San Diego Jewish World

Monday Evening
, June 4, 2007    

Vol. 1, Number 35

 

6/4/07 SDJW Report
(click on headline below to jump to the story)

International and National

*StandWithUs urges world response to Iran's
latest threat to eliminate Israel from the map


*'Why be Jewish?' topic of Bronfman conference in Utah

*'Boycott?  What boycott?' ask British lay persons

*Olmert holds meetings with Senator Joseph Lieberman and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist


*Month-long study qualified us as Israel Museum docents

*
Anti-Defamation League urges Norway, South Africa
to refrain from direct diplomacy with Hamas


Regional and Local

*Inter-religious confab in L.A. probed 'Challenge of Respect'

*Manhigim students will discuss civil rights and modern dictatorships


Daily Features
Jews in the News

Jewish Grapevine


May Their Memories Be A Blessing
*Dr. George W. Weinstein

For Your Reference
San Diego Jewish Community Calendar

San Diego Jewish Community Directory


Arts, Entertainment & Dining

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Anderson Travel
Jewish American Chamber of Commerce
Project Sarah: Flowers Aren't Enough

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StandWithUs urges world response to Iran's latest threat to eliminate Israel

By Roz Rothstein

LOS ANGELES (Press Release)—StandWithUs condemns in the strongest possible terms, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his poisonous, inflammatory rhetoric against Israel.

At a memorial service for the Ayatollah Khomeini on Sunday June 3, Ahmadinejad said yet again that Israel will soon be wiped off the world map, a goal that seems to be Iran's official policy. He claimed that Israel would be destroyed by Hezbollah and Hamas, Iran's proxies. Ahmadinejad revels in Hamas' attacks from the south and in Hezbollah's drumbeats of war from the north because he apparently wants to see Israeli civilians murdered.

Ahmadinejad calls for genocide of Jews. Ahmadinejad has been declaring war against Israel since he took office. Defying UN resolutions, Iran is fast developing nuclear weaponry. Its openly stated target is Israel. Ahmadinejad clearly is trying to bait Israel into a confrontation. Israel has demonstrated remarkable restraint. It knows that an open confrontation can and would reach far beyond the Middle East.
 
In the 1930's, Hitler's demonizing rhetoric and Jew-hatred preceded his brutal murder of six million. The world simply stood by. Ahmadinejdad has joined the most violent, racist murderers in history by giving us a prelude to his dreams—the destruction of a group of people.
 
The silence of the world's leaders is deafening. The world must take this man at his word and act.
 
We ask the United Nations to condemn Ahmadinejdad's hateful rhetoric and meet its responsibility to act as a peace-keeping body. We call on the Lebanese government to fulfill its pledge to contain Hezbollah. We call on the European Union and

 

 

responsible Arab nations to speak out boldly against warmongering and racism. We call on U.S. leaders and other nations to force Ahmadeinejad to stop threatening civilians and destabilizing the region.
 
Ahmadinejdad has warned us all about his intentions. It would be irresponsible, morally reprehensible and dangerous for world leaders to simply stand by passively at this outrage to decency and to hopes for a more peaceful world.

Rothstein is the national director of StandWithUs

International and National

'Why be Jewish?' topic of Bronfman conference in Utah

NEW YORK (Press Release)— The Samuel Bronfman Foundation announced today that it will hold a conference on the question “Why Be Jewish?” July 29 – 31 in Park City, Utah. Adam Bronfman, the Foundation’s managing director, and Rabbi Eliyahu Stern, the conference coordinator, will serve as hosts.  The conference seeks to place ideas, values, and long-term vision at the forefront of Jewish philanthropy and public policy planning.  

Participants in the conference’s three days of presentations, study and discussion include an international group of leading Jewish writers and thinkers, such as:

David Ellenson (President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion), Tova Hartman (Professor of Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Bernard-Henri Lévy (French intellectual and author), Wendy Mogel (author and clinical psychologist), Avi Weiss (Rabbi of Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and Founding Director of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah), Leon Wieseltier (author and literary editor of the New Republic), Art Green (Rector of Hebrew College Rabbinical School), Anita Diamant (author), Gidi Grinstein (Founder and President, Re’ut Institute), Daniel Boyarin (Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture at U.C. Berkeley), Esther Perel (therapist and author), and Edgar M. Bronfman (President of The Samuel Bronfman Foundation).

Adam Bronfman said, “In an age when people must opt into Jewish life, our aim is to identify the core values of Judaism that are compelling today. If anyone is up to that challenge, it is this group.”

Eliyahu Stern said, “Over the last fifteen years, massive amounts of philanthropic dollars have been spent on Jewish continuity projects. But Judaism has to be more than a numbers game. Demographic projects will ultimately fail if they are not guided by a long-term vision.”

The lead plenary session of the conference, which is open to the public, will be held on Monday, July 30 at the Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City, Utah, and will feature French intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy, Israeli spiritual leader Tova Hartman and American literary critic Leon Wieseltier on the topic: “Why be Religious in an Age of Fundamentalism?”

The foregoing story was provided by the Samuel Bronfman Foundation. 
                                                            _________________


 

                
 
Letter from Jerusalem
                                                              
      By Ira Sharkansky


'Boycott?  What boycott?' ask British lay persons

JERUSALEMIt was a peaceful two weeks in the Southwest of England. But not according to Israel Radio, which we heard daily. The headlines and discussion focused on the proposal of a union of British university lecturers to boycott Israeli academics. There was not yet a decision to boycott, and it might not come. Rather, a small group of active Israel-bashers controlled a poorly attended union meeting with only a couple of hundred from more than 100,000 or so members.
By a divided vote, they decided that local chapters would discuss a boycott.

We listened daily to BBC, and heard nothing about this. A British rabbi I met on the El Al flight home noticed the issue only in the Jewish press.
 
A case of Israeli paranoia? Commentators in the Holy Land were worrying that the boycott would spread to unions of physicians, journalists, dock workers, and other industries, as well as to
unions on the Continent. But they also quoted senior British government personnel who strongly opposed any boycotts of Israel, as did the leader of the lecturers' union that had its meeting. She was hoping that more widespread discussion would kill the idea. There is also another one or two unions of lecturers' that have not gone this far toward a boycott. Reporters noted that fever was highest on the campuses that have the least contacts with Israelis. My colleagues wanting contacts with Oxford, Cambridge, and the London School of Economics will probably do all right, while those wanting a sabbatical at Back of Nowhere Technical College might be disappointed.
 
Assuming that boycott organizers are concerned that Israel has been nasty to the Palestinians, they have chosen a poor target for their wrath. No sector of this society is most sympathetic to the Palestinians than university lecturers. Punishing them hardly seems likely to aid the Palestinian cause.
 
Early news was that an American Jewish Nobel laureate responded to the prospect of a boycott with one of his own. He cancelled a lecture he had agreed to give at a British university. In a profession with more than a few Jews, the activists might not get away without some wounds of their own.
 
I have had numerous contacts, meaningful personally and professionally, with British academics from a variety of institutions. Some have published my research, and some have written me
letters of rejection that, in retrospect, were deserved. One of the rejections was not so convincing. Googling showed that the editor was best known for some anti-American and anti-Israeli pieces that were more like rants than analyses. His address is the University of
Loughborough, which
until that experience, and since, has not impressed me as a center of anything.
 
In none of our recent contacts did we perceive anything negative when asked about our origins. Maybe the British are too polite to spoil a visitor's holiday. Or maybe we were fortunate in avoiding university lecturers.
 
Every time I looked at a map or read a road sign I thought I was somewhere else. I saw directions to Tiverton, Taunton, Swansea, Somerset, Plymouth, Bristol, Dartmouth, Falmouth, Weymouth,  and Wells. Bridgwater and Barnstaple are not spelled in the Massachusetts' way, but the roots are there nonetheless. Fall River did not make it to the maps that I used.
 
I will spare you almost all of our 331 pictures. But not all of them.  Here are two from the Exeter-Bath segment of our trip.

                                                   

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Olmert holds meetings with Senator Joseph Lieberman and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist

JERUSALEM (Press Release) —Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has met recently with U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman (Independent, Connecticut) and with Florida Governor Charlie Crist,
a Republican.

At the meeting Sunday, June 3, with Lieberman, the two men discussed Israeli-Palestinian relations; the Senator briefed the Prime Minister on his meetings with Palestinian Authority President Abu Mazen.


Prime Minister Olmert described the difficulties on contacts posed by the continued firing of Kassam rockets at Israel and the strengthening of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
 
Prime Minister Olmert expressed his deep appreciation for Sen. Lieberman’s courage and for honoring his principles on issues related to Israel.
 
The two men also discussed US policy toward Iraq and the link between Iraq and the US and international ability to deal with the Iranian threat.  Prime Minister Olmert expressed the hope
that the international community’s actions to isolate Iran will continue and noted that there is agreement regarding the threat posed by Iran to both Israel and the world.


In the meeting with Governor Crist on Thursday, May 31, the two men discussed the deep ties between Israel and Florida and continued cooperation, especially in the economic and commercial fields.

 
Gov. Crist commended the cooperation in the field of research and development and said that he ascribes great importance to Florida’s economic

Olmert and Crist

ties with Israel.  He said that upon his return to Tallahassee, he would sign an order barring the state from holding commercial and economic ties with elements with links to Iran as long as it does not retract its statements against Israel.

 
Prime Minister Olmert thanked Florida Gov. Crist and emphasized the importance of
Israel-Florida ties: “I am proud that the State of Israel can contribute to Florida in various fields and am pleased that our mutual ties are fruitful in many areas.”

Information for the foregoing story was provided by the office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert

                                                              
 


A Herald in Zion....
   
      Notes from Mevasseret Zion
                                           
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

Month-long study qualified us as Israel Museum docents

MEVASSERET ZION, ISRAEL—Israel possesses many places of archaeological, historical and religious significance for all mankind. The modern state has constructed buildings and established sites with meaning of a more contemporary and/or national character. But there can be few spots which combine so many levels of significance for so many people as the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

In the forty years since it was founded the museum has grown from a modest assortment of artworks and archaeological artifacts to one of the world’s most extensive collections, encompassing Jewish ethnography, Israeli art, period rooms, American and African art, archaeology, a very respectable collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and modern art
and sculpture, as well as a few Old Masters, Judaica, and, of course the Dead Sea Scrolls,
housed in their own unique building, the Shrine of the Book.

The scale model of Jerusalem in the time of the Second Temple which was formerly situated
in the grounds of the Holyland Hotel has recently been added to the museum’s collection,
adding yet another dimension to what was already a wide-ranging collection.

When my husband and I retired, we sought a channel for our abilities and decided to contact
the Museum, where we were promptly enrolled as volunteer ‘hosts.’.

After completing a one-month course of lectures and tours in an attempt to familiarize us with
the museum’s labyrinthine galleries, we were each issued with a wine-coloured waistcoat and a scarf bearing the museum’s logo, sent to our appointed places and told to help visitors find whatever it was they were looking for.

All through the year the museum throbs with visitors from every corner of the world intent on passing some time in its cool interior and benefiting from its cultural offerings. Many enquiries
are about mundane things such as eateries and toilets, but we are also able to help visitors find specific exhibitions or displays about which they have heard. We greatly enjoy being part of the community of the Israel Museum.

Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, a freelance writer and translator, made aliyah from England in 1965. This article is reprinted from the AJR Journal (Association of Jewish Refugees) in England.
                                                                   ----------------------------

Anti-Defamation League urges Norway, South Africa

to refrain from direct diplomacy with Hamas

NEW YORK (Press Release)— The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today urged the governments of Norway and South Africa to reconsider their contacts with the Hamas-led Palestinian government, saying that such actions undermine the international community's message to Hamas "that it cannot begin to achieve legitimacy until it expressly renounces violence and recognizes Israel's right to exist."

Norway has resumed direct aid to the Palestinian administration, abandoning the approach adhered to by the international community.  South Africa recently extended an invitation to top Hamas officials, including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, to visit that country for official meetings with the government.

In a letter to His Excellency Jonas Gahr Støre, Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs, ADL leaders urged him "to reconsider your government's latest change of police before it seriously undermines the efforts of the international community to unambiguously maintain the morally correct position regarding Hamas' murderous acts of terror and its stated goal of eliminating a member state of the United Nations."


"There is no possible justification for Norway's abandoning the approach adhered to by the international community which has sent the consistent message to Hamas that it cannot begin to achieve legitimacy until it expressly renounces violence and recognizes Israel's right to exist," said Glen S. Lewy, ADL National Chair and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. 

In a letter to the South African Ambassador to the U.S., Barbara Joyce Masekela, ADL leaders said they were "troubled" by reports that Ronnie Kasrils, a minister in the South African government, has met publicly with Hamas officials and conveyed and invitation to the Hamas prime minister to visit South Africa

The foregoing article was provided by the Anti-Defamation League

Daily Features


Jews in the News          
 
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 Like you, we're pleased when members of our community are praiseworthy, and are disappointed when they are blameworthy.
Whether it's good news or bad news, we'll try to keep track of what's being said in general media about our fellow Jews. Our news spotters are Dan Brin in Los Angeles, Donald H. Harrison in San Diego, and you. Wherever you are,  if you see a story of interest, please send a summary and link to us at sdheritage@cox.net.  To
see a source story click on the link within the respective paragraph.
____________________________________________________________________________________________


*Gabe Cohen doubled with the bases loaded to put the UCLA Bruins ahead 5-4 over Long Beach State in Pac 10 action on Sunday night.  The Bruins went on to win 7-4 and advanced to the super regional.  The story by Peter Moon is in today's Los Angeles Times.

*Sasha Baron Cohen of Borat fame was a winner at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday.  The Public Eye column of the San Diego Union-Tribune has the story.

*U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and U.S. Rep. Howard Berman, both California Democrats, have emerged as strong advocates for the Immigration Bill's provisions to provide pathways to citizenship for agricultural workers.  The Copley News Service story by Jerry Kammer is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

*
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (Democrat, Michigan) is preparing an amendment that would require the president to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq within 120 days after its passage.  Democratic pressure on Republicans on this issue is likely to be unremitting.  Naom N. Levey has the story in today's Los Angeles Times.

*
Adam Levine and Maroon 5 have some mega-hits, yet they chose a concert venue that could seat only 450 for their concert. What's behind it?  The story by Mikael Wood is in today' Los Angeles Times.

*
Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel planned to continue to have its security services take action in Palestinian territories.  Meanwhile, Hamas said it has stopped firing rockets at civilian targets and instead is firing mortars at military targets like border crossings. The New York Times News Service story is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.

*
David Rosenzweig, a Los Angeles Times reporter who covered the Vietnam War, Symbionese Liberation Army and the Hillside Strangler case, has died at 67.  The obituary by the Associated Press is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.


*Phil Thalheimer, a Republican who has been active in the campaign to preserve the cross atop Mount Soledad as a war memorial, is expected to run in the upcoming race for the 1st District San Diego City Council seat.  On the other hand, Julie Dubick, now serving as a policy advisor to Mayor Jerry Sanders, says she will not be a candidate.  The story by Evan McLaughlin is in today's Voice of San Diego.


(return to top)
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The Jewish Grapevine
                                                   
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COMMUNITY WATCH—The Jewish American Chamber of Commerce is exploring the possibility of creating a Jewish-interest radio show in San Diego.

CONGREGATIONAL CURRENTS—Congregation Beth Israel will bid farewell at 7:30 p.m. Shabbat services June 22 to Rabbi Paul & Susie Citrin as they complete their three-year assignment in San Diego. Rabbi Michael Berk succeeds him. ... A burned Torah panel believed to have come from a synagogue in Ostrov, Poland, was donated by Lou & Estelle Dunst to Congregation Beth Israel as an historical artifact. The panel along with other damaged ones were replaced by Torah sefer Alberto Attia and the repaired scroll was put back into the service of the Jewish people in Los Gatos, California...When Barbara Howarth was installed two years ago as president of Beth Israel, a friend said, in a gaffe, "congratulations on your pregnancy." Completing her term, Howarth says in a way it was indeed like a pregnancy.  "The only thing that really matters about either of them is the outcome."  Among many accomplishments over the last two years, Howarth mentioned the establishment of a teen lounge "for kids to hang out and be comfortable in their second home'... WE began to have greeters at services and major events to help members and visitors feel welcome."   And, she noted with an exclamation point, "We brought back ice cream to the Oneg Shabbat!"

CYBER-REFERRALS—Bruce Kesler recommends an article by Nat Hentoff on the Jewish World Review questioning why in the world the United States wants to remain in the United Nations when, among other astonishing developments, the chair of its Disarmament Commission is Syria and its vice chair is Iran.  Here's a link.  ....Christian Micoine found this article by Hannah Goff on the BBC website about the proposed academic boycott of Israel.  It provides some worthwhile background for those mapping strategies to oppose it.

'FREE' TICKETS, BOOKS, OTHER GOODIES—Notice those little quotation marks around the word 'free.'  Those are to indicate that even though you won't pay for them with money, you will pay for them with your talent. San Diego Jewish World wants to recruit reviewers of various sorts, to report upon Jewish developments in books, CDS, movies, television, concerts, visual arts, photography, cooking, various hobbies like philately, numismatics, and others.  You name it, if you have some expertise in the subject, we'd like to see your writing samples, and perhaps you will be picked to join our growing cadre of volunteer columnists. Please email inquiries and writing samples to editor Don Harrison.

IN MEMORY—Sharon Weissmann, 65, daughter of Charles and Helen Weissmann and sister of Mark Weissmann, died May 27 and was buried at Home of Peace Cemetery. A short obituary is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune.
 

Regional and Local

Inter-religious confab in L.A. probed 'Challenge of Respect'

By Pastor Bill Harman


LOS ANGELES—Last month in Los Angeles,  Southern California interfaith communities gathered at the Omar  Ibn Al Khattab Foundation Mosque in Los Angeles near the University  of Southern California campus for a day of looking at "The Challenge of Respect: Celebrating Interfaith Commonality, Exploring Religious  Differences.”

Two hundred fifty peoples of a variety of world religions and faith groups in the LA area as well as 15 participants from North San Diego  County spent the day in a "mini-Parliament" event which included  musical offerings from such varied groups as the Shumei Taiko  Drummers from the Japanese Shinto faith community, Sufi poets and singers, Christian singers and Zorastrian and Buddhist chanteers. 

Remarks from the Rev. Dirk Ficca, Executive Director of the CPWR  office in Chicago set forth the 21st Century Vision of CPWR.  Appreciative inquiry led by Steve Fitzgerald of the United Religion  Initative (URI) based in San Francisco created new relationships among the participants. A keynote panel included the Rev. Dr.  Gwynne Guibord, Ecumenical Officer of the Episcopal Diocese of Los  Angeles, as well as Dr. Hassan Hathout, Director of Outreach for the  Islamic Center of Southern California, Rabbi Steven Jacobs of Temple  Kol Tikvah and Prof. Pat Sekaquaptewa, Director of the Tribal Legal  Development Clinic, UCLA.

Mandala art and peace postcard art projects were part of the offerings as well as exhibits from groups such as  ubilee USA Network, an interfaith advocacy effort to cancel the debts of the world's poorest and most heavily indebted nations.

The Council for the Parliament of the World's Religions (CPWR) has  developed a partner cities program which seeks to link interfaith communities in various areas of the US.

It is hoped that a similar interfaith gathering can be organized in  the San Diego County area by existing ecumenical and interfaith  groups prior to the next global Parliament of World’s Religions 
scheduled for December, 2009 in Melbourne, Australia.

Previous  Parliaments have been held in Chicago, IL in 1993, Capetown, South  Africa in 1998 and Barcelona, Spain in 2004. Interfaith activities  and Intrafaith discussions are the focus of Parliament gatherings as  well as looking at issues such as governance from an interfaith  perspective of a multi-religious society, religion and the  environment, Muslims and the West, global ethics, minority religions  in America, and transforming interfaith engagement into social action.

The mission of CPWR is to cultivate harmony among the world's religious and spiritual communities and foster their engagement with  the world and its other guiding institutions in order to achieve a  peaceful, just and sustainable world.  Dr. Bill Lesher, Evangelical  Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is the chairman of the Board of  Trustees and Rev. Dirk Ficca, Presbyterian Church USA is the  Executive Director. Pastor Bill Harman, retired ELCA pastor is the 
southern California representative for CPWR.

The next engagement of CPWR on the global scene is providing the Universal Forum of Cultures, Monterrey Mexico September 25-29, 2007  with the central theme "Peace and Spirituality" which will be an  Interreligious World Meeting of the Forum as part of the three-month Forum in Monterrey, Mexico from September 25 to November 17, 2007. 

Participants from the USA are welcome. If you have an interest visit the Forum website.

The foregoing article was reprinted with permission from the current issue of Ecumenews, the newsletter of the Ecumenical Council of San Diego County.  Retired Evangelical Lutheran Pastor Harmon is from Encinitas.
                                                             ______________________


Manhigim students will discuss civil rights and modern dictatorships

SAN DIEGO—The seventh annual Manhigim (Leaders) Institute for Jewish students in the tenth and eleventh grades is nearing completion, the regional Anti-Defamation League has announced.

Before it is over, however, students Alex Gipsman, Raphael Pransky, Jeremy Rosen, and Zach Jurkowski will present their powerpoint on modern dictatorships and civil rights at La Jolla High School on June 11.

As part of its Manhigim program, the ADL assigned mentors to these students to help guide their research. Additionally, the mentors worked with the students to help them hone their leadership skills.

The Manhigim Institute is a unique educational opportunity for students, combining education and social action through a proactive approach to the issues that confront today's youth. 

Further information about this program may be obtained by emailing Tina Malka, ADL associate director.

Information for the foregoing article was provided by the Anti-Defamation League.


 


 

May Their Memory Be a Blessing...

Dr. George W. Weinstein (1935-2007)

ENCINITAS, Calif.—Dr. George W. Weinstein died on May 12 in Encinitas, California. He was 72. The cause was prostate cancer and complications from Pick’s Disease, a form of dementia.

Dr. Weinstein was born in 1935 in East Orange, New Jersey. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1955 and his M.D. from the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in 1959.

He was formerly the Jane McDermott Shott Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center of West Virginia University, Professor and Chair of the Division of Ophthalmology at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, a former faculty member of the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Regent of the American College of Surgeons and Director of the American Board of Ophthalmology.

He is survived by his wife, Sheila, a son, Bruce and daughter in law, Kristen, two daughters, Elizabeth and Rachel, two grandchildren, Carlee and Sammy and a sister and brother in law, Barbara and Daniel.

Donations may be made in his memory to: Neurosciences Center for Dementia Research, Mayo Clinic Development Office, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224

Information for the foregoing article was provided by the family.
 

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