‘Women of Valor’ showcases writers and honorees

By Eileen Wingard

SAN DIEGO — For the 9^th annual Women of Valor Program, Lipinsky Jewish Arts Festival Director, Todd Salovey, and his co-writers, Rebecca Myers, Leah Salovey and Ali Viterbi, once again selected six remarkable women. Six talented actresses, Linda Libby, D. Candis Paule, Elizabeth Schwartz, Eva Barnes, Catalina Maynard, and Elaine Rivkin represented the six.

Portrayed were Ellen Beck, the doctor who established 20 free clinics in San Diego County; Marsha Berkson, the social worker who started the Jewish Family Service Food Pantry managed by teenagers; Evelyn Rady, whose immigrant parents’ pogrom traumas inspired her social work; Jill Spitzer, who served as CEO of our San Diego Jewish Family Service for several decades; Sura Leider, first grade teacher at Chabad’s school, wife of Rabbi Moshe Leider, mother of eleven children and weekly Shabbat dinner hostess to multitudes; and Ruth Sax, Holocaust survivor, who spent her teenage years in concentration camps doing forced labor, and later volunteering in the Jewish community, designing clothes and raising two daughters. The commitment, resilience and generosity of these six women were inspiring.

The Women of Valor program (seen June 7, Lyceum, June 10, 1:00, 3:00, Encinitas Library) has become a significant segment of the Lipinsky Jewish Arts Festival, showcasing not only the lives of local women, with talented actresses portraying them, but developing the writing skills of young playwrights. Rebecca Myers just graduated from Brandeis University; Ali Viterbi, now co-producer of the festival, graduated from Yale several years ago; and Leah Salovey, daughter of the festival director, graduated from Yale in 2017 and is the Woodridge Fellow for the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science at Yale, working in communications.

It is programs like Women of Valor, created by local talent; Klezmer Summit, using local artists; works by Teatro Punto y Coma; original plays, In Every Generation by Ali Viterbi and Losing the Nobel Prize, adapted and directed by Todd Salovey; that give the festival its unique San Diego flavor and display the wealth of creative talent we have within our own community.

Bravo, Director Todd Salovey, on your 25^th year of leadership at the helm of the Lipinsky Family Arts Festival!

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Wingard is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com