At Comic-Con, toys don’t wait for humans to leave before coming alive

 

Original Star Trek "cast" at Comic-Con exhibition hall. Photo: Shor Masori

By Donald H. Harrison

Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO – In the Toy Story series of movies, toys wait for people to leave the room before they transform themselves into living, talking beings.  But at the Comic-Con convention at the San Diego Convention Center, all such formalities are dispensed with.  Toys become alive whether humans are present or not, and then they mingle with the crowd – or so it seems.  And that’s one of the reasons the convention has reached a level of popularity prompting  organizers to predict that  125,000 people will attend the convention this year over the four days ending Sunday,  July 25.  No doubt more people would come, but for reasons of safety and good sense, the jam-packed event was declared “sold out.”

Spiderman and baby carriage

Costumed characters everywhere – James T. Kirk and the rest of the crew of Star Trek here, Superman over there, Spiderman pushing a baby carriage filled, one assumes, with little arachnids; the Joker from Batman buying toys for his own collection over there – these are the sights that have kept kids and the kids-inside-adults coming back to Comic-Con year after year for more than four decades.   Further excitement is generated by movie and televisions stars like Angelina Jolie, Sylvester Stalone , Will Ferrell and Tina Fey giving press conferences about upcoming movies which, if successful, will prompt at next year’s Comic-Con new costumes for attendees.

Joker browses a stall at Comic-Con. Photo: Shor Masori

"Superman" at Comic-Con. Photo: Donald H. Harrison

The Metropolitan Transit District, which operates light rail trains throughout the City of San Diego, helps to build the crowd by running special cars between the parking lot of Qualcomm Stadium and the Convention Center.  This enables Comic Con patrons to easily find a parking spot and then ride to nearly the front door of the Convention Center 13 stops away.  Enhancing the fun, trolley signs have been posted in Klingon – one of the languages spoken by denizens of the sometimes enemies and sometimes allies of the United Federation of Planets in the Star Trek series.

Mad Hatter enters San Diego Convention Center. Photo: Shor Masori

While riding to the Convention Center on Thursday with my nine-year old grandson, Shor, we spotted “Wonder Woman” sitting in a back seat of our trolley car.  When she disembarked, she received only a few appreciative glances – there were so many other sights competing for visitors’ attention.   A giant Transformer character –Octimus Prime–stood on the grounds of a hotel neighboring the convention center.  Hawkers handed out flyers, inviting visitors to come to their booths for prizes, food items and other swag, and nearly everyone had slung over their shoulders large Comic-Con bags, for taking home the goodies.

Although there were red-shirted security personnel in evidence everywhere—just in case—the mood was celebratory.  I asked Shor to hold onto my hand, not because I feared for his safety, but because the crowd was so large we could easily become separated otherwise.   As a precaution, we both had each other’s cell phone numbers set on speed dial.

Shor examines Transformer in lion mode. Photo: Donald H. Harrison

Shor views transformer in robot mode. Photo: Donald H. Harrison

The main exhibition hall was filled with booths selling every type of collector’s item imaginable – comic books, of course, as these noble literary productions were responsible for starting Comic-Con in the first place; plastic action figures of all kinds; T-shirts; posters; costumes; masks, wigs – one could come into the convention looking like a businessman, make a few quick purchases, duck into a bathroom stall, and return to the exhibition floor as Darth Vader, or Spiderman, Princess Leah, Buzz Lightyear, Harry Potter, Hermione, or Captain Kathryn  Janeway.    I’m sure some of the costumed people did just that.

Shor and I wandered around the exhibition floor, snapping photos of fantasies come alive.  Seemingly in each booth, and there were hundreds of them, Shor examined different items for possible purchase, using his calculator to determine what this or that set would cost if he purchased them all.   He didn’t have that kind of money to spend, of course, but this was a hall of fantasy after all.   After observing other people make purchases, Shor realized that the price on the box is not necessarily the price one has to pay.

Finally deciding on a “Leo Prime” Transformer that converts from a lion to a metal robot,  Shor asked the price and a woman at the cash register responded “$20.”  “Will you take $10?” Shor piped up.  “Let me check,” she said, calling out the question to her boss.  “No, $15,” the boss said.  That’s what Shor paid.   When Shor got home, his grandma the shopper was so proud!

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World

Commentary: Remembering pain in the midst of joy

By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal

Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal

SAN DIEGO — The breaking of the glass at the end of a Jewish wedding was originally not greeted by cries of joy but rather with tears. This custom originates from a story in the Talmud. In the middle of sumptuous feast a rabbi stood up and threw an expensive goblet against the wall, smashing it. This surprised and sobered everyone. He explained that, even in the middle of a time of joy, it is important to remember that the life of the Jewish People is broken because we are in exile.  Until the Temple is rebuilt and all Jews move back to Israel, our lives are shattered and our joy is always diminished.

At the weddings I perform I also explain that the broken glass reminds us that we live in a broken world and that the obligations of a bride and groom include not only the need to support and encourage each other, but also to heal the world in which we live. When we see suffering, we need to share the pain and help alleviate it.
 
During a terrible famine in Russia, Rabbi Israel Salanter ran into a very poor Jew who was always hungry and complained constantly about the bitterness of his lot. This time, however, he was free of complaints and even appeared content. Rabbi Salanter was puzzled and asked him: “This is the first time I have spoken with you that you seem happy. Have you somehow escaped the famine?”

“No,” the Jew replied, “I am just as hungry as before. But now, everyone around me is hungry as well, and that others know how I suffer every day brings me omfort.”

Rabbi Salanter said to him: “A real Jew (yehudi kasher) does not suffer less when others suffer; he suffers more! A real Jew feels their pain! This is why the Torah says in Parashat V’etchanan ‘When you (pl.) worship other gods and serve (pl.) them and bow down (pl.) to them’ the Torah speaks in the plural. But when the Torah speaks about suffering ‘when you (s.) are in distress because all these things have befallen you (s.)’ (Deut. 4:30) the Torah speaks in the singular: it is to teach you that when others suffer, so should you.”

“Misery loves company” the saying goes. There are some people who derive a great deal of satisfaction from seeing others suffer as do they. “Now they know how I feel,” they say and it lifts their spirits.

Rabbi Salanter wants us to learn that the pain of others should never bring us pleasure. We should share their pain and use it to motivate us to bring them support, uplift, and healing, even if we share their complaint.

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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego

Netanyahu temporarily shelves conversion bill

JERUSALEM (WJC, ADL)–The Israeli government has decided to postpone the adoption of a controversial law on conversion to Judaism that drew sharp criticism from Jews in the Diaspora. In a statement, a government spokesman Nir Hefetz said an agreement had been reached with liberal Jewish denominations that were opposed to the bill. The bill will be withdrawn for six months as the sides try to work out an alternative. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had approved the compromise to “preserve the unity of the Jewish people,” according to the statement.

The bill would have strengthened the control of Israel’s Orthodox Chief Rabbinate over the process of Jewish conversions. Liberal Jewish denominations make up the majority of Jews in countries such as the United States and Britain, where it was feared that the bill could undermine their legitimacy and connection to the Jewish state.

In New York, Robert G. Sugarman, ADL National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director issued the following statement:

“We applaud the Prime Minister’s efforts to prevent this bill from reaching the Knesset at this time to enable the engagement of Diaspora Jewry, and specifically the Reform and Conservative movements, in a process to work out a more acceptable solution to this decades-old issue.  
 
“We fully appreciate that Israel must find a way to accommodate the 400,000 immigrants from the Former Soviet Union who are not Jewish according to Israel’s Chief Rabbinate and who seek a path to be recognized as Jews for the purpose of marriage, burial and other rituals.  However, we assert that any decisions regarding the process of Jewish conversion in Israel do not just affect citizens of Israel, but Jews worldwide.   The Prime Minister’s intervention in this matter was clearly to the benefit of am yisrael – the Jewish people, and in the interest of Jewish unity.”

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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League    
 
 

 

           

Palestinians ban Boney M from performing ‘Rivers of Babylon’ at festival

RAMALLAH (WJC)–Organizers of a Palestinian music festival have prevented the music band Boney M to perform one of its greatest hits because the song refers to the exiled Jewish people’s yearning to return to the biblical land of Israel. Lead singer Maizie Williams said Palestinian concert organizers told her not to sing the 1970s hit ‘Rivers of Babylon’ The song’s chorus quotes from the Book of Psalms and highlights Jews’ connection to the Holy Land. Organizers said they had asked for the song to be skipped, deeming it “inappropriate.”

“I don’t know if it is a political thing or what, but they asked us not to do it and we were a bit disappointed that we could not do it because we know that everybody loves this song, no matter what,” Williams said. The band performed its other big hits, like “Ma Baker,” “Daddy Cool,” and “Rasputin” in front of hundreds of fans. The Palestinian International Festival began on Monday and runs through Saturday, bringing international performances to the West Bank cities of Ramallah, Jenin, Hebron and Bethlehem.

The concert comes amid a Palestinian campaign to get international artists to boycott Israel. The Pixies and Elvis Costello, among others, have canceled concerts in Israel following pressure from pro-Palestinian groups.

“I believe you should entertain wherever you are asked to entertain, whether it is Israel, whether it is Palestine, whether it is Lebanon, where ever it is, we go,” Williams said in Ramallah. “At the end of the day, politics is one thing and entertainment is another thing and when I got into the entertainment business I didn’t get into it for politics. I got into it to make people happy,” she added.

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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress

Gaza Flotilla sailors file suit against Israel in Spanish court

MADRID (WJC)–Three Spanish activists – two of which were aboard the controversial Gaza-bound aid flotilla raided by the Israeli Navy at the end of May – have filed a lawsuit in a Madrid court against Israel for alleged crimes against humanity.

The 83-page document takes aim at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, six senior Cabinet ministers and the chief of the Israel Navy, whose commandos stormed the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara on 31 May. Nine activists were killed when they attacked Israeli soldiers with knives and clubs.

The Spanish activists told a newspaper that Israel had arrested them illegally and deported them by force, after subjecting them to hardships during the raid. In their suit, they allege that “the entire operation was well planned by the Israeli army in order to kill as many activists as possible, while they were only trying to help Gaza’s residents.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in response that the lawsuit was “a continuation of the provocation in other means.” In a statement, it declared: “Israel’s actions are legal and in accordance with international law. Just like the flotilla organizers did not have humanitarian aid in mind, but only used it as an excuse for provocation and violence, the people filing the lawsuit are not really interested in law and justice, but are using them as a tool against Israel.”

IDF Major-General Giora Eiland, who headed a military commission charged with conducting an internal investigation of the flotilla raid, said it would have been possible to prevent the deaths by political means. In an interview, he said: “Three months before the flotilla there were many courses of action which could have prevented it.” Eiland suggested that Israel “could have opened the Gaza crossings in advance, before the Turkish flotilla.

Meanwhile, Israel has urged Lebanon and the international community to prevent two ships from sailing to the Gaza Strip from a Lebanese port, warning that efforts to break the sea blockade of the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory would be stopped. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gabriela Shalev, accused organizers of the aid ships Junia and Julia of “seeking to incite a confrontation and raise tensions in our region.”

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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress

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

Compiled by San Diego Jewish World staff

Let’s Laugh A Little (Editorial)
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 5

With the threat of war, the A, B and C of bombs hanging over our heads, juvenile problems, dope, and the massacre on the highways, it’s no wonder that America has lost its sense of humor. We have become a very sober group and we’re not too sure that it’s for the best.

Have you noticed the disappearance from our newspapers and magazines of the special kind of humor and light verse that we used to look forward to each day or week?  Most of us had favorite columnists and versifiers who made us chuckle and laugh. There were actually magazines that were devoted to humor exclusively with cartoons, jokes, light verse and articles.  Do you remember “Judge,” “Life” and “College Humor?”  They are all gone now, and so are the newspaper columnists.

Have our tastes changed so? – or is there nothing so funny anymore about the world we now live in?  We seem to have lost the knack of laughing—even at ourselves. Our children, too, are missing out.  The “comics” are certainly not funny. They are designed to thrill and horrify.  The Sunday “comics” are filled with gangsters, pace ships and “other world” characters we wouldn’t care to meet anywhere.

The daily newspapers are rife with columnists who are “Pundits,” “Seers” and “peep-hole” artists.  No wonder our children seek refuge in “comics,” TV, and the movies.

The movies, too, have lost their great comedians.  Remember Fatty Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy and the “Our Gang” comedies.  Now you can only see them on television.  Where are the comedians to make the children and grown-ups laugh today?

In all avenues of communication laughter of the kind we used to know is dying. We are in danger of taking ourselves too seriously.  Humor and laughter are necessary to us as medicine.  A people without humor is capable of naziism, communism or fascism. The nations that have succumbed to totalitarianism have taken themselves too seriously. They have forgotten how to laugh. When you laugh it’s hard to hate anyone.  A happy nation is a healthy one.

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We Can Do Our Part (Editorial)
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 5

The coming elections, just a month away, remind us of the fact that so few Jews in this community take an active part in politics. As far as we could learn, there are on Jews on the Democratic County Central Committee.  We know of a few who work in several of the districts but none hold leadership posts.

This holds true for the Republican party, too. One serves on the top level finance committee and a few are active. But by and large our people are not playing too active a part in the elections.

Why this is we do not know.  The Jewish Community has been here for almost 100 years and by no stretch of the imagination can it be called “new”. San Diego has always held the Jews of this community in high regard and we have been from tensions for many years.  Crack-pot and hate groups  have not gotten very far in this community.

Then why are so few Jews involved in the political and civic life of San Diego.  We haven’t the answer but maybe there is one that we have missed. Anyway we would like to see a greater degree of Jewish participation in the political and civic affairs of our town.  On our part we would do all within our power to help in encouraging such participation, for only in so doing do we become an integral part of our city. We have a great deal to offer in the way of service – let’s give a little to make our town a better community.

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Jews in American History~300 Years
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 5

By Dr. Philip L. Seman, University of Judaism

AT this time we have over 200,000 Jewish men in uniform out of a total of some 4,000,000 in all of the service. With over 100 Rabbis in service, it is of interest to learn something of the beginning of the Chaplains Service in the Army and the Navy. It was  not until July 22^nd and August 3, 1861 that Congress legislated for the appointment of Chaplains, the law contained then the sectarian provision that a Chaplain “must be a regular ordained minister of some Christian denomination.”  On March 12, 1862, the Senate passed legislation that abolished the discrimination and it became a law in 1862.  It is recorded that Rabbi Jacob Frankel of Philadelphia was appointed the first Jewish Chaplain.

Here may be the place where we may rehearse some interesting facts regarding Jews and the Civil War. We are grateful to Doctor Bertram W. Korn, Rabbi of Congregation Knesseth Israel of Philadelphia, who made an intensive study resulting in his “American Jewry and the Civil War,” published by the Jewish Publication Society of America in 1951.  The volume of over three hundred pages gives important information regarding Jews in America in 1860: The Rabbis and the Slavery question, the Chaplaincy Controversy, American Judaephobia, the Union version and the Confederate version.  The interest story of Lincoln and the Jews, that in part has already been discussed in this series earlier.  In the appendix of Dr. Korn’s book the reader will find a list of sermons, speeches and prayers dealing with the Civil War.  Correspondence between Lincoln and Abraham Jonas of Illinois, Lincoln’s most intimate Jewish friend, as well as the Correspondence between Lincoln and Dr. Isachar Zacharia, President Lincoln’s Chiropodist and special agent.

We are grateful to Morris U. Shappes who edited A Documentary History of Jews in the United States that your columnist has already referred to from time to time, as well as the publications of the Jewish Historical Society.

When Lincoln called for 300,000 volunteers meeting with but slow response, special efforts were undertaken and among these was the project of the Jews of Chicago to recruit a Jewish infantry company  of 100 men. For the first time since the organization of the Jewish community of Chicago in 1847, the Jews gathered as Jews to plan a secular action – the Jewish population in Chicago was then only about 1,000 yet within two days 96 men had enrolled in the Concordia Guards and $11,000 had been raised in order to provide each enlisted man with a bonus of $100 and the Jewish women had made the regimental flag.  In the next chapter we will continue with the General Grant Order No. 11.

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Freedom
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 5

The struggle of our times is the struggle to preserve the integrity and creativity of the free mind – Adlai Stevenson.

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From Civil War to Cold War ~The Saga of Jewish Military Morale Services in the U.S.
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 5

By George Perry

When a hard-headed businessman and deeply-principled Jew by the name of Asser Levy, one of the band of 23 Jews who settled in New Amsterdam in 1654, won for his fellow Jews the right to serve in the colony’s defense establishment – and later wrung from the Dutch authorities the complete burgher right – he wrote the first chapter in the 300-year-story of American Jewry’s participation in all the wars of the United States, both as soldiers and builders of military morale.  More than two centuries later, in the spirit of Asser Levy, American Jews again struck a blow for first class citizenship by establishing during the Civil War the right of rabbis to serve as military chaplains.

Jews, then, have served in the fighting forces of America since Colonial days; Jewish chaplains have ministered to the religious needs of soldiers since the Civil War and the civilian Jewish community ahs served with distinction on the home front in every national emergency. As American Jewry, marking the tercentenary of Jewish settlement on these shores, pridefully recalls the achievements of Jewish fighting men, it may also salute the unique record of the civilian Jewish community which traes military personnel to local endeavors in the north and the south during the Civil War.

American Jewry’s principal morale effort in the civil war had a non-sectarian character for it was confined largely to participation in the program of the Sanitary Commission, a kind of precursor of the USO of World War II. Dr. Bertram Korn, whose fascinating book, “American Jewry in the Civil War” is the authoritative source for most of our information on this era, told of Jewish women’s societies in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Baltimore, New York, Pittsburgh, Mobile, Charlotte and elsewhere that raised thousands of dollars for the Commission and shipped tons of food, medical and sanitary supplies and clothing to the soldiers on all fighting fronts. The annual report of the Ladies Hebrew Association for the Relief of the Sick and Wounded of Philadelphia, for example, revealed that the doughty women had shipped during 1864 ten crates of supplies, including soap, pens, towels, pillowcases, stationery, a wide variety of edibles, among them jars of pickles.

Purim balls and other Jewish holiday parties raised large sums for the Sanitary Commission. Rabbis used the pulpit to appeal for funds for soldier relief. One of the highpoints of this non-sectarian effort was the voluntary conversion of several wards of the Jews’ Hospital in New York (now Mount Sinai ) to war service.  Some 136 individuals and ten Jewish organizations were mobilized for morale work for wounded soldiers. Volunteers tended the wounded and young hostesses (whose granddaughters served on JWB committees during World War II) read to the patients.  Lectures in the wards and carriage rides in Central Park for ambulatory patients were other morale boosters sponsored by Jews’ Hospital. The hospital’s menu included things like wine, beer, chicken, eggs and canned fruits, scarce items in military hospitals even in the north.

Strange to say, the Jewish community undertook little or nothing on behalf of Jewish soldiers as such.  Whether it was fear of anti-Semitism or sensitiveness to charges of segregation, the Jewish community’s efforts on behalf of the specifically Jewish needs of Jewish troops were insignificant.  Feeble, as they were, these scattered efforts revealed the inchoate outlines of the world-wide Jewish morale and religious program that American Jewry developed in both World Wars.  Early in the Civil War, the Jewish Press echoed with demands for the establishment of a “Jewish Sanitary Commission” and the opening of a Jewish military hospital in Washington, D.C. Some local Jewish organizations set up organized home hospitality for Jewish soldiers and even shipped kosher food parcels to southern Jews held in Union prisons.

The damyankee Jew occasionally found a Jewish welcome down south, as this incident told by Dr. Korn indicates. It was close to Rosh Hashanah when Henry Frank and Isaac Lowenberg, two soldierts with the invading Union army, dropped in at John Mayer’s store in Vicksburg, Miss., to inquire about services. They had come to the right place for Mayer was president of Vicksburg’s Congregation Ansche Chesed.  Lacking its own synagogue and unable to hold {To Be Continued}

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Double Talk
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 6

By Janet & Susan Solof

A very Happy New Year and all good wishes, too
To hope this year and the years ahead are happy ones for you.

Starting out the high school year with a bang was the bit city Carnival.  Every high school took part in it and almost all the teenage kids either participated in the pageantry or in the cheering section.  The Football Carnival is something to look forward to each year.

It was a tremendous Saturday night when Shirley Kaufman gave a big dinner dance for her 16^th birthday. Larry Cantor ‘n Andy Leeds, Ernie Addleson ‘n Nat Veitzer, Janet Solof ‘n Sheldon Golden, Maxine Schoenkopf ‘n Bruce Fisher, Susan Solof ‘n Sonny Stern, Lelani Leitchtag ‘n Bert Eptstein, Ethel Gardner ‘n Harry Ratner, Elaine Shapery ‘n Larry Prager, Jan Klaskin ‘n Gary Cantor, Zena Feurzieg ‘n Sandy Ratner, Linda Zuckerman ‘n Stan Breitbard, Sue Hutler ‘n Phil Kaplan, Diane Fogelman ‘n Alan Friedman, Lucy Recht ‘n Irwin Schotzman, Judy Aved ‘n Mo Barancik, Barbara Silverman ‘n Buddy Kader, Bob Meyers—Shirley’s date, Larry Kaufman ‘n ?, and Jimmy Kaufman ‘n ? loved every minute of it.

Scoop!  Say that was a snazzy outfit Mackie Schoenkopf had on at the Football Carnival. Wasn’t that Rocky Goodrich, screaming her head off for S.D. Hi? —well, natch. We wish we could tell you all thoe we saw holding hands at the carnival – was it you?  What was at Harvey Levitt’s house – hmmmmm. 

Bye and “Good Yontiff.”

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Scott Plans Lemon Grove Shop Center
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 6

A multimillion-dollar shopping center consisting of 30 to 40 stores is planned for the Lemon Grove area by George A. Scott, president and general manager of the Walker-Scott Company.

Scott has acquired a 62-acre site for the center at the corner of College Ave and Federal Blvd on Broadway at a price said to approach $250,000.

Plans include a major department store of approximately 125,000 square feet of floor space and other shopping facilities totaling 30 to 40 stores.

Off-street parking space for 1,500 vehicles is a feature of the plan.

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(Hebrew Home)
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 6

Application for admission to the Hebrew Home for the Aged may be made through the Jewish Social Service Age3ncy, 333 Plaza, BE 2-5172.

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Birdie Stodel Plans Aid to Israel Night
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 6

San Diego Birdie Stodel Chapter No. 92, B’nai B’rith Women will hold its annual Aid to Israel Night on Saturday, Oct. 9, at 8 p.m.

Notice – the meeting place of the Aid-to-Israel Night has been  changed ot Beth Jacob Center, 4473 30^th St.

The affair is chaired by Elva Breitbard and co-chaired by Bertha Rassin and Goldie Winicki. Proceeds of the event will go towards the Children’s Hospital in Jerusalem  and will aid in the rehab ilitation of unfortunate youngsters.

This is the annual event at which the Donors Prize, a silver service set for 12 is awarded. All Donor books must be turned in this night in order to be eligible for the drawing. For your enjoyment there will be bingo, cards and delicious refreshments will b e served. Don’t forget the date, your Donor books and the change of the meeting place.

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Center Survey Committees Meet
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 6

The following committees and their chairmen have been established in order to study plans for the future development of the Jewish Community Center movement in san Diego. Pre-school, MRs. Milton Schwartz, chairman; elementary school, Ben Carnot, chairman; Junior High, Mrs. Ted Brav, chairman; High School, Leo Beck, chairman; Young Adult, Mrs. Sanford Sack, Chairman; Adults Maury Novak, Older Adults, Henry Price; Health and Phy-Ed, Harry Mallen.

These program committee sill meet under the supervision of Mr. Myron Blanchard of the National Jewish Welfare Board beginning October 17. There will be two meetings during the latter two weeks of October and anyone interested in serving on any committee are invited to call the Center office, AT-1-7744.

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Yo-Ma-Cos Hold Annual Yom Kippur Dance
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 6

The Fifth Annual Yom Kippur Night Dance, sponsored by the Yo-Ma-Co Club, will be held at El Cortez Hotel, Thursday, Oct. 7. This annual affair has proved one of the most outstanding events of the club and social season.

Committee chairmen, Leon Solomon and Al Nadler, promise an excellent orchestra led by Pete Newburg.  Adding to the evening’s festivities will be a diversified floor show including Etti Mallinger and her eleven impersonations.

For a gala evening and a fitting finale to the holiday season don’t forget the Yo-Ma-Co Annual Yom Kippur Dance at El Cortez Hotel, Thursday, Oct. 7, at 8:30 p.m  Dancing until 1:00 a.m.  For tickets and reservations call Mrs. Al Nadler, HO-6-2446.

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Birdie Stodel Sets Donor Lunch Oct. 25
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 6

Birdie Stodel B’nai B’rith Women will hold its annual Donor Luncheon, Monday, Oct 25, noon, at the new Mission Valley Country Club, announcement was made by Kay Kraus, president.

Top-flight Hollywood talent has been lined up for entertainment, according to Doris Borenstein, chairman. Besides a well-known movie personality, members and friends will be treated to a great show headlined by Marty Drake, famous stage and radio star.

He has recently completed a two year tour of the country as star of the Broadway show “Bagels and Lox”, and was last seen at the Biltmore Theatre in Los Angeles. For the time of your life, remember the S.D. Birdie Stodel Donor Luncheon – Oct. 25.

Members are urged to be sure to turn in their donor books at the Aid-to-Israel Night on Oct. 9^th in order to be eligible for the drawing.

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Senator Kraft Asks Re-Election on Record
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 6

State Senator Fred Kraft of San Diego County, a candidate for re-election, has issued a summary of his platform and accomplishments.

Kraft, a resident of this County since 1919, is a druggist in Ocean Beach and has been in business 35 years.  HE was elected to the Assembly in 1942, and after serving two terms there was elected to the State Senate in 1946, reelected four years later.

After citing his efforts in holding the line on State Taxes and his accomplishments as chairman of the committees which first reported the fraud and extravagance in the department of Employment, an exposure which has led to substantial administrative changes and great savings, and his work in handling all major legislation for San Diego County, Kraft declared, “If re=elected I will continue to do my level best to take care of the problems of this area always keeping in mind the best interests and welfare of the greatest number of our people.”

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Jewish War Veterans
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 6

Post 185 assisted in the Lox and Bagel breakfast sponsored by the Jewish Welfare Board under the direction of Abe Friedman, which was served this past Sunday morning at the Naval Training Center.

The business meeting of Oct. 6 has been cancelled, and the Post will again meet Oct. 20 when Robert B. James, Chief Clerk of San Diego County will explain the functions o the court house.  Mr. James is a well known figure to our members and has met with us many times in the past, during Brotherhood Week and in veterans conferences.  He is a Past Commander of Fighting Bob Post 264 of the American Legion, and Past Commander of the County Council of the American Legion. The community is cordially invited, and refreshments will be served.

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Chaim Weizman Branch Poale Zion
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 6

The following members have been elected to serve as officers for 1954-55: President, Joseph Olsher; 1^st V.P., I.L Domnitz; 2^nd V.P. and Rec. Sec., Philip Abrams; Fin. Sec., Bertha Veitzer; Treas., Jos. Richlin.  Members elected to the board of directors are M.S. Berlin, Florence Barach, Rose Brooker, Max Leopold, Sam Slayen, Bernard Veitzer, Dina Weissman, Dora Richlin and Ruben Umansky.

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(Confidence)
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 6

The man who puts confidence in everyone else builds up his own.

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Jewish Center News
Southwestern Jewish Press, October 1, 1954, page 6

Teen-Age Holiday Dance – The Center Teen-Agers are sponsoring a post- Yom Kippur Holiday Dance on Thursday, Oct. 7 from 8 to 11:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center.  Admission is $1.00 per couple. Sport dress is the suggested attire.  Program will include dancing and refreshments. All Teen-Agers who are members of the Center are welcome to attend. For further information, call the Center.

Point Loma Program – Ballet and Creative Dance Classes as well as an Arts and Crafts program is now being offered every Friday at the Portuguese Assembly Hall, 2818 Addison St., Pt. Loma. This program is specifically designed to meet the needs of Center members who reside in the Pt. Loma and beach areas. All youngsters between the ages from 6 to 12 are invited to attend. The sizes of the classes will be limited and it is suggested you register your youngster immediately,  /the fees are $10.00 for ten sessions for Center members and $15.00 for non-members.

Rhythmic Exercise Class—The Rhythmic Exercise Class will resume meetings at the Center on Tuesday, October 26.

Junior High School – Beginners Ballroom Dance Class will meet on Wednesday evenings October 13 and 20 at the Jewish Community Center.  This is an excellent opportunity for the younger set to learn to dance. All junior high youngsters interested are welcome to attend.

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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.  

Clinton hails Egypt-U.S. partnership as ‘cornerstone of stability’ in Middle East

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released the following statement Thursday, July 22, in recognition of Egypt’s National Day:

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On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the Egyptian people as you mark your National Day on July 23. This is an opportunity to celebrate Egypt’s rich history and culture and to reaffirm the bonds of friendship that have united our two countries for many years. I have been privileged to experience first-hand the warmth and generosity of the Egyptian people and the beauty of your ancient nation.

The partnership between Egypt and the United States is a cornerstone of stability and prosperity in the Middle East and around the world. We are working together to meet many regional and global challenges, including efforts to end poverty, achieve a comprehensive peace between Israel and its neighbors based on a two-state solution that guarantees security and dignity for all the parties, and confront the violent extremism that has targeted innocent civilians in both our countries.

The deep cultural, commercial, and educational ties between the Egyptian and American peoples and the partnership between our governments are rooted in mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual responsibility — in the common aspirations our people share for a future that is more secure, more prosperous, and more free. Our friendship provides us a foundation for meeting the challenges and seizing the opportunities of the 21st century together.

On this occasion, I offer you our warmest wishes for a happy holiday and a peaceful and prosperous year to come.

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Preceding provided by U.S. State Department

EU readies more sanctions against Iran

BRUSSELS (WJC)–The foreign ministers of the 27 European Union member states are set to approve further sanctions against Iran over its uranium enrichment program, targeting the country’s energy, financial and transport sectors. The measures, to be adopted at a meeting next week, are to include a ban on investing in Iran’s oil and gas industries, including the transfer of equipment and technology. The member states of the EU will be required to monitor the activities of Iranian financial institutions on their territory, and no insurance or reinsurance can in future to be provided to an Iranian entity.

The sanctions go beyond those adopted by the United Nations Security Council in June. The United States also imposed its own sanctions package on 1 July, which is supposed to restrict Iran’s access to refined petroleum and to disrupt financial transactions.

The EU is Iran’s largest trading partner, with Italy Germany and Austria being the most active states. Diplomats in Brussels believe that sanctions could be very disruptive for Iran’s economy. Although Iran is among the world’s top exporters of oil, it does not have sufficient refining capacity to meet domestic demand; it is thought to import around 40 percent of its domestic gas consumption.

Meanwhile, public opinion in France, Germany and Sweden is overwhelmingly in favor of tougher Iran sanctions, a survey has found. Over two thirds of respondents in the three countries said new measures against the regime in Tehran were needed, according to a poll by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research in Israel.

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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress

Jewish cemetery desecrated in Alsace

WOLFISHEIM, France (WJC)–More than two dozen graves were desecrated at a Jewish cemetery in Wolfisheim, in the eastern French region of Alsace. It was the second incident of its type in the area this year, authorities said. Twenty-seven graves, including those of children, were damaged and many headstones overturned and covered in profanities. The incident happened between Sunday and Wednesday morning, a judicial source said.

“The perpetrators of this criminal act have taken away that which is most sacred to the human conscience,” the local Jewish community said in a statement. The town of Wolfisheim is about eight miles from the regional capital Strasbourg.

In January, around 30 Jewish graves were desecrated in the Strasbourg area, on the same day as the commemoration of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps. In June, 18 Muslim tombs were desecrated in the area.

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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress

Austria reimburses heirs for Nazi-looted ‘Portrait of Wally’

Portrait of Wally

VIENNA (WJC)–The Leopold Museum has settled a decade-long legal dispute over the restitution of a painting looted from a Jewish woman during the Nazi era. In order to keep the painting, the museum agreed to pay US$ 19 million to the estate of the late Lea Bondi Jaray and gave permission for it to be displayed for three weeks at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York. 

The Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele’s  ‘Portrait of Wally’ was taken away from Bondi Jaray, a Jewish art dealer in Vienna, by the Nazis in 1939. It has been the subject of court proceedings in New York since it was lent twelve years ago to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) by the Leopold Museum.

‘Portrait of Wally’ was painted by Schiele in 1912. It was purchased by Austrian collector Rudolf Leopold in 1954 and became part of the collection of the Leopold Museum when it was established by the Austrian government, which purchased more than 5,000 pieces Leopold had owned.

The deal comes less than a year after a US judge rejected the Leopold Museum’s argument that the painting was not stolen property and days before a trial was set to commence to decide whether the museum knew the painting was looted when it was brought into the United States in September 1997. In January 1998, the Manhattan district attorney’s office began investigating claims that the painting was stolen more than a half century earlier when Bondi Jaray was forced to sell it on the cheap to a Nazi art collector. The court case filed by Bondi’s heirs focused on the question of whether Leopold knew of the painting’s problematic history.

The painting was among more than 100 paintings lent to MoMa by Leopold for a three-month exhibit in 1997/98. At the time, it was estimated that ‘Portrait of Wally’ was worth about US$ 2 million.

The case had a wider effect in Austria, becoming the starting point for an investigation into the provenance of state-owned art and the drafting of a new restitution law. In the wake of these developments, the state returned Gustav Klimt’s portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer to Bloch’s heir, who in turn sold it at auction for a reported price of US$ 135 million in 2006, achieving the highest-ever price for a painting at that time.

The Vienna Jewish Community, which supported the heirs in the ‘Wally’ case, said the late Rudolf Leopold’s foundation had only agreed to the settlement under pressure of the upcoming US court session. “The right thing to do would have been to physically give back the painting,” Erika Jakubovits, the community’s executive director, said.

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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress