Other items in this column include:
*Jewish community coronavirus news
*San Diego County Judaica
*Salute to the Class of 2020
*Political bytes
*In memoriam
SAN DIEGO — The pandemic may keep many of us at home, but it doesn’t have to hamper our creativity. Just the reverse, in fact. We have more time to think about things. We can tackle the projects we had always meant to.
Such was the case with Mark Thomas, a member of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, who found himself writing and singing “Suddenly Nothing,” which you can see and hear above.
“It sort of wrote itself,” he told San Diego Jewish World. “It was one of those songs that comes from the unknown. I really didn’t sit down with the intention of writing a song about two lonely people, but that’s what happened. It’s a simple three-chord format with an old-school country feel.
“It starts out with a guy that’s out of place, and traveled from some smaller town in order to change buses at Union Station. If you’ve ever been to Union Station you know how confusing it can be. The woman he is meeting also lives far away. She has high hopes of love, but when they do meet up, they jump straight into bed. But it doesn’t work, so they become angry with each other. They both go back to their lonely lives.”
What have you been doing during this pandemic?
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Jewish community coronavirus news
*Seacrest Village residents have been following self-quarantine guidelines with such great success that Pam Ferris, president and CEO of the Jewish communal residence for the elderly, reports “Seacrest still has no known cases of the COVID-19 virus.” To assist residents to stay connected with their loved ones, Ferris said, “we were able to purchase additional [Internet] devices for this important program due to the generosity of those who participated in the Seacrest Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Fund Campaign.”
*Unable this year to hold a Yom Hashoah commemoration honoring those whose lives were lost and those who survived the Holocaust, Darren Schwartz, chief planning and strategy officer of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County displays a sign of assurance that we shall never forget.
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San Diego County Judaica
Harry & Sherry Jacobson-Beyer live in Louisville, Kentucky, but they vacation so often in San Diego that they feel part of the community. Whenever they visit, they make a ceremonial visit to Mary’s Donuts in Santee. The photo of them shows a wine decanter with Hebrew inscription and accompanying glasses.
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Salute to the Class of 2020
In a continuing salute to graduating seniors in high school and in colleges, who don’t get to have the usual proms and graduation ceremonies because of the coronavirus pandemic, members of our community are posting their own photos from graduations gone by. Glenda Sacks Jaffe, director of Hillel at the University of San Diego, said in her native South Africa, high school graduation ceremonies are not as usual as they are in the United States, thus she is exhibiting her college graduation photo. … At right is the high school graduation photo of Rabbi Yael Ridberg of Congregation Dor Hadash.
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Political bytes
The congressional campaign of San Diego City Council president Georgette Gomez reports that she raised more than $460,000 during the first quarter of 2020 from a donor base of 11,120 contributors. “Our broad based grassroots support lies in stark contrast to Sara Jacobs who has received 82 percent of her campaign funds from her personal checkbook, and has benefited from over $1.5 million in supposedly independent spending by her grandparents,” commented Dan Rottenstreich, Gomez’s campaign strategist. Jacobs finished first in the primary election with 58,312 votes compared to 39,962 for Gomez.
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In memoriam
Talma (Ailon) Milikowsky, 87, died Wednesday, April 15, Am Israel Mortuary announced. Private graveside services at El Camino Memorial Park’s Olam Haemess Orthodox Lawn were conducted by Rabbi David Kornberg of Congregation Beth Am.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com. Obituaries in San Diego Jewish World are sponsored by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg.