FBI extends investigation into fraudulent Holocaust era claims

(WJC)–The FBI has widened its investigation into fraudulent Holocaust-era claims against the German government, the New York Jewish Week reported.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation became involved when a probe was launched in December by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the weekly newspaper reported. The Claims Conference processes Holocaust-era claims for survivors on behalf of the German government.

The fraud initially involved about 100 claims submitted primarily by Russians living in Brooklyn, N.Y., to the Claims Conference’s Hardship Fund, which gives to Jews who fled the Nazis during the Holocaust and remained in Soviet-bloc countries after World War II, and therefore are ineligible for regular German reparations. The money for the fund comes from the German government and does not affect other survivors’ claims to the Claims Conference, according to the article.

The probe has been broadened to include the Article 2 Fund, a pension program that may have been defrauded of $7 million in the last 10 years, according to The Jewish Week. Individuals suspected of fraud in the fund have been notified and asked to return the money they have received.

The fraud discovery also has held up the payment of many Hardship Fund claims as the investigation continues, newspaper reported. Germany paid 7,000 Hardship Fund claims in 2008 and 18,000 last year.

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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress

How to Make Yourself Happy

By Natasha Josefowitz, Ph.D.

Natasha Josefowitz

LA JOLLA, California — Yes, it’s possible to make yourself happy even when you’re not feeling it. Some things you should know:

• Contrary to popular opinion, satisfaction with life increases with advancing age.

• On average, men and women experience emotions similarly, even though women have more fluctuations between positive and negative moods.

• Married people are happier than unmarried people, but people in unhappy marriages have lower levels of happiness than unmarried or divorced people.

• Most people who face a serious tragedy, such as an illness or loss, return within a year to their former level of contentment.

• Conversely, people who win the lottery or have a successful experience revert to their former level of satisfaction. Studies show that we are genetically programmed to live within a fairly narrow range of possible happiness. An inherited positive attitude will help a person in dire circumstances to deal with these events in a more positive way.

This said, we are not stuck in that range for life, just as many other genetic tendencies are influenced by our environment, so is our potential for feeling and expressing negative or positive emotions. In other words, the same news may impact me positively, you negatively, and someone else indifferently. However, if my life is made up of mostly good events and a supportive environment, even if I’m programmed to look at the down side of life, I will be able to overcome this to a certain extent.

Even though there is much that is not within our control, there are significant variables we can influence. That is, we can learn to control our thoughts and feelings; we have control over how we feel over the past, the present, and the future.

1. The past: Do you dwell on past grievances? Can you forgive the transgressors who caused the pain? Can you move on from past injustices?
Visualize the negative events while taking deep breaths and try to understand the perpetrator’s point of view. Create a story he or she might tell. Decide to forgive and move on. Sometimes writing a letter forgiving the person can help, even if you don’t intend to mail it.

2. The future: Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Do you always dwell on the worst-case scenario? The difference is that pessimists believe bad events are permanent while optimists think they are temporary. Also, pessimists overreact to adversity; expecting the worst makes them experience events as worse than they are. Optimists tend to see the world in positive outcomes and are able to get over negative events quicker. They are also more tolerant of their own foibles as well as those of others.

3. The present: Do you enjoy the moment, grateful for the sunshine, the good friends, the good meal, the good book you’re reading? Take a few minutes each evening to write three things from your day you are grateful for. Mine for today are my granddaughter called, I read a good book, and I walked on the treadmill for twenty minutes. Do you live fully today, not worrying about past misdeeds nor being anxious about an unforeseeable future? Of course we learn from past mistakes and prepare for the future, but it’s important to appreciate the moment.

Meditation calms the brain and physical exercise reduces stress. Adequate sleep and good nutrition are important factors in our feelings of well-being. If you feel cranky and out-of-sorts eat a piece of chocolate to boost your serotonin; peanuts, bananas, and turkey contain tryptophan, which has a calming effect. And, finally, laugh more—be with jolly people, keep funny things around, send jokes so that you will also receive them.

“Put on a happy face” is not an old wives’ tales. Research has shown that by changing your facial muscles you set off different physiological changes that will in turn affect your mood. Even when you don’t feel cheerful but you smile, the blood flow to the brain increases production of the neurotransmitters which make you feel happier.

So, if you can’t laugh, then smile, and if you don’t feel like smiling, fake it. Your brain won’t know the difference, and it will send you a message that something pleasant is going on. You might just believe it and feel better.

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Josefowitz is a freelance writer based in La Jolla. Her column appeared previously in La Jolla Village Voice.

Pssst! Blurbs we thought we’d pass along

SAN DIEGO (Staff Report)–Erez Strasburg, former Israeli shaliach assigned to the Jewish Federation offices in San Diego, is now offering personalized tours of Israel for English speakers.  He can be reached through his “Personal Tourism” company website.  

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Congressman Bob Filner, whose own political career began when he decided to run for the San Diego City School Board, has picked his favorite in San Diego’s District B race to succeed School Board Trustee Katherine Nakamura.  He’s given his endorsement to Kevin Beiser, who previously taught in the Sweetwater School District and has been honored as a “math teacher of the year.”

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The public is invited to attend groundbreaking ceremonies for San Diego’s new central library at 11th and K Streets at 10 a.m., Wednesday, July 28.   Mayor Jerry Sanders will be among the speakers.  Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs was one of the major donors to the project.

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For the cooks among us, there’s a new website offering some classic Jewish recipes.  Bob Hiller is calling it  ”My bubby’s kitchen” in honor of Molly Dembo Losick.

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Preceding culled from emails and press releases sent to San Diego Jewish World 

Deconstructing President Obama’s interview on Israeli TV

By Shoshana Bryen

Shoshana Bryen

WASHINGTON, D.C. –President Obama dragged out some really dated stereotypes while demeaning both Jews and Israelis in an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 Television. Confronted with the “anxiety” (as the reporter put it) that some Israelis feel about his relationship toward Israel, Mr. Obama bluntly blamed the Jews:
 

“This is the thing that actually surfaced even before I was elected President, in some of the talk that was circulating within the Jewish American community.”

 
He continued:
 

“Ironically, I’ve got a Chief of Staff named Rahm Israel Emmanuel. My top political advisor is somebody who is a descendant of Holocaust survivors.”

 
Would someone please tell the President that in the 21st Century the “some of my best friends are Jewish” line is offensive? And, in this case, inconsistent. Before the election, the President’s people demanded that no one associate the candidate with the vicious anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism and anti-Israelism of his longtime pastor and spiritual mentor Jeremiah Wright, in whose church then-Senator Obama sat. If nothing of Wright rubbed off on him in 25 years, how did those sneaky Jews do it?
 
Speaking of irony, here’s one. After claiming closeness to the American Jewish community vicariously – through the Jewish commitment to the American Civil Rights Movement of which he was not a part and because he has Jewish friends and, after claiming that, “My closeness to the Jewish American community was probably what propelled me to the U.S. Senate,” Mr. Obama opines:
 

“Some of it may just be the fact that my middle name is Hussein, and that creates suspicion. ”

 
More than 76 percent of the Jewish electorate voted for him. Does he think they didn’t know his name was Hussein? Does he think Jews are easily swayed, or stupid? He continued:
 

“Some of it may have to do with the fact that I have actively reached out to the Muslim community, and I think that sometimes, particularly in the Middle East, there’s the feeling of the friend of my enemy must be my enemy.” 

 
It is blatantly stereotypical to say that Israel or American Jews understand either the “Muslim community” or the Middle Eastern “Muslim world” as a monolith deserving of a “friend of my enemy is my enemy” approach. A slur like that makes people “anxious,” first because is grants no nuance to Israel and Jews, and second because if the President of the United States sees the region as a zero-sum game with Jews and Israel on one side and Arabs and Muslims on the other, it will be almost impossible to address the region’s real problems.  
 
And they are legion and have little to do with Jews.
 
The Middle East is split by Arab/Persian/Ottoman rivalries, by the Sunni/Shiite rivalry, by radical/traditional regime rivalries, the Syrian/Lebanese rift, the Hashemite/Palestinian divide and the Hamas/Fatah civil war. The Middle East is endangered by Iran’s determination to have nuclear weapons capability, the Muslim Brotherhood’s determination to have Cairo after Mubarak, the minority Alawite determination not to lose the regime in Syria for fear of death by the Sunni majority, Hezbollah’s determination to control Lebanon, and Iran’s determination to have hegemony in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf.

But here’s what really produces anxiety in some people, including us: In response to a question about being president, Mr. Obama said:
 

“There is a value to anonymity in terms of just being able to wander around… I remember when I first visited Jerusalem, I could wander through the Old City and haggle for some gifts to bring back to Michelle, or stand at the Wailing Wall, and people didn’t know who I was.”

 
Nice words, but the anonymity was cynically calculated. JINSA wrote at the time:
 

He visited the Western Wall at 5:45 in the morning just before he left the country. He wasn’t sneaking it in, exactly – his minions brought campaign signs and hung them along the police barricades that line the outer section of the plaza (not very respectful). But it was clever. Doing it quietly and after Ramallah meant he didn’t have to explain to Abu Mazen a public, crowd-filled and happy visit to Judaism’s holiest site, possibly interpreted as approval of Israeli stewardship. And he didn’t have to worry about Israeli or American protesters. By the time the event was public, he and the media had moved on. ”
 
It is the disconnect between words, attitudes, facts and policies that makes a lot of people – not just Jews, not just Israelis – anxious.

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Bryen is senior director of security policy of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs.  Her column is sponsored by Waxie Sanitary Supply in memory of Morris Wax, longtime JINSA supporter and national board member.

Adventures in San Diego Jewish History, September 3, 1954, Part 1

Compiled by San Diego Jewish World staff

Jewish Community Mourns Passing of George Neumann
Southwestern Jewish Press, September 3, 1954, page 1

George Neumann, prominent San Diego resident since 1918, died on Aug. 24 at age 69.  Mr. Neumann was associated with many local and national organizations and played an active part in philanthropy in this city until his recent illness.  He was a member of Temple Beth Israel and had served on the board for many years. A founder of the Hebrew Home for the Aged, he was its honorary life-president.  He also served on the board of the United Jewish Fund and took an active part in its annual drives.  He was a member of Al Bahr Shrine Temple, Scottish Rite, Lasker Lodge B’nai B’rith and the Guardians.

Surviving him are his wife Julia; two brothers, Al Neumann of San Diego, and William Neumann of Los Angeles; and three sisters, Mrs. Rosalie Sonnabaum; Mrs. Tillie Finkelstein of San Diiego, and Mrs. Louis Rubin of San Francisco.

Services were conducted by Rabbi Morton J. Cohn and Cantor Julian Miller and entombment was in Greenwood Mausoleum.

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Survey of Jewish Community Needs for San Diego and Area Being Made
Southwestern Jewish Press, September 3, 1954, page 1

Leaders of the Federation of Jewish Agencies Study Committee report that great strides have been taken in securing the basic information to be used in the study of the Jewish community of San Diego.

Next step in the program is the setting up of the over-all Study Committee and the many sub-Committees necessary to work on every phase of community problems, based on the information secured in the sample interviews which have now been completed.

Tabulation of over 300 answers to questionnaires, secured by more than forty volunteer enumerators under the direction of Marshall Zucker, is now taking place. The findings will be forwarded to each of the Federation agencies and to all major institutions and organizations in the community so that they will have a base to begin their individual studies if they so desire.

Edward Breitbard, president of the Jewish Community Center, also reported that the Center had set up its committees to study those responses which fit into its field.  Problems, such as: from what areas will members come to the center; what activities do individuals want arranged for themselves and their children; physical education, health club, nursery school, Camp Jaycee—these and many other problems may very well be answered by the study.

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New Jewish Chaplain At Training Center
Southwestern Jewish Press, September 3, 1954, page 1

Lt. Cmdr. Elihu H. Rickel, CHC, USNR, has reported for duty in the Chaplains department of the Naval Training Center, it was announced by Henry Weinberger, chairman of the San Diego Armed Services Committee of the National Jewish Welfare Board.

During the past two years he served on the staff of Commander Service Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor Hawaii. A veteran of four Marine campaigns which included Iwo Jima and Korea, Chaplain Rickel in the only Chaplain of the Jewish faith on active duty in the Eleventh Naval District.

His military service entitles him to wear the following commendations: Bronze Star with Combat V, two Presidential Unit Citations, and the Navy Unit Citation with Combat V.  He will reside in San Diego with his wife Lee and two children, Susan and Alice.

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Noted Speaker Here At Annual Dinner
Southwestern Jewish Press, September 3, 1954, page 1

Professor Guy Davis will make one of his first appearances on his return from Israel at Chaim Weitzman Branch of Poale Zion second annual dinner which will take place on Sunday, September 19 in the lounge of the House of Hospitality in Balboa Park.

In inviting Dr. Davis to be guest speaker the committee offer a rare treat to all who are interested in hearing first hand reports concerning the State of Israel from one who is interested in its welfare though a non-Jew.

Reservations are being taken by the following: Chaveras Rose Brooker, Cypress 6-4587; Dora Richlin, Atwater 4-3028; and Bertha Veitzer, Atwater 2-7886 who will be pleased to furnish any additional information. 

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Pre-Holiday Drive To Clean Up Fund Effort
Southwestern Jewish Press, September 3, 1954, page 1

Monday, September 13, will begin the two-week pre-holiday cleanup campaign of the 1954 Combined Jewish Appeal o f the United Jewish und, according to Sol Price, chairman and Seymour Rabin, co-chairman.

In an intensive effort to close the campaign before the beginning of the High Holy Days, over 300 homes will be visited by volunteer workers to secure contributions for the annual appeal for over 42 local, national and overseas agencies.

Goal for the two week period is $25,000, which will bring the campaign to a most successful conclusion.  Ruben Umansky and Isaac Domnitz, Histadrut leaders, have advised Fund officials that their organization would provide the necessary workers to call on over 200 $50 and under prospective givers who have not, as yet, contributed.

Chairman Price reported that the campaign is running even with the 1953 drive when $204,000 was raised.  “If those who have not as yet pledged,” he said, “will do so before the High Holy Days, the campaign will close with as much money as was raised in 1953.”

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To See or not To See
Southwestern Jewish Press, September 3, 1954, page 2

By Berenice Soule

How Lucky Can You Be?—It’s easy to understand why every female around the Globe could be green with envy over the plums awarded Eleanor Rose and Margo Miller.  Not only did those two get the enviable job of “doing props” for the practically all male “Mr. Roberts” last year, but rubbing salt into the wound is the news that they’ve been given the same job for the nothing-but-men “Stalag 17,” the Globe next.

Where did I hear the rumor that both their husbands are brushing up on their judo?

He Cooks, Too—The Things I Would Like To Have Seen Dept.:  As any moviegoer and reader of popular novels knows, the way to attract young actors is to promise them food. Working on that theory, Craig Noel, in an effort to round up his Festival casts for publicity pix last week, offered a free lunch to every cast member that showed up. So far as I know, he’s still frying hamburgers in the Tavern kitchen.

Variety Show – A group of local variety actors have formed “Entertainment Unlimited” for “the purpose of promoting more variety entertainment in san Diego.” Their first offering will be “Toast of the Coast” at the Russ, Sept. 26, and will be sponsored by Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 3059 for the benefit of their welfare and hospital fund.

The entertainment, under the supervision of Bill Roesch, will feature such local favorites as Margo Miller, Helen Leonard, Margie Whitlow, Julian Miller, Ed Flanders, Mickey Kohut, Lillie Mae Barr, Patti Twelvetrees, Jo An Mandolf, Carnell Kirkeeng, Sammy Parise, and Jack Wilson.

Stardom Ahead—The Prediction Dept. at the Globe has given Gerald Charlebois (their Festival’s Othello and Antonio) top billing as the actor most likely to head for Hollywood since he received a letter from the William Morris Agency, artists’ representatives, evincing an interest in his future.

It Ain’t All Glory—Charles Jeffers, director of “Babes in Toyland,” had his moments of directorial suffering, magnified no doubt by the added burden of an entire teen-age cast. When, to augment his trials, he was stung by a bee during an outdoor rehearsal, he groaned, “All this and physical pain, too.”

My Choice—For two most delightful and finely drawn characterizations, SEE Brenda de Banzie and John Mills in the comedy, “Hobson’s Choice,” showing at the Capri. This film stars Charles Laughton, who grows more laughtonish with each passing year, but Miss de Banizie and Mills in the second leards are a joy to behold.

“Happy” Choice – The Drury Lane Players last week presented Samuel Taylor’s very refreshing comedy, “The Happy Time.”  The imaginative set, together with director Jim Eigo’s excellent comedy sense overcame the physical difficulties under which the group is working.  Particularly noteworthy were the performances of David Gregson as the young lad just learning about “the heart, the mind, and the glands” and Jim Gilmour as the father who must explain the functions of the above-mentioned manifestations.

Israel to Broadway – A new nation breeds many firsts, and while this may not be a first for the Israeli theatre, it sounds like one and a very interesting one, at that … Direct form a two year run in Tel Aviv, “Sands in the Negev” will open on Broadway, October 19.  Producer Benjamin Rothman has announced that the play, depicting Israel’s struggle for independence, will be given in English.

Ari Kutai and Celia Adler have been signed for leading roles and Abraham Ninio, a director of Israel’s Habimah Theatre, will supervise the presentation. A star of the Israel stage, Kutai, after touring the United States with the Habimah players in 1927, played many roles on Broadway before returning to his native Palestine in 1932.

Written by Yigal Mosenson, author of several plays and a literature prize winner, the Israeli hit has been adapted for Broadway by Shimon Wincelberg, Hollywood screen writer.

La Jolla Season Closes Sunday
Southwestern Jewish Press, September 3, 1954, page 2

La Jolla Playhouse ends its most successful season to date Sunday, when it rings down the curtain on the final performance of “The Vacant Lot.”

An original comedy-drama “The Vacant Lot” is being given its world premiere on the Playhouse stage.

The cast consists of five young people from New York and Hollywood, all with solid backgrounds in theatre, radio, TV and movies. They are Alan Dinehart III, Brett Halsey, Eliot Engalhart, Jeff Silver and Cindy Robbins

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Films To Be Shown At C.W.U Tonight
Southwestern Jewish Press, September 3, 1954, page 2

Two films, “Grass” and “The Window Cleaner” will be presented by California Western University as the fifth in its series of outstanding motion pictures on Friday, Sept 3, at 8 p.m. at Lomaland Hall.

“Grass” is an exotic and colorful Paramount film of nomadic Persian tribes.  “The Window Cleaner” an OWI Overseas Branch production is a unique study of New York City and its people as seen through the eyes of a window cleaner. Admission for non-holders of series tickets is 35 cents.

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The ‘Merchant of Venice’ Controversy
Southwestern Jewish Press, September 3, 1954, page 2

Letters to the Editor:

Dear Mac:
I read with interest Bill Schwartz’s letter, in your last issue.  I wish to say that I agree fully with his feeling about the “Merchant of Venice” now being presented in the repertoire of the Shakespearean Festival.

A group of us attended a performance—choosing this play because it was one we had not seen before; and because, I for one, wanted to see what this interpretation would be like.  I can oly say I saw nothing new in the venomous anti-semitism expressed here by the author, and when with Shylock down on his knees, broken in body and spirit, the Duke berates him as “You Jew, you dog, you cur,” I felt sick at my stomach, and heart, and would have walked out, except I did not wish to make myself conspicuous.

Attending with us were some young university students.  One the way home, they said they too were disturbed by the play and felt as I did.  Some among them were not of the Jewish fiath. But we also would not like to see a play in which they say, “You Negro, you do, you cur” or “You Catholic, you dog, you cur.”

I think this play had best be left out of any Shakepearean celebrations.  It does not win friends for this fine San Diego event. Of all the plays available, I think it showed poor judgement on the part of those who made the selection, to choose this one, when we are trying to cement world friendships, not stir up old hatreds.

Very sincerely,
Esther W. Moorsteen

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Editor, Jewish Press
Dear Sir:

In beginning, I should like to take this opportunity to thank you and especially your drama editor, Berenice Soule, for the excellent coverage that your paper has always given to the activities of The Globe Theare.

Recently, in reading your paper I have notice some criticism of The Glove Theatre for having produced ‘The Merchant of Venice, and of Mrs. Soule, for her review of this play.

Preparing our first Shakespeare repertory proved to be a tremendous undertaking. We predicated much of our planning upon the experience of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, now in its fourteenth year of repertory. The Ashland Oregon company has found that, over a period of many years, of the serious plays, “Othello,” “Hamlet” and “The Merchant of Venice” enjoy the greatest popularity.

Aside from popularity (and why is ‘Merchant of Venice’ perennially popular?  I should say because its simple story line plays well.  Of all Shakespeare’s works, it is the most simple for the casual theatergoer to follow.)  “Merchant of Venice” held still another attraction for the local community theatre. The venerable actor, Mr. Charles Coburn, attending the kick-off drive of the Shakespeare Festival Committee, stated that it was his fondest wish to play once more the great acting part of Shylock.  With an eye toward the box-office and with a really sincere desire to improve the artistic quality of our season, we announced “The Merchant of Venice,” intending it as a vehicle for this actor. Professional commitments later prevented Coburn from participating in the local Festival.

As soon as the play schedule was made public, one of the first to question the advisability of including this show was my good friend Berenice Soule. 

As  a result of this conversation, I questioned at some length Mr. Phillip Hanson, who had already been signed to direct ‘Merchant.”  I found that Mr. Hanson’s interpretation of the play differed strikingly  from a version which I had witnessed in Ashland, Oregon. Hanson saw the prejudice of the haughty and unbending Antonio as the motivating force of the play.  To Hanson, Antonio is the villain.  I felt that, if “The Merchant of Venice” could be given an inoffensive performance, this would be it.  The season began as announced.

May I add that Mrs. Soule’s review of the play seemed to me to be the most interesting and correct evaluation written by any of our local critics.

Last summer when the Oregon Festival ran “Merchant” for the sixth time (it is not true, as one letter writer-suggested, that similar Festivals usually eliminate this work), the program included the following note.

“It is too often said that ‘The Merchant of Venice’ is anti-Semitic because the villain is a Jew.  But in the first place, Shylock is not a typical Jew, nor is he loved by the other Jews in the play; in the second place, plays are not written about villains but about protagonists, and specifically about their moral growth in the course of the play’s events.  It is ironic that a work of art should be condemned as anti-anything when it’s central theme is the acquisition of merciful understanding for one’s fellow man.”

I do not believe that this single statement completely covers all of the controversy that has arisen about “Merchant of Venice.”  But I do know that it is next to impossible for an honest theatrical organization, dedicated to the creation of adult entertainment, to avoid all that is controversial.

Shylock no more represents all people of the Jewish faith than Rev. Davidson typifies Protestant missionaries.  Yes, the Globe was accused of being Pro-Catholic for having produced “Rain.” And Anti-Catholic for staging “A Family Portrait,” a play about the family life of Jesus.  Later, we were called Communistic because of Saroyan’s “Beautiful People” and Girardoux’ “Madwoman of Chaillot.”

Actually, it is impossible for the San Diego Community Theatre to be any or all of these things. Living theatre cannot serve as an instrument for propaganda,.  Nor can Shakespeare justly be condemned as anti-Semitic when the true poet, emerging from the machinations of plot devices and the limitations of his own time, speaks to us through Portia’s immortal lines. The “Quality of mercy” speech is universal art and universal philosophy.  Its message needs repeating today as strongly as it needed utterance three hundred years ago.   – Craig Noel
 
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“Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” is sponsored by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg. Our “Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” series will be a regular feature until we run out of history.  To find stories on specific individuals or organizations, type their names in our search box.