Holocaust survivor dies in Virginia Tech massacre: Prof. Liviu Librescu was 76

By Donald H. Harrison

One supposes that Liviu Librescu thought that he had left the Holocaust far behind, after immigrating from Romania to Israel, and then from Israel to the United States, where he served as an engineering professor at Virginia Tech.

Yet, on Yom HaShoah, he and his students shared the horror of his youth: mass murder. According to reports filtering from the scene, Librescu died a hero. On that gruesome Monday morning, he barricaded the door to his classroom with his body as students hid behind desks and jumped out the windows of his engineering class. The gunman, now identified as Cho Seung-Hui, a student from South Korea, shot through the classroom door, killing Librescu. Seung-Hui later killed himself, bringing the death toll in yesterday's carnage to 33.

Today, President George W. Bush participated in a convocation on the campus in Blacksburg, Va., to mourn those slain. The President told faculty, students and family: "In time of anguish, I hope you know the people of this country are thinking of you." He suggested that members of the college community heed the scriptural admonition "don't be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good." He added in a brief and solemn speech: "May God bless you and the souls of those who were lost."

Other speakers included representatives of the Muslim, Buddhist, Christian and Jewish faiths, the latter represented by Virginia Tech's Hillel director Sue Kurtz. The Hillel director read a selection from Ecclesiastes, beginning with the verse "To everything there is a season; a time to be born and a time to die..." She was aided by JCSC Fellow Talya Mazor who translated the biblical passage phrase by phrase into Hebrew. In concluding, Kurtz expressed the hope that the community could soon move from a time of sorrow to a time of peace.

Details of Librescu's last day emerged slowly: His wife, Marina, had dropped him off at the campus about an hour before the shootings. When students in his class heard the bang-bang-bang of shots down the second-floor corridor, some turned over their desks to take shelter as others jumped to the ground below.

His sons Aryeh and Joe, a former Virginia Tech student, now live in Israel. Joe's wife Ayala described Librescu as a "senior, world renowned lecturer. He is the professor with the highest number of publications in the history of Virginia Tech." The family said Librescu's body would be flown to Israel for burial in Ra'anana.

Librescu's 61-page curriculum vitae noted that his special interests included aeroelasticity and unsteady aerodynamics, that the Romanian Academy of Science had awarded him the Traian Vuda prize, and that his research had been cited in over 1,000 articles in technical journals. He also had served as a guest lecturer in Germany, Austria, and Italy, as well as in the native country of his killer, South Korea.

Other reaction in Israel to the shootings included a letter sent by Haifa University President Ben Ze'ev to Virginia Tech President Charles Steger: "The faculty and students of the University of Haifa were horrified to hear of the tragic events that took place at Virginia Tech yesterday. These events, which defy description, remind us once again of the continuing importance to educate all of society towards tolerance and the sanctity of human life. We wish you strength to guide your community through the periods of mourning and healing."

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Incoming JFS President Ron Zollman, Immediate Past President Fern Siegel and Michael Rassler, executive vice president of the United Jewish Federation, share a light moment
at JFS Annual Meeting.

Jewish Family Service tells results of
annual meeting and awards session

SAN DIEGO (Publicity Release)—Over 100 people attended Jewish
Family Service’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, April 12, at the Turk
Family Center. At the Annual Meeting, Jewish Family Service
announced new members of the Board of Directors and presented
the Charles Zibbell Board Leadership Award, Henrietta Rubenstein
Staff Development Award, and the Jack Stern Volunteer Recognition Award. A special presentation was made to Jill Borg Spitzer, CEO, by
Fern Siegel, Immediate Past President, in honor of her 20 years of
service to the agency.

The Charles Zibbell Board Leadership Award is awarded annually to a member of the JFS Board who has displayed extreme dedication and a passion for the agency in a leadership position. This year, Felicia Mandelbaum was very deserving of this honor. Felicia Mandelbaum
has served on the Board of Directors for five years, and currently holds
the position of Secretary of the Board. For the past three years she has spent hundreds of hours as Co-Chair of the agency’s main fundraiser, the Heart & Soul Gala.

nursing facilities and spending hours advocating on their behalf with other local social service agencies.

The Jack Stern Volunteer Recognition Award is presented to an
outstanding volunteer of the year. Marlene Greenstein, of JFS’s Foodmobile and Mental Health Committee, was this year’s award recipient. She has been reliably volunteering and delivering meals with JFS for almost eight

illness. Marlene is an example of why volunteers are the heart of Jewish Family Service—one of the main reasons JFS is One Source for a Lifetime of Help.

Also honored at the Annual Meeting were Susan Revak – Mentoring Mothers, Jack Forman – Jewish BIGPals, A.J. Mason – JFS Fix-It,
Sophie Verona – College Avenue Senior Center, Myrna Reese – Rides
& Smiles, and Pauline Green – North County Inland Senior Center.

Board of Directors

Jill Essakow, Ted Finkel, Laura Galinson, Marcia Hazan and Steve
Levine were welcomed back to serve additional three-year terms on the Board of Directors. Newly elected members, Marsha Berkson, Adam Furman, Susan Kabakoff, Michael Levinson, and Jeri Rubin were welcomed. A thank you was given to departing Board Members, Yael Aires, Larry Kaplan, Maggie Meyer, and Brad Phillips. Ron Zollman
was announced as President of the Board of Directors, Steve Levine
as First Vice President, Mathew Kostrinsky as Second Vice President, Edward J. Carnot as Treasurer, and Felicia Mandelbaum as Secretary.

Fern Siegel also surprised the audience and presented an additional award to Jill Borg Spitzer, Chief Executive Officer, in honor of her contributions to Jewish Family Service throughout her more than
20 years of employment with the agency.

Jewish Family Service was founded in 1918 by a consortium of
women’s clubs who sought to address the myriad of human needs
of the time. Today, JFS is a comprehensive human service organization
with nine locations throughout San Diego County and an office in Palm Desert, serving the Coachella Valley. From its early grassroots origins,
the agency now serves over 25,000 people annually. Its programs and services include: Adoption; Case Management; Counseling; Crisis
Services; Family Violence; HIV; Jewish Connections; Refugee
Resettlement; Older Adult/Senior Services; Parenting, Youth &
School-based Services; and Training/Education. Learn more about
why JFS is One Source for a Lifetime of Help at www.jfssd.org

SAN DIEGO (Pubicity Release)—On Monday, March 26, over
200 packages of Passover food were distributed to San Diego
Jewish families in need. The day before the food pick-up, packages
of food were assembled by ten families from Kumsitz Chaverah at Congregation Beth Israel, congregants from Ohr Shalom Synagogue
and the teenage volunteers of the JFS Hand Up Youth Food Pantry.
Each package consisted of Kosher for Passover food and a greeting
card from children.

The teenagers who run the JFS Hand Up Youth Food Pantry organized
and implemented the event. Hand Up Youth Food Pantry coordinated several food drives throughout San Diego County to bring in the
majority of the food. Food donations came from many different
individuals as well as the Nierman Preschool at the Jewish Community Center, KEN, Women of Beth Israel and UJF Women’s Community
Seder.

Hand Up Youth Food Pantry at JFS’s Turk Family Center is a special opportunity for teenagers to learn about social change and the
difference their altruistic efforts can make in other people’s lives.
Started in January 2007, the program provides a hands-on experience
for teenagers to tackle the issue of hunger in the San Diego community. Currently, over 35 teenagers are instrumental in the programs success.
Learn more about Hand Up Youth Food Pantry at www.jfssd.org

Please send your letters to sdheritage@cox.net, or to Jewishsightseeing, PO Box 19363, San Diego, CA, (USA) 92119. Please include the name of the city where you live.
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Virginia Tech Massacre Draws Reaction: Ban Guns

Editor, Jewishsightseeing:

My name is Johann Wahnon and I am a graduate student at San Diego State.
I am writing to you, to inform you of my outrage over Virginia Tech.
There is only one way we can stop this kind of violence. Guns must be
banned! Therefore, I propose to you a plan that will ensure that these
types of events can never happen again.

The second amendment states that "the right of the people to keep and bear
arms, shall not be infringed." Yet our country has already determined that some arms are too dangerous to be allowed to disseminate amongst the general population. Since precedent has been set, let's take the next step.

All handguns should be deemed illegal and banned. If, after one year, a person has not turned in his or her registered handgun, he or she should be fined 5,000 dollars for each gun every six months. If a person is found to have an unregistered handgun, that crime is a felony.

All, but a few rifles should be banned and the same consequences stated
above applied. The only exceptions are single-action bolt rifles that can be used for hunting. These types of weapons pose a minimal threat to the civilian population and should remain legal.

All military equipment, such as flak jackets and exotic ammunitions,
should also be illegal.

It makes no sense for people to have guns in order to protect themselves
from other people who have guns. People are dying and it is up to us to
do something. Thank you for your time and help in this matter.

—Johann Wahnon, San Diego, Calif.

Teaching the Holocaust in Britain

(Concerning your coverage of the phony e-story about Britain deciding not to teach about the Holocaust), I thought it was a scam! What I also love about gullible folks is that they actually do lovely things like send messages on in the clear so that all of the addresses to which they have posted their misinformation then become known to all of the people to whom they have posted their stuff and if of course the next person in the daisy chain is listless, lazy, innocent about computers etc he/she then enables hundreds of others to see the addresses of those who come before. This is a very dangerous practice given the life style of the viruses out there!

Maybe you would consider warning your readers that if they must pass on something like this in the future (however well intentioned) at least put the people they circulate it to in a BCC (blind copy) so that all those that follow do not get the addresses of all those who came before!

—Peter Garas, Gordon, ACT, Australia

We have known for some time that there is a lot of junk on the internet and zipping through e-mails.

Today, at 13:13, I received a heads up that British education authorities were canceling lessons in the Holocaust in order to avoid offending Muslims. It was something we should pass on in the hope of countering this awful occurrence.

By 13:43 I received a corrective from elsewhere, including a clarification from the Holocaust Educational Trust. All is not well. There was a Holocaust, but the British are teaching about it, both to teachers and to pupils.

—Ira Sharkansky, Jerusalem, Israel

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Jews in the News -------------------------------------------------------------
News spotters: Dan Brin in Los Angeles, Donald H. Harrison in San Diego, Marsha
Sutton in North San Diego County. To see a source story click on the link within the
respective paragraph. If you spot a Jewish-interest story in your favorite publication,
please send us the link.
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*Donald Cohen, president and executive director of the center on Policy Initiatives, says Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to require everyone to get insurance puts too much burden on individuals and too little on businesses. His opinion piece is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

*Lili Greenberg and Fannie Krasner Lebovits were among the Holocaust survivors in attendance at yesterday's Yom HaShaoh commemoration at San Diego Jewish Academy. Bruce Lieberman has the story in today's San Deigo Union-Tribune.

*Joshua Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said until more is known about the shooter who killed 33 persons at Virginia Tech, it is unclear how the massacre will play into the ongoing national debate over gun control. Joel Havemann's story is in The Los Angeles Times.

*Sol Price of San Diego is known for his philanthropy and good deeds. Among people he has mentored is Robert Fellmeth, director of the Center for Public Interest Law at the University of San Diego. Penni Crabtree has the story in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

*Wendy-Sue Rosen, chair of the Brentwood Community Council, complains that neighbors received no advance notice of a National Guard emergency drill simulating a mock attack on the Veterans Administration campus in Los Angeles. Martha Groves reports the story in today's Los Angeles Times.

*Sarah Silverstein, a student at San Diego's Patrick Henry High School, finished sixth in a national science contest, winning a $20,000 scholarship. The story is among those in the Short Takes section of today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

*Record producer Phil Spector's murder trial in Los Angeles began in earnest with selection of jury members. Peter Y. Hong has the story in The Los Angeles Times.

*Kenneth R. Weiss of The Los Angeles Times and Jonathan Gold of LA Weekly won Pulitzer Prizes respectively for a series on the environmental degradation of the oceans and for restaurant reviews. James Rainey has the story in today's Los Angeles Times.

*Los Angeles City Councilmembers Jack Weiss and Wendy Gruel held a news conference to alert families in the Encino area that an unidentified man has been attempting to purchase children from nannies.The story by Andrew Blankstein is in today's Los Angeles Times.