14 Israeli police to serve in U.N. force in Haiti
JERUSALEM (WJC)–A team of Israeli police officers will leave for Haiti to serve as part of a multinational force set up by the United Nations. It marks the first time Israelis will serve on a UN force. The 14 police officers attended a ceremony at the Western Wall on Monday ahead of their scheduled departure on early next week. The delegation constitutes the first-ever Israeli group to serve in active duty under the command of the United Nations. The police officers will remain in Haiti for an extended period of time.
“You are Israel’s true face,” Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon told the officers during a meeting Wednesday. “This mission will demonstrate to friends and foes alike that Israel is always willing to contribute and volunteer anywhere and at any time. It is important for people to see Israel beyond the conflict and to see that this is the real Israel. We are not only strong materially, but also strong in spirit.”
The head of the delegation, Meir Namir, said that the best police officers were mobilized to the task, some leaving behind pregnant women, children, and one even putting off his wedding.
Haiti was struck by a devastating earthquake in January 2010 which left more than 200,000 dead and approximately one million people homeless.. At the time, Israeli humanitarian workers assisted thousands of victims on the ground.
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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress
Missed a turn in the latest Kafka controversy? Here’s a primer
By Kathi Diamant
Kathi Diamant
SAN DIEGO — Franz Kafka has gotten quite a bit of play lately. His photo has accompanied headlines in any number of newspapers, magazines, and network news websites in the past couple of months, most of which include one or more of the following words: treasure, trial, nightmare, snarled, tangled, vaults, masterpieces, secret, lost—and, lest we forget—Kafkaesque.
In the past few weeks, CBS News, Time Magazine, Salon, The New York Times, Washington Post, the Guardian, and Haaretz as well as dozens of other news outlets weighed in on the acrimonious fight over Franz Kafka’s papers in the Brod Collection. One of the most thoughtful was by Rodger Kamenetz in the Huffington Post. Coverage on the trial over the Brod Collection in Tel Aviv extends to The National, published daily in Abu Dhabi. Franz Kafka is the Arab world’s favorite Jewish writer. Who knew?
Most of the news reports have been correct, more or less. The AP story by Aaron Heller stated, “Aside from previously unknown versions of Kafka’s work, the trove could give more insight on Kafka’s personal life, including his relationship with his lover, Dora Diamant. It may include papers that Kafka gave to Diamant but were stolen by the German Gestapo from her Berlin apartment in 1933, later obtained by Brod after World War II.”
I am sad to report that the papers stolen by the Gestapo were not recovered by Max Brod after World War II. Since 1996, the Kafka Project at SDSU has led the international search for these papers, 20 notebooks and 35 letters written by Kafka in the last year of his life, which most Kafka experts agree, represent the real missing treasure, not whatever remains in the Brod Collection.
As the Director of the Kafka Project and someone who has followed the story of the Brod Collection closely since 2001, I am happy to share the straight scoop, with links to the best sources, as well as a quick cast list to the Kafkaesque drama unfolding in Tel Aviv:
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka (whose literary leavings in the Brod collection are trapped in litigation) was a Jewish-Czech writer who died at the age of 40 in 1924, largely unpublished and unknown. After his death in 1924, with the posthumous publication of his novels, letters and diaries, Kafka rose to international fame as a literary genius, one of the founding fathers of magical realism and the modern novel. He is considered the most influential, profoundly misunderstood writers of our time. His most famous works are two unfinished novels, The Trial and The Castle and the short story, The Metamorphosis.
Kafka’s strange stories have earned their own adjective, Kafkaesque, to describe a world where mindless bureaucracy destroys the mind and body and numbs the soul.
Max Brod
Max Brod, Franz Kafka’s boyhood friend who became his literary executor, was also, like Kafka, a Jewish Czech lawyer and writer. Brod famously defied Kafka’s requests to burn his unpublished work, and instead gathered as much of it as he could and arranged for its publication. “As far as my memory and my strength permit, nothing of all this shall be lost,” he vowed shortly after Kafka’s death.
Brod fled Prague in 1939 for Tel Aviv, where he died in 1968. He escaped on the last train as the German army rolled into Czechoslovakia, taking with him two suitcases, one filled with Kafka’s manuscripts, letters and diaries. During the Six Day War, Brod, concerned for the safety of Kafka’s manuscripts, transferred the most valuable to Switzerland for safekeeping in bank vaults. The Brod Collection is believed to be mostly in ten different safety deposits in Geneva and Tel Aviv, as well as in Ester Hoffe’s humid, cat infested apartment on Spinoza Street.
Without Max Brod, we would know nothing of Franz Kafka. Brod saved Kafka’s writings for humanity, only to leave what he had so carefully collected and saved not to the centers of Kafka scholarship in England and Germany, where his other manuscripts are scrupulously kept, but to his longtime secretary and (most certain) lover, Ester Hoffe, who hoarded them for forty years after Brod’s death, selling off single pages of letters, diaries and whole manuscripts, at random, to the highest bidder. At one point she accepted a very large sum from a German publisher, and then never sent the manuscripts she contractually promised. She never returned the money.
Ester Hoffe, a Holocaust refugee who died two years ago in Tel Aviv at the age of 101, was generally reviled by Kafka scholars and researchers, her name an anathema. Given Brod’s lifelong dedication to establishing and maintaining Kafka’s legacy, his gift of the Kafka papers to his secretary was an unfortunate choice. When she died in 2008, her two daughters, Eva and Ruth, now in their 70s, inherited the collection and decided to sell it to the German Literature Archive in Marbach, Germany, sight unseen, for one million Euros. Headlines rang out around the world: Secret Kafka Treasure to be Revealed!
Kafka aficionados, academics and researchers were thrilled. Priceless, possibly unpublished writings by Kafka would finally be available to shed new light to understanding this most misinterpreted and beloved writer. But then, in classic Kafka fashion, the plot twisted, with no path made easy. The National Library of Israel stepped in, claiming the Brod Collection as state cultural assets, a national treasure, which should not leave the country. The legal wrangling and academic outcry has been ably covered in dozens of articles by Ofer Aderat for Haaretz, which has a financial interest in the case. (Haaretz and many Kafka copyrights are owned by Schocken Books.)
So, for more than two years, the Brod Collection trial has dragged on in a Tel Aviv family courtroom, with drama aplenty, court-ordered openings of secret bank vaults, tales of theft and deception, a nightmare for Hoffe’s daughters, as if straight from Kafka’s own imagination.
When the Brod Collection first made international headlines in the summer of 2008, I was in Poland, on a six-week Kafka Project research project for the 20 notebooks and 35 love letters confiscated from Kafka’s last love, Dora Diamant, by the Gestapo in 1933. Before I embarked on the 2008 Eastern European Research Project, I wrote an article for San Diego Jewish World, “My Quest to Find a Literary Treasure,” explaining what we are searching for, and why it’s so important.
For almost a decade, I have been waiting to see the contents of the Brod Collection. In 2001, in Germany researching the biography of Dora Diamant, I first learned about the Brod Collection, and within it, the existence of 70 letters Dora Diamant wrote to Max Brod between 1924-1952. This was information vital not only for the book I was writing, but also for the Kafka Project. In one letter, written in Berlin in April 1933, Dora described to Brod the theft of Kafka’s writings by the Gestapo. Among the list of 70 letters, a stunning, four-page letter is catalogued, with the date, the return address, and a few lines describing what was taken. But, besides the Swiss lawyer who catalogued the Brod Collection in the early 1980s, no one else has seen that letter or any of Dora Diamant’s letters, telegrams and postcards written over a twenty-five year period.
I am only one of many who are holding a collective breath. The next headline you see on Kafka’s papers in the Brod Collection might announce a happy resolution. But knowing Kafka’s dark sense of humor, I doubt it.
In the meanwhile, Kafka Project isn’t waiting. Plans are afoot to follow up the 2008 Eastern European research, collaborating with the University of Silesia, Jagiellonian University, the National Library of Silesia, and the Polish National Archives in 2012. The Kafka Project is working not only to recover a lost treasure and open a new chapter in literary history, but to repair at least one of the crimes of the Third Reich. If you want to learn more about Kafka, I am presenting a six-week survey, Kafka in Context, for the Osher Institute for Lifelong Learning at SDSU, starting Monday, September 13. To register, contact osher@mail.sdsu.edu. Here’s a link for more information on the SDSU Kafka Project.
Stay tuned for the next headline!
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Diamant is director of SDSU’s Kafka Project, a journalist, and author.
Sidebar:
For further reading on this case, here are a few of the best articles covering the Brod Collection’s many twists and turns:
Huffington Post: “Kafka Manuscripts: The Fight Over Kafka”
Time Magazine: “Were Lost Kafka Masterpices Stuffed in a Swiss Bank Vault?
Washington Post: “In Israel, a tangled battle over the papers of Franz Kafka”
CBS: “Lost Kafka Papers Resurface, Trapped in Trial” CBS News (AP)
Ha’aretz: story on safety boxes being opened, another on estate executor receiving boxes.
The Guardian: “Lawyers Open Cache of Unpublished Manuscripts”; “The Kafka Legacy: Who owns Jewish Culture?”
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I was such an amateur at being robbed!
Jay Tell
ENCINO, California — Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something blows your mind.
It was 1990, a stifling summer day in neighboring Tarzana, California, but I had no idea how hot it would get. Besides myself, there were three customers and three employees in my 2,000 sq-ft stamp and coin store. A man in his 30’s was buzzed in the outside door, entered the “man-cage” (an entry-way of iron bars, with three sides and a top), and was buzzed into the second door. Except for a white shirt, he was all in black, and wore a Fedora hat, which seemed odd in 100+ degree heat. He walked to the rear, then back to the front showcases. I was on the phone with a dealer in Philadelphia, but, instinctively, I swiveled to watch. Suddenly, from a folded newspaper, he pulled a revolver, raised it over his head, and shouted, “This is a robbery. Put your hands where I can see them, or I’ll shoot.”
Shiny tips of bullets were visible in his gun’s cylinder. I whispered, “Robbery, call police,” as I carefully hung up, and put my hands on the desk. My manager, Bob, obeyed the robber’s orders. He got a large plastic bag, unlocked the first showcase, but intentionally dropped his keys, taking his time opening the sliding mirrored backs of each case. Bob slowly loaded gold, silver, coins and jewelry into the first of several bags, stalling, hoping someone behind him had pushed a panic button. Five long minutes went by, but no police arrived. The robber dropped something, creating a split-second opportunity, so, ignoring the risk, I reached under my desk, poked the police button, and quickly returned my hands to the top of the desk.
Ten minutes went by, but still no police. In my five retail stores, spanning four decades, there were false alarms, and the cops always converged in a few minutes, often with shotguns. This was the real thing, but so far, there was no hint of the cavalry to the rescue. The robber turned, creating a second opportunity. Maybe I hadn’t hit the button hard enough? Very fast, I pushed it again, and returned my hands to the desk. To avoid false alarms, I had put thin scotch tape over the recessed hole of each of 20 buttons, easy to punch through if needed. Both times I jammed the button so hard, it hurt. Outside the large windows, there was no sign of law enforcement – something was wrong. This robber was the most dangerous kind, a nervous amateur, taking too long to complete his business. A pro would have been out in three minutes, tops.
The robber, with a $100,000 haul, turned to leave, but, when in the cage, just 15 feet from me, he swirled, shouted more threats, and pointed his gun. He might shoot at any second, I felt I had to do something; this terror had gone far enough. Everyone in the store, including an elderly lady and a young boy, was frozen with fear. I had no experience with guns in any crisis situation, but something came over me, compelling me to act. This creep wasn’t going to hurt anyone – not today. What if I did nothing and someone got shot? Still worse, what if I did take action – and someone got hurt, or killed? Even good motives can cause great harm; the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
In a few seconds, I made four mistakes, as my three beautiful daughters’ faces flashed in my mind. The first, I pulled a 380 Remington semi-automatic from my desk, released the safety, stood up, outstretched my arms, aimed, and shouted “Drop the gun or I’ll blow your head off!” The gun was in my right hand, with my left hand cupped underneath, after watching a lifetime of police shows. He pointed his gun right at me. I fired one shot, so loud it still hurts my ears today. My second blunder was warning him, which, when facing a loaded gun, I was under no obligation to do. My third error was firing only once – I should have emptied the clip. My fourth mistake, I remained standing, like an idiot, his clear target, after the shot caused everyone, except the robber, to drop to the floor. Better keep my day job; I’m not cut out for this.
After the blast, I was shaken, and temporarily deaf. The robber was visibly shocked, his face turned white, and he ran out. I put the gun back on safety, returned it to the desk drawer, grabbed my keys, and, like a fool, ran after him, 30-seconds behind, my fifth error in less than a minute. There’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity; Clint Eastwood I’m not.
In the large, sweltering parking lot, nothing was stirring, zero activity. I expected to see him running, or a car peeling out, but it was quiet. Then I saw a car exiting to Ventura Boulevard, so I followed, but the driver was a lady; it was the wrong car. As I returned, the police were arriving, guns drawn, pointed down. I told them it was my shop, but they weren’t sure and kept a wary eye, guns out. “Is he inside? Were there hostages?” I said no, and, when the officers were told he had a loaded gun, and that I’d fired a shot, it became a serious investigation. We were thrilled no one was harmed, the store had a festive atmosphere, and, yes, there was insurance.
We found my bullet’s shell casing, but could not locate the bullet itself. Detectives, employees and I searched, officers checked for fingerprints, and statements were taken. With no blood found, we assumed he hadn’t been hit, and I was glad –but where was the darn bullet? I thought I’d missed him by ten feet, but no bullet was found in the ceiling, floor, doors, albums to the right of the man-cage, the display on the wall to the left, and no glass was broken. Two mysteries, how did he flee so fast, and where was the missing bullet?
Then I saw, one of the iron bars in the man-cage was dented. The bullet hit the bar, ricocheted 45 degrees, and landed 20 feet back, fortunately behind an unoccupied desk and chair. One mystery was solved, as I stared at the mangled, jagged missile, flat as a dime, and realized how much damage a bullet can do.
One of the detectives ran a string from where I was standing, to the cage where the robber was standing. I hadn’t missed by ten feet, as I thought, or even by one foot. Surprisingly, it was potentially a perfect shot, and hit the bar chest-high, directly in front of where he had been standing. He’ll probably never come closer to dying, and I’ll be grateful, for the rest of my life, that the narrow iron bar, perhaps 3/8 of an inch, deflected the bullet. Some say he had it coming, but I consider it a miracle I don’t have to live with the memory of the robber being blown apart.
The alarm company said all panic buttons worked, except for mine, which was defective. The dealer, with whom I was chatting on the phone, instead of reaching the police, got the Sanitation Department. After the robber and I ran out, an employee called 911, and, once called, the cops came quickly. It was not their fault my panic button was inoperable, which, in an ironic twist of fate, may have saved lives. Had police come sooner, and cornered the armed robber in the store, he may have taken hostages, and there could have been a wild, deadly shoot-out.
Amazingly, the thief was soon arrested, 15 miles from my San Fernando Valley store, in Beverly Hills. After running out, he had ducked back to the alley, and ran behind the stores to Ventura Boulevard, to his waiting limousine. That’s right – he had a stretch limo, and driver, parked up the street, which is why I saw nothing in the parking lot. Before us, he had held up two jewelry stores. The driver had no clue, until the robber ran back from my store, flushed, pale and shaking.
While waiting, the driver had locked the limo, for the first time that morning. The loud gunshot hit the iron bar like an explosion, inches away from the robber. Panicked, out of breath, he ran to the limo from the rear, so the driver couldn’t see him coming. He banged the window with his fist, and yelled, which made the driver suspicious. On the ride back to Beverly Hills, the driver, from his sound-proof compartment, called police, who were waiting in the driveway, behind the bushes, guns drawn. The driver jumped out, and the robber, surrounded, gave up without a fight.
Why, you ask, was a Beverly Hills man, in a limo, robbing stores? In a bizarre twist, he’d been in a psychiatric ward, and befriended a patient from Beverly Hills. After his release, he was invited to stay in the home, but wore out his welcome, and was asked to leave. He knew where the owner hid a gun, and money, so, when the homeowner was out, he ordered the limo, which he met in the driveway. Nothing unusual, as some clients meet the driver outside; and some pay cash. Just another rich guy on a shopping spree, the driver thought, except this “shopper” was armed and dangerous.
At trial, the public defender was overheard imploring the defendant to plead insanity, based on his psychiatric history. Because he used a limo, the media was out in force. I was a key witness, having fired the only shot, and others also identified him as the armed robber; and, he had been caught with the goods. He refused to plead insanity, which might indicate he was mentally impaired, was convicted, and was sentenced to 19 years in prison.
I thought I made mistakes, and still do, but an assistant DA disagreed. He congratulated me for firing, which, he said, probably saved lives. The shot caused the armed robber to run away, and panic, the first time the limo driver became suspicious, which led to the arrest and conviction, which removed a dangerously unstable criminal from the streets. Had he escaped, he probably would have struck again, perhaps causing injury or death. None of us knows how we’ll act in a life-and-death crisis, until that magical moment of severe stress, of indescribable pressure, is upon us. What is your opinion?
That’s not the end of the strange tale of the limousine robber. Fifteen years later, in 2005, I was telling this story, when a man overheard it, and said, “I know that story; my son was the limo driver.” In California, with perhaps 35 million people, what are the odds?
Truth can be stranger than fiction.
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Tell is a Los Angeles stamp and coin dealer and freelance writer. He grew up in a Las Vegas Jewish newspaper family, and wrote, among other article, a Bobby Darin Tribute. Email jaytell@hotmail.com
Adventures in San Diego Jewish History, January 21, 1955, Part 4
Compiled by San Diego Jewish World staff
In the Name of “Security” (Editorial)
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 7
The case of Wolf Ladejinsky has again brought into sharp focus the problems facing a people whose precious liberties are being threatened under the guise of “security.”
Ladejinsky, a qualified agriculturist, was dismissed as a “security risk” with no explanation. His proven anti-Communism was used to prove that he could be a spy!
The letter, released by the Agriculture Dept to bolster their stand, lauded the Department’s action on the ground that “a goodly share of those Russian revolutionaries were found among Russian Jews.” An investigation revealed that the letter was written by a White Russian émigré who admits he never met nor had he ever heard anything derogatory about Ladejinsky.”
The earlier cases of Abraham Chasanow, reinstated after his dismissal from the Navy, and the twenty-four Ft. Monmount scientists, similarly reinstated, aroused grave suspicions that anti-Semitism and other prejudices were operating at various levels of our government. In spite of formal statements and disavowals these suspicions were never allayed. Ladejinsky’s dismissal with the mysterious circumstances surrounding his case, the incredible reasons advance to justify the action and the readiness to make use of anti-Semitic material confirms theses suspicions.
It took the action of Harold E. Stassen, Foreign Operations Administrator, to pull the Agriculture Department out of an embarrassing situation which would have made us the butt of international ridicule.
“Security” is the aim of man whether it be for himself or his country. Where is “Security” for an individual who can be released after years of public service merely because of an accident of birth?
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Banks and Savings (Editorial)
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 7
Savings Week is currently being noted by banks throughout the country. The growth of banking in an Diego has been phenomenal . Banks and saving institutions have kept pace with this growth by instituting new services to make it easier to save and bank money. Driveby Banks, Night Deposits and the opening of a large number of branches in every part of the city and ccounties are some of the latest services instituted by the banks.
Travel clubs, Christmas clubs, Bonds and other plans for saving were designed to give the thrifty saver an incentive and a goal to accumulate funds for a specific purpose.
January is the month for us to lay plans for the entire year. Savings Week is just a reminder that banks are doing all they can to make it easier for us to save. Benjamin Franklin whose birthday is noted this month, extolled the virtues of gathering a nest egg for the future. He would approve our present day streamlined banking systems.
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False Faces (Editorial)
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 7
The long overdue report on neo-Fascist and Hate Groups by the House Committee on un-American Activities must have been an eye opener to the Congressional investigators. The report plainly shows that these groups invariably turn out to be basically anti-Jewish in character. To quote the forward of the report—“The organized hate group, which masquerades as a defender of our Republican form of government yet conducts hate campaigns against racial and religious minorities in the infamous tradition of the Fascist dictatorships.”
Clearly indicated in the report is the fact that “these Fascist hate groups frequently support the position of the very Communists it allegedly opposes.” For example, the National Renaissance Party accused the United States Government of seeking to promote a world war to “carry out the economic and political ambitions of a small coterie of international Wall St. bankers.” Does that sound familiar? Word for word it comes from the Communist party propaganda.
One of the most virulent of these hate groups has a publication called “Common Sense,” published by Conde J. McGinley, in New Jersey. In contrast to the Fascist National Renaissance Party, the McGinley enterprise appears to be a shrewd and going business.
The report goes on to say that McGinley’s so-called anti-Communist and patriotic publication apparently is not adverse to serving the Communist propaganda cause, and further states that anti-Semitism is the chief stock in trade of “Common Sense” which defines Communism as the “false face of Judaism.”
The Committee Report concludes with the statement that they are continuing their investigation and exposure of Communist conspirators, but that they are convinced that there is also a need for further study, exposure and prosecution of the Fascist hate groups that seek to divide and disrupt the American people.
It is regrettable that any American should contribute to the perpetuation of the hate factories. If loyal Americans wish to play an active part in protecting their country from subversion, let them remember that there exist agencies well equipped to deal with the traitors from the extreme Left and extreme Right. Beware the 20th Century Janus, who presents two false faces.
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Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 7
By Irving R. Stone, Psychological Consultant
Operation Courtship
History books tell us many interesting things—elections, economic depressions, discoveries, war, little known facts that seem to escape the attention of people, except when some Hollywood motion picture company plays it up and makes the news worthy of a potential Oscar award winner.
I refer to what might be termed “Operation Courtship.” Those of Napoleon, Lincoln, Miles Standish and Marc Anthony are a few that we can mention. Not that courtship isn’t a familiar happening, for it is as frequent as birth and taxes. But too often we take such things for granted.
The strange thing is that courtship is so important that even the participants are often unaware that it is happening but when they are, they are completely different in behavior and thinking. Another fact is that it starts, in many cases, at a tender age and during the teens may be as intense as in mature adulthood.
Courtship is usually expected to be the time for getting acquainted. Fundamental attitudes and expectations should be extended during this period to make later adjustments easier and often possible. It is the time to work out many of the later problems which arise in every family –children, budgets, special needs and living arrangements are but a few.
Irving Stone
As the Psychologist Sees You
Parents frequently become quite alarmed over what seems to be an involvement in the form of a courtship by their adolescent boy or girl. In almost every case, this is part of a normal condition of that age level when crushes seem to abound in every direction, and each month appears to be like New Years –“Ring out the old, ring in the new.” It is far better for the youngster to have one or more of these crushes because it gives them a better opportunity to evaluate the situation when true courtship takes place than to be unaware of the method of handling approaching marriage. Too often, the boy or girl who has not had a share in crushes jumps at the first opportunity for marriage without evaluating its efficacy.
The only cure for hasty marriages is courtship. It affords planning, evaluation and reevaluation. It is the intervening step between a crush and a marriage. So, when your child enters a courtship, remember that your youngster is growing up and not just getting older.
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More about Three Hundred Years in America~Jewish Contributions to American History
By Dr. Philip L. Seman, University of Judaism
The last installment of early experiences and records of the synagogue as the Jewish Community Center is an indication that the Jews have for thousands of years recognized the need for centrally located places where the community was given an opportunity to function as social human beings as well as in a civic manner.
However, with the growth of our American communities, the question of the Community Center became a problem. The real problems, so far as the Jew in America is concerned, were not aggravated, however, until 1881, when the Jews of this country were confronted with a large immigration as the result of the pogroms of 1881 in Russia and Poland, and similar atrocities in Rumania in 1902 and 1903. It was during these years that the number of immigrants arriving in the United States kept increasing in almost impossible proportion to the ability to assimilate them, and meet the many social and economic problems that congestion and large numbers of new comers into a comparative complacent population create. The immigration, reports show that beginning with the year 1820 to the year 1912 the total number of immigrants that arrived in the United States was 29,000,000 of which approximately 3,000,000 represented Jews. The high water mark was in 1907 when the total immigration was 1,285,000 of which 150,000 represented Jewish immigrants. From the year 1900 to the year 1912, there came to the United States a total of 10,000,000 immigrants of which number approximately 1,500,000 were Jews. In other words, one-third of this country in 1912 came within a period of 10 or 12 years. These facts alone indicate what an enormous problem American Jewry was confronted with in the matter of adjusting such a huge army of newcomers to an entirely new environment.
It was during these years when the communal workers particularly in New York, but likewise in other large American cities throughout the country, realized the importance of providing facilities for the construction educational, recreational and social life of those who made up in a large measure the congested sections of these cities. It was during this period that there was developed such agencies as the Educational Alliance in New York; the Young Men’s and Women’s Hebrew Association (now known as the Jewish Community Centers), the Hebrew Technical Institutes and many other similar institutions all over the country where Jews settled in large numbers. (To Be Continued).
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(Reputation and business)
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 7
A good reputation always proves to be a good business capital.
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(Resolutions)
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 7
Often a man and his New Year’s resolutions go broke together.
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(Spare time)
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 7
The man who makes the best use of his time has the most to spare.
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Famous Group of Jewish Artists Here Sunday March 6th
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 8
Dora Kaliowna and Schmuel Fisher in their first American appearance and also Pola Kadison, talented pianist, will appear in a program of Jewish songs, sketches and comedy. The Concert will take place at Beth Jacob Center of Sunday, March 6th at 8 p.m. under the sponsorship of Jewish Labor Committee
Dora Kaliowna was born in Lodz, Poland. After she graudated from the government dramatic school in Warsaw, she remained for the theatre a short while and later devoted her talents to solo appearances.
Schmuel Fisher, who is called the Jewish Charlie Chaplin, lived in Israel since 1930, was educated in the University of Art and Literature at Tel Aviv. He was in the army and gave 500 of his outstanding performances on the fronts during the historical battles of the Israel liberation. His source of humor and song is unique.
Pola Kadison, the renowned concert pianist, has appeared in many cities in the United States. She has been acclaimed by the critics as one of the finest interpretes of Folk and Classic music.
For an evening of nostalgic Jewish humor, drama and songs, call Ben Feinberg at Belmont 2-5525 or Belmont 2-3524. Mrs. Ira Gordon at Cypress 8-6230 or Morris Penn at Hudson 8-5906.
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Dog Show
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 8
The Annual All-Breed Dog Show will open on Sunday, Feb. 13, in the Electric Bldg., Balboa Park. Entries will come from Canada, Hawaii, Mexico, Alaska and South America. Entry blansk may be obtained at any pet shop or phone HI 4-4714.
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Golf Greats To Appear At Mission Valley
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 8
La Jolla, Calif – The best playing conditions in years are anticipated this week when two annual golf classics are staged in the San Diego area.
Clear skies and gentle breezes are predicted for the four-day Convair-San Diego Open Tournament starting January 20 in Mision Valley.
The tournament is sponsored by Convair Division of General Dynamics Corporation on behalf of the San Diego Society for Crippled Children.
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Demos Dance on Valentine’s Day February 12th
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 8
“Music in the Morgan Manner,” Russ Morgan and his internationally famous band will be featured in the St. Valentine’s Day dance planned by the Democratic County Central Committee which is to be held February 12 at 8:30 p.m. in the Mission Beach Ball Room.
The dance will be open to the public at popular prices and tickets are available by contacting D.G. Hamilton, chairman of ticket sales, Room 412 Orpheum Theatre Bldg. Ticket reservations may be had by mail or call BE 9-4070.
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Settlement Cook Book Supports Center
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 8
Milwaukee, Wis – The Jewish Community Center of Milwaukee, whose first home was made possible by a cook book, dedicated its new $1,750,000 building on January 16th. It was profits from the now world-famous Settlement Cook Book which paid for the site on which the local Center’s forerunner, the Abraham Lincoln Settlement House, was erected at the turn of the century. In the dining room of the new building there is a picture of Mrs. Simon Kander, the mother of the original settlement house, whose pioneering book of recipes for Jewish immigrants first appeared in 1901.
It has since become a perennial best-seller. The sale of 1,250,000 copies of the cook book in its 34 editions has netted the Jewish Community Center of Milwaukee $350,000 over the years, including $50,000 for the new building, as well as substantial sums for scholarships, day care and other community needs.
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(Consideration)
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 8
Consideration for the rights of others is the strongest link in the chain of human friendships.
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Blanc Qualifies In Mayor’s Race
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 8
Sol Blanc, veteran Broadway businessman and former realtor, today filed for qualification papers in the race for mayor of San Diego.
In announcing his candidacy, the Broadway restaurateur and long-time auctioneer pointed to his long record in public life as qualifying him for the top city office.
He said his platform will include such progressive measures providing more downtown parking, critical and hospital care for indigent and service families, inducing industry to move to san Diego, providing more docking facilities for commercial craft and generally working toward “more jobs for the working people, and therefore more business for the businessmen.”
He said he will concentrate on a “good neighbor” policy between San Diego and its neighboring south-of-the-border towns of Tijuana and Ensenada.
He pledged a “two fisted fight, but no mud slinging” in his bid for the mayor’s post and said he already has been assured the backing of several groups in the city.
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(Past and Future)
Southwestern Jewish Press, January 21, 1955, Page 8
You can get rid of your past by building a future out of it.
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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.
Hashem requires honesty, especially in child rearing
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman
Rabbi Baruch Lederman
SAN DIEGO –Hashem (G-d) promises the Jewish people that if we faithfully perform his commandments He will shower us with blessing. All of Hashem’s blessings and promises have great meaning to us as the following true story related by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky, documented by in a Yated Neeman article written by Rabbi Binyamin Pruzansky, illustrates:
Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky was once visited by an old talmid (student) and his family. After Rav Yaakov greeted them warmly and invited them inside, the talmid wanted to give his
rebbi some nachas. He decided to demonstrate how his fourteen-month-old daughter was learning to walk.
He placed her in a corner of the room and moved back some six feet, while he dangled some candy in front of her to encourage the child to walk toward him. Sure enough, the little
girl balanced on her little legs as she wobbled and toddled her way towards her father. Indeed Rav Yaakov shared the nachas. He broke out in a wide smile as he watched his
student’s little child achieve.
Suddenly, in order to extend the challenge, the proud father, still dangling the candy, moved back a few steps, making it necessary for his daughter to walk an additional few steps.
To his shock, Rav Yaakov’s smile disappeared immediately.
“You must return to where you were just standing and give her the candy in that spot!” said Rav Yaakov.
After the student complied and the little girl had her candy, Rav Yaakov explained: “The baby was shown that she would receive her prize if she reached a specific area, but then
you changed the area. That is simply not honest. You are being untruthful and teaching her as well. Everything in a child’s chinuch (education) has to be based upon the truth!”
We need to know that Hashem is Kulo Emes (Total Truth). We can be confident that if Hashem makes a promise, He will keep that promise. He will never dangle, delay or
deceive us. We have complete confidence that all of His loving blessings will come to us at the proper time in the proper manner.
Dedicated by Rina Stein
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Rabbi Lederman is spiritual leader of Congregation Kehillas Torah in San Diego
Remembering composer Alan Hovhaness
By David Amos
David Amos
SAN DIEGO–Alan Hovhaness is not a household name. You may never have heard of him. When he died in the year 2000 at the age of 89, our local paper did not carry his obituary. Nevertheless, Hovhaness was one of the most important and influential composers of the Twentieth Century.
Born in Somerville, Massachusetts in 1911 of Armenian and Scottish descent, Alan Hovhaness Chakmakjian was a most prolific composer. He composed well over 40 symphonies, plus many orchestral, solo piano, choral, band, and vocal works. All his music bears the stamp of his very original style, which was a mix of orientalism and mysticism; because of his heritage and training, we see titles with the spirit of Armenia, India, the Near East and the Far East. Due to all these cultural influences, his music is very spiritual, and in no way did he follow the popular or scholarly trends of his contemporary fellow composers.
I was privileged and pleased to work directly with him for a few years, and conducted ten of his compositions in recordings. Invariably, this was music that gave satisfaction to the listener. On the whole, his music was not technically difficult to perform, but it made demands of the interpreters to dig deeply into the spiritual meaning behind the notes. This was always a challenge, as any work demands of its performer, but it was also very gratifying.
Although his early musical training was very traditional (He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music), in the early 1940’s he destroyed all his compositions up to that time and started afresh with the style for which he is so well recognized today. At first, he trained an amateur ensemble to play his music, but soon after that, as his reputation became better known, many major orchestras started to program his compositions. There are two legendary recordings that were made in the 1950’s, conducted by Andre Kostelanetz and Fritz Reiner.
During the years when I was recording his music, I had the opportunity to visit him at his home in the Seattle area. My memories of that visit are twofold: Stacks and stacks of sheet music everywhere, and more important, his calm, spiritual nature, and positive, healthy attitude about music-making. During our conversation, I asked him as to which of his works might I plan for future recordings. He humbly suggested his symphonies number 38, 39, 40, 41, and 42!
I recorded Hovhaness’ music with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic in Tel-Aviv, where we did his Horn Concerto with the late Meir Rimon as soloist, and several of his works for strings. I can still hear in my mind the vibrant sounds of the strings of the IPO as we rehearsed and recorded this music. (The concertmaster of that orchestra, Uri Pianka, will be visiting us in San Diego in March of 2011 to perform Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, together with the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra).
In London, there were two distinct highlights. One, was the recording of “And G-d Created Great Whales”, a work for large orchestra, superimposed with the actual recorded sounds of Humpback, Bowhead, and Killer whales. This was done in a cavernous London cathedral, with wonderfully warm acoustics, and reverberation time ((echo) that seemed to last forever. This piece, along with four others, form part of a compact disc album that is still the no.1 seller in the catalog of the prestigious Crystal Records label.
The other, recorded under more controlled studio conditions, was The Shepherd of Israel, for tenor and orchestra. Hovhaness composed this work in 1952, in honor of the founding of the State of Israel. The vocal lines were in the spirit of cantorial cantillation, and for this, what better than to have a real cantor do it? This came to be, as I was able to fuse to this work my association with our own Cantor Sheldon Merel, who has since retired from his position at San Diego’s Temple Beth Israel. It was a wonderful experience for all of us.
Alan Hovhaness left us a vast legacy of rich harmonies, flowing melodies, and the feeling that time stands still when we hear his music. Look for it and listen to it whenever you can, and be prepared to be transported.
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Amos is conductor of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra and has guest conducted professional orchestras around the world
Your TV may be color, but is it green?
TEL AVIV (Presss Release)― Electronic products pollute our environment with a number of heavy metals before, during and after they’re used. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 70% of heavy metals in landfill come from discarded electronics. With flat screen TVs getting bigger and cheaper every year, environmental costs continue to mount.
To counter this, a new Tel Aviv University solution applies a discovery in nano-technology, based on self-assembled peptide nanotubes, to “green” the optics and electronics industry. Researchers Nadav Amdursky and Prof. Gil Rosenman of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Electrical Engineering say their technology could make flat screen TV production green and can even make medical equipment –– like subcutaneous ultrasound devices –– more sensitive.
Inspired by a biomaterial involved in Alzheimer’s disease research discovered by Prof. Ehud Gazit of the university’s Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, the scientists developed a new nano-material, applying the scientific disciplines of both biology and physics. This biological material is the basis for their new, environmentally-friendly variety of light-emitting diodes (LED) used in both consumer and medical electronics.
Their new invention is more than a clean, green way to create light, the researchers say. It also generates a strong signal that can be used in other applications in the nano-world of motors, actuators and ultrasound.
“We are growing our own light sources,” says Amdursky, a doctoral student working under Prof. Rosenman’s supervision. The organic nano-lightsticks he and his supervisors have developed using organic chemistry are made from carbon, making them cheap as well as environmentally friendly.
Unlike conventional light sources, the biologically-derived light source has a nano-scale architecture, easing the integration into light-emitting devices such as LED TVs and improving the resolution of the picture as well. The Tel Aviv University team has recently written a patent to cover their “organic LED” lights.
According to Amdursky, the light emitted by the new light sticks is not appreciably different than that which emanates from today’s inorganically engineered LED lights.
“We don’t need a special plant, bacterium or a big machine to grow these structures in,” says Amdursky, who says the applications of the technology are wider than the widest screen television. The core technology and structures, described in Advanced Materials, Nano Letters, and ACS Nano, exhibit “piezoelectric characteristics,” necessary for the development of tiny nano-ultrasound machines that could scan cells from inside the body. Piezoelectric motors or actuators are only dozens of nanometers wide, which can lead to their application in energy harvesting systems as super-capacitors –– large energy storage devices, necessary for the solar energy and wind energy business.
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Preceding provided by American Friends of Tel Aviv University
Politicians muddy the waters in Muslim purchase of coat factory
By J. Zel Lurie
J. Zel Lurie
DELRAY BEACH, Florida — I am prejudiced in favor of peaceful Muslims.
Mention Muslims to most Americans and they will think of the nineteen young terrorists who committed suicide in a carefully planned attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center which killed almost 3,000 office workers.This terrible tragedy happened ten years ago and is memoralized in Ground Zero.
Mention Muslims to me today and I’ll think of 21-year-old Marim Higazi who charmed me in Chautauqua last month. Marim is a graduate of the Lurie School for Jewish and Arab children at Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salam, the Oasis of Peace in the Judean Hills.
Like her father, who heads a department at the Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Karim, Marim is a devout Muslim who prays five times a day.
The Higazi family is what makes me prejudiced in favor of peaceful Muslims. They represent to me the Muslim citizens of Israel who number over a million. Like most Israelis, Jews, Muslims and Christians, they love peace.
I am also prejudiced in favor of the owners of the Burlington Coat Factory on Park Place in Manhattan even though they are speculators who bought a closed factory from its Jewish owner.
They had a prime location, they thought. Park Place bordered on City Hall Park, an oasis of green in the jungle of office buildings and fast food parlors on the narrow streets of lower Manhattan. Pace University is a short stroll and one could almost peek into the palatial office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
They watched as luxury condos were built and sold a few doors down the street. I wonder whether Ground Zero, a few streets to the west, was considered an attraction by the developer of the luxury condos.
And then came the deal they had long awaited. The Cordoba Initiative, led by the charismatic Faisal Abdul Rauf, “one of America’s leading thinkers of Sufiism,” the mystical Muslim sect.
I don’t begin to understand mystics. Sufism to Muslims might be similar to Kabalah to Jews which I don’t understand either. But I know that Mr. Rauf’s widely distributed videos preach love and understanding of other faiths and of Islam’s glorious past in Cordoba and elsewhere.
William Dalrymple, who understands Sufiism wrote about Rauf in the New York Times of August 16:
“In the eyes of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban he is an infidel-loving, grave-worshiping apostate.”
The Cordoba Initiative planned to tear down the old factory and build a 13-story Islamic Cultural Center modeled on the Jewish Community Center of Manhattan. A 13-story building is not a mosque as the media and politicians are calling it. There will be a large auditorium for cultural and theatrical events and a smaller section for prayer.
No one thought about Ground Zero separated by over a hundred old office buildings and a couple of narrow streets. But anti-Muslim Republican propagandists jumped in furiously. Newt Gingrich said that Cordoba’s stated aim of “improving Muslim-West relations and interfaith dialogue” was “deliberately insulting.”
Sarah Palin joined in. And then came a disappointing surprise. The Anti-Defamation League, which has spent decades fighting “unjust discrimination” all over the world, sought discrimination against an Islamic Cultural Center two and a half blocks from Ground Zero.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg could not resist the temptation of muddying the waters by putting on a show for TV. Standing on Governor’s Island with the Statue of Liberty holding up her torch behind him he made a stirring speech in defense of religious freedom.
He could have calmed the dispute by simply pointing out to a reporter that this was a private transaction and the city had no jurisdiction other than legal items. He might have added: “Personally, I find the views of Gingrich and Palin to be obnoxious.”
As for the ADL, Bloomberg might have reminded Abe Foxman that despite the Bill of Rights synagogues were forbidden by local laws in Connecticut and elsewhere until the middle of the 19th Century. The first Connecticut synagogue was dedicated in New Haven in 1843. On the same day, the New Haven Register attacked it as a “public defeat for Christendom…The Jews have outflanked us.”
And then President Obama continued to churn the waters. On Friday the 13th he grasped the occasion of a Ramadan celebration at the White House to strongly endorse the right of Muslims “to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan. This is America and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable.”
The next day Obama backtracked slightly. He refused to comment on the wisdom of putting a mosque here. He said; “I was commenting specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding.”
On Sunday the talk shows had a field day. But throughout the controversy, Faisal Abdul Rauf was unavailable.”He is abroad.” his office kept repeating as if he was in a Sufi enclave without radio or phone to disturb their mystical rites.
That’s what I imagine. But he will return and state his case. His community center will be built.
What is his case? Listen once again to William Dalrymple, writing from New Delhi, in the New York Times of August 16th:
The Sufis are in “the front line against the most violent forms of Islam. In the most radical parts of the Muslim world Sufi leaders risk their lives for their tolerant beliefs… Sufism is the most pluralistic incarnation of Islam — accessable to the learned and the ignorant, to the faithful and to the unbelievers — and thus is a uniquely valuable bridge between east and west.”
The radical violent Taliban, who protected the bombers of the twin towers a decade ago, recognize the challenge offered by the tolerant Sufis. On July 2 in Lahore, the second largest city in Pakistan, the Taliban organized a double suicide bombing of a crowded Sufi shrine. They killed 42 and 175 were injured.
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Lurie is a freelance writer based in Delray Beach, Florida. His articles appear in the Jewish Journal of South Florida
Two High Holy Days recipes from El Al
NEW YORK (Press Release)– With the Jewish New Year soon to arrive, EL AL, the national airline of Israel is preparing for this holiday season by offering traditional desserts which symbolize a sweet new year.
More than 550 pounds of honey cake is served to passengers travelling on EL AL from the USA in all classes of service as well as to premium class passengers in the King David Lounges.
Also offered in the lounges is another symbolic holiday snack, apples and honey. Over 330 pounds of sliced apples and 170 pounds of honey will be consumed!
In celebration of the Rosh Hashana holiday Chef Steven Weintraub, Executive Chef of Borenstein Caterers, is providing two special recipes for signature holiday sweets.
HOLIDAY HONEY CAKE RECIPE:
1 cup of honey
½ cup of sugar
4 whole eggs
1 cup of coffee, black and room temperature
¾ cup of vegetable oil
1 fresh orange, grated fine (include juice pulp and skin)
4 – 4 ½ cups of flour (adjust flour amount to ensure mixture is moderately loose)
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
A pinch of salt (1/8 tsp)
1 cup of raisins
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix honey, sugar, eggs, coffee, oil and orange thoroughly. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Slowly add dry mixture into liquid mixture. Blend well. Fold in raisins. Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 greased baking pan or into a 36 muffin tin. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour. After 45 minutes of cooking, check periodically. Let cool on a wire rack.
Another delicious recipe that EL AL passengers have enjoyed is Baked Apples:
BAKED APPLE RECIPE:
6 fresh, large Granny Smith apples
1 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
4 oz of almond or macaroon paste
¼ cup of dark raisins
2 egg whites from extra large eggs
2 cups of honey (for sauce, 2.5 oz per portion)
1 tablespoon of cinnamon-sugar mixture (1/2 tablespoon of each)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Blanch the apples in boiling water for 5 minutes and shock in cold water, drain well. From the top of the apples, make a crater by coring and removing the inside meat down 10 % depth, leaving the outside edge with an approximate ¼ even border. Place the apples in a shallow pan and set aside. Using a mixing bowl, add brown sugar, cinnamon, almond/macaroon paste, raisins, egg whites and blend well. Reserve honey and cinnamon-sugar mixture for garnish. Fill apple crater with mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. Test for doneness to the feel of a cooked baked potato. Cool apples down to a warm state and serve with honey at room temperature. Finally, sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
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Preceding provided by El Al Airlines
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