracy theory would your cousin Frieda immediately share on Instagram?
Question 9: You’re asked to give a TED Talk titled “Spiritual But Not Synagogued.” What’s the highlight of your talk?
Question 10: You’re on a serious diet and must cut out something. Which do you not cut out, nor would you make others? Bagels, spareribs (kosher or otherwise), lox, brisket, whitefish, pastrami, chopped liver, moo goo, fried rice, boiling pea soup, funnel cake?
Question 11: You’re asked to officiate a wedding between two secular Jewish poets who met at a climate protest. What rhyming blessing do you offer that celebrates weather over divinity?
Question 12: You’re asked to lead a mindfulness workshop titled “Letting Go of Guilt: A Jewish Journey Through
Aromatherapy.” What scent wafts through, triggering your deepest childhood memory?
Question 13: You’re cast in a new season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” set in San Diego, but your character only speaks in Yiddish-based curses starting with “You should only...” What’s yours?
Question 14: Your cousin insists she can have Chinese spare ribs if a) she’s eating out of the home; b) she doesn’t use the word “pork.” She is absolute in her interpretation. Can you respond?
Question 15: A celebrity rabbi makes a YouTube of your last family bar mitzvah. What part has the best shot of going viral?
Question 16: Can you make a case for the Bloomin’ Onion becoming kosher for less observant Jews?
Question 17: You’re head writer of the soap “Machers Megillahs” that chronicles the battles between the rabbi, the temple president, and the congregation. What’s the episode that wins a Daytime Emmy?
Question 18: You’re invited to a panel on “Jewish Food in the Age of Avocado Toast.” How can you ensure your bubbe’s brisket recipe goes viral?
Question 19: You discover your therapist has been using your sessions to workshop her stand-up routine. What’s the punchline that finally makes you switch to telehealth?
Question 20: You’re visiting Norway and asked to give a lecture in the Evangelical Lutheran Church for their “We’re In the Dark” series. Your topic is Scandinavian guilt. What are your opening remarks?
Shanah tovah, and see you next year! (I always say: it’s better to end with a laugh.)
Love, Marnie A
Marnie Macauley, MS, Columbia University –Creator of Strategic Relationship Thinking (an innovative way to solve problems), writer, editor, author, lecturer, clinician, and administrator – is a straight-shooter, with a distinctive voice and take on the world in her columns, features and books. She has been nominated for both an Emmy and a Writers Guild award.
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Last Word
BY ELIZABETH KARPEN
Jewish Producer of Broadway Hits Shares the Secrets of his Success in New Memoir
It’s possible that you’ve never heard of theater producer Jeffrey Seller. But even someone with a passing knowledge of Broadway musicals will likely know the award-winning shows that he’s produced, including “Rent,” “Hamilton” and “Avenue Q.”
Over his 40-year career, Seller, 60, who was raised in a Reform Jewish family in suburban Detroit, has earned a whopping 22 Tony awards — including four for Best Musical — and is the only producer behind two Pulitzer Prize-winning musicals.
Now, with his new memoir, “Theater Kid,” Seller takes readers behind the scenes of his Broadway success. And while there are juicy details about the rush, and mishaps, that shot his first Broadway show, “Rent,” to legendary status — like the time the musical’s sign was incorrectly rendered, creating the iconic transparent logo — Seller’s
story isn’t all glamour. Seller takes us back to his humble beginnings, taking great pains describing his experience growing up Jewish and adopted, navigating childhood poverty, and coming into his identity as a gay man.
“This was a coming-out story,” Seller told the New York Jewish Week. “This was a story about overcoming shame. And it’s a story of Genesis.”
“Theater Kid” took Seller six years to aggregate, organize and edit. During the process, Seller hoped to reflect upon and understand how he achieved his dreams: “I wanted to write down how the poor, adopted Jewish gay kid got from ‘Cardboard Village’ in Oak Park, Michigan to Broadway, because I wanted to know for myself, ‘How did you do it?’” A
Elizabeth Karpen writes for New York Jewish Week.
We Invite You to Join Us for the High Holy Days! Make Us Your Family for the High Holy Days and More!
We invite you to join us at Temple Adat Shalom for a full complement of spiritually uplifting in-person and livestreaming worship for all High Holy Day services from S'lichot through Yom Kippur, including Sukkot and Smichat Torah.
Please call our office 858-451-1200 for more information about services and tickets. www.adatshalom.com
