SAN DIEGO – Jeanne Shenkman, 83, a retired teacher from the Grossmont High School District, moved to Seacrest Village Retirement Community in Encinitas last May to live near her daughter. Throughout her life, she has always been a busy person with varied interests. For example, in addition to her teaching duties, she played violin in the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra for 42 years and served as a docent at the San Diego Natural History Museum for 15 years.
Now, at Seacrest Village, which is the upgraded successor to the former San Diego Hebrew Home for the Aged, Shenkman continues to follow a busy schedule. She attends several aquatic classes a week, participates regularly in some bridge groups, takes advantage of programs and lectures offered at Seacrest, and closely follows the news. A self-described “news junkie,” she reads a daily newspaper, regularly watches KPBS—Public Broadcasting, and other TV programs.
While she always had enjoyed amateur photography with a point-and-shoot Canon camera, she recently switched to an IPhone, which today is “always with me,” she toldSan Diego Jewish World in volunteering to be a photographer at Seacrest for our publication.
Seacrest Village is a vitally important part of the San Diego County Jewish community, so you can imagine how happy we were to accept Jeanne’s offer. In this column we publish some of the Seacrest sights and activities as seen through the lens of Shenkman’s iPhone.
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Political bytes
*San Diego Union-Tribune political columnist Mike Smolens speculates in Friday’s edition that the race for the Democratic presidential nomination after the March 3 Super Tuesday contest could come down to a two-man battle between Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg, pitting Sanders’ grassroots volunteer campaign against Bloomberg’s campaign of self-financed media and paid staffers. From my standpoint it is remarkable that one Jew, much less two, is poised to be a frontrunner for the presidential nomination. If anyone doubted how diverse our community is, the two men could not be more different in political outlook. Bloomberg is a self-made multi-billionaire; Sanders is a Democratic socialist. While they both agree that President Donald Trump needs to be replaced, there is a lot of daylight between them on other issues facing the voters, chief among which is how to provide health care for uninsured or under-insured Americans.
*The presidential campaign of Michael Bloomberg opens San Diego County headquarters at 10 a.m. tomorrow at 520 Broadway in Chula Vista. Mayor Mary Casillas Salas of that city has been named a California co-chair of Bloomberg’s campaign.
*Ron Klein and Halie Sofer, respectively chair and executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, say Republicans are falsely trying to paint Democrats as being anti-Israel. They say Democrats in the House of Representatives “overwhelmingly supported and passed” measures that condemned anti-Semitism, opposed the global BDS movement, support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and reaffirm an “ironclad” commitment to maintaining military assistance for Israel and providing record levels of military and security assistance to Israel. They added that President Trump “has been long on symbolism but short on achievements in Israel.” They said his peace plan was dead on arrival; that moving the U.S. embassy and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan “did little to advance Israel’s security or prospects for a two-state solution”; that Trump’s withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria has given “Iran more of a foothold on Israel’s northern border” and that U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Iran, and Iran’s subsequent decision to restart its program, has “made the U.S., Israel, and our European allies less secure.”
*San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez has been endorsed in the 53rd Congressional District by the Courage to Change PAC, headed by New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The congresswoman said that Gomez “spent over a decade as a community organizer fighting for environmental justice, before becoming the first Queer Latina City Council President in San Diego history.” Gomez also won the endorsement of California Congressman Ro Khanna, who des ribed her as a “progressive champion dedicated to fighting for Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and taking on special interests in Washington.”
*Kent Rodricks, an advocate for people with disabilities, endorsed San Diego City Councilwoman Barbara Bry for mayor. In a column for Times of San Diego, he told how her rival mayoral candidates, Assemblyman Todd Gloria and San Diego City Councilman Scott Sherman, had him make appointments at their offices when he wanted to tell them about the problems that people with disabilities have getting around San Diego. In contrast, he said, Bry made a point to come to him, understanding the difficulty he would otherwise have.
*Escondido City Councilwoman Olga Diaz takes exception to a negative mailer about her sent out by “Friends of Terra Lawson-Remer for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors,” which is sponsored by the Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 89. Besides accusing her of breaking promises, being a typical politician, and being too cozy with Republican power brokers, the mailer features a photo of the back of a woman with long black hair. She has her fingers crossed. Perhaps inspired by the historic tale of President Franklin D. Roosevelt chiding Republican opponents for going after “my poor dog Fala,” Diaz quips “I am a little offended by the terrible hair ‘stunt double’ used in the attack ads. Even on my worst hair days, I look better than that.”
*Yael Steinberg, associate director of the StandWithUs office in San Diego, is on the Kol Yisrael slate of nominees to serve as delegates at the World Zionist Congress in October. She said her fellow nominees are “some of the best and brightest leaders at StandWithUs and the Israeli American Council (IAC), two of the fastest-growing pro-Israel organizations in the world. We are joined by representatives from a diverse array of Zionist organizations trusted worldwide to educate, inspire, and protect the Jewish future. Kol Yisrael (number 14) will fight to build sustainable infrastructure that will provide funding, mentorship, and support to engage Zionists from many backgrounds. We will make sure that World Zionist Congress funds go to impactful projects that deepen the connections of “Kol Yisrael,” Jews as a whole, to Israel and each other.”
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Coming our way
*U.S. Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, sponsors a panel discussion about U.S. policy in the Middle East, at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, in the Exercise and Nutritional Building, Room 280, at San Diego State University. (Parking available in Structure 12). It will be moderated by Catalano Ewers, a senior fellow at the Center for New American Secuirty. Speakers will include Eli Berman, rearch asociate at the National Bureau of Economic Research; Mounah Abdel-Samad, associate professor of public administration at San Diego State University; and Heather Williams, senior international defense policy researcher at the RAND Corporation.
*Young Israel of San Diego will be delivering Mishoach Manot baskets to members and friends in the tradition of the Purim holiday. With the deadline for ordering the baskets being March 4, the synagogue is taking orders at $10 a name, or $75 for ten names for people within its area, and $25 per name for people outside the local community. Arrangements to send a Purim basket may be made via Paula Mantell at this email address.
*The Lawrence Family JCC combines with Congregation Beth Am, Ohr Shalom Synagogue and Shabbat San Diego in sponsoring a community Purim Carnival rom 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday March 8, at the JCC, 4126 Executive Drive. Among features will be a Hamentashen Bake, every half hour or so, with $5 purchasing sufficient dough for between 4 and 7 cookies. The dough is under the kosher supervision of Rabbi Daniel Srugo of Beth Eliyahu Torah Center/ Chabad of Bonita.
*Tifereth Israel Synagogue announced plans to participate in the April 26 “Walk Against Hate” which will assemble at 8:30 a.m. at Liberty Station. According to an announcement from the Conservative synagogue, “We’ll walk with people of all backgrounds and believes, celebrate diversity, and support the fair treatment and justice for all in our community.”
*Temple Emanu-El is planning a Roaring Twenties Soiree as its Spring Gala, May 2, and is now collecting donations for auction items.
*The 7th annual San Diego Jewish Food Festival will be hosted from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 3 at Temple Adat Shalom, 15905 Pomerado Road, in Poway. Information and tickets via this website.
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Recommended reading
StandWithUs, the organization that opposes anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activities on college campuses, is circulating a petition calling on the chancellor at UC Berkeley to take action to oppose activities by student groups glorifying Palestinian terrorists.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com